We’re closing this blog now but you can continue to keep up with all the updates at our new blog here:
In the UK, NHS staff and key workers who have died during the nation’s struggle against coronavirus should be given their own memorial marking their sacrifice, the Liberal Democrat leader has said.
Speaking on the eve of Remembrance Sunday, Sir Ed Davey said he wanted to see a memorial built near parliament to those who have perished while helping in the battle against the pandemic.
The Cenotaph in Whitehall was built to mark the end of the first world war and is now the scene of annual commemorations to pay tribute to those who have died while serving in the armed forces to protect the UK.
The former cabinet minister said, as well as a national war memorial, there should also be a place in the capital to “remember these brave heroes” who died either caring for people or while helping keep society going during Covid.
Almost 50,000 people have died in the UK after being diagnosed with coronavirus, according to official figures.
There’s a bit of news around today, including that the US has finally finished its Tuesday, several days later. President-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris have just arrived in Wilmington, Delaware, to deliver a victory speech.
My colleagues in the US are covering it over in the US election live blog here:
Papua New Guinea has reported a second case in New Ireland province. A 58-year-old man who who is employed Newcrest Mining Limited in Lihir had traveled from Buka in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, and 11 contacts have been identified authorities said.
PNG authorities said the country has recored 599 cases of Covid-19 in total, and 585 have recovered. However testing has been minimal - about 29,500 in a total population of 8.6 million - and the infection rate is expected to be much higher than 599, with cases reported in 15 of the 20 provinces.
Hello, this is Helen Davidson here to take you through the next few hours.
A quick check in on the Australian state of New South Wales, where authorities reported zero new local cases in the last 24 hours but are still investigating an emerging cluster in the Southern Highlands region, south of Sydney.
“The source of the [five] recent cases in Moss Vale remains under investigation,” the health department said.
“Due to these and other recent cases, in line with previous advice the call for testing continues to apply particularly to people in South Western Sydney, including in and around the communities of Leppington, Hoxton Park and Prestons; and to people in the Southern Highlands region, including the communities in and around Moss Vale, Mittagong and Bowral. Extra testing capacity has been made available in these regions.”
Three people in hotel quarantine were diagnosed with Covid-19 in the 24 hours to Saturday night. There are 63 people being treated for Covid-19 in the state, but 95% are non-acute cases. One person is in intensive care but does not need ventilation.
Hello, my time covering this blog has come to an end. I’ll now hand over to my colleague Helen Davidson for further updates.
A summary of tonight’s main events:
- The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has announced the further easing of Covid restrictions over regional parts of the state. After Victoria recorded no new coronavirus cases for the ninth consecutive day on Sunday, he said that from 11.59pm both the 25 kilometre travel rule and “ring of steel” border separating regional and metropolitan Victoria will be removed.
- In France, the total number of deaths from coronavirus has exceeded 40,000 for the first time, the health ministry announced. New deaths from the virus reached 40,169, of which 27,660 have been in hospitals, including 306 in the last 24 hours.
- India reported 50,356 new Covid-19 infections in the past day, as cases in New Delhi surpassed 7,000 on Saturday.
- Hospitals in Greater Manchester have suspended non-urgent appointments and surgery following a surge in the number of Covid patients being treated. Operations and appointments for urgent conditions, such as cancer, will continue, but it has been reported that other bookings will be paused from Monday.
- A further 413 people with coronavirus have died across the UK in the last 24 hours, up from 355 the previous day, government figures show. It brings the overall UK death toll to 48,888.
Andrews has outlined some further steps to ease restrictions which are planned for 22 November:
- Private gatherings will be able to have up to 10 people at homes, and 50 people in public.
- Hospitality venues will be able to hold up to 1000 people as long as they meet density requirements of one person per four square metres.
- Sporting venues will be able to hold up to 25% of their capacity.
- Groups of up to 10 people can share accommodation.
- Religious services will be able to hold 100 people indoors and 500 outdoors.
- Funerals and weddings will be able to have up to 100 people, but if it is held at a private residence the limit remains 10.
Melbourne 'ring of steel' removed in Australia as Victoria reunites
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has announced the further lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in the state.
After Victoria recorded no new cases of the virus for the ninth day in a row on Sunday, Andrews announced that from 11.59pm tonight both the 25 kilometre travel rule in Melbourne and the “ring of steel” border separating the city from regional Victoria will be removed.
“Families will be able to be together again,” he said.
Statement from the Premier on aligning restrictions in metro Melbourne and regional Victoria:https://t.co/3p0l7oupXI pic.twitter.com/NzDhu0jnDS
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) November 7, 2020
Andrews also announced the loosening of a number of restrictions including:
- Hospitality venue limits will increase to 40 people inside and 70 outside.
- Churches, other faith venues and funerals will be able to have 50 people outdoors and 20 inside.
- Gyms, cinemas and other recreational venues will be able to have 20 people per venue or “space”.
He said the state’s mask mandate will remain in place for the time being.
“A time will come where we can again have some changes to that but that is not for today and I will not speculate when that will be,” he said.
He also said the Victorian state of emergency will be extended to 6 December but the state of disaster will not be renewed.
Updated
Care home residents in England face a postcode lottery over visiting because ministers have abdicated responsibility to local officials, my colleague James Tapper reports.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Queen wears mask in public for first time
The Queen has worn a face mask in public for the first time as she made a poignant pilgrimage to the grave of the Unknown Warrior to mark the centenary of his burial on Wednesday, PA Media reports.
