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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Josh Taylor, Nadeem Badshah, Aamna Mohdin ,Damien Gayle and Ben Doherty

Lockdowns in Italy as Austria goes into lockdown for third time – as it happened

A drive-through coronavirus disease testing clinic in the Warriewood suburb of Sydney, Australia. Authorities are struggling to contain a cluster in the city
A drive-through coronavirus disease testing clinic in the Warriewood suburb of Sydney, Australia. Authorities are struggling to contain a cluster in the city. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters

End of blog

That is where we are going to wrap up Friday’s global coronavirus liveblog. Follow our continuing coronavirus coverage here

Here’s what you might have missed on Friday:

  • The Christmas plans of many Australians could be thrown into chaos on Saturday with an outbreak in the northern beaches of Sydney threatening to bring in restrictions on people travelling from Sydney to other states.
  • The UK government said a further 489 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, bringing the total to 66,541. Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 82,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
  • Italy announces new lockdown over Christmas. Bars, restaurants and non-essential shops are to close nationwide from December 24th-27th and December 31st-January 3rd, the country’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte has announced.
  • Austria will go into lockdown for a third time after Christmas, the government confirmed, just 11 days after the country’s second lockdown ended. Non-essential shops that reopened last week will close, reopening the week of January 18th along with restaurants, schools, museums and theatres, the government said in a statement. Austria will let ski lifts open despite the lockdown being introduced on December 26th.
  • France’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 60,000. The health ministry reported 610 new deaths, pushing the total to 60,229, Reuters reports.There were 264 new deaths in hospitals, compared to 258 on Thursday, and a three-day batch of 346 deaths reported in retirement homes.
  • Turkey’s daily coronavirus death toll hit a record high of 246 in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed, bringing the total number of deaths to 17,610. Turkey also recorded 26,410 new coronavirus cases, including asymptomatic ones, in the last 24 hours.
  • The UK government said a further 489 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, bringing the total to 66,541. Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 82,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
  • Sweden’s government on Friday introduced the toughest measures yet to help stave off a second wave of the pandemic, including recommending masks on public transport and closing non-essential public workplaces, Reuters reports. Sweden registered a record 9,654 new coronavirus cases on Friday. The increase compared with a previous high of 8,881 daily cases recorded on Thursday.Sweden registered 100 new deaths, taking the total to 7,993.
  • US president Mike Pence was given Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, the highest-ranking US official to have received it so far. Pence was given the first shot on live television and said the vaccine was a “medical miracle” and that he “didn’t feel a thing”.

There are no restrictions on movement in the northern beaches in Sydney, but here is an indication people are complying with requests to stay home, from the MP for Mackellar.

The Herald Sun reports the Victorian government is considering closing the border between New South Wales and Victoria as soon as the end of the weekend if today’s case numbers in NSW are high today.

A permit system is already in place between Victoria and New South Wales, with only those from the northern beaches area of Sydney not being permitted to enter without going into mandatory hotel quarantine.

It would be a dramatic role reversal of less than a month ago. New South Wales reopened its border to Victoria on 23 November after Victoria defeated its second wave of Covid-19 cases.

Brazil reports 823 deaths

Reuters reports Brazil on Friday registered 52,544 additional cases of the new coronavirus and 823 related deaths in the prior 24 hours, according to data from the health ministry.

The South American country has now registered 7,162,978 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 185,650 deaths from Covid-19.

Updated

Victoria records 50th day with no new locally acquired cases

The Australian state of Victoria has now gone 50 days without any new locally acquired Covid-19 cases.

But everyone is nervous about the potential spread from NSW.

Updated

In Australia we are waiting for a decision to be made on the running of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race some time in the next hour or so.

After that we expect we will get the numbers of cases in NSW at 11am AEDT.

Updated

Italy will go into varying levels of lockdown during the Christmas and New Year period as the government tries to impede a rise in coronavirus infections that could be triggered by the festivities.

The whole country will be under “red-zone” lockdown on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day, 27 December and then again between 31 December and 3 January and 5-6 January, when Italy celebrates the feast of the epiphany. On those days non-essential shops will close along with bars and restaurants, unless they provide home delivery services. People must stay home unless they need to leave for “work, health or emergency reasons”.

Although in a significant exception, a maximum of two people (not counting children under 14) can leave their homes to visit another person’s home. On 28, 29 and 30 December and 4 January Italy will be in “orange zone” lockdown, meaning people can leave their homes but must stay within their towns and all shops can reopen apart from bars and restaurants.

“It’s not an easy decision but these measures are necessary,” prime minister Giuseppe Conte said during a press conference on Friday night. “The situation is still difficult, it’s difficult across the whole of Europe. It’s for this reason we are really worried that the [infection] curve could rise during the festive period.”

Conte said there would be a €645m support package for bars and restaurants affected by the measures while more financial initiatives would be announced in the coming days.

Italy registered 674 Covid-19 fatalities on Friday, against 683 on Thursday, and 17,992 new infections. The number of people in hospital with coronavirus has been gradually declining in recent weeks.

Other measures include a ban on inter-regional travel between 21 December and 6 January, while the national 10p-5am curfew will remain in place.

Updated

Italy’s announcement ended days of indecision and wrangling within the coalition, which was split between those wanting a complete shutdown and those pressing for more limited action to help struggling businesses and to allow some family reunions.

Under the new rules, non-essential shops will be shuttered between December 24-27, December 31- January 3 and January 5-6. On those days, Italians will only be allowed to travel for work, health or emergency reasons.

Shops will be able to open between December 28-30 and on January 4 and people will be free to leave their houses at that time.

However, throughout the holiday period, all bars and restaurants must remain closed.

Italy announces new lockdown over Christmas and New Year period

Bars, restaurants and non-essential shops in Italy are to close nationwide from December 24th-27th and December 31st-January 3rd, the country’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte has announced.

A summary of today's developments

  • The UK government said a further 489 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, bringing the total to 66,541. Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 82,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
  • Austria will go into lockdown for a third time after Christmas, the government confirmed, just 11 days after the country’s second lockdown ended. Non-essential shops that reopened last week will close, reopening the week of January 18th along with restaurants, schools, museums and theatres, the government said in a statement. Austria will let ski lifts open despite the lockdown being introduced on December 26th.
  • France’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 60,000. The health ministry reported 610 new deaths, pushing the total to 60,229, Reuters reports.There were 264 new deaths in hospitals, compared to 258 on Thursday, and a three-day batch of 346 deaths reported in retirement homes.
  • Turkey records record daily tally of deaths. Turkey’s daily coronavirus death toll hit a record high of 246 in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed, bringing the total number of deaths to 17,610. Turkey also recorded 26,410 new coronavirus cases, including asymptomatic ones, in the last 24 hours.
  • UK records a further 489 coronavirus deaths. The UK government said a further 489 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, bringing the total to 66,541. Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 82,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
  • Sweden introduces tough new measures to tackle second wave. Sweden’s government on Friday introduced the toughest measures yet to help stave off a second wave of the pandemic, including recommending masks on public transport and closing non-essential public workplaces, Reuters reports. Sweden registered a record 9,654 new coronavirus cases on Friday. The increase compared with a previous high of 8,881 daily cases recorded on Thursday.Sweden registered 100 new deaths, taking the total to 7,993.
  • US president Mike Pence was given Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, the highest-ranking US official to have received it so far. Pence was given the first shot on live television and said the vaccine was a “medical miracle” and that he “didn’t feel a thing”.

Christmas plans in Australia will likely to be thrown into disarray today as the state of New South Wales races to get an outbreak in Sydney’s northern beaches under control.

As of Friday evening, the total number of locally acquired cases in the state stands at 28, with 27 of those connected to an outbreak in the northern beaches.

It is anticipated there will be a number of new cases reported at 11am AEDT, after NSW Health late on Friday announced a number of new potential exposure sites outside of the northern beaches, including the high-traffic shopping mall Westfield Bondi.

Sydney airport was packed on Friday as people brought forward their flights to escape to other states for Christmas. Most states and territories have imposed restrictions on people travelling from the northern beaches area, but it is expected the ban could extend to all of greater Sydney if more cases are reported outside of the northern beaches area on Saturday.

The state of Victoria is jealously guarding its 49-day streak of no new locally acquired cases after defeating its second wave with a strict lockdown and mandatory mask use. The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has strongly advised Victorians not to travel to Sydney for Christmas because he cannot guarantee they won’t be forced into quarantine on their return.

New South Wales has yet to reimpose any restrictions, but has strongly advised people to wear masks indoors and on public transport. People in the northern beaches area are being advised to stay home until Monday at least, and a number of venues and beaches have voluntarily closed.

Contact tracers have yet to determine the index case of the outbreak, but have said genomic sequencing indicates it is a strain from the United States that was seen in a traveller who came back to Australia on 1 December.

Updated

One in every five state and federal prisoners in the US has tested positive for coronavirus, a rate more than four times as high as the general population.

In some states, more than half of prisoners have been infected, according to data collected by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project.

As the pandemic enters its 10th month — and as the first Americans begin to receive a long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine — at least 275,000 prisoners have been infected, more than 1,700 have died and the spread of the virus behind bars shows no sign of slowing.

New cases in prisons this week reached their highest level since testing began in the spring, far outstripping previous peaks in April and August.

“That number is a vast undercount,” said Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex.

Venters has conducted more than a dozen court-ordered COVID-19 prison inspections around the country.

“I still encounter prisons and jails where, when people get sick, not only are they not tested but they don’t receive care. So they get much sicker than need be,” he said.

A lion outside the New York Public Library wears a mask and is covered in snow.
A lion outside the New York Public Library wears a mask and is covered in snow. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Canada will receive about a half million doses of the Pfizer Inc COVID-19 vaccine in January and the rollout of the shots is going as planned, prime minister Justin Trudeau said, as some areas braced for possible new restrictions.

Canada began inoculations on Monday with the Pfizer vaccine, and will receive about 255,000 total doses in December, slightly more than the 249,000 announced earlier this month, Procurement Minister Anita Anand said.

The country is on track to receive deliveries of 4 million Pfizer doses by the end of March, as had been previously announced, Anand said.

