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A summary of today's developments
- Vaccine maker the Serum Institute of India is to invest in facilities in Britain and could manufacture inoculations in the UK in future, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, said.
- Brazil is close to signing a second contract with Pfizer for another 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, of which 35 million shots are due to be delivered in October, the country’s health minister, Marcelo Queiroga, said.
- The US Food and Drug Administration is preparing to authorize Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15 years by early next week, the New York Times reported.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has pleaded with the G7 to fund the global Covid-19 recovery, warning the crisis cannot be resolved worldwide if they do not step up, AFP reports.
- France’s new daily Covid-19 infections fell to an almost two-month low on average on Monday, Reuters reports. But after falling for five days in a row, the number of people in hospital with the disease went up by 132, a second consecutive increase, to reach 28,950.
- Morocco has detected its first two cases of the Indian Covid variant, the health ministry said.
- Algeria has detected its first cases of the coronavirus variant first discovered in India, state research centre Pasteur Institute said, Reuters reports.
- Tanzania has announced additional anti-Covid measures in an effort to prevent the importation of new variants.
- Denmark’s health authority confirmed the country will exclude the Johnson and Johnson’s Covid vaccine from its vaccination programme, becoming the first country to do so.
- Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, ordered the end to a blanket lockdown in the capital, Phnom Penh, despite the country registering a record 841 new Covid cases on Monday.
- The UK is on course to scrap the social distancing rule that requires people to stay at least one 1 metre apart by 21 June, prime minister Boris Johnson suggested. He urged caution over foreign holidays but said he expected there to be “some openings up” on 17 May.
- Trinidad and Tobago is tightening lockdown restrictions for three weeks starting at midnight as the number of new Covid-19 cases hits record highs and the islands face a potential shortage of hospital beds, Reuters reports.
Updated
Trinidad and Tobago is tightening lockdown restrictions for three weeks starting at midnight as the number of new Covid-19 cases hits record highs and the islands face a potential shortage of hospital beds, Reuters reports.
The prime minister, Keith Rowley, said that under the new restrictions, only businesses deemed essential services such as supermarkets, pharmacies and financial services would remain open, for reduced hours, in addition to the key energy and manufacturing sectors.
The government shut down shopping malls, cinemas, theatres, restaurants, bars, places of worship, beauty salons and fitness centres last week in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus. Other non-essential retail and food businesses such as street-food vendors will close from midnight.
“Our healthcare system is now in danger of [being] overrun because of the rate of infection we are experiencing,” Rowley said.
Updated
Here is more on the UK’s trade deal with India.
Updated
Vaccine maker the Serum Institute of India is to invest in facilities in Britain and could manufacture inoculations in the UK in future, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, said.
AFP reports:
Johnson’s Downing Street office said the £240 million ($334 million) project would include a sales office, “clinical trials, research and development and possibly manufacturing of vaccines”.
Downing Street said the vaccine maker’s plans were part of a wider package of trade and investment deals with India worth £1bn that it expects to create over 6,500 jobs.
Updated
The US Food and Drug Administration is preparing to authorise Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15 years by early next week, the New York Times reported.
The companies earlier this month applied to the FDA for potential approval of the vaccine, which has already been cleared in the US for people aged 16 and above.
Updated
Brazil registered 983 Covid-19 deaths on Monday and 24,619 further cases, according to data released by the nation’s health ministry.
The South American country has now registered 408,622 total coronavirus deaths and 14,779,529 total confirmed cases, Reuters reports.
Updated
Brazil is close to signing a second contract with Pfizer for another 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, of which 35 million shots are due to be delivered in October, the country’s health minister, Marcelo Queiroga, said.
Reuters reports:
That raises to 200 million doses of the Pfizer shot for Brazil this year, he said, aimed at relieving the shortage of vaccines.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second-largest city, announced over the weekend that it was delaying second doses of CoronaVac, the vaccine made by China’s Sinovac Biotech, because it was running out of doses.
The second dose will only be applied every other day until more supplies arrive from the finishing facility at the Butantan biomedical centre in Sao Paulo.
Most Covid-19 shots administered so far in Brazil have been CoronaVac, but the Butantan finishing line halted two weeks ago due to delayed shipments of active ingredients from China.
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Colombia is bracing for further unrest after a weekend in which largely peaceful nationwide demonstrations were met with a violent police reaction which left at least 16 demonstrators and one police officer dead and hundreds injured.
Videos shared on social media over the weekend showed police firing at protesters sometimes from close range, ramming crowds with motorcycles, and bashing demonstrators with their shields.
The drama of the weekend was encapsulated in a shocking TV news clip in which a live shot of the central city of Ibagué captured the moment in which a woman learnt that her 19-year-old son had died after being shot by police. “Kill me too, they also killed me,” she cried. “He was my only son!”
The demonstrations began with a general strike last Wednesday over an unpopular tax reform but quickly escalated when protesters were met by riot police armed with teargas, bean-bag rounds and billy clubs.
A summary of today's developments
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has pleaded with the G7 to fund the global Covid-19 recovery, warning the crisis cannot be resolved worldwide if they do not step up, AFP reports.
- France’s new daily Covid-19 infections fell to an almost two-month low on average on Monday, Reuters reports. But after falling for five days in a row, the number of people hospitalised by the disease went up by 132, a second consecutive increase, to reach 28,950.
- Morocco has detected its first two cases of the Indian Covid variant, the health ministry said.
- Algeria has detected its first cases of the coronavirus variant first discovered in India, state research centre Pasteur Institute said, Reuters reports.
- Tanzania has announced additional anti-Covid measures in an effort to prevent the importation of new variants.
- Denmark’s health authority confirmed the country will exclude the Johnson and Johnson’s Covid vaccine from its vaccination programme, becoming the first country to do so.
- Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, ordered the end to a blanket lockdown in the capital, Phnom Penh, despite the country registering a record 841 new Covid cases on Monday.
- The UK is on course to scrap the social distancing rule that requires people to stay at least one 1 metre apart by 21 June, prime minister Boris Johnson suggested. He urged caution over foreign holidays but said he expected there to be “some openings up” on 17 May.
Updated
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will lift most of their coronavirus capacity restrictions on businesses from 19 May, the governors of the three states said.
“New Yorkers have made tremendous progress,” New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, said. “It’s time to readjust the decision made on the science and on the data.”
Amusement parks, salons and offices are among the other types of businesses which will soon no longer be subject to state-imposed capacity restrictions, although all businesses can still set their own restrictions, Reuters reports.
Cuomo also announced the New York City subway system, which has been closing from 2am to 4am for disinfecting stations and carriages, will resume its 24-hour service on 17 May.
Updated
Mexico’s health ministry has reported 1,027 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 112 more deaths, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 2,349,900 and fatalities to 217,345, Reuters reports.
Separate government data published in March suggested the real death toll may be at least 60% above the confirmed figure.
France’s new daily Covid-19 infections fell to an almost two-month low on average on Monday, Reuters reports.
But after falling for five days in a row, the number of people in hospital for the disease went up by 132, a second consecutive increase, to reach 28,950.
From today, a restriction limiting people to a 10 kilometre (6.2 mile) radius from their homes was lifted and secondary schools partly reopened.
Updated
One in four Spaniards has now had one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, health authorities said, Reuters reports.
In total, 12,162,359 people have received one dose of one of the four vaccines being used in Spain – or 25.6% of the population of 47 million.
Some 5,098,903 people have had both doses of the vaccine, or 11% of the population.
Updated
Algeria has detected its first cases of the coronavirus variant first discovered in India, state research centre Pasteur Institute said, Reuters reports.