Following government regulations, the head of state adopted the covering when she visited the place of worship for a brief ceremony - her first public engagement in London since March.
A royal aide described the service as “deeply personal” for the monarch, who was married at the Abbey in November 1947, and in tribute to the symbolic serviceman she left flowers, based on her wedding bouquet, at his final resting place.
Members of the royal family from the Prince of Wales to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have appeared at official events wearing face coverings for the past few months, and the Queen has now followed suit.
Updated
The recently locked down Australian state of Victoria has recorded another day of zero cases and deaths.
The state’s 14-day average is now 0.4, and there are two cases with an unknown source that Victoria Health is aware of.
Yesterday there were 0 new cases & no lost lives reported. The 14 day average is 0.4, there are 2 cases with unknown source. As we head to COVID normal, there will soon be changes to the data reported in this tweet.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) November 7, 2020
More: https://t.co/pcll7yB2RZ#COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/AL7oImjiQq
The total number of deaths in France from Covid-19 has topped 40,000 for the first time, according to the health ministry.
New deaths from the disease reached 40,169, of which 27,660 have been in hospitals, including 306 in the last 24 hours.
The government put the country back under lockdown for the second time this year a little over a week ago in hope of reining in the outbreak as new cases spiralled higher in recent weeks.
The health ministry added that 20,009 people had been hospitalised over the last seven days and 3,003 were in intensive care.
Updated
The Isle of Man has recorded its first death from coronavirus in almost six months, bringing the total number of people on the island to die with Covid-19 to 25.
The island’s last Covid-related death was confirmed at Noble’s Hospital on 15 May and “was related to Abbotswood” care home.
Chief Minister Howard Quayle has shared his condolences to the family of the latest victim.
A death from COVID-19 has been confirmed in the Isle of Man. The Chief Minister Howard Quayle MHK extended his sincere condolences to the family. 25 people have died from COVID-19 on the Island. pic.twitter.com/OLU3Q7dkqq
— Isle of Man Government (@IOMGovernment) November 7, 2020
Updated
India has recorded 50,356 new Covid-19 infections within the past 24 hours, with the government warning that crowded markets for festival shopping could worsen the situation.
Cases in New Delhi, its capital, surpassed 7,000 on Saturday, meaning India’s confirmed cases now exceed 8.4 million – the second highest in the world behind the United States.
The Health Ministry reported 577 deaths, bringing the total official death toll to 125,562.
Updated
Joe Biden is poised to name his own task force to combat the Covid-19 pandemic before he takes office, in an effort to stem the growing case numbers across America.
The president-elect, who won the White House after securing the required 270 electoral votes following a victory in Pennsylvania, will announce a 12-member team on Monday, media reports suggest.
It comes after a week that the US set daily records for confirmed cases during the outbreak, which has so far killed more than 236,000 Americans.
Speaking on Friday night before he was officially elected president, Biden, 77, said:
We want everyone to know on day one we are going to put our plan to control this virus into action.
We can’t save any of the lives that have been lost, but we can save a lot of lives in the months ahead.
Updated
Hospitals in Greater Manchester suspend non-urgent care
Hospitals in Greater Manchester have decided to suspend non-urgent care amid a surge in coronavirus admissions which threaten to overwhelm local health services.
Non-urgent hospital surgery and appointments will no longer go ahead as scheduled, although emergency care, such as cancer treatment, will continue, according to The Manchester Evening News.
NHS England said it needed to “expand critical care facilities” after coronavirus hospital admissions in the region rose to 132 in the week ending 3 November, compared to 68 during the previous one.
Guardian journalist Mattha Busby has a full report on the news here:
Updated
As England just starts adjusting to the new lockdown reality, the question of when a Covid vaccine will become publicly available is growing into an ever more pressing one.
Debora Mackenzie talks to an array of health experts and explores how feasible this prospect really is:
Updated
Hundreds of people have taken part in an anti-lockdown demonstration in Brighton, with many of the protestors reportedly not wearing masks.
George Taylor, 21, who lives in the area, said he was “very concerned” to see between 150 and 200 people walking closely together for the demonstration without face coverings.
“They were marching along Brighton seafront with speakers saying to take off masks, calling it a muzzle, saying to get your freedom back,” the call centre worker told PA media.
The protest came after the Million Mask March, an annual anti-authoritarian demonstration, saw nearly 200 people arrested in central London for breaching coronavirus rules on Friday.
Updated
A group of more than 100 mourners broke Covid restrictions in England when they gathered to release balloons, police have revealed.
The crowd, made up of 30 people thought to have attended a funeral at a nearby cemetery, was joined by 80 others at Swan Pool in Sandwell Valley Country Park.
West Midlands Police, who believe the group dispersed a short while afterwards, have reinstated that funerals are restricted to 30 attendees under the current guidelines.
Steve Radford, the force incident manager, said: “We understand that this is a deeply distressing time for bereaved families and friends but there are restrictions on the number of people permitted to attend funerals to protect everyone from the spread of Covid-19.”
Updated
Slovakia held a second round of nationwide Covid testing on Saturday in an attempt to curb rising infection rates, with more than half a million people screened by midday, Reuters reports.