Ontario, the country’s most populous province, is considering further lockdowns after 2,290 new cases were reported on Friday, Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his government would hold emergency meetings over the weekend and announce on Monday possible new health restrictions.

Lockdowns due to end on Monday in Toronto and Peel, two of the hardest hit parts of the province, will be extended, Ford said.

Overall, Canada has reported a total of 488,638 cases of COVID-19, with 7,008 new ones on Thursday, and 13,916 deaths.

Separately in a television interview, Trudeau confirmed a Reuters report from November that Canada was in talks to donate shots to lower-income countries.

In January, we’ll be getting 125,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine per week, for a total of 500,000 doses that month,” Trudeau said in a news conference.

“As Canada gets vaccinated, if we have more vaccines than necessary, absolutely we will be sharing with the world,” Trudeau said in a CTV interview.

Updated

Mali has announced bars and restaurants will be closed for two weeks along with fairs and shutter schools until January 10.

The closure of bars and restaurants will start from midnight on Saturday, government spokesman Hamadoun Toureh said after a cabinet meeting.

The cabinet also decided to declare a six-month health emergency, he said, adding that public gatherings would be limited to under 50 people until January 10, AFP reported.

Mali has so far officially recorded 6,049 Covid-19 cases of which 211 have been fatal in a country of 20 million. Daily cases this month have surpassed 150 and hospitals in the capital Bamako are struggling to cope with virus patients.

Updated

For the Di Giacobbe family, the juggling is even trickier since mom and dad are intensive care nurses in the same Covid-19 hospital.

They spend their days trying to provide their patients the type of personal care and attention they give their children.

The family will celebrate Christmas together this year — parents Maurizio Di Giacobbe and Glenda Grossi managed to both get December 25th off.

But they won’t have grandparents, aunts and uncles around their holiday table. They want to protect them.

“So we will be with our three children, the dog and the two cats,” Grossi said on a rare Saturday when both parents were home at the same time, decorating the Christmas tree with Tiziano, 4, Arianna, 9, and Flavio, 10.

When the pandemic began in Italy last spring, and no one knew how to mitigate its spread, the parents wore surgical masks around the children and developed a “virtual hug” to express their love. For the children, it was a game. But their parents knew first-hand just how deadly Covid-19 was.

“I don’t want to say we got used to seeing people die, but we were going to work with a kind of feeling of resignation” that at most they could provide their patients with dignity in their final moments, Di Giacobbe said.

Mexico City and surrounding Mexico State will ban all non-essential activities and return to a partial lockdown because of a spike in coronavirus cases that has crowded hospitals, officials said.

Residents of the capital and its suburbs will not be banned from moving about freely, but restaurants will be closed except for take-out services, many stores will be closed and cultural activities will be cancelled.

Authorities gave differing figures on how full hospitals are. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said 75% of hospital beds were full, but federal authorities put the number at 80%.

Mexico has never had a total lockdown but did enact shutdowns like the measures announced Friday during the first spike of the pandemic in the spring.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador opposes lockdowns and compulsory face-mask rules, and has called them “dictatorship.”

Sheinbaum and Mexico State Gov. Alfredo Del Mazo acknowledged that the partial shutdown, which will go into effect Saturday and may last through January 10, will be a painful break with Mexico’s traditional family-centered holiday celebrations.
Sheinbaum told city residents “do not hold parties, do not hold gatherings,” but announced no specific plans to prevent them from doing so.
Mexico has seen almost 1.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide, and about 116,500 test-confirmed deaths.

But due to the low level of testing, authorities acknowledge the real death toll is probably closer to 150,000.

Some more quotes from French President Emmanuel Macron who blamed his COVID-19 on a combination of negligence and bad luck, urging his compatriots to stay safe.

He said he was experiencing symptoms that included headaches, fatigue and a dry cough.

Macron promised to give daily updates and be “totally transparent” about the evolution of his illness.

I am doing well,” the 42-year-old French leader said, speaking softly with a bottle of gel on the desk behind him and dressed casually in a turtleneck top. “Normally, there is no reason for it to evolve in a bad way.”

Macron said his infection “shows that the virus really can touch everyone, because I am very protected and am very careful.”

“Despite everything I caught this virus — perhaps, doubtless, a moment of negligence, a moment of bad luck, too,” he added.

Updated

The World Health Organization’s director-general has tweeted some vaccine updates:

Summary

  • France’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 60,000. The health ministry reported 610 new deaths, pushing the total to 60,229, Reuters reports.There were 264 new deaths in hospitals, compared to 258 on Thursday, and a three-day batch of 346 deaths reported in retirement homes.
  • Turkey records record daily tally of deaths. Turkey’s daily coronavirus death toll hit a record high of 246 in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed, bringing the total number of deaths to 17,610. Turkey also recorded 26,410 new coronavirus cases, including asymptomatic ones, in the last 24 hours.
  • UK records a further 489 coronavirus deaths. The UK government said a further 489 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, bringing the total to 66,541. Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 82,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
  • Austria to enter third lockdown after Christmas. Austria will go into lockdown for a third time after Christmas, the government confirmed, just 11 days after the country’s second lockdown ended.Non-essential shops that reopened last week will close, reopening the week of January 18th along with restaurants, schools, museums and theatres, the government said in a statement.
  • Sweden introduces tough new measures to tackle second wave. Sweden’s government on Friday introduced the toughest measures yet to help stave off a second wave of the pandemic, including recommending masks on public transport and closing non-essential public workplaces, Reuters reports. Sweden registered a record 9,654 new coronavirus cases on Friday. The increase compared with a previous high of 8,881 daily cases recorded on Thursday.Sweden registered 100 new deaths, taking the total to 7,993.
  • US president Mike Pence was given Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, the highest-ranking US official to have received it so far. Pence was given the first shot on live television and said the vaccine was a “medical miracle” and that he “didn’t feel a thing”.

France’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 60,000

France’s coronavirus death toll surpassed 60,000 for the first time on Friday, as the health ministry reported 610 new deaths, pushing the total to 60,229, Reuters reports.

There were 264 new deaths in hospitals, compared to 258 on Thursday, and a three-day batch of 346 deaths reported in retirement homes.

France also reported 15,674 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 18,254 on Thursday but up on the 13,406 reported last Friday.

South Africa’s total reported coronavirus cases surpassed 900,000 on Friday, just a fortnight after it reported crossing 800,000, signaling a rapid rise in infections in the country battling a second wave, Reuters reports.

The country, which is the worst hit in the continent, reported its first case in March and saw peak infections in July when daily cases almost touched 14,000.

Hospital bosses in England want NHS staff to start getting the Covid vaccine urgently because soaring rates of sickness among frontline personnel are threatening to intensify the service’s growing winter crisis.

Doctors and nurses are asking their hospitals to vaccinate them, but are being told they will have to wait until early 2021 because the over-80s and care home staff are the top priority.

Hospital trust chief executives say staff believe their wait to have the jab is unfair, and that they feel let down and exposed to danger because they are dealing with a sharp increase in the number of Covid patients.

Ken Bremner, the chief executive of South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS trust, has called the decision to make NHS staff wait for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine “a kick in the teeth”. Four other bosses, all speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Guardian they backed an immediate rethink by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) of which groups should get it first, to give staff the same priority as the over-80s.

Paraguay is negotiating with five foreign pharmaceutical companies to acquire up to 4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine in early 2021, health minister Julio Mazzoleni said on Friday, Reuters reports.

Mazzoleni said the country of nearly 7 million is expecting more than 4 million doses in May or June through the World Health Organization-led COVAX initiative, a scheme for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of vaccines. The price tag is $40 million, he said.

“We are having conversations to complement, even double (the committed doses from COVAX),” Mazzoleni told reporters, adding that the deals were subject to timing and availability.

Airports across the world are being advised to step up security efforts to protect Covid-19 vaccine shipments amid police warnings of potential targeting from criminal networks, Reuters reports.

The recommendation from a global airports body comes as pharmaceutical companies and airlines are carrying out the largest logistical operation of its kind to distribute vaccines designed to combat the global pandemic.

As part of a broader advisory bulletin on vaccine distribution recently sent to members, Airports Council International recommended affected airports liaise with local authorities and conduct risk assessments on shipments given potential threats.

World Health Organization (WHO) officials said an international team would be going to China in the first week of January to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

At a virtual news conference, they also said that three-quarters of cases were occurring in Latin America, and thanked Canada for committing to donate vaccine doses to other countries.

Turkey records record daily tally of cases

Turkey’s daily coronavirus death toll hit a record high of 246 in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed, bringing the total number of deaths to 17,610.

Turkey also recorded 26,410 new coronavirus cases, including asymptomatic ones, in the last 24 hours.

For four months, Ankara only reported daily symptomatic cases, but it has reported all since Nov. 25.

The country has registered 1,982,090 COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the pandemic in March, the data showed.

The government has imposed weekday curfews and full weekend lockdowns to curb the surge in infections.

South Africa is experiencing a new variant of the coronavirus that is driving a second wave of infections, the health minister said.

“We have convened this public briefing today to announce that a variant of the SARS-COV-2 Virus - currently termed 501.V2 Variant - has been identified by our genomics scientists here in South Africa,” Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize tweeted.

The evidence that has been collated, therefore, strongly suggests that the current second wave we are experiencing is being driven by this new variant,” Mkhize added.

The World Health Organization said on Monday it was aware of a new variant of COVID-19 had emerged in Britain, but there was no evidence showing the strain behaved differently to existing types of the virus.

South Africa has recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections on the African continent, approaching the 900,000 mark, with over 20,000 related deaths.

A resurgence in positive cases saw government tighten lockdown restrictions this week.

UK records further 489 deaths

The UK government said a further 489 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, bringing the total to 66,541.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 82,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

The government said that, as of 9am on Friday, there had been a further 28,507 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.

It brings the total number of cases to 1,977,167.

Austria to enter third lockdown after Christmas

Austria will go into lockdown for a third time after Christmas, the government confirmed, just 11 days after the country’s second lockdown ended.

Non-essential shops that reopened last week will close, reopening the week of January 18th along with restaurants, schools, museums and theatres, the government said in a statement.

