We are closing this blog and moving to a new one here.
“Don’t go to other sources, they’re not reliable”, says Morrison. This is perhaps the closest he’s gotten to parliamentary (and former party) colleagues sharing misinformation about the pandemic. The department of health has recently launched a new website to counter misinformation about Covid and vaccines.
Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison and chief health officer, Paul Kelly, are addressing media.
The NSW hotel worker who tested positive had received the first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination, but there is a lag time between vaccination and developed immunity, says Kelly. It’s the state’s first community acquired case in 55 days.
Morrison is also defending the government against criticism that its vaccine rollout is not going according to plan. He’s saying Australians believe the government has been transparent, and Australia “is leading the world out of this pandemic”.
Hi, this is Helen Davidson in Taipei, here to take the blog through the next few hours. Thanks to Clea for everything so far.
Hong Kong is facing its fifth wave of infection, with a growing cluster centred around a high-end gym logging 99 cases so far. The gym is popular with the city’s central business district workers, local media reported, and several major banks and law firms are among dozens of businesses given compulsory testing orders. Authorities have also locked down four residential buildings in the Mid-levels, in another ambush-style operation to ensures all residents are tested overnight before being allowed to move freely again.
In Australia a person who works in two Sydney quarantine hotels has tested positive to Covid-19. New South Wales health said it was notified of the new infection late last night. Urgent genomic testing is underway to determine the source of the infection, and the person’s close contacts have also been tested. It is the first locally-acquired case in 55 days in NSW. It’s not counted in today’s numbers but will be included in tomorrow’s.
NSW Health was notified late last night of a new case of COVID-19 in a person who works at two Sydney hotels which provide hotel quarantine for returned travellers. This case will be included in tomorrow’s numbers. pic.twitter.com/seNuUfBHBD
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) March 14, 2021
Updated
Summary
- Italy will ramp up its Covid-19 vaccination programme to hit a target of administering 500,000 doses each day, the country’s coronavirus special commissioner said on Saturday.
- There have been a further 5,534 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government data – compared with 6,039 cases last Saturday.
- Australia’s prime minister and chief medical officer have just received their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, alongside 84-year-old Jane Malysiak, who survived the second world war and immigrated to Australia from Poland more than 70 years ago.
- The United States has reported a record daily number (more than 4.5 million) of vaccine doses administered. This has far surpassed the previous highest daily figure, which stood at 2.9 million doses.
- Australia’s centre-left Labor party has been reelected in the state of Western Australia after implementing some of the country’s strictest measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
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Argentina’s government is concerned by the rise in Covid-19 cases across the region and will increase border controls and preventative measures, the country’s health minister has said.
- Covid-19 infection levels in the greater Tokyo area appear to be increasing, health minister Norihisa Tamura has said, and threaten to jeopardise the lifting of the state of emergency scheduled for 21 March.
Updated
United States reports record day of vaccinations
From Bloomberg’s senior healthcare editor as the United States reports a record daily number (more than 4.5 million) of vaccine doses administered:
💉VACCINE DATA UPDATE (March 13)💉
— Drew Armstrong (@ArmstrongDrew) March 13, 2021
🚨Record day of reported vaccinations, with 4.6M. 50% higher than past 2.9M record. Looking into why (data dump/lag, +capacity, etc.)
📊4.6M doses today; 7-day avg=2.54M/day
🇺🇸US: 106M doses total
Full graphic/data: https://t.co/B3h4aScyCp pic.twitter.com/2D5hd2BunA
The CDC said 68,884,011 people had received at least one dose, while 36,929,777 people were fully vaccinated.
Updated
Australian PM and Paul Kelly get second dose of Pfizer vaccine
Australia’s prime minister and chief medical officer have just received their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, alongside 84-year-old Jane Malysiak, who survived the second world war and immigrated to Australia from Poland more than 70 years ago.
The three were among the first people to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Australia last month and are now among the first to be fully inoculated. Scott Morrison will address a press conference shortly.
Updated
Hundreds of international students at three major London universities are refusing to pay their fees because they say learning mostly in their bedrooms has not justified prices of up to £29,000 a year.
More than 300 students at the Royal College of Art, two-thirds of them from abroad, launched a tuition fee strike in January, the Guardian has learned, potentially withholding around £3.4m in fee payments, in an attempt to force the university to issue refunds for the past year.
