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The UAE announced on Wednesday it had given nearly 10 million vaccine doses, equal to one for every resident, after warning that those who remained unvaccinated would face restrictions on their movement, AFP reports.
The country has mounted an energetic coronavirus vaccination campaign for its citizens as well as the foreigners who make up the majority of the population.
However, daily infection rates remain high after it became one of the first destinations to reopen to tourism last year, making it a magnet for visitors from all over the world, and being hit with a surge in cases afterwards as a result.
The National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority said Wednesday the UAE had administered 111,176 doses of vaccine in the past 24 hours, to reach 9,900,002 in total “and with a rate of 100.10 doses per 100 people”.
That result, with two-dose therapies including Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Sinopharm, makes it second-fastest per capita delivery in the world among major nations, after Israel.
However, the NCEMA warned Tuesday that anyone opting against vaccination was putting their families and communities at risk, and that they would face unspecified penalties.
“Strict measures are being considered to restrict the movement of unvaccinated individuals and to implement preventive measures such as restricting entry to some places and having access to some services,” it tweeted.
“Delaying or refraining from taking the vaccine will pose a threat to the safety of society and put all groups, especially those most vulnerable to infection, as it poses a major challenge to the national efforts to recover.”
The warning, after a vaccination programme that has been widely embraced by citizens and residents alike, caused a stir online and a rare rebuke from two Emirati figures with large social media followings.
“Taking the vaccine is a personal decision, and imposing it deprives people of their rights,” Sheikha Manal al-Maktoum, a member of the Dubai royal family, tweeted.
She was backed by Emirati professor of political science Abdulkhaleq Abdulla who commended her “wisdom”.
“Health authorities, local and federal, should intensify awareness and culture campaigns and offer more incentives instead of taking punitive measures and refusing to provide services, and limiting the movement of those who didn’t take the vaccine,” he tweeted.
The UAE has now recorded some 502,000 cases of coronavirus, the highest number among the Gulf states, and exceeding its much larger neighbour Saudi Arabia.
Strict rules on masks and social distancing are in force, but otherwise life in the UAE’s cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi is going on much as normal, with restaurants and shops open for business.
Argentina is facing its “worst moment” of the pandemic, the country’s health minister said on Wednesday, as deaths from the virus neared 60,000 amid a sharp second wave that has forced the country to re-impose some lockdown measures.
Reuters reports that Carla Vizzotti warned the country’s healthcare system was at risk, especially in the metropolitan area around the capital Buenos Aires, which had forced the government to restrict movement and suspend indoor activities.
“We are living through the worst moment of the pandemic now,” she told a daily briefing, adding the country was seeing an important rise in the circulation of new variants, with the virus surging in the capital and beyond.
It’s growing exponentially in most of the country.
Argentina, which is rolling out an inoculation program largely around Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, has recorded over 2.7 million Covid-19 cases and has set a series of new daily records for infections in recent weeks. Deaths from the virus are likely to hit 60,000 later on Wednesday.
A local laboratory on Tuesday said it had produced a test batch of Sputnik V ahead of planned large-scale manufacture later this year. Vizzotti said it was “great news” though cautioned it needed to be quality controlled and that the time frame would depend on how that process went.
Carlos Camera, an Argentine infectious disease expert, said there was a possibility of health systems being overwhelmed, which was the cause of new restrictions that had sparked some protests amid a fragile economic rebound.
“What was not foreseen was the size with which this second wave has hit and above all the speed of it compared to the speed we’ve managed with vaccinations,” he said.
South Africa will hold local government elections in October that were delayed by the coronavirus, the presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced Wednesday, 27 October 2021, as the date on which local government elections will take place,” the president’s office said.
The polls, scheduled for every five years and last held in 2016, allow South Africans to vote for public representatives at metropolitan, district and the local level.
Some political parties had argued for the polls to be pushed back to 2022 once the worst of Covid-19 has passed.
Reuters reports that Colombia will next month restart domestic flights to and from Leticia, the capital of its Amazonas province, the government said on Wednesday, ending months of isolation for the city.
Flights to and from Leticia were grounded at the end of January over fears about the spread of the Brazilian P1 coronavirus variant, which studies have shown to be roughly 2.5 times more contagious and more resistant to antibodies.
Colombia’s Amazonas province shares a border with the Brazilian state of the same name and the decision to halt flights came after a case of the P1 variant was reported in Tabatinga, a Brazilian city next to Leticia.
“In Amazonas, particularly in Leticia, the projected seroprevalence is very high, which led the advisory committee to recommend reopening flights in its last session,” Julian Fernandez, Colombia’s director of epidemiology and demographics, said in a statement released by the health ministry.
Seroprevalence is the percentage of individuals in a population who have antibodies to infectious agents such as viruses.
Amazonas’ population numbers just under 80,000 and the majority live in Leticia. So far, more than 50,000 vaccine doses have been administered there, according to the health ministry.
Those looking to travel from Leticia when flights restart on 1 May will have to present Covid-19 vaccination cards showing they have received necessary doses, the health ministry said. Travellers must have received their second dose at least 15 days prior and show a negative antigen result.
People who have chosen not to be vaccinated will face seven-day quarantines in hotels - for which they will have to pay - if flying to or via capital Bogota, the statement added.
Reuters reports that Spain will offer between 5% and 10% of its Covid-19 vaccine shots to Latin American and Caribbean countries this year, the prime minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday.
“Spain will launch this commitment as soon as it reaches the mark of 50% of the Spanish population vaccinated,” Sanchez told the Ibero-American summit in Andorra, adding that he expected Latin American nations to receive 7.5 million doses by the end of the year.
The country aims to have half its population of 47 million fully inoculated by the end of July. So far around 7.6% have received a full course while nearly 21% have received at least one dose.
Spain is entitled to over 93 million vaccine doses this year under an EU-coordinated purchasing scheme, mostly for double-dose inoculation, leaving it with millions of extra shots.
Top UN financial and vaccine officials last week urged rich countries to donate excess Covid-19 vaccine doses to the Covax vaccine-sharing programme supplying lower income countries, which aims to buy up to 1.8 billion doses in 2021.
Summary of today's events
- Greece will begin administering Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine on 5 May, health authorities said on Wednesday, a day after Europe’s drug regulator backed its use.
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Turkey has recorded 362 coronavirus deaths the last 24 hours – its largest daily rise since the beginning of the pandemic.
- Officials are deploying surge-testing in an area of Birmingham after a case of the coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa was discovered.
- Covaxin, India’s domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine, has been found to be 78% effective in a second analysis of clinical trials done around the country, its manufacturer Bharat Biotech said on Wednesday.
- The UK has reported a further 2,396 new Covid-19 cases as well as 22 deaths, according to government data.
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Sweden’s government has warned that coronavirus measures may be strengthened if people ignore existing restrictions as intensive care units in some regions hit capacity.
- North-western Syria has received its first batch of Covid-19 vaccines, AFP’s correspondent reports, with the doses arriving in a Idlib on Wednesday.
- Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said Greece will reopen for tourism from 15 May as infections begin to level off in the Mediterranean country due to vaccinations.
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France should start using the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine next week, the government spokesman has said following the European drugs regulator’s statement on the jab on Tuesday.
- At least 22 patients have died in a hospital in India’s western Maharashtra state after their oxygen supply ran out due to a leaking tank, a government official said on Wednesday.
That’s all from me for today – my colleague Lucy Campbell will be taking you through the evening’s developments shortly. Thanks for reading.
Although still “alarmingly high”, Brazil’s coronavirus cases appear to be falling – but a relaxation of restrictions could see them surge again, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) director has warned.
Carissa Etienne said that infection levels in the country, which has recorded more than 14 million cases since the pandemic began, remain “alarmingly high” while cases in Chile were levelling off.
Around 11.8% of Brazilians have had a first dose of a vaccine, while 4.3% have had both shots.
Etienne said Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay and Argentina are currently worst-affected South American nations, while almost every country in Central America is reporting a rise in infections. Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are the worst-affected.
Greece to start using Johnson & Johnson shot in May
Greece will begin administering Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine on 5 May, health authorities said on Wednesday, a day after Europe’s drug regulator backed its use.
“We expect decisions by the CDC and FDA on Friday and then by our national committee on vaccinations in the following days. Vaccinations will begin on 5 May,” said the head of vaccinations, Marios Themistocleous, .
Greece had been expected to start J&J vaccinations on Monday before concerns emerged over reports of very rare blood clotting disorders associated with the vaccine. It then said it would wait until the European Medicines Agency’s statement before proceeding with the rollout.
While the EMA said it had found a possible link between very rare blood clotting cases and the vaccine, it advised its use, saying the benefits outweigh the risk. The agency had examined eight serious cases of clotting disorders the US, which has vaccinated more than 7 million with the shot.
Updated
Among the most high-profile cases in India’s devastating second wave of coronavirus infections is the former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who was admitted to hospital this week after testing positive despite being recently vaccinated against Covid-19.
Singh, 88, who developed a fever on Sunday and tested positive a day later, is an economist, academic and member of the Congress party who led the country for a decade between 2004 and 2014 and was the first Sikh to hold the office.
Describing his condition as “stable”, the health minister, Harsh Vardhan, tweeted: “Best possible care is being provided to him. We all pray for his quick recovery.”
Updated
Turkey reports record death toll
Turkey has recorded 362 coronavirus deaths the last 24 hours – its largest daily rise since the beginning of the pandemic.
The cumulative toll stands at 36,975, according to data from the health ministry.
A further 61,967 new cases were recorded in the same period, taking the total number of cases since the onset of the pandemic to 4,446,591.
Turkey currently ranks fourth globally in the number of daily cases based on a seven-day average, according to a Reuters tally.
Updated
Surge testing deployed in Birmingham area after South African case found
Officials are deploying surge-testing in an area of Birmingham after a case of the coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa was discovered.
In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the confirmed case had “self-isolated and their contacts have been identified”.
The testing will focus on the Alum Rock, Glebe Farm and Tile Cross areas of the city.
Health officials said that the case is not believed to be connected to a case of the same variant identified in the Birmingham and Sandwell areas last week.
The DHSC said that everybody aged 16 years and over who is contacted from the new areas, announced on Wednesday, would be “strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 PCR test”, whether or not they are symptomatic.
Residents are advised to continue using twice-weekly rapid testing alongside the PCR test as part of surge-testing.
The US state department has added around 100 countries to its ‘do not travel’ list this week, including the UK, Canada, France, Mexico, Germany after it said it would add about 80% of the world’s countries to the index.
Prior to Tuesday’s additions, the department advised against travel to 34 countries. 131 countries are now marked as Level Four – its highest advisory rating.
The state department said on Monday that the shift is not due to a reassessment of the countries’ coronavirus situations, but rather “reflects an adjustment in the state department’s travel advisory system to rely more on (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s) existing epidemiological assessments”.
Covaxin, India’s domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine, has been found to be 78% effective in a second analysis of clinical trials done around the country, its manufacturer Bharat Biotech said on Wednesday.
“I am very pleased to state that Covaxin ... has shown the efficacy of 78% in the second interim analysis,” said Balram Bhargava, the chief of the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research that has created the vaccine with Bharat Biotech.
The first analysis released in March had shown an efficacy rate of 81%.
The jab had 100% efficacy against severe disease, while its efficacy against asymptomatic infection was 70%.
Five pregnant women wearing “I Am Mary” T-shirts in memory of the nurse Mary Agyapong protested in London’s Parliament Square on Wednesday after figures revealed nearly 1,000 pregnant NHS staff were still working in patient-facing roles.
Despite evidence revealing that pregnant women may be at an increased risk of severe disease and losing their baby if they contract Covid, 984 pregnant staff in 25 trusts across the UK continue to work in frontline roles, a request under freedom of information laws by the campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed has revealed.
Many Indians are turning to social media in a desperate search for medical oxygen and hospital beds amid surging infections that have overwhelmed hospitals across the country.
Some Twitter users are using hashtags like #COVIDSOS to share resources, including phone numbers of volunteers, vendors who have oxygen cylinders or drugs, and details of which hospitals can take availability.
RETWEET AND AMPLIFY
— aditi • 📌covid resources (@aaditeaa) April 18, 2021
THIS A GOOGLE DOCS FOR COVID RESOURCES WHICH IS UPDATED EVERY
5 MINS.
Has info abt :
Oxygen (Refill, Request, Available)
-Remdesivir (supplies, contact, availability)
-Plasma
-Bed, Hospitals, home care
Bookmark,share and save it.https://t.co/VjgvWC6rAH
Alongside calls for oxygen cylinders as the country experiences shortages, many are searching for antiviral drug Remdesivir as India records its seventh consecutive day of more than 200,000 new infections.
Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said Greece will reopen for tourism from 15 May as infections begin to level off in the Mediterranean country due to vaccinations.
“The vaccines, the self-tests and the better weather make us confident that this unprecedented adventure is ending,” Mitsotakis said in a televised address reported by Reuters.
He warned that case rates remained high and called on people to avoid travel over the Orthodox Eastern weekend, which starts on 30 April.
“I have said that our aim is for a safe Easter, and a free summer,” he said.
The country aims to reopen restaurants at the beginning of May, state minister George Gerapetritis said, according to media reports, with outdoor dining set to return after Easter.
Updated
The UK has reported a further 2,396 new Covid-19 cases as well as 22 deaths, according to government data.
Wednesday’s figures compare with 2,491 cases and 38 fatalities a week ago.
The seven-day rolling average, which evens out reporting irregularities in the daily figures, shows that cases are down by 9.4% compared with the previous week (8-14 April).
Fatalities have decreased by 28.2% by the same measure.
107,622 people in the UK received their first dose of a vaccine yesterday, and 350,027 received their second dose. This means 62.9% of adults have had a first dose, and 20.5% have had a second dose.
