This blog is closing down now but we’ll be back with more rolling updates about the pandemic in a few hours time.
Meanwhile, you can catch up with all our coronavirus coverage here.
Summary
Here’s a roundup of the key developments today:
- Teenagers in Britain aged 16 and 17 will reportedly be given the green light for Covid-19 vaccination within days before they head back to schools and colleges in September.
- The most disadvantaged local government areas in greater Sydney have had almost twice as many Covid cases as the rest of the city during the current outbreak, according to a Guardian Australia analysis.
- Sky News Australia has purged several videos promoting unproven Covid-19 treatments from its YouTube page ahead of the scheduled lifting of its suspension from the platform.
- Australia could fully vaccinate 80% of its adult population by December under a “vision” outlined by Operation Covid Shield, with the federal government calling for an unprecedented level of collaboration across the country to accelerate the rollout.
- New York City is to require proof of vaccination for indoor activities including entering restaurants, going to gyms and attending performances, mayor Bill de Blasio said.
- Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and co-chair of an influential Covid panel, criticised more developed countries for buying up many more vaccines than they require.
- The recommendation by Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn for all 12- to 17-year-olds to be given a Covid-19 vaccination triggered a hefty discussion between doctors, scientists and the government.
- The legal requirement for physical distancing in Scotland will be removed from next week, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
- More than 200 areas across England and Wales had at least twice as many deaths as average during the first Covid wave, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics.
- Lindsey Graham became the first US senator to disclose a breakthrough infection after being vaccinated against Covid.
- Morocco is from tonight introducing new coronavirus restrictions, including a curfew from 9pm to 5am, as infection rates rise.
- Greece withdrew its team from the Olympics artistic swimming competitions after four athletes tested positive for Covid-19, the Greek Olympic Committee said.
We’re closing this liveblog now. Thanks so much for joining us today.
Updated
British ministers will announce on Wednesday that Spain will not be placed on the travel “red list”, because of a significant fall in cases, and will remain on the amber list, The Times has reported.
Updated
Brazil has had 32,316 new cases of Covid-19 reported in the past 24 hours and 1,209 deaths from the virus, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
The South American country has now registered 19,985,817 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 558,432, according to ministry data, in the world’s third worst outbreak – after the US and India – and its second-deadliest, Reuters reports.
As vaccination advances, however, the rolling seven-day average of Covid deaths has fallen to one-third of the toll of almost 3,000 a day at the peak of the pandemic in April.
Updated
The number of new coronavirus cases in Turkey jumped to nearly 25,000 on Tuesday, government data showed, the highest level in almost three months, and the health minister urged Turks to get vaccinated against the virus.
The number of deaths from Covid-19 also rose to 126, the most fatalities since 1 June, as the country battles another wave of the virus which has spread since authorities relaxed pandemic-related restrictions, Reuters reports.
The number of new cases hit 24,832 on Tuesday, up from 22,898 the day before.
Health minister Fahrettin Koca said in a tweet accompanying the daily data:
If we follow the rules of combating the epidemic and get our vaccinations, we will take action to end the epidemic.
Two-thirds of Turkish adults have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine, while slightly less than half have received two or more doses.
Updated
Australia could fully vaccinate 80% of its adult population by December under a “vision” outlined by Operation Covid Shield, with the federal government calling for an unprecedented level of collaboration across the country to accelerate the rollout.
An update to the national vaccine campaign program being spearheaded by Lt Gen John Frewen, released on Tuesday, states that 80% of the eligible population could “potentially” have received both doses of a vaccine by December, with a 70% vaccination rate achieved by November.
The federal government has previously suggested that once 80% of those aged 16 and over are vaccinated Australia can move to a “consolidation” phase of the national pandemic exit plan that was endorsed by national cabinet on Friday.
That third phase would exempt vaccinated residents from domestic restrictions, remove caps on returning vaccinated Australians and lift restrictions on outbound travel. Leaders would only ever pursue “highly targeted lockdowns”.
Tuesday’s updated Operation Covid Shield document flags a rapid increase in the delivery and distribution of vaccines with drive-through vaccination clinics operating “at scale in most jurisdictions” by mid-October. Workplace vaccination and retail hubs would also be operating by the end of the year with pilot programs to begin by October.
The plan flags that school vaccination programs could be underway by early December “pending decision about whether to open school programs”.
“This plan flags not only the requirement to accelerate the nation’s vaccine rollout, but also highlights the need for an unprecedented level of collaboration across boundaries, using all available resources of governments at every level, industry partners and our diverse communities to ensure our collective health and prosperity,” the document states.
It says this “vision will have been realised” when the vaccination targets set out in the national transition plan have been achieved.
Read the full story here:
Teenagers in Britain aged 16 and 17 will be given the green light for Covid-19 vaccination within days before they head back to schools and colleges in September, The Sun reported on Tuesday.
