Dramatic levels of “friendly fire” from the immune system may drive severe Covid-19 disease and leave patients with “long Covid” – when medical problems persist for a significant time after the virus has been beaten – scientists have said.
Researchers at Yale University found that Covid-19 patients had large numbers of misguided antibodies in their blood that targeted the organs, tissues and the immune system itself, rather than fighting off the invading virus.
Read the full report, by Ian Sample, here.
Bahrain has approved a Covid-19 vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and launched online registration for the vaccine for citizens and residents.
The National Health Regulatory Authority did not specify which vaccine of the two being developed by Sinopharm had been given the green light, but cited data from phase 3 clinical trials that showed an 86% efficacy rate and said Bahrain had participated.
Bahrain’s ministry of health said in a statement and on its Instagram account that citizens and residents above 18 years of age could register online to receive the vaccine for free.
Updated
Mauritania has reimposed a night-time curfew in in the face of a “worrying surge” in Covid-19 cases and deaths, the president’s office said.
Public health chief Sidi Ould Zehave said on Saturday that hospitals “are reaching saturation”.
The country has recently seen a significant jump in infections, recording 279 new cases and seven deaths on Saturday.
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the foreign minister, has appealed for international aid in the crisis, according to the state news agency AMI.
Updated
Socialising over Christmas, particularly with those most vulnerable to Covid, will be “very risky” and threatens to put further pressure on hospital beds this winter, NHS bosses have warned.
Chris Hopson, the head of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts in England, said relaxing restrictions over the festive period would leave some people with the mistaken view that there was no greater risk from having more social contact.
“I don’t want to be the Grinch who stole Christmas, I really don’t, but I think everybody needs to think really, really carefully what are they going to do over Christmas,” Hopson told BBC Breakfast. “It’s not, ‘is what we’re going to be doing sticking within the rules?’ It’s ‘how much risk are we going to cause to the people we interact with?’”
Greece has reported 693 new coronavirus cases – the lowest daily figure since mid-October.
There have been a further 85 deaths.
The new figures takes the country’s total caseload to 124,534, while the toll stands at 3,625.
Updated
Canada will receive the initial doses of Pfizer Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine later on Sunday, with more of the first batch of 30,000 coming on Monday, the official in charge of Canada’s vaccine rollout told the CBC.
Canada is expected to approve the Moderna Inc vaccine “reasonably soon” and the country will be ready to accept shipments of it by the end of the week, CBC reported.
Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has said he is recovering from Covid-19, in his first televised appearance since he was treated in a German hospital almost two months ago.
“Thanks to God ... I have started on the road to recovery,” the 75-year-old said a day after the first anniversary of his election. “It may take two or three weeks but, God willing, I will recover all my bodily strength.”
His illness has triggered concerns of a constitutional crisis. Voters have approved a revised constitution in a referendum with record low turnout, but the president has been unable to sign it into law because he must be on Algerian soil to do so.
Tebboune did not indicate his location.
الحمد لله على العافية بعد الابتلاء، شفى الله المصابين ورحم المتوفين و واسى ذويهم. موعدنا قريب على أرض الوطن، لنواصل بناء الجزائر الجديدة. ستبقى الجزائر دوما واقفة بشعبها العظيم، و جيشها الباسل، سليل جيش التحرير الوطني، ومؤسسات الدولة. pic.twitter.com/gyLES1XgtL
— عبدالمجيد تبون - Abdelmadjid Tebboune (@TebbouneAmadjid) December 13, 2020
Updated
UK reports 18,447 cases, 144 deaths
There have been a further 18,447 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government data. This compares with 17,271 cases registered last Sunday.
A total of 1,849,403 people have tested positive.
A further 144 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported, bringing the total to 64,170. There were 231 last Sunday.
Sunday figures are often lower because of reporting delays over the weekend.
Updated
Hello, this is Clea Skopeliti. I’ll be running the live blog for the next few hours. Please do feel free to get in touch by Twitter DM if you have any suggestions for coverage.
Here is a quick recap of recent events in the UK and around the world:
- The first lorries carrying the Pfizer Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine for widespread use in the US have pulled out of a Michigan manufacturing facility, with shots expected to arrive in states starting on Monday.
-
Spain should achieve herd immunity from Covid by the end of summer 2021 if enough people are vaccinated by then, Salvador Illa, the health minister said in an interview published on Sunday.
- The number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands rose by almost 10,000 in the past 24 hours, data released by national health authorities showed, marking their biggest jump since the end of October.