Six cases of the variant have been confirmed in the coastal province of Tipaza, about 70 km (43 miles) west of the capital, Algiers, it said.
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Pfizer said it has told the Indian government that there was no concern over the safety of its Covid-19 vaccine.
Reuters reports:
The government in mid-April made it easier for foreign vaccines approved in the west and Japan to sell in India, though companies would still have to initiate a local clinical trial within 30 days of receiving emergency use authorisation.
Previously, companies were required to do the trial prior to approval. India has invited Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna Inc to sell their vaccines to the country but none have applied to do so yet.
Pfizer, however, said it is holding fresh talks with the government after having withdrawn its initial application in February over the earlier local trial rule.
“Pfizer’s application for emergency use authorization was supported with data that shows an overall efficacy rate of 95% with no safety concerns,” a company spokeswoman said when asked if it had sought an exception even to the current trial rule in its discussions with the government.
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Israel will begin sending emergency medical aid including oxygen equipment to India on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said.
The ministry said a series of flights throughout the week would carry aid that included thousands of group and individual oxygen generators, as well as respirators, medications and other medical equipment, Reuters reports.
“The extension of emergency assistance is an expression of the deep friendship between our countries in India’s time of need,” Israel’s foreign minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, said.
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Tunisian government doctors in non-emergency roles launched a three-day strike on Monday to demand premiums paid to other frontline healthcare workers tackling coronavirus.
AFP reports:
Doctors, except those “in emergency services, dialysis and Covid services”, were called out on strike, said Noureddine Ben Abdellah, secretary general of the union of doctors, dentists and pharmacists, part of the powerful UGTT trades union.
The government has put in place bonus pay for other healthcare workers but not doctors, Ben Abdellah said.
The union is also calling for temporary doctors to be hired to help cope with rising coronavirus cases.
The strike, which comes as Tunisia struggles to stem a surge in coronavirus cases needing hospital treatment, caused temporary delays to the rollout of Covid-19 vaccinations in some centres.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has pleaded with the G7 to fund the global Covid-19 recovery, warning the crisis cannot be resolved worldwide if they do not step up, AFP reports.
The WHO said the Group of Seven industrial powers had the ability to fund the vaccines, tests and treatments needed to conquer the pandemic – and knock down the barriers blocking faster production.
The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged the G7 nations to take decisive action at their 11-13 June summit, being hosted by the UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, in Cornwall.
“The G7 countries are the world’s economic and political leaders. They are also home to many of the world’s vaccine producers,” Tedros told a news conference.
“We will only solve the vaccine crisis with the leadership of these countries.”
Tedros was backed up by former British prime minister Gordon Brown, who warned the pandemic was becoming a “manmade catastrophe”.
Updated
Early evening summary
Here is a quick recap of all the main Covid-related updates from around the world:
- Morocco has detected its first two cases of the Indian Covid variant, the health ministry said.
- Tanzania has announced additional anti-Covid measures in an effort to prevent the importation of new variants.
- Denmark’s health authority confirmed the country will exclude Johnson and Johnson’s Covid vaccine from its vaccination programme, becoming the first country to do so.
- Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, ordered the end to a blanket lockdown in the capital, Phnom Penh, despite the country registering a record 841 new Covid cases on Monday.
- On 21 June, Britain is on course to scrap the social distancing rule that requires people to stay at least 1 metre apart, Boris Johnson, the UK’s prime minister, suggested. He urged caution over foreign holidays but said he expected there to be “some openings up” on 17 May.
Updated
As a catastrophic surge of the coronavirus sweeps through India, the leaders of 13 opposition parties urged the government to launch a free vaccination drive and ensure an uninterrupted flow of oxygen to all hospitals.
AP reports:
Several hospital authorities sought court intervention over the weekend to provide oxygen supplies in New Delhi, where a lockdown has been extended by a week in an attempt to contain the wave of infections.
The New Delhi high court said it would start punishing government officials if supplies of oxygen allocated to hospitals are not delivered.
“Water has gone above the head. Enough is enough,” it said.
India reported 368,147 new coronavirus cases and 3,417 deaths on Monday – numbers that experts believe are vast undercounts because of a widespread lack of testing and incomplete reporting.
Updated
US retail pharmacy chains CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens are responsible for the vast majority of wasted Covid-19 vaccine doses, which total over 180,000 doses, reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to a report from Kaiser Health News.
As of late March, the CDC recorded 182,874 tossed doses. Combined, CVS and Walgreens wasted 128,500 doses, with CVS wasting about half and Walgreens 21% of the total wasted amount.
My colleague Lauren Aratani has the full story:
Updated
Morocco detects first two cases of Indian variant
Morocco has detected its first two cases of the Indian Covid variant whose contacts have been isolated to avoid contagion, the health ministry said.
Morocco has banned flights with most countries and kept a night curfew in place to counter the spread of new variants, Reuters reports.
The North African kingdom has confirmed 511,912 Covid cases and registered nearly 9,032 deaths.
It has rolled out vaccinations more rapidly than its neighbours, inoculating 5.1 million people to date.
The variant, B.1.617, has reached at least 17 countries, sparking global concern and spurring several to close their borders to people travelling from India.
Updated
Tanzania announces measures to curb new Covid variants
Tanzania has announced additional anti-Covid measures, saying it wanted to prevent the importation of new variants, Reuters reports.
Among the new curbs, travellers, both foreigners and Tanzanians, will be required to present negative Covid tests at border points.
The new president Samia Suluhu Hassan’s approach to tackling the pandemic contrasts sharply with her late predecessor John Magufuli who dismissed fears of the infection.
A ministry of health statement said:
Based on the global epidemiological situation and emergence of new variants of viruses that cause Covid-19, there’s an increased risk of their importation into our country.
To prevent such a risk, the statement added that Tanzania had “decided to elevate and enhance prevailing preventive measures, especially those with regard to international travel.”
There will also be “enhanced screening” of travellers and a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travellers from countries with new variants and those who have travelled there in the last two weeks.
Updated
The number of people treated in intensive care units in France for Covid-19 went up by 45 to 5,630, French health authorities have said.
It represented the second consecutive increase after ICU numbers fell five days in a row and comes as the country is gradually unwinding its third lockdown.
Updated
Italy reported 256 Covid-related deaths on Monday against 144 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 5,948 from 9,148.
Patients in hospital with Covid – not including those in intensive care – reached 18,395 on Monday, slightly up from 18,345 a day earlier, Reuters reports.
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This was shared earlier by Chris Ship, ITV’s royal editor:
Useful table in @thetimes suggesting where your summer holiday overseas is most likely to be granted this year.
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) May 3, 2021
🇮🇱 Israel has the greatest proportion of its population vaccinated.
Followed by 🇲🇹 🇦🇪 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇨🇱 🇭🇺 🇩🇪 🇪🇸 🇵🇹 🇮🇹 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/ejLQGpHazU
This month, Venezuela will begin clinical trials of the Cuban Covid vaccine candidate Abdala, and plans to produce enough doses locally to vaccinate 4 million people, the health minister, Carlos Alvarado, has said.
In March, Cuba approved late-stage trials of Abdala, named after a poem by the 19th-century Cuban independence hero José Martí, Reuters reports.
The trials are to be completed in July and the first results published in August, according to state media.
Alvarado told Venezuelan state television:
We will be starting a clinical study with this vaccine, but simultaneously, adapting our national vaccine laboratory to produce, if all goes well as we hope, doses for 4 million people.
Updated
Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary, has expressed certainty over a “great British summer” ahead.