The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is poised to give the nod as soon as the weekend, the report added.
A government official is quoted as saying:
Late teens are some of the most socially active members of society so if we can cut that transmission, it can only be a good thing.
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon has suggested that new advice from the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in the coming days will recommend opening up the vaccine programme to 16- and 17-year-olds across the UK.
Making a statement to the Scottish parliament on Tuesday afternoon, Sturgeon told MSPs that she was “hoping” to get the updated advice from the JCVI “over the next day or so”.
Previously the committee concluded that the health benefits of vaccinating the over-12s would be “small”.
During the subsequent question-and-answer session with MSPs, Sturgeon explained:
The JCVI are our advisory body so they have to give us the advice they think is right and I respect that. I am hoping it will recommend going further on the vaccination of young people.
I am particularly concerned if possible to get vaccinations to 16- and 17-year-olds, which is obviously important for those who will be, for example, going to college and university and mingling with older young people who are vaccinated.
But we’ll see what that advice brings and we stand ready to implement that as quickly as possible.
She later said she was hoping and “veering towards expecting” the committee to recommend further vaccination of people in the 12- to 18-year-olds age group, and in particular “hopeful that we will see some updated recommendations in relation, as a priority as a first part of this, for 16- and 17-year-olds”.
The committee has previously stopped short of offering the vaccine to all teenagers.
Children over 12 with certain health conditions and those who live with vulnerable people were added to the vaccine programme last month, but the JCVI said it could identify little benefit in doing so for all 12- to 17-year-olds, although other countries including the US and Canada have taken the step.
Sturgeon recently called for the committee to keep this under review, saying it was “extremely important that this is not ruled out here”.
Read more here:
Most disadvantaged areas of Sydney suffer twice as many Covid cases as rest of city
The most disadvantaged local government areas in greater Sydney have had almost twice as many Covid cases as the rest of the city during the current outbreak, according to a Guardian Australia analysis.
Experts say a multitude of cultural, environmental and economic factors could explain these differences. The impact of the pandemic is similar to health outcomes in general, with more disadvantaged areas suffering higher rates of mortality from all causes.
These areas not only contain large numbers of essential workers, an analysis of census data also shows a large number of workers in jobs that involve a lot of contact with other people, such as nursing, retail and childcare.
Sky News Australia has purged several videos promoting unproven Covid-19 treatments from its YouTube page ahead of the scheduled lifting of its suspension from the platform.
Sky News was on Thursday banned for a week from uploading any new content to YouTube or live streaming after violating the social media site’s medical misinformation policies.
In a statement on the decision, YouTube said “specifically, we don’t allow content that denies the existence of Covid-19 or that encourages people to use hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin to treat or prevent the virus”.
Sky News and YouTube have not said which videos led to the ban, but Guardian Australia found that at least six videos from Alan Jones and the Outsiders program discussing hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin had been deleted by YouTube for violating community guidelines.
Today so far...
- New York City is to require proof of vaccination for indoor activities including entering restaurants, going to gyms and attending performances, mayor Bill de Blasio said. The announcement, which is likely to arouse serious controversy in some quarters, is the latest in a string of initiatives aimed at strongly encouraging vaccination. It is reportedly thought to be a first-of-its-kind measure in the US. Last week De Blasio offered $100 each to those who get vaccinated in the city.
- Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and co-chair of an influential Covid panel, criticised more developed countries for buying up many more vaccines than they require, and in many cases only redistributing their surplus when the vaccines are approaching their expiry date. “This is completely unacceptable and unethical,” she said of richer countries stockpiling while deaths rose elsewhere.
- The recommendation by Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn for all 12 to 17 year olds to be given a Covid-19 vaccination triggered a hefty discussion between doctors, scientists and the government. Some accused Spahn of creating unnecessary pressure, while others have suggested the announcement is largely to allow large amounts of unused vaccine stock to be used up before they go out of date.
- The legal requirement for physical distancing in Scotland will be removed from next week, Nicola Sturgeon has said. Blanket self-isolation for school pupils will also be scrapped: when Scottish schools return over the next two weeks, school pupils will no longer be required to isolate for 10 days when someone in their bubble tests positive for Covid, as long as they test negative themselves
-
More than 200 areas across England and Wales had at least twice as many deaths than average during the first Covid wave, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics. The highest proportional increase of excess deaths was seen during the first wave of the pandemic in Stamford Hill North in north London, which would usually record just seven deaths in the five months to July, compared with 27 last year.
- Lindsey Graham became the first US senator to disclose a breakthrough infection after being vaccinated against Covid. He said he was “very glad” he received the vaccine, without which his current symptoms would be “far worse”, but there are fears other senators may have contracted the virus following a boat party he attended.