The international students, who pay £29,000 a year for a master’s course at the RCA, took action despite fearing their visas may be revoked. After a letter from the college threatening them with suspension, some backed down, but the vice-chancellor, Paul Thompson, confirmed in a meeting on 4 March that 93 students had still not paid. Strikers were told in an email this week that they would be suspended if they did not pay or come to an arrangement with the university by Monday.
Brazil has registered a further 1,997 deaths and 76,178 new cases of Covid-19, the country’s health ministry has said.
The country, which has suffered the world’s second-deadliest outbreak after the United States, has recorded a total of 277,102 deaths and 11,439,558 cases, according to Reuters.
Updated
Authorities in the United States have administered a first vaccine dose to more than 100 million people, according to the country’s national public health agency, hitting the milestone on Friday.
Over a third of this number have received both jabs.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said more than 101 million jabs had been administered since the country’s vaccination drive started late last year.
In total, 10.5% of the US population (over 35 million people) have had both doses, the CDC said.
Updated
Covid-19 infection levels in the greater Tokyo area appear to be increasing, health minister Norihisa Tamura has said, and threaten to jeopardise the lifting of the state of emergency scheduled for 21 March.
New cases “have ceased to fall or turned higher in Tokyo,” Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, Tamura told a press briefing, the Japan Times reports.
Although coronavirus measures, including restrictions for the hospitality industry, have brought down cases to about a tenth of the peak recorded in early January, the levels are still far from target figures.
“The number of new positive cases has stopped decreasing, and we need to be very vigilant about the possibility of a resurgence due to mutated strains,” Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said on Friday.
Tokyo’s seven-day average of new infections has hovered in the mid- to high-200s since the end of February, while the daily number of new cases surpassed 300 for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday.
Updated
Argentina’s government is concerned by the rise in Covid-19 cases across the region and will increase border controls and preventative measures, the country’s health minister has said.
“There is a sustained and worrying increase in countries across the region,” said Carla Vizzotti, adding that the government was worried about new variants of the virus in circulation, according to a report in the Buenos Aires Times.
Vizzotti said the government was advising Argentinians to avoid travelling to countries, such as Brazil, with new variants of the virus.
The government will begin issuing warnings “about the regional situation and discouraging the population from travelling to places where there are new variants.”
The US is under increasing pressure to share Covid-19 vaccine doses with less wealthy nations, as advocates call for prevention of an emerging “vaccine apartheid” and point to the strategic and diplomatic importance of sharing essential medicines.
Calls to share vaccine doses grew louder this week after the Biden administration announced an additional purchase of 100 million vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson. The American government has now bought enough doses of vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson to vaccinate 500 million people – nearly the entire eligible population twice over.
The administration also holds the rights to 100 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses. The vaccine has not been authorized in the US, but is authorized for use elsewhere in the world. AstraZeneca asked the US to give “thoughtful consideration” to donating the vaccines elsewhere, a spokesperson for the company said.
Australia’s centre-left Labor party has been reelected in the state of Western Australia after implementing some of the country’s strictest measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“The magnitude of what happened today is not lost on me. With it comes great responsibility,” state premier Mark McGowan told supporters in Perth, Western Australia’s capital.
The state vote was widely seen a referendum on McGowan’s tough approach in tackling the pandemic.
Updated
The Australian state of Victoria has reported no new Covid-19 cases or deaths. The state has reported a total of 20,483 infections and 820 deaths since the pandemic began.
Yesterday there were no new cases reported. 11,382 test results were received. Thank you to everyone who got tested - #EveryTestHelps.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) March 13, 2021
More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/lQ8JRGmCzj
Summary of recent developments
- There have been a further 5,534 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government data – compared with 6,039 cases last Saturday.
- Football fans were offered a Covid-19 vaccine at the Russian Premier League match between Zenit and Akhmat Grozny in St Petersburg on Saturday.
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Italy will step up its Covid-19 vaccination programme to hit a target of administering 500,000 doses each day, the country’s coronavirus special commissioner said on Saturday.
- Colombia has confirmed its first fatality from the virus variant first detected in Brazil, the government said, adding the person who died in January was older and had underlying health conditions.
- An analysis of safety data from more than 17 million vaccine doses has found no evidence linking the AstraZeneca vaccine to a higher risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia, the British-Swedish manufacturer said.