The government called on people from regions where more than 0.7% tested positive for the virus last weekend to repeat the procedure, testing in 45 out of 79 of the nation’s counties.
As of noon on Saturday, official data showed 553,377 had been tested with 3,677 positive results. Prime Minister Igor Matovic said the country now had an effective way to handle the epidemic.
My colleague Shaun Walker took a look at how the UK could learn from Slovakia’s coronavirus mass-testing programme:
Updated
413 further Covid-linked deaths registered in the UK
In the UK overnight, 413 more people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
This number is up from 355 the previous day, according to government data, which brings the UK total to 48,888.
There were 24,957 people in the UK that tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, up from 23,287 on Friday.
See the official release here.
Updated
Hello, I’m Yohannes Lowe and I will be running the liveblog from now until around midnight. If you wish to get in touch, please feel free to message me on my Twitter account (@Yohannes_Lowe).
That’s it for me. My colleague Yohannes Lowe will be taking over.
Summary
- Italy approved a new aid package to cushion the blow to its economy from the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The measures agreed by cabinet overnight are worth €2.9bn (£2.6bn), according to a report by Reuters.
- The US confirmed 126,480 new coronavirus cases on Friday. It is the third day in a row that the US has reported a record-breaking number of Covid-19 cases. States recording record daily highs on Friday included Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Utah.
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Thousands of people in Leipzig, Germany, have demonstrated against coronavirus restrictions. The demonstration came as Germany finished its first week of a “lockdown light” with new restrictions to try and slow rising coronavirus cases.
- Iran registers a record daily number of Covid-19 cases and another 423 deaths from the disease. The worst-hit Middle Eastern country recently imposed new restrictions as the country battles a third wave of the virus.
- Donald Trump’s chief of staff tests positive for Covid. Mark Meadows has tested positive for Covid-19, along with at least one other aide to the president, sources have told multiple news organisations. The reports came just days after Meadows appeared with Trump at a White House event along with several people who were not wearing masks.
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Bosnia’s prime minister, Zoran Tegeltija, has tested positive for Covid-19. Tegeltija is is self-isolating at home, Reuters reports, citing a cabinet statement.
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Poland reported a record 27,875 new coronavirus cases. Saturday’s figures takes the total number of reported cases to more than 500,000.
- Travel to UK from Denmark has been banned amid worries over Covid in mink. All non-British national or resident travellers who have been in Denmark in the past 14 days will be denied entry into the UK.
Updated
Italy has approved a new aid package to cushion the blow to its economy from restrictions introduced earlier this week in an effort to stem a resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reuters reports:
The measures agreed by cabinet overnight are worth €2.9bn (£2.6bn), a source said.
Coronavirus curbs which came into force on Friday divide the country into three zones according to the severity of the latest outbreak.
The limitations are less severe than the nationwide lockdown imposed when the coronavirus first took hold in March, but many shops have been shut in the highest-risk zones such as the Lombardy region, where people can only leave their homes for work, health reasons or emergencies.
The package delays the spring tax payments due in November and increases transfers to businesses operating in regions classed as “red” or “orange”, which have been hit by the strictest limitations.
Updated
A further 283 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 34,374, NHS England said on Saturday, PA Media reports.
The atients were aged between 39 and 100. All except nine, aged between 39 and 88, had known underlying health conditions.
The deaths were between 14 May and 6 November.
Updated
There have been a further 958 cases of coronavirus in Wales in the UK, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 59,237, PA Media reports.
Public Health Wales reported another 32 deaths, taking the total in Wales since the start of the pandemic to 2,014.
Updated
The US confirmed 126,480 new coronavirus cases on Friday, a record number for a third day in a row. At the White House, chief of staff Mark Meadows was reported to have tested positive for Covid-19.
On Saturday afternoon, Johns Hopkins University in Maryland put the total number of cases in the US at 9,744,491, with 236,155 deaths.
States recording record daily highs on Friday included Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Utah.
Updated
A man in the UK has been fined £10,000 after police found up to 60 people having a party inside a two-bedroom flat.
Last month, a more robust coronavirus regulations were introduced in England, with fines of up to £10,000 for people who refuse to self-isolate when asked and hold illegal gatherings, and enforcement including tip-offs from people who believe that others are breaching the rules.
Officers were called to reports of a disturbance at a residential property in Manchester city centre, at around 12.30am last Sunday.
Supt Chris Hill of Greater Manchester police said organising the flat party was “a clear act of non-compliance which put those in attendance at risk of Covid and could, ultimately, increase demand on the NHS”.
Updated
The UK’s largest police force has apologised after journalists and photographers covering an anti-lockdown protest were told to leave and threatened with arrest.
Journalists at the demonstration protesting the new national lockdown in England in Trafalgar Square on Thursday were reportedly told by officers they were not seen as essential workers and needed special permission from London’s Metropolitan police service to be present.
The reported incidents took place as police clashed with protesters in the capital on the first day of the month-long second lockdown, with just under 200 arrests.
The Society of Editors has written to the Home Office and the Met seeking “urgent clarification” that photographers and journalists will be able to cover protests which take place under the new lockdown measures in England.
Updated
Thousands of people in Leipzig, Germany, have demonstrated against coronavirus restrictions after a court rejected the city’s attempt to move the protest somewhere more spacious where distancing could more easily be observed.
The demonstration came as Germany finished its first week into a “lockdown light” with new restrictions to try and slow spiking coronavirus cases.