- Morocco is from tonight introducing new coronavirus restrictions, including a curfew from 9pm to 5am, as infection rates rise. The prime minister’s office also tweeted also said travel between Marrakesh, Casablanca and Agadir would be banned except for those with a vaccination passport or for essential travel.
- Greece withdrew its team from the Olympics artistic swimming competitions after four athletes tested positive for Covid-19, the Greek Olympic Committee said. One athlete tested positive yesterday while another three returned positive tests, ruling the team out and forcing the athletes into quarantine.
Rita Flores, from the Russian political punk group Pussy Riot, was admitted to hospital with Covid that she contracted while inside prison, the band have said.
It comes after she was jailed for 15 days last month in Moscow for disobeying a police officer as she reportedly travelled to visit fellow activist Maria Alyokhina in custody. The band have protested that she must return to jail and serve out her sentence once she has recovered.
Pussy Riot's Rita Flores was hospitalized with COVID from the jail.
— 𝖕𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖞 𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖙💦 (@pussyrrriot) August 3, 2021
she got infected while arrested - you share your cell with many other people.
after she recovers she's obligated by a court decision to come back to jail and serve 6 more days.
WHAT pic.twitter.com/bkdP9uWB2H
Updated
Overnight, the board of governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the largest resource injection in its history to boost global liquidity and help countries which are struggling as a result of the pandemic, my colleagues on the business desk report.
The reserve assets - known as “special drawing rights” - total $650bn (£468bn) and become available on 23 August when they will be credited to IMF member countries.
The lion’s share - around 70% - of the allocation will go to the world’s 20 largest economies (the G20), although around $275bn is destined for emerging markets and developing countries, including low-income countries.
The IMF’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, hailed a “historic decision” and a “shot in the arm for the global economy at a time of unprecedented crisis”.
The SDR allocation will benefit all members, address the long-term global need for reserves, build confidence, and foster the resilience and stability of the global economy.
It will particularly help our most vulnerable countries struggling to cope with the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.
The IMF’s plan was delayed last year when the IMF’s largest shareholder the US - led at the time by President Trump - blocked it, saying the money wouldn’t reach countries that need it. But the US’s position changed under President Biden.
Updated
Researchers hope a steroid that shot to prominence during the Covid pandemic may help reduce blood loss in those who experience heavy periods.
The cheap anti-inflammatory dexamethasone was discovered to improve survival rates among patients critically ill with Covid. It is also used for conditions including severe asthma and certain forms of arthritis.
Now researchers say a small trial suggests dexamethasone helps to reduce the amount of blood lost among those who experience heavy menstrual bleeding – an experience studies suggest may affect 20% to 52% of menstruating UK women.
Staying in the US, Florida governor Ron DeSantis has insisted that a rise in cases would soon abate and that he would not impose any business restrictions or mask mandates.
It comes as the state of 21 million people again broke its record for Covid-19 hospitalisations, with 11,515 patients in total admitted as of today – surpassing last year’s high point for the third consecutive day, the Associated Press reports. There are about 2,400 patients in intensive care with Covid.
DeSantis said he expected hospitalisations to drop in the next couple weeks, asserting that the rise is seasonal as Floridians spend more time together indoors to escape the summer heat and humidity.
The governor credited his response to Covid, which has focused on vaccinating seniors and nursing home residents, for the fact that fewer Floridians are dying now than last August.
A year ago, Florida was averaging about 180 Covid deaths per day during an early August spike, but last week averaged 58 per day. However, deaths do not spike until a few weeks after hospitalisations.
“Even among a lot of positive tests, you are seeing much less mortality that you did year-over-year,” he said. “Would I rather have 5,000 cases among 20-year-olds or 500 cases among seniors? I would rather have the younger.”
DeSantis also said “media hysteria” on the swelling numbers could cause people suffering from a heart attack or stroke to avoid going to an emergency room for fear of being infected.
Doctors interviewed by the AP acknowledged that this happened during the early months of the pandemic, but assert it is no longer true, and that they are treating the usual number of cardiac patients.
DeSantis encouraged people to get vaccinated, saying while it is not a perfect barrier against the disease the shots do provide a strong defence against getting seriously ill.
“You can still test positive, but at the end of the day you can turn this from something that was much more threatening to a senior citizen, say, to something that is more manageable,” DeSantis, who has been vaccinated, said. “That is a huge, huge thing.”
Updated
Covid-19 hospitalisations are surging across the US and stretched hospitals are warning that the overwhelming majority of Covid-19 patients are unvaccinated and their serious sickness preventable.
More than 50,000 people were hospitalised across the US as of Monday, according to the US health department. This is significantly fewer people than during the peak in cases, deaths and hospitalisations this January, but similar to the rates last summer when coronavirus vaccines were still in development.
The US is recording more new Covid-19 infections a day than it did last summer, with an average of 72,000 cases a day this month. Cases are still much lower than in January, when there were 250,000 new cases a day in the US.