- Under Germany’s new coronavirus restrictions, only essential shops such as supermarkets and pharmacies, as well as banks, are to remain open from 16 December. Hair salons, beauty salons and tattoo parlours will also have to shut, while care homes will be mandated to carry out coronavirus tests.
- Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher on the Oxford Vaccine Development Programme, said chances were “pretty high” of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab being available by the end of the year.
Updated
A further 159 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 44,285, NHS England has said.
Patients were aged between 47 and 97 and the deaths occurred between 8 November and 12 December.
All except five of them, aged between 55 and 89, had known underlying health conditions.
Separately, a further four coronavirus-related deaths were recorded by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland, bringing its death toll to 1,124.
In Scotland, there have been a further 800 cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of infections to 106,170.
There were also a further two deaths, meaning the country’s death toll stands at 4,111.
Please continue to take care and avoid interacting with other households as much as possible. We are not out of the Covid woods yet. Cases are increasing in many countries, and the situation in Scotland still requires caution https://t.co/p41A1bnval
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) December 13, 2020
Updated
Three trucks carrying the first shipments of Pfizer Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine left a factory in Michigan early on Sunday, kicking off a historic project to stop a surging pandemic that is claiming more than 2,400 lives a day in the United States.
Workers at a Pfizer factory in central Michigan began packing the first shipments of its Covid vaccine in dry ice shortly after 6.30 am ET, Reuters reports.
Three trucks carrying pallets of boxed, refrigerated vaccines rolled away from the facility at 8.29 am, escorted by body armour-clad security officers.
It will take months before most Americans can get a vaccine, with companies in a range of industries lobbying state and federal officials to give priority to their workers.
The United States expects to have immunised 100 million people with the jab by the end of the first quarter of 2021, the chief US adviser for efforts on Covid vaccines said.
Updated
A targeted coronavirus testing drive for secondary school and college students in parts of London, as well as in Essex and Kent, is underway to curb rising infection rates.
More targeted testing is now underway for secondary school and college students in the 7 hardest hit London boroughs:@lbbdcouncil@hackneycouncil@LBofHavering@NewhamLondon@RedbridgeLive@TowerHamletsNow@wfcouncil
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) December 13, 2020
Contact your council for details. https://t.co/iDr0YzacIR pic.twitter.com/M0ttYKERXw
Spain could achieve herd immunity from Covid by summer 2021, health minister says
Spain should achieve herd immunity from coronavirus by the end of summer in 2021 if enough people are vaccinated by then, the health minister said on Sunday.
Salvador Illa said a vaccination programme will start in January, meaning by the end of the summer more than two-thirds of the population of 47 million should be inoculated.
“In Europe, even if it is not the final end, we will be in a very different stage. That is why I think we are at the beginning of the end with this time horizon that I say, from five to six months,” Illa told Publico newspaper.
Asked if this meant that Spain would achieve herd immunity, he responded: “Yes. It is what the technicians call that, that people have immunity either because they are vaccinated or because they have had the disease.”
Updated
Netherlands: biggest jump in infections since end of October with 10,000 cases in a day
New Covid cases in the Netherlands rose by nearly 10,000 in the last 24 hours, national health data shows, marking the biggest jump in infections since the end of October.
The surge continues a rising trend seen over the previous week, as the effects of a partial lockdown, which has been in effect since 13 October, appear to have diminished.
The Dutch government has convened an emergency meeting for Sunday to consider extra measures to halt the spread of the virus, and is due to make an announcement on its deliberations on Tuesday.
Updated
Here are some striking images of Dr. Luigi Cavanna visiting his patients in their homes in small towns and rural areas in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.
He checks his patients’ oxygen levels, uses ultrasound to scan their lungs and tests them and their relatives for coronavirus.
Updated
Residents in Jersey care homes are receiving Covid vaccinations a day earlier than expected, the island’s government has announced.
Officials said the government made the call to start on Sunday rather than Monday “in view of the positive Covid cases in care homes”, which have seen a recent 400% surge, from four on Thursday to 19 by Saturday.
A team of one doctor and several nurses is administering the first Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines on this island, on which there are 671 known active cases of coronavirus.
Some 2,500 care home staff are scheduled to receive their jabs at the Covid vaccination centre near Fort Regent from 21 December.
The directors of five of Switzerland’s largest hospitals have urged the health minister to impose stringent measures to reduce Covid infections, according to media reports.
In a letter to health minister Alain Berset, the directors of the university hospitals of Zurich, Bern, Basel, Lausanne and Geneva said the pandemic was forcing them to postpone operations for patients with other life-threatening conditions.