In a video posted on Twitter, he said:
It seems like only yesterday that Margaret Keenan was getting the first clinically authorised vaccine in the world and now we’ve delivered 50 million. And this is so important of course because it is a life-saving vaccine that helps protect you, helps protect those around you, and it is our route out of this pandemic. And it’s because of the vaccination programme that we’re able to keep going down this road map, and I know we’re going to have a great British summer.
We’ve just delivered the 50 millionth jab across the UK!
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) May 3, 2021
Massive achievement from the team.
These jabs are saving lives and helping us get back to normal.
Thank you to everyone who has played their part in our national effort.
When you get the call, get the jab. pic.twitter.com/BlSWwVGma6
Updated
The UK government has reported 1,649 new coronavirus cases on Monday, down 22 from the previous day.
There has also been one new death within 28 days of a positive coronavirus death. A total of 34.59 million people have received at least one vaccination dose.
Updated
My colleague Daniel Boffey reports that the coronavirus vaccine rollout is rapidly gathering pace across Europe.
Like the Netherlands, although for different reasons, Belgium’s rollout was not quick in the early months of this year. Faced with some of the worst death statistics in Europe, the government focused on getting jabs to its most vulnerable: 86.8% of over 80s are fully vaccinated and 84.18% of 65- to 84-year-olds. But it is now firing through the younger, more easily accessed age groups, reducing the time between delivery of doses and administration from 18 days in March to around four in the last week.
This evolution is being witnessed elsewhere in the EU. Apart from the stragglers of Bulgaria, Latvia, Croatia and Romania, solidly over 20% of the population in each of the other EU member states has now received a vaccine jab, with the tiny island state of Malta leading the way with 52.43%, and as the difficult-to-get-to priority groups are being ticked off the pace of jabs is increasing.
Denmark becomes first country to exclude Johnson & Johnson's vaccine
Denmark’s health authority has said that the country will exclude the Johnson and Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine from its vaccination programme, becoming the first country to do so.
The decision was made due to the vaccine’s potential link to a rare but serious form of blood clot.
Last month, Denmark stopped the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to its possible links with blood clots.
In a statement, the Danish health authority said that “the benefits of using the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson do not outweigh the risk of causing the possible adverse effect in those who receive the vaccine”.
Reuters reports:
Denmark, which has so far fully vaccinated 11.5% of its population, has gradually been reopening society since early March as infection rates has slowed, including indoor service at restaurants and cafes and allowing football fans into stadiums.
“Taking the present situation in Denmark into account, what we are currently losing in our effort to prevent severe illness from COVID-19 cannot outweigh the risk of causing possible side effects in the form of severe blood clots in those we vaccinate,” the health authority said.
It added that the vaccination rollout is progressing satisfactorily with other available vaccines.
The country has recorded over 253,000 coronavirus cases and 2,490 coronavirus-related deaths.
Updated
Reuters reports that Kuwati citizens who have not received a coronavirus vaccine will not be able to travel abroad from 22 May, the information ministry has said.
The ban does not include people in age groups not eligible to receive the vaccination yet.
Updated
Boris Johnson has said that the UK is doing “everything we can” in the interests of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, as officials downplayed reports from Iran that Britain would pay £400m to secure her release.
PA reports:
Boris Johnson has said the UK is doing “everything we can” in the interests of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, as officials downplayed reports from Iran that said Britain would pay a £400m debt to secure her release.
Iranian state TV claimed on Sunday that a deal had been struck over the long-running dispute, which has been suggested as a reason for the British-Iranian charity worker’s detention.
But UK officials have since downplayed the idea that payment of the debt would mean Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s imminent release, while the prime minister said on Monday they were “two entirely separate issues”.
“We of course make sure that we do everything we can to look after the interests of Nazanin and all the very difficult dual national cases we have in Tehran,” Mr Johnson told reporters during a campaign visit to Hartlepool.
Updated
Tobi Thomas here, taking over while my colleague Yohannes Lowe has a break. If you would like to get in touch with any tips, please do email tobi.thomas@theguardian.com - thanks!
Severe Covid-19 vaccine shortages have hampered India’s plan to administer jabs to all adults, with fewer then half of India’s states able to begin vaccinating over-18s amid warnings the shortfall could last months.
Over the weekend, more than 600 million Indians became eligible for the coronavirus vaccine in a policy that was introduced in the wake of a deadly second wave hitting the country last month.
However, as many had predicted, vaccine shortages have proved a huge impediment to the rollout and so far only 12 of India’s 36 states and union territories have had enough vaccines in stock to begin vaccinating over-18s, and many only in small numbers.
Hannah Ellis-Petersen, the Guardian’s south Asia correspondent, has the latest here:
Cambodian capital to end blanket lockdown despite surge
On Monday, Cambodia registered a record 841 new Covid cases, but prime minister Hun Sen ordered the end to a blanket lockdown in the capital Phnom Penh, saying there would be only be lockdowns in areas where infections had surged.
The south-east Asian country has recorded one of the world’s smallest coronavirus caseloads, but infections have climbed from about 500 in late February to 15,361 now, with a total 106 deaths.
It reported 730 new cases on Sunday and a second highest daily record of 841 on Monday, according to Reuters.
Authorities put Phnom Penh and the nearby town of Takhmau, where most of the cases have been recorded, under a hard lockdown on 15 April.
Under the lockdown, authorities declared some districts “red zones”, banning people from leaving their homes.
The World Health Organization representative in Cambodia, Li Ailan, warned on Sunday against easing curbs too soon.
Ailan said in a tweet:
Relaxing Covid-19 measures too fast and too soon means a possible surge.
Updated
This has been shared by Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter:
#Malta becomes first EU country to overtake U.K. in % of population vaccinated. #Hungary not far behind. Rest of Europe doing much better now on #vaccines & rates mainly falling. Augurs well for #SaveOurSummer pic.twitter.com/4lFLlwexmA
— Ben Bradshaw (@BenPBradshaw) May 3, 2021
A total of 41,938,694 Covid vaccinations took place in England between 8 December and 2 May, according to NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 208,177 on the previous day.
As reported by PA Media, NHS England said 28,965,936 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 70,777 on the previous day, while 12,972,758 were a second dose, an increase of 137,400.
Reuters reports:
The annual Oktoberfest, the world’s largest beer festival, will not take place this year due to the coronavirus crisis, Die Welt reported on Monday, citing news agency DPA.
The Oktoberfest, which was cancelled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, attracts around 6m visitors to Munich every year, with many travelling from abroad.
Revellers sit together on long communal tables to swig beer, eat sausages, pretzel or pork knuckle, and listen to oompah bands.
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According to Reuters, Novavax Inc has said it has expanded the late-stage study testing its Covid vaccine candidate, to include up to 3,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17. We will bring you more developments on this as they come.
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Denmark has decided not to include the Johnson & Johnson Covid shot in its vaccination programme, Reuters has cited the newspaper B.T. to have reported.
The Nordic country last month stopped using AstraZeneca’s vaccine altogether over a potential link to a rare but serious form of blood clot.
Excluding the J&J vaccine, which accounts for around a third of Denmark’s total contracted supplies of Covid shots, could significantly delay the country’s vaccination calendar.
Danish health authorities are expected to make an announcement on the vaccine at the beginning of this week.
Updated
Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has criticised the “chopping and changing” of the travel corridors list introduced last summer, according to PA Media.
During a campaign visit to Lewisham in south London, Starmer told journalists:
We need to be very careful. I think it’s clear that the virus is increasing in some countries around the world, so we have to be very, very careful. What we can’t have is a repeat of last summer, where the lists were chopping and changing on a daily or even weekly basis. So I’ll wait and see what the government has to say but I think we have to be very careful and very cautious.