Health officials are especially concerned about Florida, where cases are the highest they have been since the pandemic began.
Updated
Israel has warned against travel to the US and other countries and said it would tighten quarantine measures for inbound travellers as part of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus Delta variant.
Reuters reports that Covid-19 cases have surged in highly-vaccinated Israel since the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant, prompting health officials this week to begin administering vaccine booster shots to people over 60.
It also began mandating isolation for returning travellers – including those vaccinated or recovered from the virus – from countries deemed “red”, indicating a rapid spread of the disease.
Today, the health ministry said it would add 18 countries to its red list, including the US, France, Italy, Iceland, Greece and others.
“Beginning 11 August, complete isolation for all age groups is required, even for the vaccinated and recovering,” the health ministry said of the 18 countries, warning of “a significant increase in morbidity coming from abroad”.
Italy has reported 27 additional coronavirus deaths and 4,845 new cases.
Updated
Microsoft has joined a number of tech giants in mandating vaccination for all employees entering its US buildings.
From September, the company said it would require proof of vaccination for all employees, vendors and guests entering its workplaces, reports Reuters.
But the company said it would continue to review the situation on a local basis.
Uber, Facebook and Google have all implemented similar policies.
Updated
Argentina’s Laboratorios Richmond has announced that it plans to produce over 3m doses of the second component of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine this month, reports Reuters.
UK reports 138 Covid deaths - highest number of daily deaths since 17 March
An additional 138 people in the UK are reported to have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test - the highest number since 17 March - and 21,691 new people tested positive.
There were 6,099 patients in hospital with coronavirus on Monday and 895 patients in beds with ventilators.
Between 28 July and Tuesday, 542 people died from coronavirus - an increase of 12.9% on the previous seven days.
During the same period, 182,730 people tested positive - a decrease of 20.5% on the previous week.
On Monday, a total of 46,898,525 people had received their first vaccine dose and 38,590,332 their second.
The #COVID19 Dashboard has been updated: https://t.co/XhspoyTG79
— Public Health England (@PHE_uk) August 3, 2021
On 3 August, 21,691 new cases and 138 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported across the UK.
46,898,525 people have now received the first dose of a #vaccine. 38,590,332 have received a 2nd dose. pic.twitter.com/2mWuqjS3ob
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon has suggested that new advice from the UK’s vaccine advisory panel in the coming days will recommend opening up the vaccine programme to all over-16s across the UK.
Making a statement to the Scottish parliament on Tuesday afternoon, Sturgeon told MSPs that she was “hoping” to get the updated advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) “over the next day or so”.
During the subsequent question and answer session, Sturgeon went on:
The JCVI are our advisory body so they have to give us the advice they think is right and I respect that. I am hoping it will recommend going further on the vaccination of young people.
I am particularly concerned if possible to get vaccinations to 16- and 17-year-olds, which is obviously important for those who will be, for example, going to college and university and mingling with older young people who are vaccinated. But we’ll see what that advice brings and we stand ready to implement that as quickly as possible.
She later said she was hoping and “veering towards expecting” the committee would recommend further vaccination of people in the 12-18 age group, and in particular “hopeful that we will see some updated recommendations in relation, as a priority as a first part of this, for 16- and 17-year-olds.”
During the first year of the pandemic 25 children and teenagers died as a direct result of Covid-19 in England and about 6,000 were admitted to hospital, according to the most complete analysis of national data on the age group to date, equating to an absolute risk of one in 481,000, or approximately two in a million.
Updated
New York City will require proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, gyms and events
New York City is to require proof of vaccination for indoor activities including entering restaurants, going to gyms and attending performances, mayor Bill de Blasio has said.
The announcement, which is likely to arouse serious controversy in some quarters, is the latest in a string of initiatives aimed at strongly encouraging vaccination. It is reportedly thought to be a first-of-its-kind measure in the US. Last week De Blasio offered $100 each to those who get vaccinated in the city.
New York City, population 8.5 million, has seen a swift rise in recent coronavirus cases – with more than 1,200 new cases per day – but Covid-related deaths have not exceeded more than 100 per day since May last year.
“We want to strongly recommend that people wear masks in indoor settings even if you’re vaccinated,” De Blasio said yesterday, though he stopped short of decreeing it as mandatory as he acknowledged it could be difficult to enforce.
“We think it is so important to make clear that if you are vaccinated, you get to benefit in all sorts of ways. You get to live a better life. Besides your health in general, you get to participate in many, many things. And if you’re unvaccinated, there are going to be fewer and fewer things that you’re able to do.”
The “Key to NYC Pass”, which after a transition period would begin in mid-September, comes after New York theatre operators announced vaccinations and masks would be required for all Broadway audience members when theatres reopen in the coming weeks.
In a sign of an emerging two-tier society in NYC, the New York Times reports that people will be able to continue to dine outdoors without showing proof of vaccination.