Updated
Iran announced new lockdown curbs on Saturday after registering a record daily number of Covid-19 cases and another 423 deaths from the disease.
Reuters reports:
The latest health ministry data, which registered 9,450 new infections in the last 24 hours, took the total number of confirmed cases to 673,250 and raised the death toll to 37,832, a ministry spokeswoman told state television.
Iran’s government recently imposed new restrictions as the country battles a third wave of the virus, and the president, Hassan Rouhani, announced further measures on Saturday.
Starting on Tuesday, for one month, all non-essential businesses will have to close at 6pm.
Updated
Thousands of coronavirus patients in Britain will be given aspirin as part of a trial to determine whether the painkiller can reduce the risk of dangerous blood clots.
The cheap and widely available drug has been added to a list of potential treatments to be tested as part of the Randomised Evaluation of Covid-19 therapy (Recovery) trial, one of the biggest in Britain.
People infected with coronavirus seem to have hyper-reactive platelets, the cell fragments that help stop bleeding, which means they are at higher risk of potentially deadly blood clots, scientists say.
Experts hope that aspirin, an anti-platelet agent that is commonly used as a blood thinner, can reduce the possibility of clotting complications.
Prof Martin Landray, co-chief investigator of the trial, said:
Aspirin is widely used to prevent blood clots in many other conditions, including heart attack, stroke, and pre-eclampsia in pregnant women.
But enrolling patients in a randomised trial such as Recovery is the only way to assess whether there are clear benefits for patients with Covid-19 and whether those benefits outweigh any potential side-effects such as the risk of bleeding
Austria has reported a record high of 8,421 new coronavirus infections within the last 24 hours, says Reuters, citing the Kronen Zeitung newspaper.
The number of deaths related to the virus has risen by 37, said the newspaper.
Updated
Donald Trump's chief of staff tests positive for Covid
The US president Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has tested positive for Covid-19, along with at least one other aide to the president, sources have told multiple news organisations.
It is not immediately clear when or how Meadows was infected, but the chief of staff has frequently appeared at public events without wearing a mask. The reports came just days after Meadows appeared with Trump at a White House event along with numerous people who were not wearing masks.
Here's the clip of Meadows on Election Night: pic.twitter.com/LYcMwkN9nJ
— The Recount (@therecount) November 7, 2020
The New York Times is reporting that as well as Meadows, four White House officials tested positive for the virus. Bloomberg News is also reporting that four other officials tested positive, including Cassidy Hutchinson, one of Meadows’s closest aides.
Another campaign aide, Nick Trainer, has also tested positive for the virus, according to Reuters’ source.
Neither Meadows nor the White House has commented or confirmed that he contracted the virus and little is known about when or if he has developed symptoms, but advisers told reporters on Friday night that he shared the news with others at the White House after Tuesday’s election, AP reports.
Meadows, a former North Carolina lawmaker, regularly accompanied Trump on the final, frenzied days of the campaign rallies leading up to the presidential election on Tuesday.
He is the latest official within Trump’s close circle to have contracted Covid-19, which has killed more than 236,000 Americans.
The president was briefly hospitalised after he was infected with the virus. His wife and son Barron also tested positive for the coronavirus in October. His national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, was also infected with the virus.
Updated
Authorities in Georgia are to impose a curfew between 10pm and 5am in its largest cities to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Reuters reports.
The restrictions, announced by the deputy prime minister, Maia Tskitishvili, will come into force on Monday and restrict the movements of pedestrians and vehicles, local media reported.
Updated
Bosnia's prime minister, Zoran Tegeltija, has tested positive for Covid-19
Tegeltija is is self-isolating at home, Reuters reports, citing a cabinet statement.
The prime minister is in a stable health condition with mild symptoms of the coronavirus, the statement said.
Updated
A union in the UK has warned it is too late to find the nurses needed to meet the demands of an “extremely challenging” winter and called on the British government to “be honest” about the risks a lack of staff could pose to patient safety.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said that despite more nurses being registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) than last year, there are still around 40,000 registered nursing vacancies in England alone.
The union said it is concerned staff could burn out over winter unless local staffing plans proposed by NHS England prioritise the “safest, highest quality care”.
The RCN called on the government to base its decisions and planning about what the NHS can provide this winter on the actual number of nursing staff available and what those staff can safely maintain.
It said workers must be able to raise concerns about staffing levels and patient safety, and be assured such worries will be properly acted on.
Mike Adams, the RCN England director, said:
The NHS is now at its highest level of preparedness as it faces the prospect of an extremely challenging winter.
We already know that frontline nurses, in hospitals, communities and care homes, are under huge strain, and anecdotally we’re hearing that in some hospitals they are becoming increasingly thinly spread on the ground, as staff become unwell or have to isolate at the same time as demand on services continues to increase.
The government says nurses have been given extra training to provide more critical care staff to treat Covid-19 patients, but there simply aren’t enough to go around.
There are around 40,000 registered nursing vacancies across the NHS in England alone.
It is essential that learning is applied to planning for this winter, including what service can be delivered safely with the workforce available.
Updated
Poland reported a record 27,875 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the total number of reported cases to more than 500,000.
Reuters reports:
Infections have risen sharply over the last month, with doctors telling Polish media that the country is running out of hospital beds, ventilators and medics.
On Friday, Poland saw a record 445 coronavirus-related deaths. On Saturday, the country recorded 349.