Austria will let ski lifts open despite a lockdown being introduced on December 26th.

Mass coronavirus tests will be held on January 15th-17th, allowing those who test negative to be freed from lockdown.

Those who do not get tested must stay in lockdown until January 24th, the statement said.

Updated

Russia began vaccinating its cosmonauts and staff on Friday at Star City, the closed town near Moscow that is home to the country’s space programme, the Roscosmos space corporation said.

Russia rolled out the Sputnik V jab to medics and other frontline workers in Moscow earlier this month, and more than 200,000 people have already been vaccinated.

Cosmonaunts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Artemyev, a former crew member of the International Space Station, had the first of the two Sputnik V vaccine jabs, it said.
Olga Minina, head of the local clinic, said the cosmonauts had volunteered to take the vaccine, which is named after Soviet satellite that triggered the space race.

It is one of a number of vaccines developed by Russia, and one of two in final phase trials that are yet to be completed.
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he was yet to be inoculated but would do so when possible.

Updated

Explaining Switzerland’s second lockdown which entails restaurants, sports and recreation centres closing for a month from Tuesday and urging people to stay home, health minister Alain Berset said: “Our (infection rate over the last two weeks) is three times higher than Spain’s, and nearly three times as high as France’s and Belgium’s, where it is known that the situation has been very difficult.”

He added: “We’re far too high.”

We didn’t go all the way to the limit, we didn’t do everything (we could have),” President Simonetta Sommaruga said.

“But I believe what we have done today should help us move towards reducing case numbers over the coming days and weeks.”

The coronavirus toll in California reached another frightening milestone on Thursday, with health officials announcing a one-day record of 379 deaths and a two-day total of nearly 106,000 newly confirmed cases.

The most populous US state has recorded more than 1,000 deaths in the last five days. Its overall case total now tops 1.7 million, a figure nearly equal to Spain’s and only surpassed by eight countries. The state’s overall death toll has reached 21,860.

Many of California’s hospitals are running out of capacity to treat the severest cases, and the situation is complicating care for non-Covid patients. ICU capacity in southern California hit 0% on Thursday.

“It’s pretty much all Covid,” said Arlene Brion, a respiratory therapist at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital in Orange county, where she is assigned six or seven patients rather than the usual one to three. “There’s probably two areas that are clean but we’re all thinking eventually it’s all going to be Covid.”

Italy reported 674 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday against 683 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections decreased to 17,992 from 18,236, Reuters reports.

There were 179,800 swabs carried out in the past day, down from a previous 185,320 the ministry said.

The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has seen 67,894 COVID-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth highest in the world.

It has also registered 1.92 million cases to date.

French president Emmanuel Macron said on Friday he was doing fine a day after testing positive for Covid-19, but was working at a slower pace, Reuters reports.

Macron said he would stay focused on France’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, as negotiations governing 1 trillion euros in trade between Britain and the European Union run down to the wire.

Macron said in a live video on Twitter:

I am working at a slightly slower pace because of the virus, but I shall continue to focus on high-priority issues, such as our handling of the epidemic, or, for example, the Brexit dossier

He added:

I wanted to reassure you - I am doing fine. I have the same symptoms as yesterday, notably fatigue, headaches, a dry cough, like hundreds of thousands of you who have had to live with the virus or who live with it today.

The European Union (EU) is paying less money than the United States for a range of coronavirus vaccines, including the Pfizer-BioNTech inoculation currently being rolled out across the country, according to a Washington Post comparison of the breakdowns.

The costs to the EU had been confidential until a Belgian official tweeted — and then deleted — a list late Thursday.

Comparing that list to calculations by Bernstein Research, an analysis and investment firm, it appears the 27-nation union has a 24 percent discount on the Pfizer vaccine compared to the United States, paying $14.76 per dose compared to $19.50 in the United States. Some of that difference may reflect that the E.U. subsidized that vaccine’s development.

The bloc will pay 45% less than the United States for the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine currently under development. But it will pay 20 percent more than the United States for the Moderna vaccine, which is expected to be approved for U.S. use on Friday.

More details in the story here.

Christmas won’t look the same for many people this year. Either you’re not seeing family at all or, even if you do, extra precautions are necessary.

Esther Addley has spoken to some families in the UK who are sharing their solutions to getting together safely. And it involves a lot of thermals and turkey doorstep parcels:

Updated

Rupert Murdoch has become the latest public figure to have the coronavirus vaccine, visiting his local GP’s surgery late on Wednesday to receive his first dose.

A convoy of Range Rovers delivered the 89-year-old billionaire to a dedicated vaccine centre in Henley, Oxfordshire, where normal hours are understood to have been extended at the last minute.

An email was sent out saying: “Just a reminder – we have been advised ‘no media coverage’ due to security issues. Please note that photography and video are strictly forbidden.”

A statement issued on behalf of Murdoch, the executive chairman of News Corp, said he “had the vaccine at his local GP’s surgery after he received a call saying he was eligible”.

It added his gratitude to those behind the vaccine, saying: “He would like to thank the key workers and the NHS staff who have worked so hard throughout the pandemic, and the amazing scientists who have made this vaccine possible.”

Sweden introduces tough new measures to tackle second wave

Sweden’s government on Friday introduced the toughest measures yet to help stave off a second wave of the pandemic, including recommending masks on public transport and closing non-essential public workplaces, Reuters reports.

“It is not possible to return to a normal everyday life. A pandemic is a life and death matter,” prime minster Stefan Lofven told a news conference.

Sweden, which has opted against lockdowns, is in the midst of a severe second wave of the pandemic and has seen record numbers of new cases almost every week for the past two months.

Unlike many other European countries, Sweden has resisted imposing lockdowns, relying on voluntary measures focused on social distancing and good hygiene.

It has left most schools, businesses and restaurants open throughout the pandemic. Now municipality gyms, pools and libraries will close until 24 January.

Lofven said: “We are following our strategy. Now we see that we need to do more because we see that the spread of the infection is too serious and we have a strained situation in the healthcare system still.”

The government has asked citizens to limit social gatherings to eight people but there are no penalties for breaking the recommendations and Lofven said he still didn’t think a lockdown was right.

“You must also consider a very serious lockdown, for example, wouldn’t have an effect in the long run, because people would not put up with that,” he said, adding many countries in Europe with lockdowns had fared poorly.

With a total number of deaths close to 8,000, Sweden’s death rate per capita is several times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours but lower than several European countries that opted for lockdowns, such as Britain, Spain, France and Belgium.

Lofven also said restaurant parties would be limited to four people and property owners and shops should do more to limit crowds in shopping malls.

Updated

Slovak prime minister Igor Matovic said on Friday he had Covid-19, a week after attending a summit with French president Emmanuel Macron who later tested positive for the disease, Reuters reports.

Matovic, 47, posted a message showing his positive test and an order to observe 10 days of isolation on Facebook, but did not say where he had been infected.

The government office said he had cancelled all events for the coming days but gave no details of the circumstances behind him being tested. Matovic did not mention having any symptoms.

The announcement on Thursday that Macron had tested positive for Covid-19 prompted a track-and-trace effort across Europe following numerous meetings between the French leader and European Union heads of government, some of whom decided to self-isolate.

US president Mike Pence was given Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, the highest-ranking US official to have received it so far.

Pence was given the first shot on live television and said the vaccine was a “medical miracle” and that he “didn’t feel a thing”.

For all the latest US coronavirus news - here’s our US-facing live blog:

Updated

The Swiss government ordered all restaurants, sports and recreation centres closed for a month from Tuesday and urged people to stay home to curb high coronavirus infection rates, Reuters reports.

Confirmed cases in Switzerland and neighbouring Liechtenstein have surpassed 400,000 and the death toll has topped 6,000 as the cabinet on Friday backed away from its “middle path” that had aimed to avoid a second business-crippling lockdown

Berlin became the first of next year’s big European film festivals to bow to the coronavirus pandemic, announcing it would hold a reduced, online-only programme in March, a month later than usual, with an audience event in June.

Reuters reports:

The festival, now in its 71st year, occupies a distinct position in the cinema calendar, with its trade component, the European Film Market (EMF), shaping how films and series are sold around the world and launching that year’s co-productions as studio executives meet film makers.

The organisers said on Friday that the film trading event would be held online, depriving Berlin of the traditional show of studio top brass snaking in limos between city centre hotels. The main film prizes would also be awarded at this time.

Asked if the film market could hold its own in an era where giant streamers like Netflix, Amazon and Apple had the biggest commissioning budgets, artistic director Carlo Chatrian said the EMF still had a distinct European role.

Mike Pence received the Covid-19 vaccination on live television on Friday morning, saying the vaccine is a “medical miracle” and reassuring Americans “that hope is on the way”.

“Confidence in the vaccine is what brings us here this morning,” the vice-president said in remarks following his vaccination. “I didn’t feel a thing. Well done.”

His wife, Karen, and the surgeon general, Jerome Adams, also received shots during the televised White House event.

Healthcare workers from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center administered the vaccinations.

Half of Britons intend on forming a Christmas bubble of up to three houses this festive season, amid a warning from the prime minister that those who do wish to do so should minimise their contacts from today.

The Office for National Statistics found that half of adults say they will form a bubble while 38% said they will not.

It comes as Boris Johnson again pressed the government’s message of “personal responsibility” in the upcoming festive period.

“If you are forming a Christmas Bubble, it’s vital that from today, you minimise contact with people from outside your household,” he said in a tweet.

Fewer people plan to carry out their usual Christmas activities this year according to the survey: just over a quarter of people said they would be visiting family and friends (26%, down from 52% last year) while one in five said they would have family and friends visit (19%, compared with 39% last year).

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has refused to rule out imposing a third nationwide lockdown in England, as official data showed Covid infection rates increasing across much of the UK even before the Christmas relaxation of the rules.

Read more below

Sweden records close to 10,000 new cases

Sweden registered a record 9,654 new coronavirus cases on Friday, Reuters reports.

The increase compared with a previous high of 8,881 daily cases recorded on Thursday.

Sweden registered 100 new deaths, taking the total to 7,993. The deaths registered have typically occurred over several days and sometimes weeks, and are added into the Health Agency’s tally which is updated four times per week.