Updated
That’s it from me for now — Rhi Storer — for the afternoon. I’ll now hand the liveblog back over to my colleague Clea Skopeliti.
My colleagues Ashley Kirk, Michael Safi and Pablo Gutiérrez have analysed vaccination rate data and coronavirus deaths data over the past six months. Their conclusions shows that the vast majority of the world is yet to see a substantial benefit.
Despite their life-saving capabilities, many countries have yet to administer enough doses to see real change. Supply shortages, safety concerns, public apathy and slow rollouts have resulted in most countries still being reliant on onerous lockdowns and other quarantine measures to reduce the severity of their outbreaks.
You can read about this in this interactive article here:
Updated
Updated
In a rather bizarre incident, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it had completed its inspection of a plant that makes Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine with remediation of issues including peeling paint and loose debris at the site.
Emergent Biosolutions Inc, which owns the plant, earlier this week said it would stop production while the FDA conducted an inspection of the facility.
The FDA’s inspection report, cited failures including a failure properly train personnel to avoid cross contamination of Covid-19 vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. They also reported the building used for manufacturing the components of the two vaccines was not a suitable size or design to facilitate cleaning and maintenance.
The facility has not been authorised by the regulator to manufacture or distribute any of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine or components and, to date, no vaccine manufactured at this plant has been distributed for use in the US.
Updated
Hi there, this is Rhi Storer taking over the liveblog from my colleague Clea Skopeliti for the next hour. Please send over your contributions to rhi.storer@guardian.co.uk, or alternatively, you can message me on Twitter.
Sweden’s government has warned that coronavirus measures may be strengthened if people ignore existing restrictions as intensive care units in some regions hit capacity.
“There is no room now to start living as if the pandemic is already over. The infection rate does not go down by itself,” Reuters quotes the minister for health and social affairs, Lena Hallengren, as telling a news conference.
She did not rule out introducing stricter restrictions but did not specify what measures may be introduced.
Intensive care occupancy has risen to its highest level since the initial outbreak a year ago, with some regions hitting their limit. Across the nation, the number of available beds for those worst ill is below 20%.
Data from the European centre for disease control this week showed Sweden had among the highest number of new cases per capita in the EU during the last 14-day period, but paradoxically also among the lowest deaths.
The Swedish health agency has attributed this to vaccinations – 23.7% of the adult population has received at least one dose.
Updated
Oman will ban entry to travellers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh from 24 April, as part of measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, Omani state TV reported on Wednesday.
The travel ban comes amid a dramatic surge in coronavirus infections and deaths in India, which has recorded new cases over 200,000 for seven consecutive days.
The world’s second-most populous nation recorded 295,041 new infections on Wednesday – the highest daily figure reported in any country during the pandemic.
Updated
Syria receives first Covax vaccine doses
North-western Syria has received its first batch of Covid-19 vaccines, AFP’s correspondent reports, with the doses arriving in a Idlib on Wednesday.
Some 53,800 doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine were sent to the rebel-dominated city via the WHO-backed Covax programme. Other regions of Syria will also receive doses through the scheme.
Regime-controlled areas have already begun vaccinating health workers, but not with doses from Covax.
“Today, we received the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines,” said Abdul Hamid al-Hussein of the Physicians Across Continents group which accompanied the shipment into Syria.
Mahmoud Daher, a senior official with the WHO, said the UN is ready to vaccinate Syria’s most vulnerable.
“Once the vaccines arrive, we are prepared to start vaccination to priority groups through our implementing partners,” he told AFP before the vaccines crossed into Idlib.
The first groups to be vaccinated will be medical workers and first aid responders, followed by people over 60. Younger people with chronic illnesses will get the vaccine next.
Updated
Police in Cambodia have come under fire for caning people who breached coronavirus restrictions during a two-week lockdown in the capital.
Despite still having one of the world’s lowest caseloads, authorities in Phnom Penh imposed a lockdown on 15 April following an outbreak beginning in late February, Reuters reports.
Police arrested lockdown breachers and beat some with rattan canes following breaches of lockdown. In some “red zone” districts of the city, people are banned people from leaving their homes except for medical reasons.
Cambodian human rights groups condemned the canings and arrests, saying that there were better ways to ensure people protected themselves and others from the coronavirus.
“We are shocked such severe punishments are used against people for some small infractions,” Naly Pilorge, director of rights group Licadho, said.
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) echoed the concerns, with its executive director Chak Sopheap saying: “We are dismayed at footage showing use of force by authorities against individuals. Violence is never the answer.”
A police spokesman defended the arrests and beatings, saying that “a small number of people” didn’t follow the rules and police “must take measures to save their lives”.
Updated
Hannah Ellis-Petersen reports from Delhi as hospitals run out of oxygen:
The country has descended into a tragedy of unprecedented proportions. Almost 1.6 million cases have been registered in a week, bringing total cases to more than 15 million. In the space of just 12 days, the Covid positivity rate doubled to 17%, while in Delhi it hit 30%. Hospitals across the country have filled to capacity but this time it is predominately the young taking up the beds; in Delhi, 65% of cases are under 40 years old.
While the unprecedented spread of the virus has been partly blamed on a more contagious variant that has emerged in India, Modi’s government has also been accused of failures of political leadership from the top, with lax attitudes emulated by state and local leaders from all parties and even health officials across the country, which led many to falsely believe in recent months that India had defeated Covid.
Updated
The Indian government plans to boost supplies of medical oxygen in coming days, the country’s health secretary has said amid a nationwide surge in coronavirus infections that has seen hospitals stretched to a breaking point.
Reuters reports that minister Rajesh Bhushan said that the government was also considering applications for oxygen imports from overseas suppliers.
The world’s second most populous nation reported 295,041 new infections on Wednesday – the highest tally recorded globally yet.
It comes amid the deaths of at least 22 patients in a hospital in the western state of Maharashtra, caused by a leak in an oxygen tank.
Meanwhile, hospitals in the capital Delhi said on Tuesday that they had enough oxygen left for just another eight to 24 hours, while some private clinics had enough for only four or five.
Updated
New South Wales health authorities are investigating another potential transmission of Covid-19 between people staying in hotel quarantine in Sydney, as Western Australian officials confirmed two new cases had been acquired in hotel quarantine in Perth.
Three returned travellers arrived on 3 April on the same flight, and stayed in adjacent rooms at the Mercure hotel on George Street in Sydney’s CBD.
All three, two of whom are members of the same family, tested negative on day two of their stay, but then tested positive later on.
Genomic testing shows they share the same viral sequence for the B1351 variant, first identified in South Africa.
France to launch Johnson & Johnson rollout next week
France should start using the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine next week, the government spokesman has said following the European drugs regulator’s statement on the jab on Tuesday.
The European Medicines Agency said it had found a possible link between the vaccine and rare cases of unusual blood clotting disorders, recommending that a warning be added to the vaccine’s product information. It said the events should be listed as “very rare side-effects” of the vaccine.
However, the EMA stressed that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. The regulator examined eight US serious cases of unusual blood clots, including one death, out of more than 7 million people have received the vaccine.