Boris Johnson urges caution over foreign holidays but expects 'some openings up'
Boris Johnson, the UK’s prime minister, has said he expected there to be “some openings up” on 17 May, which is when a new risk-based traffic light system is set to be introduced for international travel.
Asked if people should be planning foreign holidays, he told reporters:
We will be saying more as soon as we can. I think that there will be some openings up on the 17th, but we have got to be cautious and we have got to be sensible and we have got to make sure that we don’t see the virus coming back in.
Updated
Reuters reports:
Costa Rica’s internationally renowned green escapes are likely to suffer through a second year of costly tourist hesitancy, as the spread of the pandemic intensifies in the Central American nation, further battering the key travel sector.
Amid an April surge of Covid-19 infections, hospital beds are scarce in the tropical country. Its infection rate last week surpassed even tragedy-struck India and Brazil, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Given the lack of widespread testing, the real figures could be even worse.
Costa Rica’s hoteliers and other travel businesses expected increasingly vaccinated travellers from top markets in North America and Europe to inject an infusion of cash for the industry after record-low visits last year, but that does not seem likely anymore.
“We’re anticipating a much worse year than 2020,” said Shirley Calvo, head of the tourism business chamber. “If there’s no government aid, we will have a cemetery of companies by the end of this year,” she added.
According to PA Media, Boris Johnson also said he did not want to see an “influx of disease” once international travel resumes, which is why the government is being “as cautious as we can” with the road map.
'Good chance' one-metre plus distancing rule to be scrapped from 21 June, says Boris Johnson
On 21 June, Britain is on course to scrap the social distancing rule that requires people to stay at least one metre apart, Boris Johnson has suggested.
The prime minister told reporters during a local election campaign visit to the north of England:
I think we’ve got a good chance, a good chance, of being able to dispense with one-metre plus.
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This post has been shared by Boris Johnson, the prime minister of the UK. The 1,000 ventilators from the UK’s surplus supply are in addition to 200 sent last week in shipments that included nearly 500 oxygen concentrators.
Thanks to the help and generosity of @boconline, last night a delivery of much-needed oxygen cylinders was sent from the UK to India.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 3, 2021
We stand by our friends in India during these difficult times. pic.twitter.com/o4b1sikVL6
Updated
Update on the Covid situation in India: In New Delhi, Gurpreet Singh Rummy, who runs a group of volunteers providing oxygen to patients, told Reuters:
No one should die because of a lack of oxygen. It’s a small thing otherwise, but nowadays, it is the one thing every one needs.
He called it an oxygen “langar”, the word used by Sikhs for a communal free kitchen.
Modelling by a team of government advisers shows coronavirus cases could peak by Wednesday this week, a few days earlier than a previous estimate, since the virus has spread faster than expected.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, plans to run for a second five-year term as the head of the agency, Stat News reports.
It remains unclear whether others will emerge to challenge the 56-year-old. You can read the full story here.
Updated
Reuters reports:
Yemen has received 360,000 doses from the global Covax vaccine-sharing scheme, yet many Yemenis seem reluctant to get inoculated on religious grounds, due to distrust of the vaccine, or because of the dangers of war.
“We have received 70,000 doses in Taiz and we started the vaccination campaign on 21 April,” Rajeh al-Maliki, head of Yemen’s health ministry in Taiz.
“We can fairly say that there is very little interest … we have distributed around 500 shots since we started, it is less than we expected,” Maliki said.
There has been a dramatic spike in infections in Yemen this year, straining a health system already battered by war, economic collapse and a shortfall in aid funding.
The Iranian-aligned Houthi movement, which controls most of northern Yemen and parts of Taiz, has been battling the Saudi-backed government since 2014.
Tens of thousands have been killed and millions rely on aid to survive.
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This graph on daily UK Covid deaths has been shared by Our World in Data:
The number of daily COVID deaths in UK since the peak three months ago.
— Our World in Data (@OurWorldInData) May 3, 2021
This is plotted on a logarithmic axis. A straight line on a log axis shows exponential change with a constant rate – in this case exponential decay.
[all data https://t.co/YG8Fj7FWR1] pic.twitter.com/oWN301HT6h
The coronavirus outbreak at Everest base camp in Nepal, controversially opened to climbers despite the pandemic, has infected “many people” amid continuing evacuations and complaints of lack of transparency over the severity of the situation.
With Nepal reporting a record number of more than 7,000 new cases in a day, its highest total since October, reports from Everest described a number of evacuations of climbers showing symptoms of Covid-19 even as doctors at base camp complained privately they were not being allowed by the country’s ministry of health to undertake PCR testing.
Peter Beaumont, a senior reporter on the Guardian’s Global Development desk, has the full story here:
This is from Per Olsson Fridh, Sweden’s minister for international development cooperation:
Sweden announces today our plans to donate one million vaccine doses to #COVAX. No one is safe until everyone is safe. Meeting @WHO @DrTedros and @Gavi @GaviSeth in Geneva today to discuss further. Hope more countries will follow our lead.
— Per Olsson Fridh (@thinkper) May 3, 2021
Moderna will supply 34m doses of its Covid vaccine this year and Sweden has donated 1m AstraZeneca shots to the global Covax programme, Reuters reports.
The advance purchase contract agreed with Moderna is for up to 500m doses, but the rollout will only start in the fourth quarter, with 34m doses available this year, the Gavi vaccine alliance has confirmed.
Updated
Hello everyone, this is Yohannes Lowe. I’ll be running the blog until the evening (UK time). As always, feel free to get in touch on Twitter if you have any story tips.
Today so far …
- The European Commission has recommended that foreign citizens fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and those coming from countries with a good epidemiological situation be allowed to travel into European Union countries without additional restrictions.
- US president Joe Biden and Britain’s Prince Harry were among those calling for vaccine equity at the recording of a fundraising concert in Los Angeles for the global Covax programme. Biden said in a video address that the US was “working with leaders around the world to share more vaccines and boost production to make sure every country has the vaccines they need”.
- India recorded a record number of deaths on Sunday. New coronavirus cases fell slightly, but deaths due to the infection jumped by a new high 3,689, with one more state going into lockdown as the nation’s healthcare system struggles to cope with a massive caseload.
- Press reports and sources have said that twenty-four people died in one hospital overnight on India on Sunday in the southern state of Karnataka after the hospital ran out of oxygen, though the district administration denied that shortages had caused the deaths. A further 12 people died on Saturday in a hospital in the capital New Delhi after it ran out of oxygen, reports said.
- Britain will send another 1,000 ventilators to India, the government announced on Sunday.
- The IPL cricket match scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders tonight has been postponed after two players tested positive for Covid. The league has been fiercely criticised for continuing amid India’s Covid crisis.
- Pakistan has closed land crossings with Iran and Afghanistan for travellers and slashed international flights as the government warned of a “critical” few weeks ahead in the battle against Covid-19.
- Taiwan will suspend the entry of people who have been to India over the previous 14 days from tomorrow.
- There’s the threat of legal challenges to Australia’s travel ban on anybody arriving from India, regardless of whether they are Australian citizens or permanent residents.
- Ahead of Scotland’s national election on Thursday, first minister Nicola Sturgeon has rubbished suggestions that an independent Scotland would not have been able to procure the same level of vaccinations. British finance minister Rishi Sunak also intervened in the campaign, saying a future possible referendum on Scottish independence would hamper the UK’s economic recovery from Covid.
- Gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools are reopening in Wales as the further easing of the Covid-19 restrictions continues.