- The small Portuguese island of Corvo has vaccinated most of its 400 people against Covid-19 and will soon reach herd immunity, the island’s only doctor has said.
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South Africa has reported a further 82 deaths and 1,541 new cases of Covid-19, according to data released by the health department. This compares with 81 deaths and 1,227 last Saturday.
Updated
Thousands of people have gathered in Montreal for a demonstrate against Quebec’s coronavirus measures.
Updated
South Africa has reported a further 82 deaths and 1,541 new cases of Covid-19, according to data released by the health department. This compares with 81 deaths and 1,227 last Saturday.
The total number of confirmed cases stands at 1,528,414, while the death toll is 51,261.
A total of 1,452,988 people have recovered from Covid-19 and 145,544 vaccines have been administered.
As of today, the total number of confirmed #COVID19 cases is 1 528 414 the total number of deaths is 51 261 the total number of recoveries is 1 452 988 and the total number of vaccines administered is 145 544. pic.twitter.com/VqUeIKwXoh
— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) March 13, 2021
Updated
The small Portuguese island of Corvo has vaccinated most of its 400 people against Covid-19 and will soon reach herd immunity, the island’s only doctor has said.
Authorities on Corvo had vaccinated 322 people with a second dose of a vaccine by Friday – meaning 85% of the total population and 95% of those eligible had received a jab, Reuters reports.
“There’s an atmosphere of celebration in Corvo,” Dr Antonio Salgado told the Lusa news agency.
He said the vast majority of the island’s residents were likely to become immune by the end of the month, adding: “From now on, we will feel safe.”
Authorities decided to vaccinate all over-16s in the island’s first wave of the vaccination rollout.
Updated
An analysis of safety data from more than 17 million vaccine doses has found no evidence linking the AstraZeneca vaccine to a higher risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia, the British-Swedish manufacturer said.
In fact, the reported numbers of these types of events for Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca are not greater than the number that would have occurred naturally in the unvaccinated population,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement reported by Reuters.
Such trends or patterns were also not observed during clinical trials for the vaccine, she added.
Updated
The European Union is facing additional shortages in its Covid-19 vaccination programme after pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said planned deliveries would be affected by production problems and export restrictions.
It follows several countries, including Norway and Denmark, suspending their use of the British-Swedish manufacturer’s vaccine over blood clot fears, despite the World Health Organization saying there was no reason to stop administering it.
French prime minister Jean Castex said his government still expected to exceed its target of vaccinating 10 million people by 15 April, though he said some labs were not respecting delivery deadlines, according to AFP.
Updated
Colombia has confirmed its first fatality from the virus variant first detected in Brazil, the government said, adding the person who died in January was older and had underlying health conditions.
A new case of the P1 variant was detected in an older adult in Bogota with multiple comorbidities who had not traveled. They were hospitalised and died 28 January 2021,” the National Health Institute said in a statement reported by Reuters.
Colombia has banned flights to and from Brazil as part of efforts to stop the spread of the more transmissible variant.
Updated
In the UK, more than a quarter of people who receive social care from the NHS have seen their health deteriorate during the coronavirus pandemic, according to research.
In a survey of more than 4,000 people with social care needs and carers from the Care and Support Alliance (CSA), 28% said their health had declined, and one in seven people required hospital treatment due to a lack of care.
The CSA reported that older and disabled people had been left struggling with daily activities and were missing medical appointments, and a quarter of those who said they had trouble carrying out daily activities reported that they were not given help by authorities when they asked for it.
Italy aims to vaccinate 80% of population by September
Italy will step up its Covid-19 vaccination programme to hit a target of administering 500,000 doses each day, the country’s coronavirus special commissioner said on Saturday.
The country, which has a population of 60.3 million, aims to inoculate at least 80% of people by September.
Updated
Artists in Athens held a protest for their rights to work, almost a year after the first lockdown with the closure of theatres, museums and cinemas.
Football fans were offered a Covid-19 vaccine at the Russian Premier League match between Zenit and Akhmat Grozny in St Petersburg on Saturday.
People were offered a free shot of the Sputnik V jab for two hours before and after the game in an effort to increase take-up. A Reuters reporter said that at least 20 of the several thousands attendees were vaccinated.