The review came after Johnson & Johnson halted the European rollout of its single-dose vaccine last week, a day after deliveries of the shot began, advising governments to store their doses until the regulator had issued guidance on their use.
Russia could approve the one-shot version of its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine in May, a government minister has said, with the capacity to potentially manufacture 30m doses monthly by the end of 2021.
Reuters reports that industry and trade minister Denis Manturov made the comments about the one-dose vaccine, named Sputnik Light, following president Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation address on Wednesday.
In his televised speech, Putin urged Russians to get vaccinated, saying he wanted Russia to reach herd immunity by the autumn.
Russia has presented Sputnik Light as a temporary solution for countries with high infection rates that need to vaccinate populations quickly.
Moscow has said that its two-dose Sputnik V vaccine will remain the main version used domestically.
Updated
Financial Times data-visualisation journalist John Burn-Murdoch has this guide to understanding the scale of India’s staggering coronavirus surge:
To put this into a global context, much has been made of the resurgences in Europe and North America over recent weeks, but India’s wave has accelerated straight past all of them.
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) April 21, 2021
The situation there really is beyond what we’re seeing anywhere else worldwide. pic.twitter.com/UYhlZMVjVd
The UK’s decision to offer people under 30 an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine has not had a significant impact on people’s likelihood to take the shot, a study has found.
Following a change in guidance earlier this month, people between 18 and 29 will be offered Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccine rather than the Oxford-developed jab amid a possible link between the shot and extremely rare blood clots.
Researchers from the University of Stirling examined whether concern about the AstraZeneca jab led to “vaccine hesitancy”, after several European countries suspended their use of the vaccine in mid-March and following the change in UK guidance on 9 April.
On 9 April they found that 85.7% of respondents said they intended to get the vaccine, compared with 86.1% on 17 March, including little change among the 30 to 39 age cohort.
In this age group, 85.3% said they intended to take the vaccine after the change in guidance, compared to 87.3% before, while 9.8% said they would refuse it compared to 9.9% before the guidance changed.
Updated
In the UK, less than 2% of elderly patients hospitalised with Covid symptoms contracted the virus three weeks after receiving their first vaccine dose, a study has found, demonstrating the level of protection offered by the initial dose after 21 days.
Prof Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), who worked on the paper described the results as “very good news”.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Prof Semple said that there was a sharp drop off in the number of vaccinated people experiencing Covid symptoms 21 days after a single dose of a vaccine.
In the study, most vaccinated people who displayed symptoms of Covid and went to hospital had become infected before their immune system had a chance to respond to the jab.
The research examined more than 74,000 hospital admissions between September and early March, of which just under 2,000 people had received the vaccine. Experts then compared the time period between having the vaccine and the onset of symptoms.
“Now if the vaccine didn’t work, that number of days would stay relatively constant over time, but instead, what you see is most people who were admitted had caught their infection within a week of vaccination - either side of the vaccination - but then there was a really sharp drop off in numbers,” he said.
Trials have found that a single shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine on average offered 76% protection against symptomatic infections from three weeks until 90 days.
Updated
Russia aims to reach herd immunity against the coronavirus by the autumn, president Vladimir Putin has said, urging Russians to get vaccinated.
The Kremlin has said vaccination levels are disappointing, with more than 8 million of its 144 million-strong population having received a shot. It is not clear how many of this number have received a full vaccination course.
Addressing parliament at his televised, annual state-of-the-nation speech on Wednesday, Putin called on Russians to get the jab.
“Everyone must have the opportunity to be vaccinated, as this will allow for so-called collective immunity to be developed in the autumn,” he said. “A solution to this problem lies in our and your hands, in the hands of all citizens. I once again address all Russian citizens with the call: get vaccinated.”
As well as its main vaccine Sputnik V, Russia has also authorised two other shots, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac, for use in the country.
Updated
People could face jail for using fake coronavirus vaccination passports under new measures due to be announced by the Italian government as it works to ease the country out of lockdown.
Ministers are meeting on Wednesday to approve a decree that will include the requirement for a so-called “green pass” document that will allow people who are vaccinated against Covid-19 or who have overcome the virus to travel freely within Italy and go abroad. Others will also be able to travel so long as they have a document the proves they tested negative for the virus within 48 hours of their departure date.
Italy is expected to begin easing lockdown restrictions from 26 April, with the return of “yellow” or “white” zones. The country’s 20 regions have either been in the tougher orange or red zone categories since mid-March. Under the new measures, cinemas and theatres will open in regions categorised in the more lenient zones, while bars and restaurants can serve clients at outside tables. Open-air swimming pools will be able to open from 15 May and some gyms from 1 June.
Italy registered 12,074 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday and 390 fatalities, bringing the total death toll to 117,633. Admissions to hospital and intensive care have been gradually decreasing.
Updated
Oxygen leak kills at least 22 in Indian hospital
At least 22 patients have died in a hospital in India’s western Maharashtra state after their oxygen supply ran out due to a leaking tank, a government official said on Wednesday.
“The oxygen tank had a leak while refilling, and that caused deaths of 22 patients,” Suraj Mandhare, an official in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, told Reuters, adding that the hospital was treating Covid-19 patients.
It comes amid a massive shortage of oxygen in hospitals in the capital, Delhi. The city’s government on Wednesday said major government hospitals only had enough oxygen to last eight to 24 hours while some private ones had enough for just four or five hours.
Prime minister Narendra Modi, who has come under fire for hosting political rallies in the midst of the country’s crisis, said the country faced a coronavirus “storm” overwhelming its health system in a televised address on Tuesday evening.
“Oxygen demand has increased. We are working with speed and sensitivity to ensure oxygen to all those who need it. The centre, states and private companies, all are working together,” Modi said.
Hello, this is Clea Skopeliti taking over the blog for the next few hours. If you want to get in touch, you can message me on Twitter or email me. Thanks in advance.
Updated
Today so far …
India’s authorities scrambled to shore up supplies of medical oxygen to hospitals in the capital, Delhi, as coronavirus stretched medical infrastructure to breaking point. Tuesday marked the seventh day in a row of more than 200,000 new cases being recorded.
Japan is poised to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and two other regions amid a surge in coronavirus cases just three months before the start of the Olympic Games.
Demonstrators have gathered in Berlin this morning to protest against a law parliament is set to pass giving Germany’s national government power to impose lockdowns on areas with high coronavirus infection rates to curb a third wave of the pandemic.
Finland could start lifting coronavirus curbs on businesses and youth activities from next week, but borders will stay closed to tourists for at least the coming months.
France’s domestic travel restrictions will end on 3 May, a government source has told Reuters.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said “We’re getting closer to the end of the pandemic” after the number of people receiving one dose of a Covid vaccine exceeded the country’s total coroanvirus caseload for the first time.
The archbishop of Canterbury has called on the UK government to start a public inquiry into the handling of the Covid pandemic, saying it should call out “reckless error” and have the power to compel witnesses to attend.