Gregor Zund, hospital director at the Zurich University hospital, said he wanted to see a full lockdown, including a ban on skiing, to bring the epidemic under control.
More than 4,000 operations have been postponed at the five hospitals since October, the SonntagsZeitung newspaper reported.
Switzerland has been badly hit by the epidemic, with about 5,000 new Covid cases every day recently. Roughly 1.3% of the population has been infected in the last 28 days.
The directors said they feared that a third wave of Covid infections early next year could trigger a collapse in the health system, as intensive care beds were becoming scarce.
Updated
Only essential shops such as supermarkets and pharmacies can stay open in Germany
Here are some updates on Germany’s decision to tighten Covid restrictions to halt the spread of the virus:
“There is an urgent need to take action,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said following a meeting with leaders of the country’s 16 federal states on Sunday.
“I would have wished for lighter measures. But due to Christmas shopping the number of social contacts has risen considerably,” she told journalists.
The government will support affected companies with a total of around €11bn ($13.3bn) a month. Businesses that are forced to close may receive up to 90% of fixed costs, or up €500,000 a month, the finance minister, Olaf Scholz, confirmed.
Under the agreement, only essential shops such as supermarkets and pharmacies, as well as banks, can stay open. Schools will also be closed in principle during the period, and employers will be asked to close operations or have employees work from home.
A maximum of five people from no more than two households are allowed to gather in a home. This guideline will be eased from 24 to 26 December, over which time one household can invite a maximum of four close family members from others.
The sale of fireworks will be banned ahead of New Year’s Eve, while care homes will be mandated to carry out coronavirus tests.
The measures have also eliminated one remnant of seasonal frivolity: “Gluehwein” or mulled wine, a staple of Christmas markets usually served in steaming mugs on cold days in town squares round the nation.
Updated
Chances ‘pretty high’ of Oxford vaccine available by January, professor says
Prof Gilbert has said chances were “pretty high” of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab being available by the end of the year.
On the chance of people receiving the vaccine before the end of the year, she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “It depends on the age group you’re in and the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) prioritisations.
“I think the chances are pretty high. But we do need multiple vaccines, all countries need multiple vaccines, the world needs multiple vaccines and we need vaccines made using different technologies, if that’s possible.”
When asked how many people needed to be vaccinated for life to return to normal, Prof Gilbert added: “If we’re trying to protect the most vulnerable, then in this country we’re planning to immunise about 20 million people based on age and also the frontline healthcare workers.”
Updated
Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher on the Oxford Vaccine Development Programme, said the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine had shown “strong protection” against severe disease.
She told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show:
We do have some information about the ability to prevent asymptomatic infection with our vaccine, and that’s going to be really important in preventing transmission. So we know that from 21 days after the first vaccination, nobody who received the vaccine was admitted to hospital or had severe Covid disease. So we’re seeing very strong protection against the severe disease, people going to hospital, and that’s the kind of thing that will protect health services.
Later in the interview, Prof Gilbert said there was a “possibility” the jab could give better protection if combined with other candidates.
Updated
We are launching community testing in 67 local authorities in Tier 3, as part of the #COVID19 Winter Plan.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) December 13, 2020
This will use rapid turnaround lateral flow tests.
Watch the clip to find out how the tests work👇
More on community testing:https://t.co/zpcEbplFTm pic.twitter.com/3uZYQnBoW3
Bahrain has approved the use of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine, following its earlier approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
Bahrain’s state-run news agency reported that the Sinopharm vaccine would be available in the island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf.
But it offered few details on study results of the vaccine, in line with the United Arab Emirates, which last week announced the vaccine was 86% effective.
Bahrain has said more than 7,700 signed up to take part in a trial of the Sinopharm vaccine in the kingdom, and plans to give the public free Covid jabs.
Separately, Kuwait has granted emergency use for the Pfizer vaccine.
Updated
Ahead of the second phase of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine rollout, which is due to start next week, Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, has said it is vital “we remain clear-eyed and recognise that we are not out of the woods yet”.
Updated
Russia confirmed 28,080 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours on Sunday, including 6,425 in Moscow, pushing the national tally to 2,653,928.
Authorities said 488 people had died overnight, bringing the official death toll to 46,941.
Morning everyone, this is Yohannes Lowe. I’ll be running the live blog until the afternoon. Please do feel free to get in touch on Twitter if you have any story tips or coverage suggestions.
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. I leave you with this cheerful gallery of the UK’s best Christmas lights:
Summary
- Germany to close schools, shops ask workers to work from home from 16 December. Reuters reports that in a draft proposal, the German government is planning to close shops and schools for nearly a month, from 16 December to 10 January, and ask workers to work from home for the same period.