Take-up of the vaccine in Russia has been slower than in other countries, with polls showing Russians are sceptical of the domestically produced jab.
A total of five million people have received a first dose, out of a population of 144 million, the deputy prime minister Tatiana Golikova said last week.
Zenit said the vaccination programme at the stadium would continue until the end of the football season.
The trauma of watching thousands of patients die during the Covid-19 pandemic will force many intensive care staff out of healthcare unless they get substantial mental health support, the charity that represents ICU workers has warned.
The Intensive Care Society said half of ICU staff needed psychological support to help them deal with their experiences and added that some had already left their professions.
“This pandemic is the greatest crisis we’ve seen in a century,” said Dr Stephen Webb, the ICS president. “There is a danger that we will lose further staff in the future. We know there’s a risk of people falling ill, wanting to leave – not just intensive care but healthcare completely.”
Research from King’s College London in January showed that 45% of ICU staff in England suffered severe anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental health problems after the first wave, and the second wave had been even worse, Webb said.
A further 369,578 first vaccine doses have been administered in the UK, taking the total to 23,684,103.
A total of 1,532,754 people have had both shots – a rise of 87,676 on the previous day, according to government figures.
Italy reported 317 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday , the health ministry said. There were 307 last Saturday.
The daily tally of new cases was 26,062, compared with 23,633 the Saturday before, according to Reuters.
Italy has registered 101,881 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after the UK and the seventh-highest in the world. The country has reported 3.2 million cases to date.
UK reports 5,534 cases, 121 deaths
There have been a further 5,534 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government data – compared with 6,039 cases last Saturday.
A total of 4,253,820 people have tested positive since the pandemic began.
A further 121 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported, bringing the total to 125,464. There were 158 deaths last Saturday.
According to the government dashboard, a delay in receiving information on deaths in England from one of its data sources “might have a small impact on the total number of deaths reported” on Saturday. The delay will be reflected in the numbers published on Sunday.
The seven-day rolling average, which evens out reporting irregularities in the daily figures, shows that cases are down by 5.5% compared with the previous week (28 February-6 March).
Deaths have decreased by 32.2% by the same measure.
Updated
Summary
Headlines in today’s coronavirus-related news from around the world include:
- More than 21m vaccination doses have now been administered in England, according to the latest official figures. Provisional NHS England data showed that a total of 21,187,615 Covid-19 vaccinations took place between 8 December and 12 March, a rise of 380,230 on the previous day. Of these, 20,111,189 were the first dose of a vaccine, while 1,076,426 were a second dose.
- Covid restrictions were relaxed in Wales. Under the new rules, announced by the first minister, Mark Drakeford, on Friday, four people from two households will be able to meet outdoors to socialise, including in gardens. Outdoor sports facilities including basketball courts, tennis courts and golf courses can reopen and indoor care home visits will restart for single designated visitors.
- Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary, has said that more than 48,000 businesses have signed up to offer rapid coronavirus testing to their employees, a move he said would be a “huge step forward” in getting businesses “back on their feet”. In January it emerged that it had spent £800m on tests that were later found in a pilot to give the wrong results as much as 60% of the time.
- Jordan’s minister for health has stepped down following the deaths of six patients at a hospital where oxygen supplies failed. Sources told Reuters said it was not clear what caused the oxygen failure in intensive care, maternity units and coronavirus wards in the new Salt government hospital, west of the capital Amman.
- Three health workers in Norway who recently received the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 are being treated in hospital for blood clots. According to Steinar Madsen, medical director at the Norwegian medicines agency, their symptoms included “bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets.” He told the broadcaster NRK: “They are quite sick ... We take this very seriously.”
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the latest country to suspend use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, postponing its vaccination programme until results of investigations into suspected links to blood clots are available. DRC was due to begin distribution of the vaccine on 15 March, after receiving 1.7m doses of the vaccine. A new start date has not been announced.
That’s it from me, Damien Gayle.
Updated
Three health workers in Norway who recently received the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 are being treated in hospital for blood clots, Reuters reports, citing the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Norway halted on Thursday the rollout of that vaccine, following a similar move by Denmark. Iceland later followed suit. Austria has also stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.
Earlier, it was reported that the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which recently received 1.7m doses of the Oxford University-developed jab, was postponing its vaccine programme. And in India health authorities are also conducting a review of potential side-effects.