State minister George Gerapetritis has told broadcaster ERT in Greece that the government plans to allow restaurants to reopen early next month.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has called on Russians to get vaccinated, saying the public should attain collective immunity from Covid-19 by this autumn.
Sri Lanka’s health minister Pavithra Waniarachchi told parliament the country had found six cases of blood clots among recipients of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, three of whom have died.
Nearly six months after the first Covid-19 vaccines were approved for emergency use, Guardian analysis shows that the vast majority of the world is yet to see a substantial benefit.
That’s it from me, Martin Belam. I will back with you tomorrow. I’m handing over now to Clea Skopeliti who will guide you through the rest of the day…
Updated
Germany sees anti-lockdown protests
Demonstrators have gathered in Berlin this morning to protest against a law parliament is set to pass giving the national government power to impose lockdowns on areas with high coronavirus infection rates to curb a third wave of the pandemic.
Chancellor Angela Merkel drew up the new law, which has drawn criticism from opponents who argue it curtails personal freedoms, after some of Germany’s 16 federal states refused to impose tough measures despite a surge in cases.
The measures include curfews between 10pm and 5am and limits on private gatherings, sport and shop openings. Schools will close and return to online lessons if the virus incidence exceeds 165 cases per 100,000 residents.
The law is expected to go to the Bundesrat upper house of parliament tomorrow.
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Just a quick one from Reuters here. Russian president Vladimir Putin is giving one of his huge set-piece speeches today, and has predicted that the Russian public should attain collective immunity from Covid-19 by this autumn. He called on Russians to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
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The leisure and hospitality industry in the US was hit the hardest by the coronavirus, with overall employment in the industry falling by 23%, roughly 4m jobs. It has also been the slowest industry to start recovering from initial job losses when the pandemic first hit the US.
And after more than a year, many workers in the industry remain jobless and unsure if they will be offered their jobs back. Those workers have, however, been cheered by some recent good news.
In California, workers and unions were successful in pushing through a statewide measure that was signed into law on 16 April, granting rehire rights based on seniority to hospitality workers throughout the state.
“It’s historic,” said Kurt Petersen, president of Unite Here Local 11 which represents workers in California and Arizona. “This is the biggest victory for workers during the pandemic.”
Marvin Alvarenga, a busser at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California for 11 years, was laid off during the pandemic and is relieved the recall rights legislation passed given the uncertainty and anxiety he’s experienced over the past year, including the loss of his health insurance which his wife relied on as she is currently battling cancer.
“Luckily, I still have my house but it’s been really tough to make ends meet while not having a job and I haven’t been able to send money to my mom in El Salvador,” said Alvarenga. “I’m really happy this law passed because it gives me and other workers hope we’ll be able to return to our jobs. It’s a lifeline to thousands of hospitality workers going through the same thing I’ve been going through.”
Similar legislation guaranteeing recall rights for workers in the hospitality industry has been passed in New York City, Philadelphia, New Haven, Honolulu, Minneapolis, Washington and Baltimore.
Read more of Michael Sainato’s report from Florida here: Furloughed US workers fight to return to their jobs after a year on pause
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In the UK today, professor Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol and a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), has been on television, and said that British prime minister Boris Johnson was right that the UK will see a further wave of Covid-19 cases.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I’m afraid he is right yes. The models that we’ve seen on JCVI clearly point to a summer surge in cases as the lockdown is relaxed, because there are still many people in the adult population who’ve not been immunised and who will therefore start to transmit the infection between each other.”
He said there was “quite a wide range of uncertainty” over how big the wave will be “because it depends on how quickly the vaccine rollout continues forward, the supplies of vaccine and so on, and how many people come forward to receive vaccination, and also it depends on how people behave as the lockdown is gradually relaxed.
“If people move too far forward with that too fast, we’ll see things start to come up earlier. The sense that the problem is all over, I’m afraid is a flawed one, we’re still in a vulnerable situation, and there are still significant numbers of people who potentially could be harmed by this infection if this happens.”
(March 8, 2021) Step 1, part 1
In effect from 8 March, all pupils and college students returned fully. Care home residents can receive one regular, named visitor.
(March 29, 2021) Step 1, part 2
In effect from 29 March, outdoor gatherings allowed of up to six people, or two households if this is larger, not just in parks but also gardens. Outdoor sport for children and adults allowed. The official stay at home order ends, but people will be encouraged to stay local. People will still be asked to work from home where possible, with no overseas travel allowed beyond the current small number of exceptions.
(April 12, 2021) Step 2
In effect from 12 April, non-essential retail, hair and nail salons, and some public buildings such as libraries and commercial art galleries can reopen. Most outdoor venues can open, including pubs and restaurants, but only for outdoor tables and beer gardens. Customers will have to be seated but there will be no need to have a meal with alcohol.
Also reopening are settings such as zoos and theme parks. However, social contact rules will still apply here, so no indoor mixing between households and limits on outdoor mixing. Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms and pools can also open, but again people can only go alone or with their own household. Reopening of holiday lets with no shared facilities is also allowed, but only for one household. Funerals can have up to 30 attendees, while weddings, receptions and wakes can have 15.
(May 17, 2021) Step 3
Again with the caveat "no earlier than 17 May", depending on data, vaccination levels and current transmission rates.
Step 3 entails that most mixing rules are lifted outdoors, with a limit of 30 people meeting in parks or gardens. Indoor mixing will be allowed, up to six people or, if it is more people, two households. Indoor venues such as the inside of pubs and restaurants, hotels and B&Bs, play centres, cinemas and group exercise classes will reopen. The new indoor and outdoor mixing limits will remain for pubs and other hospitality venues.
For sport, indoor venues can have up to 1,000 spectators or half capacity, whichever is lower; outdoors the limit will be 4,000 people or half capacity, whichever is lower. Very large outdoor seated venues, such as big football stadiums, where crowds can be spread out, will have a limit of 10,000 people, or a quarter full, whichever is fewer. Weddings will be allowed a limit of 30 people, with other events such as christenings and barmitzvahs also permitted.
This will be the earliest date at which international holidays could resume, subject to a separate review.
(June 21, 2021) Step 4
No earlier than 21 June, all legal limits will be removed on mixing, and the last sectors to remain closed, such as nightclubs, will reopen. Large events can take place.
Peter Walker Political correspondent
Asked again about the risks associated with vaccines, Professor Finn said it was important that people were kept up to date, saying: “We do need people to be confident that they’re being told the whole story about these vaccines. We’d all like them to be perfect. But I would emphasise that these vaccines are very effective and these side effects are extremely rare.”
PA note that he also said real-world data from Israel and the UK “where there are a lot of people who’ve been immunised” will show whether jabs work against variants. He said experts will be “looking very hard to see if there are any cases occurring among people who’ve been immunised and whether these particular variants are more likely to show up in that context”.
Finland agrees exit plan from restrictions, but intends to keep border closed
Also in the lifting restrictions business today is the Finnish government. Ministers there have said that Finland could start lifting coronavirus curbs on businesses and youth activities from next week, but borders will stay closed to tourists for at least the coming months. They have agreed an “exit plan”.