Sweden’s death rate per capita is several times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours but lower than several European countries that opted for lockdowns.

Updated

The Covax alliance, which aims to secure Covid-19 vaccines for the world’s most vulnerable people, said on Friday it had gained access to nearly 2bn doses, roughly doubling its supply, with the first deliveries expected in the first quarter of 2021, Reuters reports.

The initiative run by the GAVI vaccine alliance and World Health Organization (WHO) said it aimed to deliver 1.3bn doses of approved vaccines next year to 92 eligible low- and middle-income economies.

Updated

Almost a fifth of UK households have struggled to pay their TV, internet and phone bills this year, with some resorting to cutting spend on food and clothes to make payments, according to research from Ofcom that highlights the pressure the pandemic has put on people’s finances this year.

Research conducted by the telecoms regulator found that 4.7m homes had experienced difficulty paying their telecoms bills in 2020. Of those, more than 1m have cut back spending on items such as food or clothes.

The coronavirus crisis has prompted a surge in usage of services such as broadband and mobile phones, as millions of people shifted to home working and lockdown restrictions shut down high streets across the country.

“Lockdown has laid bare our dependence on a reliable internet connection,” said Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom’s network and communications group director. “So it’s important that affordable options are available so everyone can stay connected, particularly those who have fallen on hard times.”

Multiple studies have been looking into how the body responds to coronavirus infection. So how does immunity work and what does it mean for vaccines?

My colleague Nicola Davis has a comprehensive explainer here:

Updated

Mike Pence vaccinated

The US vice-president Mike Pence received his Covid-19 vaccine on Friday morning.

Pence was inoculated as US deaths from Covid-19 topped 3,000 for a third straight day and the country reported a record number of new infections.

US Vice President Mike Pence receives the COVID-19 vaccine in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, December 18, 2020.
Mike Pence receives the Covid-19 vaccine in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington DC. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

This is not the first time that a pandemic has gripped the holiday season. In December 1918, preparations for the first Christmas without war in four years took place in the midst of the worst pandemic since the Black Death.

The 1918-19 influenza, like Covid-19, came in waves. The deadliest began in autumn, peaked in late November and continued through the first weeks of December. It struck hundreds of millions and killed tens of millions worldwide.

One quarter of Britons were ill with the virus and 225,000 died, most in the months and weeks before Christmas.

But while there are similarities between the two pandemics – both are highly infectious respiratory diseases that spread in waves – there are also important differences in the contexts in which they developed, in efforts to control them, in their impact on healthcare systems and how people learned to live with them.

Read the full piece here:

Updated

Macron has a cough, high temperature and fatigue, spokesperson says

Emmanuel Macron, who has tested positive for Covid-19, has a cough, high temperature and heavy tiredness and is self-isolating at the official presidential residence at La Lanterne at Versailles.

Gabriel Attal, the government spokesperson, said the French president had “real symptoms”. He had “a cough, a fever and is very fatigued”, Attal said.

The Élysée’s chief doctor, Jean-Christophe Perrochon, a military medic who carried out the coronavirus test on the president on Thursday morning, is also staying near Macron at Versailles and keeping an eye on him.

A source told AFP it was thought Macron was infected while attending a European summit on Brussels last week during which he spent 20 hours with other European leaders, including a “working dinner … and a night of negotiations”.

Macron, 42, who began showing symptoms of the virus on Wednesday evening, was diagnosed as having Covid-19 on Thursday morning. An announcement was made at 10.28am yesterday. He will spend seven days in isolation. The Élysée said he would “continue to work” during this time.

His wife Brigitte, 67, has reportedly tested negative for the coronavirus and is isolating separately in Paris. “She has no symptoms and has tested negative for Covid-19,” a spokesperson for the French first lady told le Parisien.

The prime minister, Jean Castex, who has tested negative, and Richard Ferrand, the president of Macron’s LREM party in the Assemblée Nationale, are also isolating having been in contact with the president.

Five European leaders – Belgian, Portuguese, Luxembourg, Spain and Charles Michel, the president of the European council - who were in contact with the French president have also placed themselves in precautionary isolation.

Updated

US president Donald Trump in a tweet on Friday said Moderna Inc’s vaccine had been approved and would ship immediately, although the US Food and Drug Administration has made no public announcement yet regarding its decision.

A panel of outside FDA advisers met to discuss Moderna’s vaccine on Thursday and an agency decision was expected as soon as Friday.

US daily Covid deaths exceed 3,000 for third straight day

US deaths from Covid-19 topped 3,000 for a third straight day, with a record number of new infections on Thursday, Reuters reports.

The US reported a record 239,903 new cases on Thursday, raising the cumulative number above 17 million since the coronavirus pandemic began nearly a year ago.

The US death toll now exceeds 311,000. Hospitalisations have set a new record on each of the past 20 days, approaching 114,000 on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally.

“We expect to have more dead bodies than we have spaces for them,” Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti told a briefing on Thursday, saying the country’s second-largest city had fully exhausted its ICU capacity.

Updated

One in every five state and federal prisoners in the US has tested positive for the coronavirus, a rate more than four times higher than the general population, according to data collected by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project.

At least 275,000 prisoners have been infected, more than 1,700 have died and the spread of the virus behind bars shows no sign of slowing. New cases in prisons this week reached their highest level since testing began in the spring, far outstripping previous peaks in April and August.

Updated

As Israel prepares to give Covid-19 vaccines to its citizens, Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza are scrambling to secure their own doses, which health authorities say are still months away.

Reuters reports:

Palestinian leaders have cast a wide net in their search, contacting international organisations, drugmakers like Moderna and AstraZeneca and states like Russia and China that are producing their own vaccines.

But the cash-strapped Palestinian government has yet to finalise any private supply agreements - a contrast from neighbouring Israel, which has secured millions of doses from drugmakers and is developing its own vaccine.

Israel begins its vaccination drive on Saturday.

“It will be many months before we receive a quantity of vaccines sufficient to vaccinate people en masse,” Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has limited self-rule in the West Bank, said on Thursday.

The PA expects to receive 20% of its needs from the World Health Organization’s vaccine scheme for poor and middle income countries. The rest will come from PA- or donor-funded vaccine purchases, the PA says.

The prevalence of Covid-19 cases in England has risen sharply and is back above 500,000 infections in the latest weekly data, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday, after dropping in the three previous weeks, Reuters reports.

The ONS said an estimated 567,300 people had Covid-19 in the week to December 12, the first full week after the lockdown in England ended, up from 481,500 the previous week.

Updated

Northern Ireland’s sweeping six-week lockdown will inflict significant job losses and a “tsunami” of bankruptcies, business leaders have warned.

Representatives of retail, hospitality and other sectors accused the Stormont executive of mishandling the Covid-19 pandemic and said the restrictions, which start on Boxing Day, will devastate businesses and permanently damage high streets.

However, many agreed the lockdown, which was announced on Thursday, was needed to curb soaring infection rates that have piled pressure on hospitals and the ambulance service.

Glyn Roberts, the chief executive of Retail NI, said:

It is profoundly disappointing that the NI executive had to take this course of action because of non-compliance of individuals and households with the Covid-19 regulations.

Roberts predicted a “tsunami” of independent retailers going bust, costing thousands of jobs. He complained that supermarkets could remain open selling the same products as independent retailers and that many stores were still awaiting financial support payments from the last lockdown. “Where is the fairness in this?” he said.

Updated

Spain’s vaccination campaign against the coronavirus will begin on 27th December, a day after the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are due to arrive in the country, health minister Salvador Illa said on Friday.

Croatia bans travel inside the country over Christmas

Croatia has banned movement of people between various parts of the country, tightening measures against the Covid-19 epidemic before the Christmas and new year holidays, Reuters reports.

Between 23 December and 8 January, citizens will not be allowed to leave the county of their residence.

Interior minister Davor Bozinovic told a press conference:

Our epidemiologic situation is such that, despite some positive signs, easing the measures is not an option.

Croatia has a partial lockdown in force with restaurants, bars and sports facilities closed. Shops can allow entry of only a limited number of people at a time. Businesses are recommended to organise working from home wherever possible.

On Friday, Croatia reported 3,272 cases of new infections, which is somewhat lower than was the peak of more than 4,500 daily infections earlier this month.

Updated

India’s government said on Friday it could soon start voluntary inoculation against the Covid-19 disease as it considers emergency use authorisation for three vaccine candidates including those from AstraZeneca and Pfizer.

Indian company Bharat Biotech has also applied for emergency approval.

The country recorded 22,890 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, taking the total to near 10 million, with 144,789 deaths.

It has the world’s second highest number of cases after the United States, though the gap between them is now widening as India is reporting fewer cases since a mid-September peak.

The government says it could take more than one year to administer two doses of of vaccines — 28 days apart — to most of India’s 1.35 billion people.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said:

The government of India is geared to launch a vaccine for COVID-19 soon.

Vaccination for COVID-19 is voluntary. However, it is advisable to receive the complete schedule of COVID-19 vaccine

Hi, I’m Aamna Mohdin and I’ll be taking over the liveblog for the rest of the day. If you want to get in touch, you can email me (aamna.mohdin@theguardian.com) or message me on Twitter (@aamnamohdin)

Lawyers representing patients at a southern California psychiatric hospital describe the state-run facility as a “tinderbox” for Covid-19 infections.

In documents filed earlier this week in federal court, attorneys from the advocacy organisation Disability Rights California and the private law firm Covington & Burling asked the judge Jesus G Bernal to order the release or transfer of half of the patients at Patton state hospital.

Patton is located in San Bernardino, east of Los Angeles. With 1,527 beds, it is one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the US. The majority of people confined to the facility have been accused of a crime but found by a judge to be incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity.

Since May, at least 335 Patton patients and 327 staff have tested positive for Covid-19; 10 patients have died, according to court documents and the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) patient tracker.

In what will likely be remembered as one of the best Christmas gifts ever, the prime minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has announced that the first batches of Covid-19 vaccines will be delivered on Boxing Day, writes Helena Smith, the Guardian’s correspondent in Athens.