Sigurd Hortemo, a senior doctor at the Norwegian medicines agency, told a news conference held jointly with the Norwegian institute of public health that it was not known whether the latest cases, all in individuals under the age of 50, were linked to the vaccine. The European medicine regulator EMA would investigate the three incidents, he added.
According to Steinar Madsen, medical director at the Norwegian Medicines Agency, the three patients had “very unusual symptoms” including “bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets”.
“They are quite sick ... We take this very seriously,” he told the broadcaster NRK, adding authorities had received notification of the cases on Saturday.
Updated
21 million vaccine doses now distributed in England
More than 21m vaccination doses have now been administered in England, according to the latest official figures.
Provisional NHS England data published on Saturday showed that a total of 21,187,615 Covid-19 vaccinations took place between 8 December and 12 March, a rise of 380,230 on the previous day.
Of these, 20,111,189 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 312,716 on the previous day, while 1,076,426 were a second dose, an increase of 67,514.
Updated
Police blockade Austrian city with high infection rate
Police in Austria having been blocking the exit of anyone from a city of 45,000 people who is not in possession of a negative coronavirus test result.
A new rule that came into force on Saturday restricts people from leaving Wiener Neustadt without first being tested for the virus. Police officers and other officials were stationed on 26 roads leading out of the city south of Vienna, checking drivers’ papers. Rule breakers face fines of up to €1,450.
The rule was imposed after the rate of infection in the city rose to more than 500 per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days, compared with a national average of 198 per 100,000.
Klaus Schneeberger, the city’s mayor, said testing stations set up in recent days have a capacity to test 15,000 people per day. According to the Associated Press he said he didn’t understand why Austria’s health ministry “doesn’t use this occasion to start a vaccination campaign here so we get this under control.”
A targeted campaign to vaccinate the entire adult population is underway in the Schwaz district in western Austria, which has seen a significant number of cases of the more contagious virus variant first detected in South Africa.
Coronavirus infections in Germany could again reach peaks seen around Christmas by mid-April, public health officials have said.
The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases predicted that the number of daily reported cases could exceed 30,000 in the 14th week of the year starting 12 April.
“An extrapolation of the trends shows that case numbers can be expected above the Christmas level from week 14 onwards,” the RKI said in its current situation report.
Authorities in Hong Kong are to impose compulsory coronavirus testing for staff of a cluster of law firms and banks after most of the 47 new cases recorded on Saturday were linked to a gym used by the financial and expatriate communities.
Thirty-five of the new cases were linked to an outbreak at Ursus Fitness, a gym in the city’s Sai Ying Pun district, the city government said, according to Reuters. So far 99 cases have been confirmed as related to the centre, which is popular with expatriate lawyers, bankers and hedge fund executives, the health department said in a briefing.
The government published a compulsory testing notice on Friday covering 80 residential premises and workplaces, many in central financial and business district. Among the workplaces affected were offices for Shearman & Sterling, Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith Freehills, HSBC, Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon.
Hong Kong has recorded around 11,200 total coronavirus cases, far lower than other developed cities. The city of 7.5 million people launched its vaccination programme in February, with 162,100 people receiving their first shot so far.
Updated
Updated
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the latest country to suspend use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, postponing its vaccination programme until results of investigations into suspected links to blood clots are available.
DRC was due to begin distribution of the vaccine on 15 March, after receiving 1.7m doses of the vaccine. A new start date for the programme has not been announced. The health minister, Eteni Longondo, said:
As a precautionary measure, we decided to postpone the date for the launch of vaccination in the DRC.
Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria and Iceland have also paused use of the vaccine as a precaution after several people receiving doses went on to develop blood clots. An Indian official on Saturday said the country would also carry out a deeper review of its post-vaccination side effects.
The World Health Organization has said that no causal link has been established between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clotting. AstraZeneca says the jab is safe and that “no evidence” exists of higher risk of blood clots.
Updated
At least six Covid-19 patients have died in a hospital in Jordan after it ran out of oxygen early today, the health minister announced before later tendering his resignation.
“Between 6am and 7am this morning, oxygen ran out for nearly an hour at the hospital [in the northwestern town of Salt] and this probably led to the deaths of six patients,” health minister Nazir Obeidat said.
Medical sources said the patients were three men and three women, AFP reports. The minister said an investigation was under way to determine what led to the shortage of oxygen in the state-run hospital and if it was the cause of the deaths.