- Turkey added more than 800,000 cases to its national total, after the government decided to include all positive cases rather than those just requiring hospitalisation.
- Pfizer says first Covid-19 vaccine supplies being prepared to ship from Michigan site. They will be distributed by the US Department of Defense in partnership with agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services to government-designated facilities across the country, Pfizer said on Saturday night US time.
- Brazil’s government has presented a Supreme Court justice with a coronavirus immunisation plan that provides initially for only enough shots for about a quarter of the population and does not indicate a start date.
-
US deaths nearing 300,000 after another record day. The United States hit a record 16 million Covid-19 cases on Saturday afternoon, with deaths closing in on the 300,000 mark, after reporting another record daily toll of 3,309 deaths. It reported 231,000 cases in 24 hours.
- South Korea reports record daily case rise of 1,030 infections in 24 hours. South Korea reported a record daily increase in novel coronavirus cases for a second straight day with 1,030 new infections, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Sunday. Of the new cases, 1,002 were locally transmitted, which bring the total tally to 42,766 infections, with 580 deaths.
- Italy on Saturday became the European country with the highest official number of Covid fatalities, as its new total of 64,036 deaths overtook the UK toll of currently 64,026 reported deaths.
Turkey adds 800,000 new coronavirus cases after government changes definition
The Turkish government has decided to count coronavirus cases as all of those who test positive for Covid-19, rather than just those cases requiring hospitalisation, adjusting its total by more than 800,000, to more than 1.8m.
The country’s death toll stands at 16,199.
The staggering figure took nearly doubled the global daily coronavirus record when it was included by the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
Germany to close schools, shops ask workers to work from home from 16 December
Reuters reports that in a draft proposal, the German government is planning to close shops and schools for nearly a month, from 16 December to 10 January, and ask workers to work from home for the same period.
A firebrand Indonesian Muslim cleric was arrested Sunday for allegedly breaching coronavirus restrictions after he held a series of sermons with tens of thousands of followers, AFP reports.
Rizieq Shihab’s arrest came just days after Jakarta police shot dead six followers of his hardline Islamist group in a highway shootout.
Shihab will be detained for 20 days to prevent him from fleeing and destroying evidence, police said.
“Another reason for the detention is for him not to repeat the offence,” National Police spokesman Argo Yuwono said Sunday.
If found guilty, he could face up to six years behind bars for breaching coronavirus rules.
Shihab was welcomed by tens of thousands of followers at Jakarta airport on his return from exile last month, in violation of a Covid-19 ban on gatherings.
As dozens who attended that gathering subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus, police summoned Shihab several times for questioning.
Indonesia has reported more than 600,000 coronavirus infections and over 18,500 deaths, with authorities imposing nationwide restrictions to curb the spread of the disease.
Despite those restrictions, Shihab held sermons, a celebration of the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, and his daughter’s wedding - all of which were attended by thousands of people.
The charismatic leader of the Islamic Defender Front (FPI), Shihab fled to Saudi Arabia shortly after police named him a suspect in a pornography case in 2017, and remained in exile for three years.
Since his return, he’s called for a “moral revolution”.
His FPI is notorious for targeting night clubs and other establishments it deems “immoral”, and has also attacked minority Muslim sects it considers “deviant”.
He was among the main figures behind mass rallies in 2016 against the then governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, over allegations that he insulted the Koran.
Basuki, who is Christian, was sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy.
In the UK, the NSPCC is warning that this Christmas poses an unprecedented challenge for many British children, with new data from the charity revealing it has received more than 31,000 calls since April from adults anxious about child abuse or neglect.
Its chief executive, Peter Wanless, said the cumulative impact of the effects of the pandemic meant young people would be “cooped up” with their abusers over the festive period.
Wanless told the Observer: “Christmas is always a challenge but this one is compounded. There’s some real pressure-cooker elements to what some young people are going to be facing.”
The charity’s helpline has so far received a record 31,359 contacts from adults concerned about child abuse or neglect since early on in the first lockdown, with callers reporting frequent arguments, households with addiction problems or children seen wearing dirty clothes:
The full story on the US’s mammoth vaccine distribution task:
In the UK, more than 17 million people are living in areas under tier 2 restrictions that have seen infection rates rise over the last three weeks, new research has revealed amid growing concerns that councils are struggling to help people with the costs of self-isolation.
With the government due to review the Covid-19 measures across England this week, an assessment of official data found that more than half of councils in which tier 2 restrictions are in place – or “high alert” areas - have seen infection rates rise since the last week of November. The areas cover some 17.5 million people.