- The 30-person limit on the number of mourners who can attend funerals in England is to be lifted later this month, the government has announced.
- Malaysia will begin a parallel Covid-19 innoculation programme this week for people who chose to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, after it was removed from an ongoing rollout due to public fears over its safety.
- The organisers of the Tokyo Olympics have sparked anger in Japan’s medical community after they asked 500 nurses to volunteer at this summer’s Games.
- Hong Kong’s government has sparked discrimination concerns over plans to force hundreds of thousands of foreign domestic workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or face losing their job.
That’s your lot from me, Martin Belam, this morning. Yohannes Lowe will be along shortly to take you through the rest of the day.
Updated
Russia boasted last year of being first in the world to authorise a coronavirus vaccine, but it now finds itself lagging in getting its population immunised. That has cast doubt on whether authorities will reach their ambitious goal of vaccinating more than 30 million of country’s 146 million people by mid-June and nearly 69 million by August.
Daria Litinova reports for Associated Press that the vaccine reluctance comes as shots are readily available in Moscow to anyone 18 or older at more than 200 state and private clinics, shopping malls, food courts, hospitals
As of mid-April, over 1 million of Moscow’s 12.7 million residents, or about 8%, have received at least one shot. That percentage is similar for Russia as a whole, putting Russia far behind the US, where 43% have had at least one shot, and the European Union with nearly 27%.
Data analyst Alexander Dragan, who tracks vaccinations across Russia, said last week the country was giving shots to 200,000-205,000 people a day. In order to hit the mid-June target, it needs to be nearly double that. “We need to start vaccinating 370,000 people a day, like, beginning tomorrow,” Dragan said.
Russia’s lagging vaccination rates hinge on several factors, including supply. Russian drug makers have been slow to ramp up mass production, and there were shortages in March in many regions. So far, only 28m two-dose sets of the three vaccines available in Russia have been produced
To boost demand, Moscow officials began offering coupons worth 1,000 rubles (£9.50) to those over 60 who get vaccinated – not a small sum for those receiving monthly pensions of about 20,000 rubles.
Still, it hasn’t generated much enthusiasm. Some elderly Muscovites told AP it was difficult to register online for the coupons or find grocery stores that accepted them.
Other regions also are offering incentives. Authorities in Chukotka, across the Bering Strait from Alaska, promised seniors 2,000 rubles for getting vaccinated, while the neighbouring Magadan region offered 1,000 rubles. A theatre in St Petersburg offered discounted tickets for those presenting a vaccination certificate.
Government statistics say Covid infections in Russia have stayed at about 8,000-9,000 per day nationwide, with 300-400 deaths recorded daily. But new cases have been steadily increasing in Moscow in the past month, exceeding 3,000 last week for the first time since January.
Infection rates are growing in seven regions, deputy prime minister Tatyana Golikova said on 23 April, without identifying them. She blamed “insufficient vaccination rates” in some places.
Updated
If you’ve got any questions about the travel ban that Australia has imposed on people – including its own citizens and permanent residents – from coming back to the country from India, then Paul Karp has you covered with this Q&A…
Malaysia opens parallel vaccination programme for those willing to have AstraZeneca jab
Malaysia will begin a parallel Covid-19 innoculation programme this week for people who chose to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, after it was removed from an ongoing rollout due to public fears over its safety, report Reuters.
Malaysia, which received its first 268,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses in April, said it would allow people to choose to receive the jab on a first-come, first-serve basis. Reports of possible links to very rare blood clots have dented confidence.
The decision was made after around 8,000 people cancelled online vaccination registrations following the government’s announcement that the shot would be part of the nationwide rollout, science minister Khairy Jamaludin told reporters.
Data also showed increased vaccine hesitancy with some people not showing up to appointments after AstraZeneca was included, he said.
“The number of cancellations was rising, and this resulted in (authorities) deciding that we should carve out AstraZeneca from the mainstream national immunisation programme,” Khairy said.
Slots for 268,000 doses were filled in just three hours after bookings opened on Sunday, he said, adding the programme that starts on Wednesday would be expanded when more doses arrive. Malaysia is due to receive 12.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with the next shipment of 1.1 million doses expected to arrive this month.
AstraZeneca has pointed to regulator recommendations that the vaccine is safe and effective, though some countries have suspended its use due to rising unease or limited it to certain age groups.
Sunak: Scottish independence referendum would endanger Covid economic recovery
British finance minister, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, has intervened in the campaigning in Scotland ahead of Thursday’s national election, and has said that a possible future referendum on Scottish independence would put Britain’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic at risk.
Sunak stressed the need to finish dealing with Covid-19 and start rebuilding the economy, ahead of any further moves towards Scottish independence.
“There is one clear risk to this shared goal, and that is the uncertainty of a second independence referendum,” he said in a statement distributed by the Scottish Conservative Party. “It would needlessly divide our country and at the worst possible time.”
European commission recommends easing restrictions on travel into EU by vaccinated people
The European commission has recommended that foreign citizens fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and those coming from countries with a good epidemiological situation be allowed to travel into European Union countries without additional restrictions, report Reuters.
“The commission proposes to allow entry to the EU for non-essential reasons not only for all persons coming from countries with a good epidemiological situation but also all people who have received the last recommended dose of an EU-authorised vaccine,” the executive arm said in a statement.
“This could be extended to vaccines having completed the WHO emergency use listing process. In addition, the commission proposes to raise … the threshold related to the number of new Covid-19 cases used to determine a list of countries from which all travel should be permitted,” it also said, adding that should lead to the expansion of the list.
Our Brussels bureau chief Daniel Boffey explains that the proposal is to increase the threshold of 14-day cumulative Covid-19 case notification rate from 25 to 100. This remains considerably below the current EU average, which is over 420. The UK is comfortably within that range, which should mean good news for those wishing to holiday in Europe.
Updated
Legal challenges loom after Australian government bans citizens returning from India
Lawyers expect that a legal case challenging Australia’s India travel ban could be filed within days, despite the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, saying it was his “absolute belief” the measure was lawful.
Hunt announced a potential five-year jail term and $66,000 fine late on Friday, in a dramatic escalation of the flight bans implemented a week earlier.
Marque Lawyers’ managing principal, Michael Bradley, told Guardian Australia his firm was “actively looking into” a legal challenge and he considered the prospect of a court case over the India travel ban “pretty likely”.
Bradley said Marque had been approached by an Indian Australia family with the parents currently in Australia and grandparents who had taken their three-year-old grandchild to India for a visit in February 2020 before Australia insisted citizens and permanent residents return home in March 2020. They are now unable to return.
Bradley said the fact the determination expires on 15 May and could be revoked adds a degree of urgency.
The Grata Fund, which supports public interest litigation, has also been contacted about mounting a legal challenge to the ban.
“There is an enormous amount of distress about the Morrison government’s India travel ban in our community,” Isabelle Reinecke, the fund’s founder and executive director, said.
“We’ve received a lot of inquiries about potential legal challenges over the weekend, which we’re working through now.”
Read more of Nino Bucci and Paul Karp’s report here: Legal challenges loom after Australian government bans citizens returning from India
The latest Agence France-Press round-up from India includes a stark reminder of the crisis engulfing the country’s healthcare system.
Press reports and sources have said that twenty-four people died in one hospital overnight on Sunday in the southern state of Karnataka after the hospital ran out of oxygen, though the district administration denied that shortages had caused the deaths.
A further 12 people died on Saturday in a hospital in the capital New Delhi after it ran out of oxygen, reports said.
Several hospitals sent out desperate appeals for oxygen on social media overnight, with deliveries arriving only in the nick of time.