“As minister of health I assume full moral responsibility for what happened and I have submitted my resignation to the prime minister,” Obeidat said. So far I have not received a response.”
The prime minister, Bisher al-Khasawneh, earlier ordered an immediate investigation into the incident and said that “everyone responsible should be held accountable”.
Updated
Tunisia has launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign, a month later than planned, with health professionals first in line.
AFP reports:
Around 300 nurses, doctors and other health personnel who are heavily exposed to the virus received shots during the morning at El Menzah vaccination centre in the capital, Tunis.
The country received 30,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine on 9 March. This initial delivery is being used to vaccinate 15,000 health professionals, said Abdelmoumen Samir, a doctor who is part of the country’s coronavirus taskforce.
A further 94,000 vaccines, this time provided by Pfizer/BioNTech, are due to arrive from next week, while jabs produced by AstraZeneca are also to arrive soon, Samir said.
A new variant of the virus is circulating in Tunisia, but initial analysis does not show it to be more dangerous or virulent than the original strain, according to the Pasteur Institute. Tunisia, which has a population of 11.7 million, is the last country in the Maghreb region to launch its vaccination campaign.
Confirmed deaths from the virus in Tunisia are currently running in the dozens per day, while total detected cases since the start of the pandemic stands at over 240,500, of whom more than 8,300 have died.
Updated
Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Latvia have called for talks among EU leaders regarding “huge disparities” in the distribution of vaccines, according to a letter published today.
AFP reports:
Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz suggested on Friday that some members of the European Union may have signed “secret contracts” with vaccine companies to receive more doses than they were entitled to under EU-wide agreements.
An EU spokesman has said that it was up to members states to “ask less or more of a given vaccine”, while another EU official said today that “the coordination in the fight against the pandemic” would be the first point of discussions during the bloc’s next summit.
The summit is already scheduled for the end of March and would likely be held in person, the official said.
Kurz and his four counterparts on Friday sent a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European commission, and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, claiming that “deliveries of vaccine doses by pharma companies to individual EU member states are not being implemented on an equal basis”.
Updated
French actress Corinne Masiero stripped naked on stage during a scaled-back Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris to protest the government’s months-long closure of theatres and cinemas during the pandemic.
Reuters reports:
She had “no culture no future” written on her chest and “give us art back Jean” on her back, in a message to prime minister Jean Castex. Masiero, 57, was on stage to present the award for best costume, wearing a donkey outfit and a blood-stained dress before she stripped before the audience.
France’s answer to the Oscars, the ceremony is in normal times the biggest night on the French cinema calendar but on Friday there were no flashbulbs on the red carpet and no partners on the arms of award nominees.
The ceremony took place at a theatre as anger and frustration grows amongst actors, musicians and artists at the government’s unwillingness to set a date for the reopening of museums, galleries, concert halls and movie houses.
Marina Fois, one of France’s best known comedians, who hosted the night, took a swipe at culture minister Roselyne Bachelot for finding time to write a book during the Covid-19 crisis and said: “I’m losing confidence in you.”
She added: “They cooped up our youngsters, closed our cinemas and theatres and banned concerts so that they could open churches, because we’re a secular country, so that old people could go to church,” she said.
Updated
The EU is facing further shortfalls in its coronavirus inoculation programme after Anglo/Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said production problems and export restrictions would reduce planned deliveries of its vaccine.
AFP reports:
AstraZeneca’s image has already taken a hit with several countries suspending the rollout of its vaccine over blood clot fears, even as the World Health Organization said there was no reason to stop using it.
Denmark, Norway and Iceland have paused using the shot as a precaution and an Indian official today said the country would carry out a deeper review of its post-vaccination side effects next week.
AstraZeneca blamed production problems and export restrictions for the latest shortfall, a major setback in efforts to fight a pandemic that has claimed 2.6 million lives worldwide.
The company had previously warned it was facing shortfalls from its European supply chain due to “lower-than-expected output from the production process” and was hoping to compensate in part by sourcing vaccines from its global network.
“Unfortunately, export restrictions will reduce deliveries in the first quarter, and are likely to affect deliveries in the second quarter,” it confirmed in a statement sent to AFP on Saturday.