The research, carried out by Labour, found that 100 local authorities have seen an increase in cases since 24 November, compared with 87 that have seen a decrease. It has raised concerns that more areas could face the most restrictive tier 3 measures from this week. London is in danger of entering tier 3, with some boroughs suffering from the highest rates of the disease in England:
Headteachers are calling for the government to allow secondary schools to move all teaching online for pupils undergoing mass coronavirus testing in London, Kent and Essex.
The National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) and the Association of College Leaders have written a joint letter to education minister Gavin Williamson, urging him to shut the doors of secondary schools and colleges whose pupils are being tested this week and to roll out the mass testing of students to other high infection areas in England.
The unions say the move would reduce the danger of infection transmission by these pupils in classrooms and on public transport, while avoiding a logistical nightmare for teachers and further disruption to children’s education. “We can’t simply ask already overburdened school staff to administer these tests, because it will just stop the education effort in schools,” said NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman.
The Observer also understands that the government is considering mass testing of primary school children. The Department for Education said it would not be commenting on this matter: “It hasn’t been confirmed and therefore is speculation”:
A quick palate cleanser before we return to pandemic news:
https://t.co/G2XsOZ1Mf2 pic.twitter.com/OyODcFYQTq
— RK Jackson | Atlanta 🛸 (@theerkj) December 12, 2020
Australians have made great use of free medical services during the Covid-19 pandemic, pushing bulk billing to a record high, AAP reports.
Almost nine out of 10 visits to the doctor nationwide were provided at no cost to the patient.
Temporary changes to Medicare during the pandemic, such as GP telehealth services to prevent the spend of the virus, were a factor behind the surge in bulk billing.
In the 12 months to September, the bulk billing rate for GP services was 88.7 per cent, 2.6 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
Total benefits for Medicare services reached $25.3 billion.
“Today’s figures show the Morrison government’s rapid response to the pandemic allowed Australians to access the health care they needed, despite the challenges of COVID-19,” federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a statement on Sunday.
By the end of September, Medicare had paid benefits for 2.5 million Covid-19 video consultations and 30.4 million Covid-19 phone consultations provided by GPs, specialists and allied health professionals.
Tractor trailers loaded with suitcase-sized containers of Covid-19 vaccine will leave Pfizer Inc’s manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Sunday morning - launching the largest and most complex vaccine distribution project in the United States, where the virus is raging, Reuters reports.
US regulators late on Friday authorised the vaccine from Pfizer and partner BioNTech for use, and U.S. marshals will accompany the tightly secured shipments from factory to final destination.
“We have spent months strategising with Operation Warp Speed officials and our healthcare customers on efficient vaccine logistics, and the time has arrived to put the plan into action,” Wes Wheeler, president of UPS Healthcare, said on Saturday.
Pfizer’s dry-ice cooled packages can hold as many as 4,875 doses, and the first leg of their journey will be from Kalamazoo to planes positioned nearby. Workers will load the vaccine - which must be kept at sub-Arctic temperatures - onto the aircraft that will shuttle them to United Parcel Service or FedEx air cargo hubs in Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, Tennessee, respectively.
From there, they will be trucked or flown to facilities close to the 145 US sites earmarked to receive the first doses.
Familiar UPS and FedEx package delivery drivers, who may also be carrying holiday gifts and other parcels, will deliver many of the “suitcases” into the hands of healthcare providers on Monday. The shipments are the first of three expected this week.
Healthcare workers and elderly residents of long-term care homes are first in line to receive the inoculations.
Pfizer’s inoculations have the most restrictive requirements for shipping and storage temperature, minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94°F).
UPS and FedEx are giving the vaccine top priority, reserving space on planes and trucks at a time when pandemic- and holiday- related e-commerce are creating more demand for deliveries than carriers can handle.
Both companies have expertise handling fragile medical products and are leaving little room for error. They are providing temperature and location tracking to backup devices embedded in the Pfizer boxes, and tracking each shipment throughout its journey.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 20,200 to 1,320,716, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.
The reported death toll rose by 321 to 21,787, the tally showed.
Pfizer says first Covid-19 vaccine supplies being prepared to ship from Michigan site
Pfizer has said that the first Covid-19 vaccine supplies are being prepared to ship from the company’s Kalamazoo, Michigan site.
They will be distributed by the US Department of Defense in partnership with agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services to government-designated facilities across the country, Pfizer said on Saturday night US time.
Opponents of lockdown measures have regularly protested in German cities over curbs. On Saturday, police in Frankfurt and Dresden were dressed in riot gear and armed with water cannon to enforce a ban on such demonstrations.
Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told the RND newspaper group on Saturday that hospital intensive care units were beginning to be stretched to their limits and that Germany could not wait until after Christmas to react.
Merkel has favoured stricter pan-German measures but was unable to get agreement from the nation’s 16 states.
But some states have since clamped down on their own.
Starting Saturday, a night curfew will be in force in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, except for people going out to work and for essential reasons.
More now on Germany’s plans to close shops.
The decision came ahead of a meeting planned for Sunday morning between Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders as Europe’s largest economy grapples with a rise in infections, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
Germany has been in partial lockdown for six weeks, with bars and restaurants closed, while stores and schools have remained open. Some regions have already imposed tougher measures as infections grew.
Markus Soeder, the premier of Bavaria, told Germany’s Bild newspaper that the new measures would be wide-ranging, including schools, kindergartens, contacts and shops.
“We definitely have to take the necessary measures before mid-week,” he said.
Germany was more successful than many European countries in keeping the pandemic under control in the first wave in March and April. But it has been struggling to turn the tide in the second wave with what has been dubbed a “lockdown lite”.
Daily new infections have climbed to 28,438, while the daily death toll was 496, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday.
“We must take steps in the coming days that are very far-reaching and very hard-hitting,” German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told members of his Social Democratic party at an online event.
Malaysia’s Top Glove saw profits soar, and its stock price jump as much as 400 percent this year as countries worldwide rushed to buy protective gear as the pandemic intensified.
But in interviews with AFP, the South Asian migrants working flat out to make the gloves - who typically earn around $300 a month - described appalling living conditions, in cramped dormitories where up to 25 people sleep in bunk beds in a single room.
Some claim the company did not do enough to protect them despite repeated warnings.
The scandal has added to growing pressure on the firm, already under scrutiny after the United States banned the import of some of its gloves over allegations of forced labour earlier this year.
The infections also prompted factory closures and look set to have an impact on global supply.
Top Glove, which commands about a quarter of the world’s market, has warned of delays to deliveries and rising prices.
The Australian share market looks set for a flat opening on Monday after Wall Street was kept in check by the lack of an aid package from Washington and rising levels of Covid-19.
The US S&P 500 index slipped 0.1% to 3,663.46, the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a 0.2% rise to 30,046.37 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.2% to 12,377.87.
Australian SPI 200 futures were down one point at 6630.
On Friday, the Australian S&P/ASX200 benchmark index closed 0.6 per cent down at 6642.6 after CSL chose not to continue with its coronavirus vaccine.
But it still managed to rise 0.1 % on the week, its sixth consecutive weekly gain.
Australia’s mid-year budget review is due at some stage this week.
It comes just weeks after the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s 2020/21 budget was handed down in October, which was delayed from May due to the pandemic.
Even so, there has been some significant developments in that short space of time.
The economy’s rebound from recession has been stronger than expected, as has the rise in employment, while confidence among Australian and business confidence has gone through the roof - a key pointer to future activity.
In Australia, there are two key events before economists and investors start winding down for year-end - jobs figures and the mid-year budget review, AAP reports.
Thursday’s labour force report for November is not expected to be the blockbuster seen in the previous month, when there was a surprising 178,800 surge in the number of people employed, aided by a return to work in Victoria as its lockdown ended.
For November, economists’ forecasts centre on a 40,000 increase in employment.
The unemployment rate is expected to remain at seven per cent, still shy of the spike to 7.5 per cent seen in June and during the depths of the pandemic, which was the highest level in 22 years.
But this would still mean nearly a million people are without a job.
An analysis by the Reserve Bank last week warned that while the economic outlook remains highly uncertain, it is likely that the unemployment rate will remain elevated for a number of years.
“As such, some unemployed people are facing the prospect of a prolonged period of unemployment,” it says.
Currently around one in every five unemployed people has been jobless for more than a year, an increase from about one in every eight a decade ago.
African-American country singer Charley Pride, whose No. 1 country hits included “All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)“ and “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin,’” died on Saturday at age 86 of complications from Covid-19, according to his website.
Pride, who died in Dallas, was not the first Black artist to make important contributions to country music, but he was a trailblazer who emerged during a time of division and rancour.
Between 1967 and 1987, Pride delivered 52 Top 10 country hits, won Grammy awards and became RCA Records’ top-selling country artist, according to the website.
“We’re not colour blind yet, but we’ve advanced a few paces along the path and I like to think I’ve contributed something to that process,” Pride wrote in his memoir.