The restrictions in force in Poland include shutting most shops in shopping malls, theatres, museums and galleries from Saturday onwards, but the government has insisted it wants to avoid a total lockdown.
Poland has 20,249 occupied hospital beds out of 30,896 available for Covid-19 patients.
Some 1,813 of its 2,357 ventilators are in use, health ministry data showed.
On Friday, the government introduced new economic support measures amounting to 9-10 billion zloty (£1.8bn-£2bn) to help businesses weather the second wave of the pandemic.
Updated
The UK’s first mass Covid testing trial is taking place in Liverpool. Six new testing centres opened their doors to Liverpudlians at midday on Friday as part of the government’s Operation Moonshot drive, which aims to eventually test up to 10 million people a day.
Liverpool’s director of public health, Matt Ashton, said the city’s mass testing pilot had shown positive signs on its first day of operation.
It is aiming to test up to 50,000 people a day once fully up and running, PA Media reports.
Ashton told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
It was the first day yesterday, and we didn’t open first thing, we opened at lunchtime and had six of the asymptomatic testing centres open.
We are still working on the numbers, but we think [there were] about 1,500-2,000 people per testing centre, so really good numbers and really good interest, so it was very encouraging.
The restrictions will absolutely help, they will reduce the levels of infection in our community because they will cut social contact.
The big question is: will they cut them enough, will it take the levels of the virus low enough?
Updated
Hungary reported a record high of 107 daily Covid-19 deaths on Saturday while new cases rose by 5,318, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Indonesia, the south-east Asian country hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, reported 4,262 new infections on Saturday, taking the total to 433,836, Reuters said.
There were 98 new deaths, bringing the total to 14,540.
Updated
Sir John Oldham, adjunct professor in global health innovation at Imperial College London, has called for the central NHS test and trace system in England to be scrapped in favour of handing responsibility for contact tracing to local public health teams, PA Media reports.
It comes after the national tracing programme hit a new low, recording its worst weekly performance since being set up, with the latest figures showing 59.9% of close contacts of people who tested positive in England were reached through the system in the week ending 28 October.
Oldham, a former leader of large-scale change at the Department of Health, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
I think the lockdown will be a letdown unless we increase trust and there is radical reform of test and trace, led by public health.
I think this probably includes increasing the number of small labs to increase turnaround time and, crucially, the results to go to local directors of health and for them to have teams to undertake the contact tracing.
I’d probably get the resources for that by scrapping the failing central call centres.
I think they have demonstrated that they have the capability and effectiveness – they are running at 95% contact tracing, the national call centre is at 40%.
Updated
Morning, I’m Aamna Mohdin and I’ll be leading the liveblog for much of the day. If you want to get in touch, you can email me (aamna.mohdin@theguardian.com) or message me on Twitter (@aamnamohdin)
Simon Murphy and Peter Beaumont report on new travel rules for UK residents:
All travel to the UK from Denmark is being banned amid mounting concern over an outbreak in the country of a mutation of coronavirus linked to mink, the government has announced.
Downing Street had already taken action to remove Denmark from the travel corridor, forcing arrivals to quarantine for two weeks from Friday at 4am.
But following a Covid committee meeting on Friday afternoon, the UK government is halting all inbound travel from Denmark.
All non-British national or resident travellers who have been in or transited through Denmark in the past 14 days will be denied entry into the UK.
The rule came into force as of 4am on Saturday.
A summary of today's events so far:
- Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has tested positive for the coronavirus. It is not clear when he contracted the virus, but Meadows was present at the election night party in the White House, along with hundreds of people.
- In the United States, Texas is closing in on its one millionth case of Covid-19. The US has also recorded more than 120,000 new daily infections, breaking a record set the day before.
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Europe has surged past 300,000 deaths, as countries wrestle to bring the virus under control. The region has become the new epicentre of the virus, with two-thirds of the tally coming from the UK, Italy, France, Spain and Russia.
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France recorded its highest one-day total since the pandemic began, recording more than 60,000 cases and 828 deaths in 24 hours. The country is in its second national lockdown, with restrictions expected to remain until December.
- Italy also recorded its highest ever total, registering more than 37,000 cases in 24 hours.
- Australia’s coronavirus numbers continue to decline, with Victoria recording its eighth straight day of zero infections and zero deaths. The state experienced a second wave of Covid-19 leading to hundreds of cases and dozens of deaths a day at its peak. More restrictions are expected to be eased tomorrow.
Updated
Student leaders have warned a “perfect storm” is brewing at university campuses, after tensions boiled over in Manchester.
Strict campus lockdowns and a worsening mental health crisis are combining to make life miserable for students across the UK.
Furious student protesters pulled down barriers around the University of Manchester, meant to control the spread of the virus on campus.
The demonstration was organised by individual students along with Rent Strike Manchester, a student collective campaigning for a 40% rent reduction and better support for students by withholding rent payments on their halls of residence.
Students across the country are pushing back against universities insisting they continue to travel to campus for face-to-face teaching.
Student leaders in Leeds have levelled accusations of heavy-handedness against security guards on campuses elsewhere, including the use of dogs to patrol halls of residence.
Updated
A family in Wales who lost three members to Covid is “heartbroken” after social media trolls targeted them saying the virus is a hoax.