Jordanian health minister steps down over hospital oxygen failure deaths
Jordan’s minister for health has stepped down following the deaths of six patients at a hospital where oxygen supplies failed, the Associated Press reports citing Jordanian state media.
The prime minister, Bisher al-Khasawneh, asked Nathir Obeidat to resign, as he ordered an investigation into the incident in the town of Salt, 13 miles north of Amman. The Al-Rai newspaper, a government mouthpiece, confirmed that Obeidat had resigned, according to AP.
See previous post for more details.
Updated
Health experts in Germany have warned against any further easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions amid a rise in transmissions in the country due to the spread of the more-infectious British strain of the virus.
“We can only have more relaxation if there are stable or falling case numbers,” Karl Lauterbach, health expert for the Social Democrats, told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, adding this was unlikely anytime soon, according to a Reuters agency report.
Earlier Germany’s public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute, reported that rates of coronavirus infection in the country were on the rise.
Frustration about the ongoing lockdown and the slow pace of vaccinations has been hurting support for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, further dented by a face mask procurement scandal involving lawmakers from her party.
Merkel’s Christian Democrats have seen support slip in the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate where elections on Sunday will be a crucial gauge of popular feeling before a September federal election.
Updated
Police have been deployed to a hospital in Jordan to hold back the relatives of at least six coronavirus patients who died after a failure of oxygen supplies.
Sources told Reuters said it was not clear what caused the oxygen failure in intensive care, maternity units and coronavirus wards in the new Salt government hospital, west of the capital Amman.
The health minister, Nathir Obeidat, earlier visited the hospital and was meeting staff as security forces cordoned off the area to prevent trouble.
Fast transmission of the British variant of coronavirus has led to a rise in Covid-19 infections in Jordan. Authorities last week announced a tightening of movement restrictions and reimposed a full lockdown on Fridays.
Jordan reported 8,300 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, the highest daily death toll since the pandemic first surfaced in the kingdom a year ago. On Friday it reported 7,705 new cases and 55 new deaths. The country has so far recorded 385,533 cases of coronavirus and 5,224 deaths.
Updated
There were 12,674 new coronavirus infections detected in Germany in the 24-hour period to Saturday morning, according to the Robert Koch Institute - 3,117 more than in the same period a week earlier.
Deutsche Welle reports that the country’s seven seven-day incidence rate for coronavirus infections, the metric used in Germany to determine the severity of the pandemic, was on a continued rise, reaching 76.1 cases per 100,000 on Saturday. A week ago, the incidence rate was 65.6.
State premiers have said that coronavirus restrictions eased just last week would be reimposed if the incidence rate exceeds 100. But, amid strong resistance to curbs on freedoms in the country, Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia have since said they may not necessarily reimpose restrictions.
Poland is reporting another rise in numbers of daily coronavirus cases, with the country on Saturday recording its highest number of new infections since January.
The health ministry reported 21,049 new cases, the highest daily number since 23 November, and 343 coronavirus related deaths.
In total, Poland has reported 1,889,360 cases and 47,068 deaths.
Mamy 21 049 nowych i potwierdzonych przypadków zakażenia #koronawirus z województw: mazowieckiego (3891), śląskiego (2682), wielkopolskiego (1828), dolnośląskiego (1687), małopolskiego (1686), pomorskiego (1494), kujawsko-pomorskiego (1225), łódzkiego (1185),
— Ministerstwo Zdrowia (@MZ_GOV_PL) March 13, 2021
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Covid rules relaxed in Wales
A relaxation of Covid restrictions was due to begin in Wales today.
Under the new rules, announced by the first minister, Mark Drakeford, on Friday, four people from two households will be able to meet outdoors to socialise, including in gardens.
Outdoor sports facilities including basketball courts, tennis courts and golf courses can reopen, and indoor care home visits will restart for single designated visitors.
The relaxation of rules will also allow people from rural areas to travel greater distances than those who live in urban towns and cities.
Hairdressers and barbers can reopen for appointments from Monday, the same day that all primary school pupils and those in qualification years can return to schools.
Seven new Covid-19 cases have been reported in mainland China, down from nine cases a day earlier, the country’s national health authority has said. Reuters reports:
All of the new cases were imported infections, the National Health Commission said in a statement. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 17 from 10 cases a day earlier.
The total of confirmed cases in mainland China now stands at 90,034, while the Covid-19 death toll remained 4,636.