Critics of similar measures in France have argued the serious infringements on civil liberties effectively present mandates which are particularly problematic since the vaccines do not have full approval due to an absence of long-term safety data.
But unlike in France, proof of vaccination will always be required in NYC, and there will be no alternative option to present evidence of a recent negative test in order to access indoor facilities, the NYT reports. About 66% of adults in the US’s most populous city are fully vaccinated.
Updated
Gaps on supermarket shelves are likely to continue for several months unless the UK government does more to tackle the labour crisis hitting haulage firms, suppliers have warned.
Logistics and hauliers’ organisations said August would be a pinch point in the shortage as workers take summer breaks, while firms offering bonuses and sign-on fees to recruit drivers were not helping matters.
The shortage of qualified HGV drivers, worsened by Brexit and Covid, has left wholesalers unable to get goods to shops, with major dairy producer Arla on Friday admitting it could not get milk to about a quarter of supermarkets last week.
Updated
The US has now shipped more than 110m doses of coronavirus vaccines to more than 60 countries, the White House has said.
According to a fact sheet from the White House, the United Nations has said the US vaccine donations surpass those of all other countries combined. The countries that have received the vaccine donations range from Ecuador to Nigeria and Vietnam. Indonesia has received the highest number of vaccines from the US, with 8m doses going to the south-east Asian country.
My colleague Joan E Greve has all the latest US-focused updates here.
The White House announcement comes as Helen Clark, a former New Zealand prime minister and co-chair of an influential Covid panel, criticised more developed countries for buying up many more vaccines than they require, and in many cases only redistributing their surplus when the vaccines are approaching their expiry date.
Updated
Scotland to scrap social distancing amid plan to lift most Covid rules
The legal requirement for physical distancing in Scotland will be removed from next week, Nicola Sturgeon has said, as she confirmed the country would move beyond level 0 of the Scottish government’s five-tier system of Covid controls from 9 August.
Blanket self-isolation for school pupils will also be scrapped: when Scottish schools return over the next two weeks, school pupils will no longer be required to isolate for 10 days when someone in their bubble tests positive for Covid, as long as they test negative themselves. But face coverings for secondary school children will remain mandatory in the classroom and around school buildings.
In a statement to MSPs, who had been recalled from summer recess for the virtual session on Tuesday afternoon, Scotland’s first minister set out plans for the lifting of most legal coronavirus restrictions, meaning an end to limits on the size of gatherings and the removal of requirement for 1-metre social distancing.
With the whole of Scotland currently in level 0, the country will from next Monday finally exit the five-level framework of Covid controls it has been operating under since last November.
Uzbekistan has passed a law allowing employers to prevent staff from working if they are not vaccinated against coronavirus, state media reported.
AFP reports employers in Uzbekistan will be permitted to suspend employees if they refuse to get vaccinated, according to the law signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Exceptions to the rule are employees who have health conditions that prevent them from receiving the vaccine. As of today, the central Asian country of more than 34 million people has reported more than 130,000 cases and over 890 deaths.
Uzbekistan borders two countries, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, who have made vaccinations compulsory for citizens over the age of 18. Another neighbour, Kazakhstan, a country of 19 million, ordered mandatory vaccinations for most workers last month.
Updated
The EU has made the first payouts to member states from its €800bn post-Covid recovery plan.
The first instalments from the pooled “Next Generation EU” fund were €2.2bn to Portugal, €770m to Belgium, and €12.1m to Luxembourg, the European Commission said.
These payments are intended to finance essential reforms and investments, laying the groundwork for member states to receive the rest of their allocations, AFP reports.
The fund was originally announced as a €750bn plan, but that was calculated on 2018 prices. The commission now estimates that, in 2021 prices, it amounts to €806.9bn euros.
All but two member states in the 27-nation EU have submitted spending plans and 16 have been definitively approved, while evaluations are continuing on seven. The two countries yet to submit their plans were Bulgaria and the Netherlands. The next deadline for them to do so is mid-2022.
Poland and Hungary, whose plans are still being weighed, are at loggerheads with Brussels over their authoritarian governments’ approaches to LGBT rights and the rule of law, AFP reports.
European Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podestà said the order in which member states receive their first payments would depend on the speed with which national governments can process their agreements. “For some member states it is a matter of days, for other member states it may take longer,” she said.
Belgium is to receive a total of €5.9bn in grants and Luxembourg €97m. Portugal’s allocation totals €16.6bn, including €2.7bn in loans.
Updated
Activists in the US fear millions will be evicted on to the streets after the Biden administration allowed the federal moratorium to expire over the weekend and Congress was unable to extend it.
The Associated Press reports that historic amounts of rental assistance allocated by Congress had been expected to avert a crisis. But the distribution has been painfully slow: only about $3bn of the first tranche of $25bn had been distributed through June by states and localities. A second amount of $21.5bn will go to the states.