Gladys Lewis, her son Dean Lewis and his younger brother Darren Lewis, all died after contracting the virus, but some social media users have refused to accept their cause of death.
Some questioned the family about any underlying health conditions they had, while others suggested diet and lifestyle had been a factor in their death.
Updated
I really admire so much about this:
Police have revealed a man KAYAKED from Victoria to SA, via the Glenelg River. But when he paddled in he didn't have the required paperwork, so was booted back over the river. @9NewsAdel pic.twitter.com/EJ6vP8R2TK
— Georgia Westgarth (@G_Westgarth) November 7, 2020
Ukraine has recorded a new daily record of coronavirus cases.
Reuters reports there were 9,850 new cases in the past 24 hours, up from a high of 9,524 only a day earlier.
Cases spiked in late September, and have remained consistency high throughout October, with the government extending lockdown measures until the end of the year in the hopes of curbing the outbreak.
The prime minister, Denys Shmygal, said the situation in Ukraine was close to catastrophic, and the nation had to prepare for the worst.
He said the number of new cases could jump to 15,000 a day by November, and even hit 20,000 a day in December.
Updated
Authorities in Slovakia are hoping a testing blitz – where two-thirds of the country were tested in just two days – will halve the number of cases in the country.
The ambitious testing program has generated interest across Europe, with a team from the UK travelling there to draw lessons before they implemented their own mass testing program in Liverpool.
“They are interested in our lessons and in the details and results,” said Slovakia’s deputy defence minister, Marian Majer, who added that Slovakia has offered to send a planning team to London to help with UK preparations if required.
The military ran the logistics of the program, which involved 5,000 teams of eight working over a weekend, with a combination of military and civilian medics performing the tests.
Updated
France has recorded its highest one-day total since the pandemic began.
The country, currently one week into its second lockdown, recorded 60,486 cases in one day, with the total number of confirmed cases in the country rising to 1.7 million.
Also on Friday 828 deaths were confirmed, with total deaths in the country almost topping 40,000.
Under the new lockdown restrictions, people can only leave their homes to go to work, buy essential goods, seek medical help or exercise. The restrictions are expected to remain in place until December.
A night curfew has also been implemented, with people restricted to their homes between 10pm and 6am across the country.
Updated
Considering a large percentage of us are still watching and waiting on a result in the US election, held during a historic pandemic and among ongoing protests and lockdowns around the world, it can be understandable if you’re feeling a little stressed.
So I’m just going to share this piece, for all of our sakes:
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Europe, meanwhile, has surged past 300,000 deaths from the virus.
From AFP:
A second coronavirus wave ploughed on relentlessly through Europe, which reported more than 12 million cases and 300,000 deaths as swathes of Italy returned to lockdown and the British city of Liverpool trialled citywide testing on Friday.
The continent has become the new epicentre of the pandemic and a total of 300,688 deaths have been reported in Europe since the Covid-19 virus first hit, according to an AFP tally of health authorities figures.
Two-thirds of these fatalities have been registered in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain and Russia.
As countries raced to try to curb their spiking cases, they imposed new lockdowns despite signs of growing unrest, with several Italian regions shutting down and Greeks facing fresh stay-at-home orders from Saturday.
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South Australia has reported two new cases today, a woman in her 40s and a man in his 30s.
Both the cases are returned travellers and in hotel quarantine, but it means the state now has more active cases than Victoria, at 17.
Earlier this week, the South Australian premier, Steven Marshall, said he would consider opening his state’s borders to Victoria, saying the government was monitoring conditions.
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A second state in Mexico will enter highest coronavirus alert level as authorities attempt to contain the virus.
A recent jump in infections in the north has sparked the change, with the northern state of Durango joining Chihuahua, a neighbouring region on the US border, in the red alert phase, according to Reuters.
The country has been reluctant to implement strict measures since emerging from the first lockdown in June.
Most of the country is currently at the lower orange or yellow alert levels, with the health ministry reporting 5,931 new cases and 551 deaths on Friday.
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Thanks Melissa, it’s been a hectic Saturday already.
Let’s dive in.
Thanks for following our Covid-19 coverage so far today. I’m now handing over to my colleague, Mostafa Rachwani, who will take the coverage through to the evening.
I’ll leave you with this update:
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, said to have tested positive for Coronavirus, seen without a mask, on right, behind Pres Trump during visit to his campaign HQ on Election Day. pic.twitter.com/m9IiA9bylG
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 7, 2020
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My colleague Martin Farrer reports that while the world is gripped by the most serious pandemic for a century, and the US presidency is facing transition, at least one thing remains certain amid all the chaos: the Australian property market keeps going up.
Figures for October showed this week that prices have risen for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the latest batch of data to confound expectations that the property market would collapse under the weight of lockdowns, recession, unemployment and lack of immigration-driven population growth.
And with the Reserve Bank cutting interest rates to a record low of 0.1% on Tuesday, owner-occupier lending hitting an all-time monthly high of $16bn according to ABS data, and savings soaring 20% to give households a property war chest, what is going to stop the Australian housing juggernaut?
Nothing is the short answer, according to some expert observers, who argue that because money is cheaper to borrow it is often more affordable to buy a home than it is to rent one.
Read more:
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Trump’s chief of staff tests positive
Bloomberg News reports that US President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has told associates he has Covid-19.