One children’s clinic in Delhi raised the alarm on Twitter over a shortage of oxygen that has reportedly left about 25 to 30 newborns and children at risk.
“Oxygen is a basic requirement of a hospital and a consistent supply has not been assured. We are constantly firefighting,” the head of the Madhukar Rainbow Children’s Hospital Dr Dinesh told the Indian Express daily.
Adding to the pressure on prime minister Narendra Modi, India’s Supreme Court on Sunday ordered the government to rectify the oxygen situation in Delhi by midnight (1830 GMT) on Monday.
Updated
It is a bank holiday in the UK, but that does not mean there isn’t any news about banks. Holly Williams, PA Media’s deputy City editor reports that the Bank of England is set to hike its forecasts for the UK economy on Thursday as the vaccination programme and easing of lockdown help boost Britain’s recovery.
Policymakers at the Bank are expected to “significantly” upgrade their growth outlook as they keep interest rates on hold at 0.1%, according to experts.
While the latest lockdown is predicted to see gross domestic product fall once more between January and March, it is thought the hit will be far less than first feared as the economy becomes increasingly resilient.
GDP rose 0.4% in February, after a 2.2% fall in January, even though England was still in full lockdown. Economists also believe the economy has already got off to a strong start in the second quarter as non-essential shops and outdoor dining reopened in England on 12 April, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also saw some easing of Covid restrictions.
Updated
Japan nurses voice anger at call to volunteer for Tokyo Olympics amid Covid crisis
Also with Covid’s impact on sporting events in mind, Justin McCurry reports for us from Tokyo:
The organisers of the Tokyo Olympics have sparked anger in Japan’s medical community after they asked 500 nurses to volunteer at this summer’s Games.
The request came as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and organisers pressed ahead with plans to hold the Games, even as the coronavirus pandemic continued to worsen in the host nation, amid warnings that the event could place an intolerable strain on exhausted health workers.
The total number of Covid-19 deaths in Japan recently passed 10,000 – the highest in the region – while media reports said the number of people with severe Covid-19 symptoms reached a record 1,050 at the weekend.
Medical staff in Tokyo and other areas where cases are surging say their professional focus must remain on coronavirus patients and people with other illnesses who have had their treatment delayed due to the virus.
A recent request to the Japanese Nursing Association to send 500 of its members to Tokyo 2020 was met with a wave of anger on social media from nurses who said they were too busy to devote time to the Olympics.
The secretary general of the Japan Federation of Medical Workers’ Unions, Susumu Morita, said the pandemic should take priority. “We must stop the proposal to send nurses who are engaged in the fight against a serious coronavirus pandemic to volunteer at the Olympics,” Morita said in a statement.
Read more of Justin McCurry’s report here: Japan nurses voice anger at call to volunteer for Tokyo Olympics amid Covid crisis
Updated
IPL cricket match postponed after two players test positive for Covid
There’s been some fierce criticism of the continuation of the Indian Premier League cricket while India has been reporting more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for twelve straight days. Tonight’s game, scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders, has been postponed.
The cricket website ESPNcricinfo has stated that the players, Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier, tested positive after Chakravarthy recently left the IPL bio-bubble through the official green channel to carry out a scan on his shoulder at a hospital where he might have got exposed.
The IPL confirmed these developments to ESPNcricinfo, stating: “Knight Riders have now moved towards a daily testing routine to identify any other possible cases” and that its “medical team is also determining the close and casual contacts of the two positive cases during the 48 hours” prior to testing.
Joe Biden, Prince Harry address LA fundraising concert for Covax programme
US president Joe Biden has said in a video address at an event called Vax Live that the US was “working with leaders around the world to share more vaccines and boost production to make sure every country has the vaccines they need”.
Global Citizen Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World, was a charity performance taped last night in aid of the international Covid vaccination effort. It will be broadcast this Saturday, and was held in Los Angeles in front of a fullyvaccinated crowd.
Biden and first lady Dr Jill Biden made their appearance through Global Citizen’s partnership with the White House’s We Can Do This initiative, which encourages measures including mask-wearing. Trevor Marshallsea reports for PA Media that messages about vaccine equity were also heard from guests including Ben Affleck, David Letterman, Gayle King, Jimmy Kimmel and Sean Penn.
Prince Harry also appeared at the event – he and his wife are campaign chairs.
In his first public appearance since the funeral of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Harry praised the world’s frontline medical workers.
“Tonight is a celebration of each of you here, the vaccinated frontline workers in the audience and the millions of frontline heroes around the world,” Harry said.
“You spent the last year battling courageously and selflessly to protect us all. You served and sacrificed, put yourselves in harm’s way, and acted with bravery, knowing the costs. We owe you an incredible debt of gratitude. Thank you.”
Hosted by Selena Gomez, the concert featured musical performances by Jennifer Lopez, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, J Balvin and HER.
The event raised $53.8m (£38.8m) for Covax, which is working to provide vaccines for low and middle-income countries. Organisers said it was enough to help purchase almost 10.3m vaccine doses.
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Hong Kong’s government has sparked discrimination concerns over plans to force hundreds of thousands of foreign domestic workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or face losing their job.
Authorities have embarked on mass mandatory testing of the city’s 370,000 domestic workers after a more infectious strain was detected in the community, and flagged plans for compulsory vaccinations.
Under the measures, workers would need to be vaccinated before their contracts could be renewed, and any incoming worker would be required to have the vaccination to enter Hong Kong.
The vast majority of Hong Kong’s domestic workers are migrant workers, primarily from the Philippines and Indonesia, and no other foreign workforce has been singled out for mandatory vaccines, drawing criticism from Philippines officials. The country’s foreign affairs secretary, Teddy Locsin Jr, praised Hong Kong’s provision of free vaccines to domestic workers, but said singling them out to make it mandatory “smacks of discrimination”.
“If it is a special favour, it is unfair to other nationalities. Hong Kong can do better than that,” he said.
Eman Villanueva, spokesperson for the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, said the enforced testing and proposed vaccinations were “discrimination and social exclusion of domestic workers at its worst”, and accused the government of “blackmailing” workers by tying vaccines to contracts.
Read more of Helen Davidson’s report here: Hong Kong plan to force Covid vaccines on foreign domestic workers sparks alarm
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You can tell that there’s a national election in Scotland just a few days away because the media is full of hypothetical questions about what Scotland could or couldn’t do as an independent nation. This morning, first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been batting away arguments that Scotland would not have been able to obtain the same level of Covid vaccines alone.
Laura Paterson reports for PA Media Scotland that Sturgeon said coronavirus vaccines are not a “gift” from the UK government to Scotland and are procured on a joint four-nations basis with Westminster and the devolved nations.
Questioned on ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme: “If an independent Scotland was in Europe you wouldn’t have 2.8 million people vaccinated, would you?” the SNP leader replied: “I just think that is utterly nonsense.”
She added: “The UK was still within the transition period when it procured the vaccine and that didn’t prevent it procuring the vaccine on a four-nations basis with England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, the way we procure the flu vaccine every year. That was done, nothing would have prevented that happening had we still been in the European Union.
“And of course the delivery of the vaccination programme in Scotland is down to the sterling efforts and fantastic work of NHS Scotland vaccinators and teams across the country and they have my deep and everlasting appreciation for the fantastic work that they are doing.”
GMB presenter Sean Fletcher said the delivery of the vaccination in Scotland was also down to the “procurement of the UK Government getting those vaccines”.
Sturgeon told him to “hold on” and stressed procurement was on a four-nations basis.