More than 15 million people live in households that owe as much as $20bn to their landlords, according to the Aspen Institute. As of 5 July, roughly 3.6 million people in the US said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to the US Census Bureau’s household pulse survey.
Updated
Johnson & Johnson has withdrawn its application seeking accelerated emergency approval of its Covid-19 vaccine in India, the country’s drugs regulator has said.
But Yahoo News reports that the reason for the withdrawal of the application remains unclear, after J&J previously faced obstacles to delivering doses to India.
Yesterday, J&J said it remained in talks with the Indian government over its vaccine after its drug regulator announced the company had pulled its proposal seeking accelerated approval for local trials.
Reuters reports that India in May scrapped local trials for “well-established” foreign coronavirus vaccines as it tried to speed up its rollout.
“We are in ongoing discussions with the government of India and are exploring how best to accelerate our ability to deliver our Covid-19 vaccine to India,” Johnson & Johnson said yesterday.
The Indian junior health minister said last week that a team had been formed to engage with vaccine makers. “This team is in continuous dialogue with Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to discuss and address various issues including the issue of indemnity,” Bharati Pravin Pawar said.
Johnson & Johnson is yet to request a full approval for its shot with the US Food and Drug Administration, while Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have already moved to obtain full approval – despite an absence of long-term safety data that candidate vaccines usually require.
Updated
More than 200 areas across England and Wales had at least twice as many deaths than average during the first Covid wave, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The figures come as the number of coronavirus deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 23 July has reached 327, the highest figure recorded for three months.
A total of 209 “neighbourhoods” (areas housing an average of 8,000 people) witnessed twice the number of deaths which would usually be expected in the five-month period between March and July 2020.
The highest proportional increase of excess deaths was seen during the first wave of the pandemic in Stamford Hill North in north London, which would usually record just seven deaths in the five months to July, compared with 27 last year.
During the second wave, the highest proportional increase of excess deaths was in Aldershot Town in Hampshire, which saw 40 deaths during the second wave (September 2020 to March 2021) compared with 13 in a normal year. Old Oak and Wormwood in Hammersmith and Fulham recorded 84 deaths in the same period compared with a five-year average of 28.
A small number of areas – 13 in England and just one in Wales – recorded no Covid deaths in the periods covered by the analysis. Most of these were in south-west England, including parts of Cornwall and Devon.
The ONS has developed an online lookup tool which allows people to check excess deaths in their local area.
Updated
Ivermectin may combat Covid infection and reduce infectiousness, a new Israeli study suggests.
The Jerusalem Post reports that the widely used anti-parasite drug was tested in a small randomised control trial, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, and saw 22% more patients who received ivermectin test negative for the virus by day six than the placebo group.
The study of 89 people also found that 13% of ivermectin patients were infectious after six days, compared with 50% of the placebo group.
“Our study shows first and foremost that ivermectin has antiviral activity,” Schwartz said, according to the JP. “It also shows that there is almost a 100% chance that a person will be noninfectious in four to six days, which could lead to shortening isolation time for these people. This could have a huge economic and social impact.”
But he claimed that “this drug will not bring any big economic profits”, and therefore the pharmaceutical industry has stopped short of funding research into its efficacy against Covid.
Merck, which manufacturers ivermectin, said earlier this year that there was “no scientific basis for a potential therapeutic effect against Covid-19 from pre-clinical studies”.
Ivermectin is being studied by University of Oxford scientists as a possible Covid treatment as part of a UK government-backed study that aims to aid recoveries in non-hospital settings.
A report in the Times earlier this year described ivermectin as a Covid “wonder drug”, with the data from the countries where it was being used suggesting mortality had fallen. The FT has meanwhile reported on a University of Liverpool meta-analysis which it said “could cut chance of Covid-19 deaths by up to 75%” – with striking results from a number of other smaller RCTs.
While World Health Organization, US and European regulators have recommended against using ivermectin in Covid patients – largely due to the absence of large, standalone trials – it is being used to treat the illness in some countries, including India, Mexico, Bolivia, and elsewhere in South America.
But a study suggesting the treatment is effective against the virus was withdrawn last month due to “ethical concerns” amid accusations of data manipulation.
Updated
The recommendation by Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn this week for all 12 to 17 year olds to be given a Covid-19 vaccination has triggered a hefty discussion between doctors, scientists and the government.
Some have accused Spahn of creating unnecessary pressure, while others have suggested the announcement is largely to allow large amounts of unused vaccine stock to be used up before they go out of date.
Spahn has been accused of jumping the gun with his announcement, seeing as the national advisory board on vaccines, Stiko, has yet to make a recommendation for this age group, except for individuals with pre-conditions. Stiko has said however, it will be ready with a general recommendation in the next 10 days.