Worth noting that Mark Meadows was at the election night party at the White House Tuesday that hundreds of people attended. Officials said everyone would be tested beforehand.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 7, 2020
My colleagues at Guardian US have contacted the White House to verify the reports, but are yet to receive a response.
The Bloomberg report states:
It wasn’t immediately clear when Meadows learned that he had contracted the virus or whether he had developed symptoms of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. He informed a close circle of advisers after Tuesday’s election, one of the people said.
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Summary
- In the Australian state of Victoria – which experienced a second wave of Covid-19 leading to hundreds of cases and dozens of deaths a day at its peak – there are now just eight active cases of the virus. The state recorded another day of zero cases, for the eighth day in a row.
- Meanwhile, as the state opens up and people once again meet in cafes and bars and go to shopping centres, the state government announced a workplace compliance blitz. Over the weekend hundreds of police, authorised officers and workplace inspectors will visit venues to ensure Covid-safe plans are being followed.
- On Sunday, the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is expected to announce further easing of restrictions, including details about when the “ring of steel” preventing travel between rural and Metropolitan Melbourne, and the 25km curfew, might be lifted. There are no active cases of the virus in regional Victoria.
- NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has ramped up pressure on her WA and Queensland counterparts to follow Tasmania’s lead in reopening borders to avoid the “devastating impact” of job losses.
- Tasmania is to resume international flights with New Zealand for first time in more than two decades.
- In the US, Texas is closing in on its one millionth case of Covid-19. The US has also recorded more than 120,000 new daily infections, breaking a record set the day before.
- Italy has registered 37,809 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the country’s highest ever daily tally, the health ministry said.
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The UK’s first mass Covid testing trial in Liverpool risks being “an expensive mess that does more harm than good”, health experts said as it got under way on Friday.
My colleagues in the UK, Josh Halliday and Sarah Boseley, report that six new testing centres opened their doors to Liverpudlians at midday on Friday as part of the government’s Operation Moonshot drive to eventually test up to 10 million people a day.
However, five public health experts, including Allyson Pollock, a professor of public health at Newcastle University, raised significant doubts about the trial in a letter to Liverpool MPs.
They said the plans to test asymptomatic people in Liverpool went against advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to prioritise the testing of people displaying symptoms, and “searching for symptomless yet infectious people is like searching for needles that appear transiently in haystacks”.
The potential for harmful diversion of resources and public money is vast. Also of concern are the potential vested interests of commercial companies supplying new and as yet inadequately evaluated tests.
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Tasmania to resume international flights with New Zealand for first time in more than two decades.
More on the plans for Tasmania to resume international flights with New Zealand for the first time in more than two decades.
There are plans for 130 direct flights next year, AAP reports:
The first flight is likely to touch down in late January, with three flights a week expected for most of the year bar winter.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for Tasmania, a fantastic opportunity for Hobart,” premier Peter Gutwein said. “This is a unique opportunity to travel between two extraordinary island destinations and a terrific boost for local jobs.”
Discussions were well advanced with a carrier, Mr Gutwein added, with the state government to help underwrite the Hobart-Auckland link.
Almost $50m in federal funds will go towards setting up border force, federal police and biosecurity officers at Hobart Airport. The state government is contributing $10 million for upgrades to airport infrastructure as part of a $17.5m investment with the facility’s owners.
“The arrangement we have is for New Zealanders to be able to come and spend their money here,” prime minister Scott Morrison said. “Kiwis who come to Tasmania will certainly get the good end of the stick when it comes to the wonderful experience they’ll have here.”
After reopening to NSW on Friday, Tasmania’s borders are now open to all Australian jurisdictions except Victoria. The island state had been closed off to the rest of Australia since late March.
Tasmania will accept 450 Australians stranded overseas by the coronavirus pandemic between now and year’s end, Morrison announced.
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The Victorian government has released details of a health care worker wellbeing package to support those who have been working tirelessly during the coronavirus pandemic. Victoria has successfully overcome a second wave of the virus, and has recorded eight days in a row of no community transmission.
But at the peak of the virus, with hundreds of new cases and dozens of deaths a day, health care workers were among those most affected, with many infected and furloughed from work due to exposure.
The state government announced on Saturday a $9.8m package including the development of a healthcare worker wellbeing centre. The centre will identify best-practice approaches to supporting staff fatigue and stress management, provide advice and training opportunities, and host resources through a web platform.
The centre will support individual healthcare worker wellbeing, for clinical and non-clinical roles, across acute and community-based settings including hospitals, community health, aged care and primary care settings. Targeted support will be provided to identify and respond to family violence experienced by healthcare workers and access will also be expanded for payments for reasonable medical expenses.
The pilot is currently available to nurses and midwives who lodge a primary mental health injury worker’s compensation claim, and it will include all medical, allied health and health services’ support staff including catering, administration and cleaning staff.
No surprises that once again no new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Western Australia overnight.
The state’s positive Covid-19 case total stands at 776. WA Health is monitoring 12 active cases. To date 755 confirmed cases have recovered from the virus. Yesterday 818 people presented to WA Covid-19 clinics – 807 were assessed and 804 swabbed.
Meanwhile the high court on Friday rejected Clive Palmer’s challenge against Western Australia’s hard border closure. A majority of justices on Friday held that the state’s quarantine directions and the emergency management law authorising them did not breach the constitution.
France’s economic recovery is at risk after the country recently went into a second lockdown.