A decision to lift the state of emergency, which allows the government to shut businesses and restrict movement, could be made next week “if the situation continues improving,” prime minister Sanna Marin told a press conference.
But with the pandemic still worsening in many European countries, she warned that “the same can happen in Finland if we don’t stay on the ball.”
Agence France-Presse report that infection rates in the Nordic country have fallen sharply over the last month, with only 83 new cases per 100,000 people in the past two weeks, giving Finland one of Europe’s lowest incidences of the virus, according to WHO figures.
The prime minister’s office has published a road map to reopening the country between now and August, agreed after negotiations between the five-party coalition and consultations with the public.
Restrictions on youth sports and hobbies will gradually be lifted from April, while libraries and museums, currently closed in the worst-hit areas, will re-open in May. The current 10-person limit on gatherings will be lifted for outdoor events in July, and in August at the earliest for indoor meetings.
But the ban on all but the most essential international arrivals - a border policy previously described by Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo as the EU’s toughest - will only be partially lifted in the months to come.
French domestic travel restrictions will end on 3 May, a government source has told Reuters, as President Emmanuel Macron’s administration eyes a gradual exit from the latest lockdown.
Macron announced France’s third, national lockdown at the end of March, and the government has said it could re-open some businesses and leisure activities - such as outdoor seatings at bars and restaurants - by mid-May.
Spanish PM: We're getting closer to the end of the pandemic
In Spain, which is currently being hit by a fourth wave of the virus, the government shared some rare good news, announcing on Tuesday night that more people have now been fully vaccinated against the virus than have contracted it.
The health ministry said that 3,452,119 had received both doses of the vaccine, while the total number of people who have contracted the virus since the pandemic began is 3,435,840.
To date, Spain has administered 13,041,032 doses of the vaccine to its population of around 47 million people.
“We’ve reached a new milestone,” the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said on Tuesday night. “Let’s keep pushing firmly on with our aim: immunising 70% of the population before the summer is over. We’re getting closer to the end of the pandemic.”
A quick snap from Reuters that Sri Lanka’s health minister Pavithra Waniarachchi told parliament the country had found six cases of blood clots among recipients of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, three of whom have died.
Nearly a million people have been given the first dose of the Indian-made vaccine in the country. No announcement of any halt to the vaccination programme has been made.
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Governments and health organisations from LA to Siberia are setting up vaccination centres in underused stadiums, airports, trains and churches in an effort to vaccinate enough people to reach herd immunity as quickly as possible. Our picture editors have rounded up some of the best photographs of these sometimes surreal sites.
The number of coronavirus infections in Papua New Guinea rose past 10,000, which Byron Kaye and Colin Packham describe for Reuters as an alarming milestone for the Pacific country. Health officials worry that its fragile health system is at risk of being overwhelmed.
In a departure from previous updates that showed most new cases near the capital, Port Moresby, the Covid-19 National Pandemic Response said the new infections occurred in 17 of the country’s 22 provinces, implying a broader spread.
Papua New Guinea also faces delays to its vaccination programme, which relies on supplies from the global Covax vaccine-sharing scheme.
With a population of about 9 million, Papua New Guinea has started a modest vaccination programme using a small number of doses sent by Australia with orders in place for more.
“Our battle with the surging Covid-19 outbreak is at a critical stage and I urge every citizen to strictly comply with measures,” the pandemic response controller, police commissioner David Manning, said in a statement.
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A quick snap from Reuters here that state minister George Gerapetritis has told broadcaster ERT in Greece that the government plans to allow restaurants to reopen early next month.
“Our intention is to have a coordinated opening of the restaurants after Easter,” he said. Greek Orthodox Easter falls on 2 May this year.
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In Australia, employers’ power to direct employees to be vaccinated has received a boost in the Fair Work Commission, which has upheld the sacking of a childcare worker who refused a flu jab.
Although the commission said the decision “relates specifically to the influenza vaccination in a childcare environment”, the case confirms labour law experts’ belief that an employer’s direction to get a vaccination can be “lawful and reasonable”.
The question of directing staff to be vaccinated was under some legal doubt – as the Fair Work Commission case is the first of its kind, and could still be the subject of appeal.
Despite Fair Work Ombudsman advice warning employers they may not be able to require vaccinations, experts including the barrister Ian Neil and Adelaide University professor Andrew Stewart have said that employers’ power in common law to give employees “lawful and reasonable” directions could extend to ordering them to get vaccinated.
Read more of Paul Karp’s report here: Australian employers could require some workers to be vaccinated after commission ruling
Hawaii announces Covid vaccine passport for inter-island travel
Hawaii has announced a Covid vaccine passport program for inter-island travel. Rebecca Falconer notes for Axios that Hawaii is the second US state to launch a “vaccination verification” scheme after New York. She writes:
The American Civil Liberties Union has said if vaccine passports are solely digital it’d “increase inequality,” excluding people who don’t have phones. It wants them to be “primarily paper-based, decentralized, and protect privacy.”
Hawaii’s Democrat Governor David Ige said at a briefing Tuesday that Hawaiians could use paper records for the program and that the state was working with private firms that would be accessing people’s records to ensure privacy was protected.
Ige said the focus was on lifting travel restrictions for the state’s residents, “it does not apply to trans-Pacific travelers at this point.”
Starting May 11, fully vaccinated travelers who received their vaccine in Hawaii may travel inter-county (Kauai, Maui, & Hawaii) without having to take a pre-travel test or quarantining for 10 days. People are fully vaccinated on the 15th day following their final vaccine dose. pic.twitter.com/bnsx6mW5SX
— Governor David Ige (@GovHawaii) April 20, 2021
Here’s Justin McCurry in Tokyo with his latest dispatch from Japan:
Japan is poised to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and two other regions amid a surge in coronavirus cases just three months before the start of the Olympic Games.
Domestic media said the government was considering tougher measures for Tokyo, Osaka prefecture and neighbouring Hyogo prefecture, as experts warned that mutant strains of the virus were driving new outbreaks that are straining health services.
Japan has avoided the catastrophic outbreaks seen in Europe, the US, Brazil and India, but cases have risen in recent weeks as the country struggles to get its vaccine rollout under way.
As of Tuesday, Japan had reported a total of 542,000 infections and more than 9,700 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The arrival of a fourth wave in densely populated parts of Japan has caused alarm among medical experts, and could further frustrate preparations for the Olympics, which are scheduled to open on 23 July.
Under the next state of emergency – which would be Japan’s third since April last year – restrictions on opening hours will remain in place, but local authorities could also request the closure of shops, theme parks and other facilities, adding to concerns about the impact the virus is having on the world’s third-largest economy.
Japan’s authorities do not have the legal powers to impose business closures or force people to stay at home. Instead, it has used subsidies and fines to persuade commercial facilities to fall into line, while urging residents to avoid non-essential outings and companies to allow employees to work remotely.