The first children in some parts of the country are already back at school following the summer break, and amid a steady rise in incidents of Covid-19 and a considerable slowdown in the general population’s willingness to take up the vaccine – which has left supplies unused - concerns are growing that children will become more vulnerable to the risk of both catching and spreading the virus.
Currently, around 53% of all Germans are fully vaccinated, whereas a quota of 75% is deemed necessary in order to control a fourth wave expected in the autumn.
Karl Lauterbach, the health expert for the Social Democrats and a leading voice on public health issues during the pandemic, has spoken out in favour of vaccinating children. He told the broadcaster Deutschlandfunk that most studies so far carried out relating to children and the vaccine have shown that the dangers of the Delta variant amongst children far outweigh any risks posed by the vaccine.
The German health authorities are closely following guidance given by CDC, the health authority in the US – where more than 6 million children have now been vaccinated and where immune response is seen to be very good – which is recommending the vaccination of children.
The UK – which has so far advised against except in cases of vulnerable children – is also being closely observed. However, Thomas Mertens, the head of Stiko, has warned against simplistic interpretations of events elsewhere, telling Der Spiegel:
In the US the recommendation is to vaccinate 12 to 17 year olds, but there the disease is proving to be more burdensome in this age group than in Germany, probably because more children there suffer from a metabolic syndrome – overweight, high blood pressure, lipid metabolism disorder, and high blood sugar levels.
In addition medical care for many children in the US is somewhat worse than it is here. So the situation is therefore not comparable. Every health commission must make decisions specific to their individual country.
But even as the debate dominates the headlines in Germany, many parents appear to be getting on with getting their children vaccinated without any pressure to do so. Around one in five 12 to 17 year olds, or around 900,000 individuals, have already had their first jab.
Updated
Meanwhile, singer Van Morrison has dropped his legal challenge against the Northern Ireland executive’s “blanket ban” on live music after it eased Covid restrictions and allowed for its return without sound limits.
The BBC reports that he welcomed the decision but said he was disappointed he had to cancel concerts scheduled in the Ulster Hall in Belfast from 29 July.
He has been staunchly critical of Covid-19 restrictions and has written three controversial lockdown protest songs.
He said: “For some reason, completely unknown to me, it [the ban] remained in force in Northern Ireland with catastrophic consequences for many artists, venues and the economy as a whole. As we look to the future, we need to understand the plan and strategy to support the arts and live music sector going forward as ultimately this helps support society as a whole. It’s concerning that such considerations appear to have been forgotten.”
The first 500 people who received the Pfizer jab at Falls Park, west Belfast, today walked away with free tickets to Féile an Phobail’s diversionary Féile Music Night.
The initiative is a sweetener aimed at younger people who have proven the slowest in Northern Ireland to take up the vaccine, since they are at extremely low risk from Covid.
PA reports that the event on 8 August features international DJ Paul Van Dyk and Judge Jules. Féile an Phobail director Kevin Gamble said they had been working very closely with health authorities to plan events in the safest way possible this year.
“Féile an Phobail over the last 34 years has always shown leadership, particularly in west Belfast and north Belfast, and if we can help support the health trusts in driving up the vaccinations, this is us playing a very small part in that process,” he said.
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Australia’s largest airline, Qantas, is to temporarily lay off 2,500 employees as demand for flights nosedives amid even tighter restrictions in the country.
The company has said it would continue to pay staff who are laid off until mid-August, and that it did not expect the job losses to be permanent, the New York Times reports.
The chief executive of Qantas Group, Alan Joyce, said that the decision was indicative of challenges facing businesses across the state of New South Wales, of which locked-down Sydney is the capital.
“This is clearly the last thing we want to do, but we’re now faced with an extended period of reduced flying and that means no work for a number of our people,” he said, according to the NYT, adding that he expected Sydney’s borders to remain closed for at least the next two months.
Vaccinated Australians will be able to head overseas again to visit family and friends when 80% of the adult population is fully vaccinated under a national pandemic exit plan, the prime minister said last week.
Updated
Greece has withdrawn its team from the Olympics artistic swimming competitions after four athletes tested positive for Covid-19, the Greek Olympic Committee (HOC) has said.
One athlete tested positive yesterday while another three returned positive tests on Tuesday, ruling the team out and forcing the athletes into quarantine.
“The team from the very first day it entered the village has not come into contact with any other member of the Greek Olympic team for obvious reasons,” the HOC said.
Tokyo Olympics organisers today reported 18 new Games-related Covid-19 cases, bringing the total since 1 July to 294 – though it does not appear any of these cases are serious. However, two overseas attendees were admitted to hospital with Covid-19 on Thursday, though officials said these were also not serious cases.
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High-income countries 'have ordered twice as many jabs as needed', says ex-NZ PM
Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and co-chair of an influential Covid panel, has criticised more developed countries for buying up many more vaccines than they require, and in many cases only redistributing their surplus when the vaccines are approaching their expiry date.