Australia has recorded first local Covid-19 case in more than two weeks after a doctor tested positive for coronavirus, triggering restrictions in area hospitals and urgent contact tracing of her patients.
Annastacia Palaszczuk, the Queensland state premier, said the unnamed doctor last week treated two patients who had recently returned to Australia and had tested positive for the UK variant.
“We know this doctor, who assessed these two Covid-positive patients was at the hospital at the time. Now, she developed symptoms,” Palaszczuk was quoted as saying by Reuters. It was Australia’s first local infection since 24 February.
As officials seek to determine the size of the outbreak, Palaszczuk said, all hospitals in the state capital would be closed to visitors. The authorities have yet to determine how many people the doctor treated before testing positive.
Australia has reported just over 29,000 coronavirus infections and 909 deaths from Covid-19, far fewer than many developed countries.
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Russia reported 9,908 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, including 1,600 in Moscow, taking its total case tally to 4,380,525 since the pandemic began, Reuters reports.
The government coronavirus task force also said that 475 people had died in the last 24 hours, pushing its death toll to 91,695.
India to review Oxford vaccine side effects amid fears over blood clots
India is to begin a review of side effects from the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine after several countries suspended its distribution over fears that it was causing blood clots in otherwise healthy recipients.
The World Health Organization has said there was no reason to stop using the vaccine, but Denmark, Norway and Iceland have paused its use as a precaution. India has so far distributed at least 28 million shots in a vast vaccination programme. Most of them have been AstraZeneca vaccines, which are produced at the Serum Institute of India.
At least 2 million people were vaccinated on Friday alone, as Covid-19 cases were rising across different Indian states after weeks of decline.
“We are looking at all the adverse events, particularly serious adverse events like deaths and hospitalisation. We will come back if we find anything of concern,” NK Arora, a member of India’s national task force on Covid-19, told AFP.
Arora said there was “no immediate issue of concern as number of adverse events (in India) is very, very low. We are relooking at (adverse events that were reported) to see if there was any issue of blood clotting.”
“As of yesterday there were 59 or 60 deaths, and they were all coincidental,” he said, adding hospitalisation cases were being re-examined.
“In fact there is a real effort from our side that once complete investigation is done, to put its results in public domain, on the ministry of health website,” Arora added.
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The Philippines has detected its first case of the coronavirus variant first identified in Brazil, Reuters reports citing the country’s health ministry.
A statement from the ministry said that a Filipino returning from Brazil had tested positive for the P.1 variant after 752 samples were sequenced at the genome centre.
The ministry also reported 59 new infections of the B117 variant first detected in Britain, and 32 cases of the B1351 variant discovered in South Africa. This brings cases for those variants to 177 and 90, respectively.
Infections are on the rise again in the Philippines, which has the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in south-east Asia. The country started a mass vaccination programme on 1 March.
The health ministry reported 5,000 new coronavirus cases, the largest single-day increase in more than six months, and 72 additional deaths. Confirmed cases have increased to 616,611 while confirmed deaths have reached 12,766.
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Thousands of UK businesses sign up for rapid testing scheme, says health secretary
Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary, has said that more than 48,000 businesses have signed up to offer rapid coronavirus testing to their employees, a move he said would be a “huge step forward” in getting businesses “back on their feet”.
The government sees regular, rapid coronavirus testing is seen as key to preventing outbreaks in the workplace, and tests are now available to all businesses. In January it emerged that it had spent £800m on tests that were later found in a pilot to give the wrong results as much as 60% of the time.
Announcing the latest scheme, Hancock said:
We have built a huge asymptomatic testing system from scratch, which is an essential part of our plan to reopen cautiously.
Rapid testing has been rolled out at a vast scale across a range of sectors, and it is fantastic that now over 48,000 businesses have signed up to offer rapid testing to employees. This is a huge step forward in getting businesses back on their feet and helping to keep people safe.
With around one in three people with the virus not having symptoms, regular testing is essential to bearing down on the virus and identify new variants of concern as we work towards restoring normal life.
I strongly encourage all businesses to register their interest before the 31 March deadline.
This is Damien Gayle kicking off the live blog from London. If you have any comments, tips or suggestions for what we can be covering today, please feel free to drop me a line, either via email to damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or via Twitter direct message to @damiengayle.