An analysis published by the Institut Montaigne think tank has found that the ‘Relaunch France’ strategy, introduced by president Emmanuel Macron in September, will be disrupted by the new restrictions.
It found that only a fifth of the promised economic support package will go towards alleviating short-term challenges. Half of the money will only have an effect in the medium-long term, whilst the rest was found to likely have a mixed effect.
The strategy had not banked on the country having to go into a second lockdown, depending instead on an expected economic rebound that now may be delayed whilst the country attempts to wrestle with a second wave.
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Meanwhile, travel to the UK from Denmark is set to banned over fears an outbreak in the country comes from a mutation of the coronavirus.
A new strain of the disease was discovered in minks bred for fur in Denmark’s northern regions, and has recently spread to humans. It is feared the new strain could prove more resistant to any vaccine.
It is not clear when the ban will come into place, with the UK already forcing arrivals to quarantine for two weeks.
The Danish government has insisted it is acting with an “abundance of caution”, in ordering the cull of 17 million mink and in imposing restrictions on the northern Jutland region.
Tasmania will begin hosting returning travellers in a deal announced with the Australian federal government.
The state has agreed to increase its hotel quarantine capacity by 450, which will add to the current capacity of 6,315 weekly quarantine spaces agreed to by states and territories.
The announcement is a welcome relief to stranded travellers, with the result meaning more Qantas flights will be sent to collect them.
The prime minister, appearing in Tasmania today, also announced that 130 direct flights from Hobart to New Zealand will resume from next year.
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Victoria’s health minister, Martin Foley, has announced a workplace inspector blitz on high-risk workplaces, with cafes, restaurants and retail now reopened with restrictions in place including around the number of patrons allowed in venues, while masks are still required.
Foley said police and 600 authorised officers would be part of the blitz this weekend, along with workplace inspectors.
It’s all about making sure that we stay safe, and stay open. There’s substantial resources from across Victoria police who are standing up extra resources over the course of the weekend. The authorised officers are from the department of health and human services, getting close to 600 officers. Early in our reopening it is just to reinforce the message that for providers to stay open, they need to stay safe and follow the rules.
Foley also told reporters in Melbourne on Saturday that although Victoria reported no new cases of community transmission, a late positive test result had come in from one person, however that person previously had the virus and the chief health officer had ruled it as a case of viral shedding, not a new case.
He would not be drawn on whether mandatory mask wearing would be scrapped, saying the premier, Daniel Andrews, would make further announcements about lifting restrictions on Sunday.
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From AAP:
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has ramped up pressure on her WA and Queensland counterparts to follow Tasmania’s lead in reopening borders to avoid the “devastating impact” of job losses.
The nation’s most populous state recorded just one new case of the virus in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday, and only 10 cases – one with an unknown source – have been recorded in the past seven days.
NSW residents can now freely travel to the Apple Isle after Tasmania this week opened its border to the state for the first time in more than seven months.
The change removes the need to quarantine for people travelling from NSW, which will reopen its own border to people coming from Victoria on November 23.
“It’s about people who can’t see families, businesses who are shutting down, and it’s really serious. I just want it fixed,” Ms Berejiklian told 2GB radio on Friday.
Budget airline Jetstar in a statement on Friday said it had sold about 25,000 tickets between NSW and Victoria in the first 48 hours after Berejiklian’s announcement - one-third of them for flights in the first seven days after 23 November.
While Victoria recorded it’s eighth consecutive day of no cases on Saturday, NSW is grappling with a mystery outbreak in the state’s Southern Highlands.
Four new locally acquired cases were recording in Moss Vale on Friday, prompting the closures of a school and childcare centre. NSW Health has not yet been able to identify the source of one case. The other three – and the new case announced on Saturday – are all known contacts of that case.
Another four cases were diagnosed in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday.
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More than 128,000 new covid infections reported todayhttps://t.co/TwywRrVwwO
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) November 6, 2020
NBC News reports that in the US, Texas is closing in on its one millionth case of Covid-19. The report says;
With Texas averaging about 7,000 new infections a day over the last two weeks, NBC News was projecting that the state would become the first to cross the million case threshold later Friday.
Texas eclipsed California, which currently has 960,361 cases, for the lead in this sad category last month. But both states have seen a surge of new cases in the past two weeks.
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Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
Melissa Davey here, bringing you the latest Covid-19 news as it happens.
This morning in Australia, Victoria’s health minister, Martin Foley, will hold a press conference at about 11.30am AEDT, with the state recording its eighth day in a row of no new cases of community transmission. The 14-day average of daily cases is now only 0.9 and there are just two cases with an unknown source. There have been no new cases in an aged care resident since 26 September.
The Australian state of New South Wales has reported five new cases – one locally acquired and four in hotel quarantine. The locally acquired case was a household contact of a confirmed case in the southern highlands suburb of Moss Vale.
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, announced last week that the border with Victoria would open on 23 November. On Saturday the health department announced one new locally acquired case had been identified overnight, linked to a known case whose source remains under investigation.
In news elsewhere, Italy is set to start a nationwide 10pm-5am curfew, as swathes of the country return to lockdown with “red zone” regions shuttering non-essential businesses, affecting 16m people.
The US has also recorded more than 120,000 new daily infections, breaking a record set the day before.
And Portugal’s parliament has given president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa authorisation to declare a state of health emergency, which will come into force on Monday allowing the government to impose further restrictions.
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