Read more of Justin McCurry’s report here: Japan set to declare state of emergency in Tokyo amid pre-Olympics Covid surge
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The French-Austrian vaccine developer Valneva is poised to begin its large-scale Phase 3 clinical trials this month, but the company has said it is “deprioritising the ongoing centralised discussions with the European commission” over selling it to the EU.
“We’ve committed significant time and effort to try to meet the needs of the central EC procurement process. Despite our recent clinical data, we have not made meaningful progress,” chief executive Thomas Lingelbach said in a statement reported by AFP.
The company will instead switch to a focus on “those European Union member states and interested parties outside the EU” that expressed interest.
Valneva last year struck a deal with Britain to supply up to 190m doses of its vaccine. The EU had said in January it had finished “exploratory talks” with the manufacturer with a view to buying up to 60m doses, but no final deal has been struck.
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There’s a new Covid-related lobbying row brewing in the UK – this time about a direct approach to British prime minister Boris Johnson by manufacturer James Dyson over tax regulations while Dyson was proposing to supply ventilators at the start of the Covid emergency.
The BBC said it has seen a series of text messages between the two men after Sir James was unable to get the assurances he was seeking from the Treasury.
PA Media reports that the exchanges took place in March last year at the start of the pandemic when the government was appealing to firms to supply ventilators amid fears the NHS could run out.
The government said it was right to secure equipment for the NHS in “extraordinary times”, while Dyson said it was “absurd” to suggest his firm was doing anything other than seeking to comply with Treasury rules.
Opposition party Labour, however, described the disclosures as “jaw-dropping” and said Johnson must now agree to a full, independent inquiry into lobbying.
Read more here: Boris Johnson ‘promised James Dyson he would fix tax issue’
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Dan Diamond overnight has this for the Washington Post on vaccine hesitancy in the US, which has become increasingly politicised. He writes:
Stop talking about the possibility of coronavirus booster shots. Don’t bully people who are vaccine holdouts. And if you’re trying to win over skeptics, show us anyone besides Dr Fauci.
That’s what a focus group of vaccine-hesitant Trump voters urged politicians and pollsters during the weekend, as public health officials work to understand potential roadblocks in the campaign to inoculate Americans against the coronavirus. Among the most pressing questions are why so many Republican voters remain opposed to the shots and whether the recent decision to pause Johnson & Johnson vaccinations was a factor.
Although more than half of US adults have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, more than 40 percent of Republicans have consistently told pollsters they’re not planning to be vaccinated
Many vaccine-hesitant Americans are increasingly entrenched in their decisions to resist the shots, said Frank Luntz, a longtime Republican communications expert who convened Sunday’s focus group over Zoom. “The further we go into the vaccination process, the more passionate the hesitancy is,” Luntz said after the session. “If you’ve refused to take the vaccine this long, it’s going to be hard to switch you.”
While cautioning against drawing too many conclusions from a single focus group, public health experts said the nearly two-hour session offered insight on messages that could reach holdout Americans – and which messages didn’t.
Read more here: Washington Post – ‘I’m still a zero’: Vaccine-resistant Republicans warn that their skepticism is worsening
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Archbishop of Canterbury calls for start to UK public inquiry into handling of Covid
The archbishop of Canterbury has called on the UK government to start a public inquiry into the handling of the Covid pandemic, saying it should call out “reckless error” and have the power to compel witnesses to attend.
In a move that will reignite pressure on British prime minister Boris Johnson to finally deliver on a promise to launch an investigation, Justin Welby told the Guardian: “It has got to be an utterly independent statutory public inquiry, that has complete access, that can call witnesses, subpoena them if necessary and if necessary put them under oath.”
“I think we are at the point where they could start doing it,” the archbishop said. “If we ever have anything like this again, a national catastrophe on this scale, what do we do?”
He made the call on Tuesday evening as he met people bereaved by the pandemic at the Covid-19 memorial wall on the South Bank of the River Thames opposite parliament, where more than 150,000 red hearts have been inscribed in memory of the UK dead.
“One of the things people want to know when something goes wrong is that something has been learned from it and mistakes won’t be repeated,” he said. “One of the most comforting things for people that are bereaved is [knowing that] what happened to you, we can do better next time.”
Johnson has rebuffed calls from the bereaved, opposition party Labour and leading scientists to launch an inquiry immediately. The prime minister told MPs last month that he considered it “an irresponsible diversion” of official time at the moment. Labour has said it wants the inquiry to start as soon as Covid restrictions are lifted.
Welby said that while walking along the 460-metre long memorial he had the sense of “a tidal wave of grief that has not been released”.
Read more of Robert Booth’s report here: Justin Welby calls for start to public inquiry into handling of Covid
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Good news for UK fans of Brexit-supporting pubs – Wetherspoon says it is set to open more of its pubs across the country next week as the easing of the lockdown continues
A further 44 pubs in England will be open for business from 26 April, adding to the 394 which opened last week.
Wetherspoon will also go ahead with opening 60 of its pubs in Scotland and 32 in Wales next week and three pubs in Northern Ireland on April 30.
PA Media reports that Wetherspoon chief executive John Hutson said: “We are looking forward to opening the extra pubs in England as well as those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.”
You may remember that the pub chain didn’t exactly cover itself in glory with the way it handled staff at the beginning of the pandemic.
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Coronavirus sceptics will often attempt to cite a low overall mortality rate for those who get Covid-19 as a reason to argue that attempts to mitigate the pandemic have been overblown. This often fails to take into account the devastating long-term effects a bout of the illness can have.
Agence France-Presse has this despatch from Madrid, where reporters have visited patients at a new rehabilitation centre. Built in three months at a cost of over €150m (£130m), the Isabel Zendal hospital opened its doors in December to treat Covid patients although its rehabilitation centre was only inaugurated this month.
“I can’t walk on my own,” Carolina Gallardo, 51, told reporters. “I can’t use my hands - look at my hair, I can’t even put it up on my own.”
Pulling herself up from her chair, she clings on tightly to the parallel bars, slowly moving her foot in what is obviously a huge effort. With an arm around her waist, a physiotherapist gently urges her on, encouraging her to put her weight first on one foot then on the other.
At the centre, experts help recovering Covid-19 patients who struggle with continued respiratory problems or have lost their “motor capacity, to the point that holding a spoon or opening a bottle” is impossible, explains Dr Jose Lopez Araujo.
Patients walk around with electrodes attached to their bodies, or with a pulse oximeter on their finger, a device that monitors the pulse rate and oxygen levels in the blood.
“I’m a miraculous survivor. I shouldn’t have made it,” Gallardo says breathily, a transparent tube connecting her nose to an oxygen tank. She has only recently recovered her ability to talk.
“I couldn’t close my mouth, a physiotherapist has been working with me on stretches so I can close my mouth. I could hardly speak, I couldn’t even hear my own voice but then I started hearing it and now I’m talking,” she explains softly. “It’s a devastating disease.”
Jesus Nogales, 68, spent about a month in intensive care. “I was unconscious, sedated, I had no idea what was going on. For me it was like the world didn’t exist,” he told AFP.