The vaccine rollout will begin the next day with healthcare workers and the vulnerable being the first to receive the jab at five hospitals in Athens. Mitsotakis said:

We expect the first batches of the vaccine will be in our country on 26 December and the very next day. On 27 December we will be able to have the first vaccinations … in Athens and immediately after Thessaloniki.

Greece has struggled to contain the second wave of the pandemic with hospitals especially overstretched in the north of the country.

“Only when we reach 70% vaccination [of the population] can we say with certainty that we have left the pandemic behind,” Mitsotakis told officials who will be overseeing the immunisation program this morning.

While Christmas lights may be illuminating cities across Greece experts are warning that a comprehensive lockdown may soon be on the cards to rein in spread of the virus.

Updated

Spain’s top court has ordered an investigation into the deaths of elderly people in nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Reuters.

The Spanish supreme court on Friday asked magistrates to find out if deaths at nursing homes “were associated with political, administrative or management decisions and whether those decisions are criminally reproachable”.

Spain has been one of the countries in Europe affected most seriously by the pandemic, both in terms of disease and the economic impact. A total of 48,777 people have died from the coronavirus, with the toll climbing by 181 over the last 24 hours.

More than 20,000 people died of Covid-19 or suspected Covid-19 in nursing homes during the first coronavirus wave, according to preliminary official data reported by El Pais newspaper and broadcaster RTVE.

The Supreme Court also asked the lower courts to look into the possible misuse of public funds to purchase flawed or fraudulent equipment to fight the pandemic.

However, it rejected about 50 cases that specifically targeted the government for its management of the pandemic, arguing that the complaints were not detailed enough to charge any high-ranking officials.

Austrians under pressure to get tested to evade post-Christmas lockdown

Austria is to go into a third national lockdown after Christmas, with those who decline to take coronavirus tests being told they must remain isolated for longer.

Several Austrian media outlets, including the national news agency APA, reported that the new lockdown will last until 18 January, according to Reuters.

According to reports, the lockdown will last longer for those who do not get tested for the coronavirus, while those who test negative will be able to end their isolation.

A spokesman for Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s office was not immediately available for comment, Reuters said.

The UN secretary general has called on the world to ensure a coronavirus vaccine is available for “everyone, everywhere”.

In an address to Germany’s parliament, Antonio Guterres praised the researchers from Germany’s BioNTech who teamed up with US giant Pfizer to become the first to reach the market with an approved vaccine.

He said that every German should be “very proud of their achievements.”

“Our challenge now is to ensure that vaccines are treated as a public good — accessible and affordable to everyone, everywhere,” he said according to his prepared remarks, according to the Associated Press.

He said the UN was also committed to providing news and advice people can trust and working to build confidence in the vaccine “guided by science, grounded in facts” to combat what he called the “virus of misinformation.”

“Across the globe we have seen how populist approaches that ignore science have misled the public,” Guterres said. “Coupled with false news and wild conspiracies, things have become manifestly worse.”

Nearly 1,500 teachers in South Africa died from coronavirus in 2020, according to Angie Motshega, the country’s basic education minister, exacting a huge cost on the country’s education system.

The disruption caused by the pandemic had made 2020 South Africa’s most challenging year for education, Motshega told a news briefing on Thursday.

We lost a number of our workers. We lost a number of district officials, circuit officials.

A three-year recovery plan would be implemented to deal with this year’s disruptions, Motshega said, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. The 2021 academic year would start on 25 January, with teachers and pupils returning to the classroom on 27 January.

A senior scientific advisor to the UK government has said that coronavirus restrictions are likely to have to be tightened once again after Christmas, with current measures failing to curb the spread of the pandemic.

Prof John Edmunds, a member of the government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies (Sage), told Sky News:

At the moment it doesn’t look like the tier system is holding the epidemic wave back, unfortunately. So I think we are going to have to look at these measures and perhaps tighten them up, we really will. It’s a horrible thing to have to say but we are in quite a difficult position.

Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, suggested that, while the relaxation of restrictions at Christmas is “probably not good for the epidemic”, it is “probably good for people’s wellbeing in other ways”.

He said he will not mix with elderly relatives over the festive season, choosing to wait until they have been vaccinated.

Personally, I’m not seeing my older relatives at Christmas. I’ll go and see them once they’ve been vaccinated. And I think many people are probably going to do something similar and I think that’s the right, sensible thing to do.

But I guess we’re leaving people to make that decision for themselves. And to some extent I can understand that. As long as people understand the risks and know what’s happening then I think it’s up to them to make these decisions.

Covid crisis shrinks world tourism to 1990 levels

International tourist arrivals fell by 72% in the first 10 months of 2020, pushing world tourism back to levels not seen since 1990, according to the UN’s International Tourism Organization.

Global destinations received 900 million fewer international tourists than in the same period in 2019, representing a loss $935bn for the sector – 10 times more than in the 2009 economic crisis.

The UNWTO secretary general, Zurab Pololikashvili, said:

Since the start of this crisis, UNWTO has provided governments and businesses with trusted data showing the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on global tourism.

Even as the news of a vaccine boosts traveller confidence, there is still a long road to recovery. We thus need to step up our efforts to safely open borders while supporting tourism jobs and businesses.

It is ever clearer that tourism is one of the most affected sectors by this unprecedented crisis.

Updated

France will probably not return to a “normal” post Covid-19 life before autumn 2021, a senior government scientific adviser said on Friday.

“We have a virus which continues to circulate strongly while we are just coming out of a second lockdown,” Reuters quoted Jean-François Delfraissy, an immunologist, as telling BFM television.

A woman walks past the closed shutters of a restaurant in France.
A woman walks past the closed shutters of a restaurant in France. Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

A study carried out in Singapore has found that women sick with Covid-19 while pregnant get no more sick than the wider population, and that their babies are born with antibodies against the virus, according to Reuters.

The small study of 16 women also found no evidence of virus transmission between mother and baby. However, two women lost their babies, which researchers said in one case could have been related to virus complications.

Current World Health Organization advice says pregnant women can be badly affected by some respiratory infections, and that it is not known whether mothers with COVID-19 can pass the virus to their babies during pregnancy or delivery.

The Singapore Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research Network said in a statement:

The study results were reassuring. This demonstrates that the incidence and severity of Covid-19 among pregnant women parallels general population trends.

The study said most participants were mildly infected, while more severe reactions occurred in older, overweight women. None of the women died and all made a full recovery.

Five women had delivered by the time the study was published, and all their babies had antibodies without having been infected by the virus, although the researchers said it is not yet clear what level of protection this may offer.

A new national lockdown in England after Christmas cannot be ruled out, a government minister told broadcasters on Friday morning.

However, Nick Gibb insisted that a regional system of “tiers”, currently in place, was effective, as millions more people in the country were this week moved into the highest level of restrictions.

“Nothing is ruled out of course as we tackle this pandemic but the test system is a very effective way … to focus the restrictions,” Gibb told Sky News when questioned about a possible third English lockdown.

Asked to confirm that the government was not ruling out a post-Christmas lockdown, Gibb said: “That’s not what I said. We have a very effective tier system.”

The talk of tighter restrictions comes as the Britain prepares to relax all measures over Christmas. Northern Ireland and Wales have both outlined plans to head back into lockdown after Christmas to control infection rates, raising suggestions that England might follow suit.

John Edmunds, an epidemiologist at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said the Christmas relaxation was a risk as prevalence was still high.

“It doesn’t look like the tier system is holding the epidemic wave back, unfortunately” he told Sky News. “I think we are going to have to look at these measures and perhaps tighten them up.”

Updated

Russia reported 28,552 new coronavirus cases on Friday, including 6,937 in Moscow, taking the national case tally to 2,791,220 since the pandemic began, Reuters reports.

Authorities also reported 611 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 49,762.

According to the Worldometers website, Russia has recorded 19,123 cases per million people, and 341 deaths per million people, making it one of the less affected countries.

However, the country has at the same time recorded an excess death toll for this year of more than 160,000, leading many observers to suggest that accurate records have not been kept on the true scale of the country’s coronavirus outbreak.

Updated

'Not worth the risk': head of WHO's Europe office appeals for people to remain at home over Christmas

The head of the World Health Organization’s regional office for Europe has appealed to people to stay at home over Christmas, insisting it is “not worth the risk” or catching Covid-19.

In a statement circulated by the PA news agency, Dr Hans Kluge said:

There remains a difference between what you are being permitted to do by your authorities and what you should do.”

We have a few more months of sacrifice ahead and can behave now in a way that collectively we are proud of. When we look back at these unprecedented times, I hope we all felt we acted with a spirit of shared humanity to protect those in need.

Dr Kluge said the pandemic’s “devastation” had hit communities across Europe, warning particularly over its impact on mental health.

Covid-19 has forced families and communities apart, bankrupted businesses, and deprived people of opportunities that a year ago were taken for granted.

From anxieties around virus transmission, the psychological impact of lockdowns and self-isolation, to the effects of unemployment, financial worries and social exclusion - the mental health impact of the pandemic will be long term and far reaching.

What has resulted is a growing mental health crisis in Europe.

Updated

Here’s more on that interview with Paul McCartney in this morning’s Sun, where he vowed to be among the first global superstars to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

McCartney, 78, is among the third tier of people eligible to receive the jab alongside other over-75s. He said he believed the vaccine offers Britain a way out from the doom and gloom of the Covid pandemic, and that he was eager to be back on stage as soon as possible after Glastonbury Festival was cancelled this year.

“The vaccine will get us out of this,” McCartney told The Sun in an interview.

“I think we’ll come through it, I know we’ll come through, and it’s great news about the vaccine. I’ll have it as soon as I’m allowed.”

It may be completely unrelated, but last month the Guardian reported a plan by government ministers and NHS England to enlist “very sensible” celebrities in a major campaign to persuade people to have a Covid vaccine.

Health chiefs were said to be particularly worried about the number of people who were still undecided, and about vaccine scepticism among NHS staff.

Most of the UK national papers were splashing on some permutation of coronavirus Christmas crisis on Friday morning.

In this morning’s Guardian, my colleagues Denis Campbell and Nicola Davis report that growing numbers of hospitals in England are running short of beds and having to divert patients elsewhere and cancel operations.