The Mississippi native picked cotton, served in the US Army and played baseball in the Negro league before moving to Nashville, becoming the first Black country star. He joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000, Rolling Stone magazine said.
French theatres, cinemas and other venues said on Saturday they would go to court to force the government to allow them reopen, as the country emerges from partial virus lockdown on Tuesday, AFP reports.
The government announced on Thursday it would lift the six-week-long partial lockdown on December 15 and impose a night-time curfew instead.
But in a severe blow for the cultural sector, it said that museums, theatres, concert venues and cinemas would remain closed for three more weeks.
Nicolas Dubourg, president of a union representing 400 venues, said he would seek an urgent hearing on the matter at the Council of State, France’s highest administrative court.
“Our lawyers are busy compiling all the arguments,” he told AFP.
The government’s announcement forced venues into last-minute postponements of year-end productions and shows on which they had been relying to recoup some of their Covid-induced losses.
Panama registered a record 2,806 new cases of coronavirus infections on Saturday, taking the total number in the Central American country to 190,585, while deaths climbed by 22 to 3,331 overall, the health ministry said in a statement.
The record surpassed a previous high of 2,447 new cases reported by the Panamanian government earlier this month.
Mexico’s health ministry on Saturday reported 12,057 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 685 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 1,241,436 cases and 113,704 deaths.
The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
More on South Korea reporting a record case rise, from Reuters.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Saturday said further tightening social distancing restriction to the nation’s highest level would be inevitable if the spread continues, which would be practically a lockdown for the first time in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
South Korea was praised for its earlier success in containing the virus without a lockdown by relying heavily on contact-tracing and testing since the country’s first case was confirmed in January.
On Saturday, South Korea reported 950 new infections, prompting President Moon Jae-in to order the mobilisation of police, military personnel and public medical doctors to block the spread, which he called an “emergency.”
Greater Seoul is under level 2.5 restrictions. Raising that to 3, the highest of the five levels, would require schools to switch to remote learning, allow only essential workers in offices and ban gatherings of more than 10 people.
From canoeing and caving to mountaineering and axe-throwing, outdoor adventures are being banished from the childhood memories of a generation because of coronavirus regulations.
In the UK, outdoor centres that provide environmental education for young people from inner cities, including those who may be deprived or disabled, are warning that they face collapse due to a lack of government support.
Residential outdoor centres – many of them charities, not-for-profit or small, family-run businesses – have been closed since March and will not open again until April 2021 at the earliest, under Department for Education guidelines. Of the 15,000 teachers and instructors employed in the sector, about 6,000 have lost their jobs and several centres have permanently closed:
Brazil releases vaccination plan that covers a quarter of population, no start date
Brazil’s government has presented a Supreme Court justice with a coronavirus immunisation plan that provides initially for only enough shots for about a quarter of the population and does not indicate a start date, AP reports.
The document, which was made public Saturday, was submitted by President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration the previous night to judge Ricardo Lewandoswki, who had ordered the report after an opposition political party filed a lawsuit seeking information on the government’s immunisation plans for the pandemic.
The plan calls for the government to provide immunisation shots for priority groups that amount to about 51 million people, just under 25% of Brazil’s 212 million people. The first of four phases for vaccinating those groups include health workers, people older than 80 and Indigenous peoples.
Signed by the Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, the document says, however, that “the interruption of the circulation of Covid-19 in the national territory depends on a highly effective vaccine” being administered to more than 70% of the population.
No date is given for starting to give out immunisation shots. Brazil’s health regulator, Anvisa, has not yet approved the use of any coronavirus vaccine in the country.
In addition, the plan says that to avoid the collapse of Brazil’s health services, it may be necessary to “maintain social distancing measures for 1 to 2 years” — the type of pandemic restriction that often criticised by Bolsonaro, who argues that economic damage from lockdowns and other pandemic strictures will cause more harm to the country than the illnesses and deaths from the virus.
Germany to tighten restrictions
Germany will close shops from the middle of next week in a tightening of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
The decision came ahead of a meeting planned for Sunday between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders.
Germany has been in partial lockdown for six weeks, with bars and restaurants closed, while stores and schools have remained open. Some regions have already imposed tougher measures.
US deaths nearing 300,000 after another record day
The United States hit a record 16 million Covid-19 cases on Saturday afternoon, with deaths closing in on the 300,000 mark, after reporting another daily toll of over 3,000. even as millions of doses of a new vaccine were expected to start rolling out across the nation on Sunday.
Reuters: The first vaccine was approved late on Friday by the US Food and Drug Administration and is expected to touch off a mass-inoculation campaign of unparalleled dimension to end the pandemic that has upended daily life and devastated the US economy.