“When I left the intensive care, it was like my whole body had turned to jelly. I had absolutely no strength. I had to relearn how to walk, to eat, and to move,” he says.
Like many Covid patients, Nogales lost his sense of smell when he first caught the virus and says he could have easily picked up “a glass of bleach” without realising it wasn’t water.
He is now working with physiotherapists at the centre to get his lung capacity back to normal. “I don’t want to end up in a wheelchair,” he says.
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Thailand seeking to acquire 35m new doses of vaccine
Good morning, it is Martin Belam here in London. I’ll be with you for the next few hours. Reuters have this from Bankok this morning, that Thailand’s prime minister has said the country is trying to secure 35 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines from two or three firms this year on top of existing orders of around 65 million doses.
“I have ordered that we distribute and administer all the vaccines that we can find by December,” he added.
Prayuth did not name the brands, or specify whether the 35 million included the five to 10 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine that he announced were being sought yesterday. Thailand has been credited for its swift containment of earlier outbreaks, but the slow pace of its immunisation drive has caused some jitters.
Up until now, its mass vaccination plan has been centred on administering 61 million doses of locally-made AstraZeneca vaccine, which the royal-owned producer, Siam Bioscience, has assured are on schedule for a June rollout. However, to date only around 600,000 shots have been given.
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. I’m now handing over to my colleagues in London.
The resurgence of Covid-19 in countries such as India and Japan has spooked investors on the world’s financial markets.
Shares in Asia fell sharply on Wednesday led by the Nikkei in Japan where it is expected that the authorities will announce a state of emergency in Osaka and Tokyo later today as they struggle with a rise in cases. The Nikkei is down 1.9% while Hong Kong is off 1.6% and Seoul is down 1.4%.
Wall Street finished Tuesday’s session in the red as well with the Dow Jones industrial average down 0.75%, the S&P 500 off 0.68%, and the Nasdaq losing 0.92% as investors sold airlines and travel-related shares due to fear of a delayed recovery in global tourism.
“Renewed concerns about the global economic recovery weighed on commodity prices and commodity currencies. Many countries around the world, such as India and Brazil, set new records for infections and deaths,” analysts at Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a research note.
“As long as the virus persists, there is a risk virus mutants develop and spread to other countries.”
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Nearly six months after the first Covid-19 vaccines were approved for emergency use, Guardian analysis shows that the vast majority of the world is yet to see a substantial benefit.
Supply shortages, safety concerns, public apathy and slow rollouts have resulted in most countries still being reliant on onerous lockdowns and other quarantine measures to reduce the severity of their outbreaks.
Clear gaps have opened between the handful of countries where vaccination levels are high, those struggling to ramp up their programmes and the many, mostly poor countries that have received only a trickle of vaccine doses so far.
Mapping changes in death rates since 31 January against vaccination rates in each country gives a snapshot of the state of the race to vaccinate the world against the virus. Here is what it tells us:
Japan mulls new restrictions
Japan’s government is considering a state of emergency for Tokyo and Osaka as new Covid case numbers surge, broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday, a move that would enable prefectural authorities to impose curbs to try to stop infections spreading.
With thousands of new cases resulting from highly infectious strains of the virus, the government is expected to declare the state of emergency this week for the capital and Osaka prefecture, as well as the latter’s neighbouring Hyogo prefecture, a number of domestic media outlets reported.
Reuters: Japan has so far avoided the kind of explosive spread of the pandemic that has plagued many western countries, with total cases so far at about 540,000 and a death toll of 9,707. But the latest rise in infections has stoked alarm, coming just three months before the planned start of the Tokyo Olympics and amid a sluggish vaccination rollout.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike is preparing to request an emergency period be declared from 29 April to 9 May, encompassing Japan’s annual ‘Golden Week’ holiday period, the Mainichi newspaper reported.
Osaka, the epicentre of a fourth wave of the pandemic, requested a renewed state of emergency on Tuesday, looking to cancel or postpone all major events to restrict the movement of people. Quasi-emergency measures were already imposed in 10 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, including the Tokyo and Osaka areas.
The government of Kyoto prefecture in western Japan is also preparing to request an emergency declaration, the Jiji news service reported. If enacted in all four regions, the emergency measures would cover close to a quarter of Japan’s population of 126 million.
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India reports over 200,000 cases for seventh straight day
Indian authorities scrambled to shore up supplies of medical oxygen to hospitals in the capital, Delhi, on Wednesday as a fast-spreading second wave of coronavirus stretched medical infrastructure to breaking point, officials and doctors said. Tuesday marked the seventh day in a row of more than 200,000 cases a day.
India, the world’s second most populous country, is reporting the world’s highest number of new daily cases and is approaching a peak of about 297,000 cases in one day that the US hit in January.
Delhi’s government issued a call for help on social media, saying major government hospitals only had enough oxygen to last eight to 24 hours while some private ones had enough for just four or five hours:
India has seen a terrifying increase in coronavirus cases in the past few weeks. Monday saw another new record when the country racked up 273,810 new cases, with no sign that the surge is abating.
The capital, New Delhi, was placed in lockdown for a week from Monday, and Maharashtra state, the centre of the surge and home to the financial capital, Mumbai, further tightened restrictions on shops and home deliveries from Tuesday.
The US Centers for Disease Control on Monday advised against all travel to India, and the UK imposed restrictions on arrivals from the country.
India has recorded more than 15m cases of Covid-19, second only to the US, and has the fourth highest death toll at more than 180,000.
What has caused the resurgence, which Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, described on Tuesday as “like being hit by a storm”?
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Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
Japan’s government is considering a state of emergency for Tokyo and Osaka as new Covid case numbers surge, broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday, a move that would enable the giant cities to impose curbs to try to stop infections spreading.
Indian authorities are scrambling shore up supplies of medical oxygen to hospitals in the capital, Delhi, as cases nationally soar above 200,000 for seventh straight day.
Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:
- The European Medicines Agency has stated that the overall benefits of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine outweigh any risks after eight cases of unusual blood clots, including one death, were reported in the US out of 7 million people vaccinated.
- The EU drug regulator also said a warning about very rare blood clots should be added to label of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after finding a “possible link” between the shot and the clots.
- The Netherlands will resume its use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine from Wednesday, Dutch health minister Hugo de Jonge has announced following the European drug regulator’s statement earlier on Tuesday.
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Spanish health officials have rejected a proposal to widen the interval between first and second vaccine doses, Reuters reports, citing an announcement on Cadena Ser radio on Tuesday.
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Yemen started its vaccine rollout on Tuesday, with government-held areas in the war-torn country administering the first doses three weeks after initial supplies arrived.
- The US has warned against travel to India, where cases are rising to staggering levels and a new coronavirus variant has been detected.
- Authorities will impose a strict lockdown this week on India’s western state of Maharashtra, the worst-hit state in India’s latest coronavirus wave, Reuters reports two senior ministers as saying.
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Sweden will give people under 65 who have had an initial AstraZeneca vaccine dose a different vaccine for the second dose, the country’s health agency said on Tuesday.