According to the NHS figures, hospitals had to tell ambulance crews to divert patients elsewhere 44 times last week – the highest number for four years.

With hospitals in London, Leicester and Northampton particularly hard hit, Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, warned: “It already feels like we’re in the grips of a really bad winter, and there’s a very long way to go.”

The Times reports on the prospect of further restrictions on coronavirus hotspots in the south east of England, “as fears mount that London commuters are driving a wave of infections in southern England.”

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, put the home counties into the toughest measures yesterday and urged people in Kent to “behave as if they have the virus”.

Mr Hancock is understood to be considering additional curbs, including closing non-essential shops, for the worst affected areas if mass testing fails to check the wave’s momentum.

According to the Daily Mail, Britain faces “the bleakest of midwinters” and a potential third national lockdown.

Tier Three restrictions were extended yesterday so that two thirds of homes in England - and 38million people - can now expect to go into the new year under the toughest curbs.

Swathes of the Home Counties will join London in the highest tier tomorrow while Manchester and the North East were told they could not move down a grade despite recording fewer cases.

Experts fear the decisions will not be enough to avert more draconian measures because Covid is surging nationally.

There will be “tiers before bedlam”, pronounces the Mirror, as it notes that millions more people in England will be put into the tightest level of coronavirus restrictions short of a complete lockdown - only for rules to be lifted again for Christmas.

MILLIONS more people will be put into Tier 3 tomorrow, days before rules are relaxed for Christmas.

Swathes of the South will face the toughest rules, with 38 million people now in Tier 3. Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth begged Matt Hancock “think again” on the festive break.

The i notes Matt Hancock’s warning to people in England that “we mustn’t blow it now” after he refused to ease covid restrictions in the north and tightened them in the south.

But the Health Secretary’s highly cautious approach provoked a backlash from council leaders and MPs who accused him of failing to consult over the decision and piling economic pain on their areas.

And the Sun reports that Paul McCartney, the musician, has said that he will have the coronavirus vaccine as soon as he is able to get it.

The Get Back songwriter, 78, pictured, said: “The vaccine will get us out of this.”

The UK schools minister, Nick Gibb, has said that keeping schools in the country open is a “national priority”, after the return from the Christmas holidays for English secondary schools was delayed by a week for most pupils.

Years 11 and 13, which have exams in the summer, will return on 4 January, but the remainder of pupils will go back on 11 January after being tested for coronavirus.

Gibb told Times Radio:

Our national priority is to keep schools open. We wanted schools to stay open right to the end of term.

What’s happening in January is still primary schools will go back on 4 January. So will all students who are vulnerable, or children of critical workers, and, indeed, children who are in their exam years, year 11, and year 13.

But that first week, that first five days, other secondary-school pupils will be learning from home from remote education so that schools can prepare for all secondary-school pupils to be tested in those first few weeks of term.

So, it’s a national system, a national strategy.

Updated

Thanks Ben. This is Damien Gayle taking the helm on the live blog, as we begin another chilly morning here in London. For the next couple of hours I’ll bring you the latest coronavirus-related news from London and around the world.

If you want to drop me a line with any comments, tips or suggestions for coverage, you can reach me either via email at damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or via Twitter direct message to @damiengayle.

This is Ben Doherty in Sydney signing off. I’m handing over coverage to my magnificent colleague Damien Gayle in the UK. Thanks all for your company, comments, and correspondence today.

Be well, and look after each other.

As I go, a summary of developments:

  • Tough coronavirus restrictions are expected to be in place across much of the UK until at least February, experts have said, as they warned of a “harsh” two to three months ahead.
  • General practitioners in Britain have been given new guidance allowing them to use Pfizer Inc’s extra Covid-19 vaccine doses “at their discretion”, NHS England said, with the development coming a day after US regulators issued a similar guidance. Every vial of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was expected to include five doses, but GPs found it was possible to make six doses out of the vials.
  • China is planning to vaccinate 50 million people in the high-priority group against the coronavirus before the start of the peak lunar new year travel season early next year, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday. Beijing is planning to distribute 100m doses of the vaccines made by Chinese firms Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech Ltd , the report said.
  • Africa confronts a second wave of Covid-19. The continent’s most-hit nations are again having to contemplate stringent public health measures. New cases are emerging in East Africa, in northern and southern Africa, but the trend in West Africa is a decline.
  • US president-elect Joe Biden tested negative for Covid-19, after an incoming White House adviser, Cedric Richmond, contracted the virus, a spokeswoman for Biden said in a statement.Richmond was not in close contact with Biden as defined by the Centers for Disease Control
  • Emmanuel Macron ‘very likely’ infected with Covid-19 during EU council. The French president tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, prompting a track-and-trace effort across Europe following numerous meetings between the French leader and EU heads of government in recent days.
  • Six-week lockdown to start in Northern Ireland from Boxing Day. Northern Ireland is preparing for a sweeping lockdown and the deployment of paramedics from the Republic of Ireland in an effort to control Covid-19. Health officials on Thursday proposed a six-week lockdown and approved a plan to reinforce the ambulance service with units from across the border.
  • Colombia daily coronavirus cases reach highest since August. Colombia’s daily confirmed cases of coronavirus reached their highest level since mid-August on Thursday, as the government warned people against large holiday gatherings.
  • King of Sweden blasts country’s ‘failed’ coronavirus response. The king has said the country has failed in its response to Covid-19, as hospitals in the Stockholm region warned they were struggling to cope with a surge in cases and polls showed public confidence in the authorities had plunged to a new low.
  • US surpasses 17m coronavirus cases as vaccines are distributed. The US on Thursday surpassed a total of 17m coronavirus cases, with infections rising by more than a million a week during the early winter surge – while at the start of the year it took three months for the US to accumulate its first million cases.

Updated

South Korea reported 1,062 new coronavirus cases on Friday, its second-highest daily tally, as the government warned businesses it was unacceptable for them to try to dodge shutdown orders by tricking the system.

The daily number was above 1,000 for the third straight day for the first time, data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) showed.

A Covid-19 testing centre outside city hall in Seoul.
A Covid-19 testing centre outside city hall in Seoul. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

The rash of new cases has shaken a country that has for months been held up as a mitigation success story.

But despite its total tally rising to 47,515 infections, South Korea has suffered only 645 deaths.

Updated

China plans to vaccinate 50 million people by Lunar New Year

A little more on China’s vaccine roll-out program. Reuters is reporting:

China is planning to vaccinate 50 million people in the high-priority group against the coronavirus before the start of the peak Lunar New Year travel season early next year, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday.

Beijing is planning to distribute 100 million doses of the vaccines made by Chinese firms Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech Ltd , the report said.

China has granted emergency-use status to two candidate vaccines from Sinopharm and one from Sinovac Biotech. It has approved a fourth, from CanSino Biologics Inc, for military use.

The SCMP report said Chinese officials have been asked to complete the first 50 million doses by 15 January and the second by 5 February.

The mass inoculation for high-priority groups aims to reduce the risks of the spread of the disease during the annual week-long holiday, the report added.

The high-priority group includes health workers, police officers, firefighters, customs officers, cargo handlers, transport and logistics workers.

China’s Sichuan province could start vaccinating the elderly and people with underlying conditions at the beginning of next month, after it completes inoculations for priority groups, officials have said.

Most secondary school pupils in England have been told to work from home for the first week of next term, in an extension of the government’s controversial plan requiring state schools to carry out mass Covid testing.

Headteachers and union leaders say the screening programme will tie up staff in administering the tests, straining school resources ahead of crucial mock exams at a time when many teachers and students are still being affected by the virus.

The government’s plan is likely to set off a further confrontation between school leaders and the Department for Education, with schools and unions wanting to see details of support and insurance before they can endorse it. So far the DfE is only offering logistical planning by the armed forces and to reimburse “reasonable workforce costs”.

Richard Adams and Ben Quinn report:

Tough coronavirus restrictions are expected to be in place across much of the UK until at least February, experts have said, as they warned of a “harsh” two to three months ahead.

More than 35,300 positive cases were recorded on Thursday – including a backlog of 11,000 from Wales - with infection rates increasing in many parts of the country, while rising Covid hospital numbers stand at more than 18,000. In the first wave the peak for UK hospitalisations was 21,683.

So far 138,000 people out of 25 million people in nine priority groups have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Nicola Davis and Denis Campbell report:

Not something undertaken lightly in this part of the world... especially when it’s so hot. 21 beaches in Sydney to be closed because of Covid-19 outbreak.

Northern Beaches council and Surf Life Saving NSW have announced 21 beaches from North Palm beach to Manly have been closed until Monday.

Volunteer patrols have been suspended, and surf clubs closed to members over the weekend.

Avalon Beach Surf Life Saving club has been deep cleaned.

People who swim at beaches with no surf lifesavers do so at their own risk, Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steven Pearce said.

“Please don’t go to the beach, both to limit the risk of spreading the virus, along with staying safe because beaches will not be patrolled, however, lifeguards are maintaining surveillance capability.”

Manly Beach in Sydney. The fur seal is not always there, but sometimes...
Manly Beach in Sydney. The fur seal is not always there, but sometimes... Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Eight nuns living at a retirement home for sisters in suburban Milwaukee died of Covid-19 complications in the last week — including four who passed away on the same day — a grim reminder of how quickly the virus can spread in congregate living situations, even when precautions are taken.

Notre Dame of Elm Grove had been free of the virus for the last nine months, but the congregation that runs the home found out on Thanksgiving Day that one of the roughly 100 sisters who live there had tested positive.

The School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province, in Elm Grove, Wisconsin. Eight nuns living in the suburban Milwaukee covent have died in the last week from Covid-19, according to the congregation.
The School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province, in Elm Grove, Wisconsin. Eight nuns living in the suburban Milwaukee covent have died in the last week from Covid-19, according to the congregation. Photograph: Morry Gash/AP

Despite social distancing and other mitigation efforts that were already in place, several more positive tests followed, said Sister Debra Marie Sciano, the provincial leader for School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province.

The first death happened last week, and the death announcements kept coming.