She added: “We do it voluntarily on a four-nations basis. It’s not a gift from the UK government to Scotland. We choose to pool our efforts in that way. We do it with the flu vaccine every year.
“Scotland could if it chose procure the vaccine separately – health is devolved – but we chose to do it on a four-nations basis because it makes sense and if Scotland was independent it may well be that we still chose to do that. So these arguments that we couldn’t do these things if we were independent, frankly, are nonsense and don’t stand up to any scrutiny whatsoever.”
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Pakistan imposes new border restrictions ahead of Eid al-Fitr
Pakistan has closed land crossings with Iran and Afghanistan for travellers and slashed international flights as the government warned of a “critical” few weeks ahead in the battle against Covid-19.
The border restrictions were announced yesterday as the country prepared to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which usually sees the mass movement of people between cities and villages as well as the return of migrant workers and overseas Pakistanis for celebrations.
The latest dispatch from Agence France-Presse states that from Wednesday, 80% of flights would be suspended for two weeks, mainly from the Middle East, until mid-May when the Eid holidays are over.
Foot crossings with Iran and Afghanistan would also be sealed, the country’s coronavirus task force said, adding that trade would be exempt.
Flights and land crossings with neighbouring India - reeling from a devastating outbreak with hundreds of thousands of new cases a day - were already closed before the pandemic because of political tensions.
Pakistan is struggling to contain a third wave of infections, with more than 800,000 cases and 18,000 deaths declared. Only a small fraction of its 220 million population has been vaccinated.
Planning minister Asad Umar, who has been leading the government response to the outbreak, said the next two weeks are “critical”, as health authorities rushed to increase intensive care capacity.
The government has also announced a ban on travel between provinces for more than a week over Eid and imposed closures on hotels and tourist spots. Private gatherings, shops and restaurants have faced tight restrictions, with the army mobilised to help enforce rules.
Updated
The 30-person limit on the number of mourners who can attend funerals in England is to be lifted later this month, the government has announced, as Dominic Raab indicated that masks may still need to be used after 21 June.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said on Monday that the legally enforced limit would be removed as part of the next stage of lockdown easing, expected on 17 May.
The capacity will then be determined by how many people venues such as places of worship or funeral homes can safely accommodate while maintaining social distancing.
This includes indoor and outdoor venues, and all organisers must continue to be Covid-secure and follow social distancing rules. While venue capacities will vary, the department said many would be able to allow “significantly” more than 30 people to attend.
The department said attendances for other life or commemorative events, such as weddings and wakes, were expected to still be limited to 30 people in stage 3 of the roadmap, while barmitzvahs and christenings will be allowed again for the first time since the new year.
Hospitality venues, entertainment venues such as cinemas and soft play areas, the rest of the accommodation sector and indoor adult group sports and exercise classes will also reopen. Limited crowds will be allowed at sporting events, and foreign holidays could be permitted for people living in England.
All remaining restrictions on social contact could be lifted from 21 June, allowing for larger events to go ahead and nightclubs to reopen.
Read more of Rajeev Syal’s report here: Limit of 30 mourners at funerals in England to be lifted this month
'Great progress' being made on European summer holiday prospect – Thomas Cook chief executive
Meanwhile, the obsession over whether people from the UK will be able to enjoy a summer holiday abroad continues, with travel firm Thomas Cook chief executive Alan French the latest on the airwaves.
PA Media reports he told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme that there was “great progress” in countries such as Portugal and Spain in preparing for the return of holidaymakers.
“When the holidays proper start at the end of June, we are expecting most of the countries that the UK goes on holiday to – Europe particularly – to be open. We are expecting Portugal, Spain, Greece, Croatia and so forth to be open, it would be nice if Turkey was open.
“When we look at what is going on in those countries, both in terms of infection rates and how they are preparing for holidaymakers, I think there is great progress being made.”
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Sydney-based lawyer Narita Nagin writes for us this morning on the personal effect of having a loved one stranded in India at this time:
The Australian government’s drastic decision to temporarily stop all travellers from India entering Australia has me in tears almost every night, struggling to cope with the uncertainty of when I’ll see my husband again.
Before he departed Australia for India in March, I was stressed knowing that repatriation flights were few and far between. But he managed to convince both me and the Australian government (that granted him a travel exemption) that he had to go to visit and care for his mum, his only surviving parent, who is suffering from stage-four cancer. Knowing him, his kindness and conscientiousness, I knew that it wasn’t really a choice for him to be at his dying mother’s side.
The situation is emotionally draining for the 9,000 Australians who are stranded in India while it is ravaged by the deadly Covid-19 second wave, desperate to get home. I can’t even imagine the unbearable stress and fear of being in India surrounded by the countless stories of the lack of oxygen and hospital beds, the crumbling infrastructure and people dying on the streets.
India does not allow for dual citizenship, so it does not owe Australians like my husband anything – if they were once Indians, they have given that up to become Australians. What does it mean to be an Australian citizen? Is Australia a fair-weather friend, only there for you in the good times?
Read more here: Narita Nagin – My Australian husband is stuck in India. All I want is to know he can come home
Taiwan to suspend entry of people who have visited India in previous 14 days
Taiwan will suspend the entry of people who have been to India over the previous 14 days from tomorrow, health minister Chen Shih-chung has said, as the island became the latest to enforce curbs amid India’s surging Covid-19 cases.
Reuters report that, except for Taiwan citizens, all those who had been in India in the prior 14 days would be kept out, with the restriction taking effect at midnight. Returning Taiwanese will have to spend 14 days in centralised quarantine facilities.
Earlier, deputy economy minister Chen Chern-chyi said the government was considering whether to send an aircraft to evacuate the 150 Taiwanese businesspeople now in India.
Australians could die from Covid in India under travel ban, medical chief warns
Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, has warned the government that citizens stranded in India face the prospect of serious illness without healthcare and a “worst-case scenario” of death from Covid under a controversial ban on travel to Australia.
But given Australia’s “limited” quarantine facilities, Kelly recommended the government go ahead with its decision to suspend arrivals from India until 15 May, noting it would be the first time that such a determination had been used to prevent Australian citizens and permanent residents entering Australia.
The release of the advice comes as the Morrison government defended the controversial travel ban that criminalises returning to Australia from India. Kelly’s letter to the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, noted the penalties for breaching the relevant section of the Biosecurity Act included five years’ jail or a fine of $66,600 or both. The medical officer made no specific recommendation on fines and jail time
Kelly advised there remained a “significant risk” of leakage from Australia’s hotel quarantine system, particularly from arrivals from India. He said there had been high rates of Covid detected in arrivals from India, a high proportion of Australian cases traced back to India and a high proportion of virus “variants of concern” among those cases.
“Each new case identified in quarantine increases the risk of leakage into the Australian community through transmission to quarantine workers or other quarantined returnees and subsequently into the Australian community more broadly,” Kelly’s letter to the government, tabled in parliament on Monday, states.
Read more of Sarah Martin’s report here: Australians could die from Covid in India under travel ban, medical chief warns
Good morning – it is Martin Belam here in London. It might be a public holiday in the UK, but there’s still the morning media round to be done.
UK Foreign Office minister James Cleverly has said the Government wanted the road map out of coronavirus lockdown to be a “one-way system” but that science would continue to be the “guiding force”.
“We’ve always said that we want to get this move back to normality, we want it to be a one-way system,” PA report he said on Times Radio.
“We want things to improve so we’re going to take things cautiously, we’re going to make sure the decisions are driven by science and we will unlock in a way that is safe. We’ve already seen internationally that the coronavirus situation can change and can change quickly so it’s not about going backwards.”