“FDA APPROVES PFIZER VACCINE FOR EMERGENCY USE!!!” President Donald Trump announced on Friday night on Twitter. He promised Americans the vaccinations would begin in less than 24 hours.
But US Army General Gustave Perna said on a Saturday news call that the first shipments will begin on Sunday and will be delivered to 145 locations around the country on Monday.
The remainder of the 636 delivery locations selected by states and US territories will receive doses on Tuesday and Wednesday, he said, adding that Pfizer will have more doses ready every week for distribution and administration.
The first batch of shots is expected to be aimed largely at health care workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities.
South Korea reports record daily case rise of 1,030 infections in 24 hours
South Korea reported a record daily increase in novel coronavirus cases for a second straight day with 1,030 new infections, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Sunday.
Of the new cases, 1,002 were locally transmitted, which bring the total tally to 42,766 infections, with 580 deaths.
On Saturday, South Korea reported 950 new infections, and the authorities warned they may tighten social-distancing restrictions to their strictest level.
Australian state of New South Wales marks nine days with no new cases
The Australian state of New South Wales has recorded a ninth straight day without a local Covid-19 case and removed the final restrictions for South Australians entering the state.
The zero locally-acquired infections in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday were accompanied by three cases found in returned travellers in NSW hotel quarantine.
NSW Health on Sunday said in a statement that orders barring entry to those connected to SA’s Parafield cluster were now lifted. NSW is now open to all people in Australia and New Zealand.
However authorities say they remain concerned with falling Covid-19 test numbers, with 9133 tests conducted in the 24-hour reporting period.
They again encouraged NSW residents to seek Covid-19 testing with even the mildest of respiratory symptoms.
“With restrictions eased, borders having reopened and Christmas just two weeks away, it is important we do not drop our guard against the virus,” NSW Health’s Dr Chatu Yapa said on Sunday.
“Don’t wait until Monday to see if your runny nose or sore throat goes away.”
NSW has now marked nine consecutive days of zero locally-acquired cases since a hotel quarantine cleaner last week picked up the virus.
Prior to that diagnosis, NSW went 26 days without a local case, which prompted the opening of the Queensland and WA borders for NSW residents.
NSW Health also on Sunday again implored those in Batemans Bay and southwest Sydney to come forward for testing with even the mildest of symptoms after fragments of the coronavirus were found in sewage.
No Covid-19 patients in NSW are currently in intensive care.
Australian state of Victoria records 1 new case in hotel quarantine
In Australia, the state of Victoria has recorded one new case of Covid-19 in its revamped hotel quarantine system but no new cases in the community. The case in quarantine, which was acquired overseas, is a boy under the age of five whose parents have also been diagnosed with coronavirus.
Victoria has now reached hit 44 days without local Covid-19 transmission.
The hotel quarantine case is the sixth recorded Covid-19 case since the Victorian government resumed its hotel quarantine programme earlier this week. Five of those Covid-19 cases were reported on Saturday, from a total of 6,233 tests.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
I’ll be bringing you the latest developments from around the world.
As usual, you can get in touch with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan with questions, comments, or something that might make our readers smile during what is likely to be a very dark day of news.
Germany will close shops from the middle of next week in a tightening of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
The decision came ahead of a meeting planned for Sunday between German chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders.
Meanwhile the US has again broken its daily death toll record, confirming 3,309 dead and more than 231,000 cases in 24 hours.
- Italy on Saturday became the European country with the highest official number of Covid fatalities, as its new total of 64,036 deaths overtook the UK toll of currently 64,026 reported deaths.
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The United States reported 244,011 new cases on Saturday, the highest daily increase since the beginning of the pandemic, while the number of deaths rose by 3,013 to 294,535.
- The share of Brazilians unwilling to take any Covid-19 vaccine grew to 22% this week, from 9% in August, and most said they would not accept one made in China, as president Jair Bolsonaro’s comments stoked wider scepticism in the badly hit country with, as of Saturday, 179,765 deaths, the second-highest in the world.
- France recorded 13,947 new coronavirus infections in the 24 hours to Saturday, while the Covid-19 death toll rose by 199, compared with Friday’s 304 deaths. France currently has the third-highest overall death toll in Europe.
- The US Food and Drug Administration said on Saturday that most Americans with allergies should be safe to receive the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, which will have been distributed to 145 locations across the country by Monday morning.
- The UK recorded 21,502 new Covid-19 infections on Saturday and 519 deaths, compared with Friday’s 21,672 new cases and 424 deaths.