A do not trespass sign is displayed outside the School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province.
A do not trespass sign is displayed outside the School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province. Photograph: Morry Gash/AP

Four of the eight nuns died on Monday alone, a difficult situation for other sisters in the home and members of the broader congregation, who consider each other family.

Health officials in the Philippines have reported a “continuous growth” in infections in the capital, and warned that tighter restrictions may be necessary if there is a surge in cases over Christmas.

The country reported 1,470 new cases yesterday, bringing total infections to 454,447. The increases were mostly within the capital region, Metro Manila, though some rises were also recorded in provinces in the northern Philippines.

“We have witnessed what a spike in cases might mean to us -- the extensive lockdowns and how it has affected our families, the healthcare workers, the small businesses and large enterprises alike, and how it almost, if not completely, paralyzed our economy. We do not want that to happen again,” the department of health said in a statement, urging the public to stay home over the Christmas holiday.

Philippines Presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
Philippines Presidential spokesman Harry Roque. Photograph: Mark R Cristino/EPA

Earlier this year, the Philippines had one of the world’s strictest and longest lockdowns, which left millions of people without work. Despite such measures, the country remains one of the worst affected in South-East Asia.

Officials have warned people to celebrate Christmas only with their immediate families, and imposed a ban on large gatherings and carol singing. Restrictions have also been placed on church attendance.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said tighter restriction would be inevitable if cases continued to increase, and said the recent rise may be due to people going out more in the run up to Christmas.

India has recorded 22,890 new coronavirus infections, the health ministry said on Friday, taking its overall tally to 20,000 short of 10m, the second highest total in the world.

It was the fifth day in a row that cases have been below 30,000. Deaths rose by 338, taking the total to 144,789, the health ministry said.

A health worker dons protective equipment in India.
A health worker dons protective equipment in India. Photograph: Pradeep Gaur/REX/Shutterstock

China to widen vaccination programme in Sichuan next year

China plans to start opening its vaccination programme to members of the public in southwestern Sichuan province early next year, health officials said, despite the inoculations not yet receiving official approval.

AFP reports that at least one million people have already received a jab in China after vaccine candidates were approved for “emergency use”, but so far they have been limited to priority groups such as state employees and international students.

China has five coronavirus vaccines in the final stages of development – but none has received official approval from authorities and the results of late-stage trials have yet to be published.

Local deliveries in Sichuan after 10 cases of Covid and two asymptomatic cases were recently identified.
Local deliveries in Sichuan after 10 cases of Covid and two asymptomatic cases were recently identified. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

A provincial health official told local media that vaccines will be provided to the general public in Sichuan after the Lunar New year holidays in February.

On Thursday officials said that 118,000 vaccine doses had arrived in the province so far, with plans to inoculate all high-risk groups by 5 February before rolling out the programme to the rest of the population.

They did not specify who developed the vaccines.

Sichuan is the first province to outline a timeline of its vaccination plans for the general public. The province has been hit by a small cluster of Covid-19 cases in recent weeks, with one more virus infection reported Friday.

Updated

Correspondence from a reader regarding our earlier post on the comparison between flu and the coronavirus, directed me towards this stark fact.

The chief medical officer of health for Canada’s Alberta province, Dr Deena Hinshaw, revealed Covid-19 had killed 760 people in the province since March. In the last 10 years, influenza has killed 659 Albertans.

It is a sobering statistic that in less than 10 months, more Albertans have now died from COVID-19 than have died from influenza in the last 10 years combined.

More from CBC here.

Growing numbers of hospitals in England are running short of beds and having to divert patients elsewhere and cancel operations as the NHS struggles to cope with the resurgence of coronavirus, a Guardian analysis shows.

According to the NHS figures, hospitals had to tell ambulance crews to divert patients elsewhere 44 times last week – the highest number for four years.

With hospitals in London, Leicester and Northampton particularly hard hit, Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, warned: “It already feels like we’re in the grips of a really bad winter, and there’s a very long way to go.”

Denis Campbell and Nicola Davis report:

Africa confronts a second wave of Covid-19

Agence-France Presse reports:

After being relatively spared by coronavirus, Africa is bracing for the pandemic’s second wave, noting how the microbe has once more cut a swathe through rich countries in Europe and North Africa.

The continent’s most-hit nations are again having to contemplate stringent public health measures as they await the arrival of the vaccine cavalry.

In South Africa, the start of summer has triggered traffic jams on roads leading to coastal resorts.

But this year, there will be no long, lazy days spent on the beach.

In popular tourist destinations, the coronavirus is spreading at alarming speed. Authorities have ordered partial closures, limits on the size of gatherings and an extended curfew.

As the African country worst hit in the pandemic, with almost 900,000 documented cases, South Africa is tightening up health restrictions.

Covid-19 screening at a testing site in Tshwane.
Covid-19 screening at a testing site in Tshwane. Photograph: Phill Magakoe/AFP/Getty Images

But around Africa, a continent of more than 1.2 billion people, there are stark contrasts in the prevalence of the disease.

New cases are emerging in East Africa, in northern and southern Africa, but the trend in West Africa is a decline, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), an arm of the African Union.

Rising cases in the east

In Uganda, every region has been affected by the pandemic. Neighbouring Rwanda, a far smaller but densely populated country, registered almost as many new cases in December (722) as since the beginning of infection (797).

Bars and nightclubs have been shut since March. Heavily fined for breaking regulations, the owner of a Kigali bar told AFP he had lost everything. “Clients were drinking, but the police forced us to close.”

In Kenya, a second wave of the virus struck in September and led to the closure of schools and the prolongation of a curfew. Some health professionals say they are already waiting for a third wave.

For several weeks, Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) have been pressing African governments to up their game for an inevitable second wave.

Nevertheless, the epidemic first reported in Africa nine months ago has not been as destructive as experts feared, across a poor continent severely lacking in health care structures.

Africa has reported 2.4 million cases, just 3.6 percent of the world’s total, according to a tally compiled by AFP.

The whole continent has registered more than 57,000 deaths, fewer for instance than the total for France alone (59,072).

While the low level of screening might call into question the reliability of the statistics, no African country has observed a peak in excess mortality, which would be a sign of the virus spreading under the radar.

Experts are still trying to understand why Africa, so far, has not been affected to the same extent as other continents.

Explanations include Africa’s youthful population, cross-immunity derived from previous epidemics and a still predominantly rural economy, which means less density of population.

A boy wearing a face mask in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya.
A boy wearing a face mask in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya. Photograph: Brian Inganga/AP

Economic hit

Early and draconian measures imposed on citizens in most African countries clearly put the brakes on the spread of the disease.

But the social and economic consequences of lockdown policies have been disastrous for the weakest economies.

In nations where the stigma of Covid-19 has become less visible, daily life has rushed to resume its course, largely at the expense of social distancing and other barrier gestures.

In central Africa, Cameroon is preparing to host the 2020 African Nations Championship football tournament in January, postponed from last April because of the virus. Officials are counting on a partial reopening of stadiums.

Authorities in Senegal face calls for public protests against restrictions, while in Equatorial Guinea, nightclubs are the only places that remain closed.

“Generally speaking, the virus is continuing to progress in Africa,” warned Isabelle Defourny, operations director at Medecins sans frontieres.

MSF has noted a resurgence of Covid-19 both in capital cities and in rural areas, notably in Chad.

“We’re also seeing an increase in severe cases where oxygen is needed, particularly in Bamako [in Mali], which was not the case during the first wave,” Defourny said.

A Malian woman praying on the occasion of the National Pilgrimage in Kita in Mali.
A Malian woman praying on the occasion of the National Pilgrimage in Kita in Mali. Photograph: Michele Cattani/AFP/Getty Images

The battle Africa must wage for access to vaccines is far from won. The likely cost will be around 4.7 billion euros ($5.76 billion), but only a quarter of the nations on the continent can muster the required resources, according to the WHO.

Babies born to women with Covid-19 have antibodies against virus: Singapore study

All five babies born to women with Covid-19 infection during a study in Singapore have had antibodies against the virus, although the researchers said it is not yet clear what level of protection this may offer.

The findings from a study of 16 women released on Friday also found that most were mildy infected, while more severe reactions occurred in older women with a high body mass index - a trend that is mirrored in the general population.

Of the five who had delivered their babies by the time the study was published, all had antibodies, according to the Singapore Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research Network.

The number of antibodies in the babies varied, and was higher among those whose mothers’ had been infected nearer to the time of delivery, the researchers said.

Further monitoring is required to see whether the antibodies will decline as the babies get older, they added.

The United States on Thursday surpassed a total of 17m coronavirus cases, with infections rising by more than a million a week during the early winter surge – while at the start of the year it took three months for the US to accumulate its first million cases.

Nearly a quarter of a million new coronavirus infections and more than 3,600 deaths had been reported just on Wednesday, shattering previous records as the national vaccination campaign against Covid-19 began rolling out across the country this week.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the US confirmed 247,403 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, and another 3,656 Americans died of the virus in a single day. Thursday’s unemployment report also showed new jobless claims rose to 885,000 last week, representing the highest weekly number since September.

Updated

To Australia (where your correspondent currently sits):

The state of Victoria has imposed a ‘traffic light’ restriction system on travellers from New South Wales from tonight.

Hotspots like the northern beaches of Sydney will be classified red zones, with people travelling from there not be permitted to enter Victoria.

The rest of Sydney has been designated an orange zone, with residents encouraged to get tested and self-isolate until they get a negative result.

The rest of NSW is considered a green zone.

Other states have gone further: Western Australia has shut its borders to all travellers from NSW.

Victoria’s health minister Martin Foley said:

We are very strongly advising all Victorians not to travel to Sydney. As conditions are expected to deteriorate, and you may not be able to re-enter Victoria without undertaking quarantining for 14 days.

Don’t come from Sydney if you’re planning to come to Melbourne... it won’t be a holiday. It won’t be a Christmas. It won’t be the Christmas or the holiday you were planning. The situation in NSW and Sydney is rapidly evolving.

Cases, hospitalisations, deaths all climbing in the US.

British GPs allowed to use Pfizer's sixth dose 'at their discretion'

General practitioners in Britain have been given new guidance allowing them to use Pfizer Inc’s extra Covid-19 vaccine doses “at their discretion”, NHS England said, with the development coming a day after US regulators issued a similar guidance.