On the topic of foreign travel, he added: “The policy is set, the philosophy that underpins it has been decided and the science will be the guiding force for which countries will be on the red, amber or green lists.”
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan. Thanks for following along – my colleague Martin Belam will take things from here.
Wales lockdown eased further
Gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools are reopening in Wales as the further easing of the Covid-19 restrictions, PA Media reports.
Organised children’s indoor activities and indoor adult fitness classes can also resume and two households will also be able form an exclusive bubble and be able to meet indoors.
The Welsh Government said the changes meant Wales will have moved to Alert Level 3.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said last week: “The public health situation continues to improve and our vaccination programme remains a success.
“Thanks to the efforts of people across Wales, we are in a position to further ease the restrictions, in the way we have previously signalled, to allow more elements of normal life to return.
“However, the virus has not gone away. We all still need to take those vitally important steps, that we are now all so familiar with, to protect ourselves and each other from this dreadful virus - by self-isolating if we have symptoms, by taking up the offer of a covid vaccine, washing our hands regularly, wearing a face covering in enclosed public spaces, following social distancing rules, limiting the number of people we meet socially outdoors, and only meeting with those we live with indoors.
“By working together, by following these rules, the quicker we will return to normality. Together, we will continue to keep Wales safe.”
The next review of the coronavirus restrictions is due by May 13, which will take place after the Senedd elections on 6 May.
Indoor hospitality and all tourism accommodation can reopen from 17 May, subject to confirmation by the party that forms the next Welsh Government.
Wales has the lowest level of virus infections in the UK and is third in the world in terms of vaccine delivery, while case rates are below 15 per 100,000 people.
Singapore was recently crowned the best place to be in the pandemic, and reported an average of seven daily cases last week. But its latest public health video - an infectious pop song starring comedian Gurmit Singh as his much-loved character Phua Chu Kang, an eccentric contractor - warns the public not to be complacent:
Thousands of UK doctors are planning to quit the NHS after the Covid pandemic because they are exhausted by their workloads and worried about their mental health, a survey has revealed.
Almost one in three may retire early while a quarter are considering taking a career break and a fifth are weighing up quitting the health service to do something else.
Long hours, high demand for care, the impact of the pandemic and unpleasant working environments are taking their toll on medics, the British Medical Association findings show:
New Zealand will open a new travel bubble with the Cook Islands on 17 May, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.
The bubble will allow for two-way quarantine-free travel between the two countries, a move that Ardern called “a significant step in both countries’ COVID-19 recovery, and a direct result of both New Zealand and the Cook Islands’ successful response to the pandemic”. Ardern said the bubble would enable families to be reunited, allow New Zealanders to take winter holidays overseas, and provide an important boost to the Cook Islands’ economy.
New Zealand will also be sending enough Pfizer doses to vaccinate the entire Cook Islands population. Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said both countries were “continuing to work through final details for the deployment of vaccines to the Cook Islands and expect to provide further details on the vaccine roll-out within the next few weeks”.
A key concern had been the potential for New Zealand to export cases to the Cook Islands, which has been Covid-free and has a much smaller healthcare system. Ardern said if there was an outbreak in the Cook Islands, New Zealanders could be repatriated to ease pressure on the country’s health system. “The health and safety of the people of the Cook Islands has at all times been paramount,” Ardern said.
Chinese tourists expected to make 18.3 million railway trips on labor day
Chinese tourists are expected to make a total of 18.3 million railway passenger trips on the first day of China’s international labor day holiday.
That’s according to an estimate by China’s state railway group. The start to the five-day holiday on Saturday included tourists rushing to travel domestically now that the coronavirus has been brought under control in China.
May Day is offering the first long break for Chinese tourists since the start of the year. A domestic outbreak of the coronavirus before the Lunar New Year holidays in February cancelled travel plans for many after the government advised people to refrain from traveling.
Border closures and travel restrictions mean tourists are traveling domestically. China in recent weeks reported almost no cases of locally transmitted
India reports slight drop in cases, deaths
India reported 3,417 new deaths in the last 24 hours, slightly lower than the previous day’s record of 3,689.
The number of cases is 368,147, the lowest daily rise for about a week – but cases are often slightly lower after the weekend, as fewer people go to get tested.
US to discuss Covid vaccine IP with World Trade Organization
The White House says the US trade representative will begin talks with the World Trade Organization on ways to overcome intellectual property issues that are keeping critically needed Covid vaccines from being more widely distributed.
The White House has been under intense pressure to join an effort to help waive patent rules for the vaccines so that poorer countries can begin to make their own generic versions.
White House chief of staff Ron Klain said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that US Trade Representative Katherine Tai will be starting talks “on how we can get this vaccine more widely distributed, more widely licensed, more widely shared.”
Klain and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration would have more to say on the matter in the coming days.
India offers vaccination to all adults as country nears 20m cases
India has opened vaccinations to all adults in hopes of taming a monstrous spike in Covid infections.
The world’s largest maker of vaccines is still short of critical supplies — the result of lagging manufacturing and raw material shortages. Those factors delayed the rollout in several states.
Only a fraction of India’s population likely can afford the prices charged by private hospitals for the shot. That means states and the federal government will be in charge of immunising 900 million Indian adults.
India’s case total stands at 19.57m according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, with 215,542 deaths recorded. We should have Monday’s daily figures shortly.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
As always, you can get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
As India nears 20m coronavirus cases, the country has opened vaccinations to all adults in hopes of taming a monstrous spike in infections.
The world’s largest maker of vaccines is still short of critical supplies — the result of lagging manufacturing and raw material shortages. Those factors delayed the rollout in several states.
Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:
- Britain will send another 1,000 ventilators to India, the government announced on Sunday, stepping up its support as India’s healthcare system struggles to cope with the surge of positive Covid-19 cases.
- Saudi Arabia to open land, sea, and air borders as of 17 May, the interior minister announces on Twitter.
- Oman to ban the movement of people and vehicles from 7 pm to 4 am from May 8 to May 15, the state news agency said.
- South Africa to get the first delivery of its 4.5 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccines as the country begins to increase its vaccination efforts.
- The English city of Liverpool hosted a one-off music festival to test whether significant events spread Covid-19. Nearly 5,000 people took off their masks and ditched social distancing rules in the name of science and music.
- A maximum of 1,000 fans will be allowed on-court at Roland Garros this year, with capacity capped at 35%.
- India recorded a number of deaths on Sunday. New coronavirus cases fell slightly on Sunday but deaths due to the infection jumped by a record 3,689, with one more state going into lockdown as the nation’s healthcare system struggles to cope with a massive caseload.
- Secondary school pupils in England will be offered Covid-19 vaccinations from September under plans being developed by the NHS, according to The Sunday Times. It reports that “core planning scenario” documents compiled by NHS officials include the offer of a single dose of the Pfizer jab to children aged 12 and over when the new school year starts.
- A major new pilot scheme could see the end of people in England having to self-isolate if they have been in contact with someone who has Covid. The government-backed research will trial giving people daily lateral flow tests for seven days instead of asking people quarantine for 10 days.
- Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has urged the British public to keep their resolve for the “last lap” of the fight against coronavirus, saying there is only “a little bit more time” until all legal restrictions on social interaction are removed.
- Campaigners call for urgent action to prevent oxygen shortage in Covid-hit countries. They warn that scenes in India of families desperately searching for oxygen for critically ill Covid patients will be repeated in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and other countries in Africa and around the world unless a significant international effort is made to ensure all countries have good oxygen supplies.
- A total of 41,730,517 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and May 1, according to NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 452,789 on the previous day.
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