Every vial of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was expected to include five doses, but GPs found it was possible to make six doses out of the vials.

The National Health Service (NHS) confirmed to Reuters that in a weekly webinar with NHS England on Thursday, clinicians were told they could use the sixth dose “at their discretion”.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) did not respond to a request for comment. The Telegraph reported that the British regulator was looking at the feasibility of getting six vaccines out of the vials and was consulting with NHS England.

The US Food and Drug Administration had said on Wednesday that extra doses from vials of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine can be used after reports of vaccine doses being thrown away by pharmacists due to labelling confusion.

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPA

The Pfizer vials are supposed to hold five doses, according to the labelling, but media reports said pharmacists had found a way for a sixth or even a seventh dose. Without clear approval from the manufacturer, the extra dose had to be discarded.

The Pfizer/BioNTech shot, the first Covid-19 vaccine to be approved by Western drugs regulators, is being rolled out in countries including Britain and the United States, and is expected to be approved for use in the European Union next week.

Pfizer will request for an approval of its Covid-19 vaccine in Japan on Friday, according to Kyodo News.

Britain became the first country in the world to deploy Pfizer’s vaccine earlier this month.

Updated

Northern Ireland is preparing for a sweeping lockdown and the deployment of paramedics from the Republic of Ireland in an effort to control Covid-19.

Health officials on Thursday proposed a six-week lockdown and approved a plan to reinforce the ambulance service with units from across the border.

The Northern Ireland Executive agreed to the move on Thursday night. The deputy first minister, Michelle O’Neill, said the lockdown would start on Boxing Day and be reviewed after four weeks. “It’s very clear from the positive cases we’re seeing every day that an urgent intervention was required,” she said.

Sir Paul McCartney has said he will have the coronavirus vaccine as soon as he is able to.

The former Beatle, 78, told The Sun that “the vaccine will get us out of this”.

He said it was “great news” that vaccinations are now under way.

However, Sir Paul said there are still challenges lying ahead.

“I mean it’s going to be very difficult for a while yet, because you can’t just lock down a whole country unless you’re China,” he told the newspaper.

“We can’t have that kind of lack of freedom, we’re all brought up to enjoy this great freedom that we have in a democracy.”

Sir Paul McCartney has said he looks forward to being able to perform before an audience again. He has said of the Covid-19 pandemic, “the vaccine will get us out of this”.
Sir Paul McCartney has said he looks forward to being able to perform before an audience again. He has said of the Covid-19 pandemic, “the vaccine will get us out of this”. Photograph: Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns

The rollout of the vaccine has begun in the UK - starting with healthcare workers, people living in care homes and the elderly.

Those receiving the Pfizer vaccine will be given a booster jab 21 days after their first dose to ensure the best chance of being protected against the virus.

Famous faces including actor Sir Ian McKellen, Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith and rock and roll star Marty Wilde have already been vaccinated.

Sir Paul also told the newspaper he is looking forward to being able to perform live again.

He said he will be “glad when we can get back, it will be a nice change to actually play to some people”.

Coronavirus nearly three times more deadly than flu: study

Roughly a year into the pandemic it is clear the new coronavirus is worse than seasonal flu, and a study released on Friday outlined just how much worse, showing a death rate almost three times higher among Covid-19 patients.

The research, using French national data and published in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, underscored the increased severity of illness for people with Covid-19.

Researchers compared data for 89,530 patients hospitalised with Covid-19 in March and April this year with 45,819 patients hospitalised with seasonal influenza between December 2018 and the end of February 2019.

Some 16.9 percent of Covid-19 patients died during the period of study - which was during a devastating first wave across Europe when doctors had few therapies to turn to for severely ill people.

This compares to a death rate of 5.8 percent among those with influenza.

Catherine Quantin, a professor at the University Hospital of Dijon and the French national health institute INSERM who jointly led the study, said the difference in death rates was “particularly striking” given the 2018/19 flu season was the deadliest France had seen in five years.

The authors note that the difference in the number of hospitalisations - which saw twice as many people admitted for Covid-19 than flu - may be partly explained by existing immunity to influenza, either because of previous infection or vaccination.

Researchers found that more patients with Covid-19 needed intensive care - 16.3 percent compared with 10.8 percent for influenza - while the average stay in ICU was nearly twice as long (15 days compared to 8 days).

The study also reported far fewer children under 18 hospitalised with Covid-19 than with flu - 1.4 percent compared to 19.5 percent.

For those in Australia with plans to travel at Christmas, these are the details on border closures, restrictions, and quarantine requirements.

In Australia, premier of the country’s most populous state, Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed a new cluster detected on the northern beaches of Sydney has grown to 28 cases.

The New South Wales premier said those suburbs would be on lockdown for the next three days. People should only be leaving their houses for essential reasons.

“We do have the potential to get on top of it, but it does require hard work on the behalf of all of us.”

Berejiklian urged leaders of other states and territories to implement “measured” and “proportionate” responses to Sydney’s outbreak, in particular regarding potential border closures. This year, for the first time in a century (since the Spanish flu), Australia’s internal state borders were closed, some for months.

Some states, such as Queensland and Victoria, have implemented quarantine orders for people travelling from Sydney’s northern beaches. Western Australia has closed its borders to travellers from NSW.

Queues at a pop-up Covid-19 testing site at Avalon on Sydney’s northern beaches.
Queues at a pop-up Covid-19 testing site at Avalon on Sydney’s northern beaches. Photograph: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Berejiklian said vast parts of NSW were completely unaffected, and people living there who had gone through months of “torture” should be free to see their loved ones.

She agreed with any action that related to declaring the northern beaches as a ‘hot spot’.

Berejiklian said no-one in NSW should travel on public transport, or go to supermarkets or places of worship without masks.

“Nobody should be getting on public transport without a mask ... It would just be crazy if people are undertaking those activities without wearing a mask.”

Emmanuel Macron has been diagnosed with Covid-19 after developing symptoms, the Élysée Palace has announced, forcing several other European leaders who recently met the French president into self-isolation.

The palace said Macron was “very likely” to have been infected at a European council summit in Brussels late last week, where he was seen mingling with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, and others, all wearing masks.

Back in Australia, where there are fears state borders might be closed again. There has been a massive rush at Sydney Airport, with people seeking to leave New South Wales ahead of any lockdown. A new cluster of infections have been identified on Sydney’s northern beaches.

Colombia’s daily confirmed cases of coronavirus reached their highest level since mid-August on Thursday, as the government warned people against large holiday gatherings.

The Andean country, which has had a total of 1,468,795 confirmed cases and 39,787 deaths, recorded 12,196 new cases on Thursday, according to health ministry data.
The figure was the highest since Aug. 19, when there were 13,055 new cases.

President Ivan Duque and health officials have repeatedly warned Colombians against gathering in crowds at shopping areas and urged them to keep family celebrations limited in order to reduce spread of the virus.

Duque on Wednesday said rising cases numbers could be traced to celebrations to mark the feast of the Immaculate Conception - known locally as Night of the Candles - when families gather to put candles in their windows or outside their homes.

Health workers walk on a street during a day of sampling of Covid-19 quick tests in Juanchaco beach, Colombia.
Health workers walk on a street during a day of sampling of Covid-19 quick tests in Juanchaco beach, Colombia. Photograph: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images

The daily death toll also rose past 200 on Wednesday and Thursday, reaching 204 and 227 respectively. Daily new recorded deaths have not surpassed 200 since September.

Colombia expects to vaccinate about 15 million people against COVID-19 in 2021, including health care workers, those over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions.
Intensive care units in Bogota, a epicentre for infection, were at 74% capacity on Thursday, according to local health department figures.

Brazil and Colombia are reporting the highest number of new cases in South America, the World Health Organization said this week.

Summary - Emmanuel Macron ‘very likely’ infected with Covid-19 during EU council.

Good morning/afternoon/evening (wherever you may be), Ben Doherty in Sydney, Australia with you, helming our continuing coverage of the global coronavirus pandemic for the next few hours.

As ever, comments, contributions and correspondence all welcomed at ben.doherty@theguardian.com or by twitter @BenDohertyCorro.

To begin, a quick recap of the latest coronavirus developments across the world over the last few hours:

  • US president-elect Joe Biden tested negative for Covid-19, after an incoming White House adviser, Cedric Richmond, contracted the virus, a spokeswoman for Biden said in a statement.Richmond was not in close contact with Biden as defined by the Centers for Disease Control
  • Emmanuel Macron ‘very likely’ infected with Covid-19 during EU council. The French President tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, prompting a track-and-trace effort across Europe following numerous meetings between the French leader and EU heads of government in recent days.
  • Six week lockdown to start in Northern Ireland from Boxing Day. Northern Ireland is preparing for a sweeping lockdown and the deployment of paramedics from the Republic of Ireland in an effort to control Covid-19. Health officials on Thursday proposed a six-week lockdown and approved a plan to reinforce the ambulance service with units from across the border.
  • Portugal imposes overnight curfew on New Year’s Eve. An overnight curfew from 11pm will come into force in Portugal on New Year’s Eve, prime minister António Costa said, as the country introduces measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus during the usually busy night.
  • Australia’s largest city of Sydney told to brace for more Covid-19 cases. Australia’s largest city of Sydney should brace itself for more Covid-19 cases, New South Wales state premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned, as authorities rushed to contain a new virus cluster in the city’s northern coastal suburbs.
  • Colombia daily coronavirus cases reach highest since August. Colombia’s daily confirmed cases of coronavirus reached their highest level since mid-August on Thursday, as the government warned people against large holiday gatherings.
  • King of Sweden blasts country’s ‘failed’ coronavirus response. The king of Sweden has said the country has failed in its response to Covid-19, as hospitals in the Stockholm region warned they were struggling to cope with a surge in cases and polls showed public confidence in the authorities had plunged to a new low.
  • US surpasses 17m coronavirus cases as vaccines are distributed. The United States on Thursday surpassed a total of 17m coronavirus cases, with infections rising by more than a million a week during the early winter surge – while at the start of the year it took three months for the US to accumulate its first million cases.

Updated

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