She told the BBC:
The pledges aren’t big enough yet. We said that by 1 September the high-income countries could and should redistribute 1bn doses to low and low middle income countries, and by mid next year another billion.
We’ve got an overall shortage of vaccines in the world because production wasn’t ramped up enough. But we could redistribute, high income countries have ordered twice as much as what they need, it needs to get out there.
And by the way, not just before the expiry date. Developing countries can’t just snap to and administer vaccines which have got very little lifetime left on them. So this needs a lot more coordination and cooperation yet ... This is completely unacceptable and unethical.
It comes after it emerged that a “substantial chunk” of 9m Covid jab doses to be donated by the UK to developing states in the coming weeks expire at the end of September, “setting up African countries to fail”.
Dr Ayoade Alakija, co-chair of the Africa Union Vaccine Delivery Alliance, told the Telegraph the donations were comparable to a “Trojan horse” and that “the limited shelf life could actually be detrimental to all of our efforts to contain this pandemic”.
Updated
Morocco is from tonight introducing new coronavirus restrictions, including a curfew from 9pm to 5am, as infection rates rise.
The prime minister’s office also tweeted also said travel between Marrakesh, Casablanca and Agadir would be banned except for those with a vaccination passport or for essential travel.
Reuters reports that the move is expected to hurt the tourism business, which pinned hopes on the summer season to attract national tourists after travel receipts dropped 70% in the first half this year.
Daily new Covid-19 infections in the country of 36 million have oscillated between 4,000 and 9,000 over the past week as the total cumulative number of cases people rose to 569,452 cases, including 9,885 deaths.
Those who have had two vaccinations are exempt from the night-time curfew and travel restrictions, AFP reports. Gatherings of more than 25 people are also prohibited, and hotels are limited to 75 percent of capacity.
Existing restrictions remain, including a ban on funerals and wedding parties, as well as a 50 percent capacity limit on public transport, in cafes and in restaurants.
Updated
Lindsey Graham has become the first US senator to disclose a breakthrough infection after being vaccinated against the coronavirus.
He said he was “very glad” he received the vaccine, without which his current symptoms would be “far worse”, the Associated Press reports.
It prompted several other lawmakers to get tested and report their status, after he and a handful of other senators attended a gathering on senator Joe Manchin’s houseboat – named “Almost Heaven” – the evening that he first developed symptoms.
Graham said he “started having flu-like symptoms Saturday night” and went to the doctor on Monday morning. After being notified of his positive test, Graham said he would quarantine for 10 days.
“I feel like I have a sinus infection, and at present time, I have mild symptoms,” the 66-year-old said. “I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination, I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now. My symptoms would be far worse.”
It comes after US health authorities issued fresh guidance urging even fully vaccinated people to return to wearing masks indoors in areas of high coronavirus transmission. But the Associated Press reports that recent analysis has shown that breakthrough cases of Covid-19 are rare.
Updated
The New York Times has denied claims that reporters were instructed not to investigate the origins of the pandemic.
“It was considered a conspiracy theory,” an NYT staffer told the Spectator. “It was untouchable everywhere. The fact that Trump embraced it, of course, also made it a no-go.”
But a spokesperson for the paper told the magazine, which also highlighted NYT financial links to China:
Any accusation that the New York Times would refuse to investigate the origins of a pandemic is ridiculous. In 2020, The New York Times Company made the decision to stop accepting and hosting branded content ads from state media, which includes China Daily. We do not discuss revenue beyond what is our quarterly earnings reports.
It comes after Facebook lifted a ban on posts claiming Covid-19 was man-made, “in light of ongoing investigations into the origin” – as the World Health Organization presses China to allow for a thorough investigation of a controversial virology laboratory in Wuhan.
The Associated Press reports that most scientists suspect that the coronavirus originated in bats, but the exact route by which it first jumped into people – via an intermediary animal or in some other way – has not yet been determined. It typically takes decades to narrow down the natural source of an animal virus like Ebola or Sars.
Updated
Greggs, the UK bakery chain, has returned to profit after sales bounced back above pre-pandemic levels, as the bakery chain looks to hire 500 new staff and expand its network of shops.
Greggs, known for its sausage rolls, steak bakes and vegan snacks, reported a £55.5m pretax profit in the 26 weeks to 3 July. The company, which has raised its profit guidance for the year and reinstated its dividend on the back of the strong performance, reported a £65.2m loss in the same period last year.
Updated
The fast-food chain Wimpy in South Africa is offering a free filter coffee to those who can present proof of their Covid vaccination.
The “Say YAAAS to the future” initiative applies at all Wimpys across more than 450 outlets, though the offer is reportedly only valid within 48 hours of the jab and while stocks last.
“Only one free regular filter coffee per vaccination card presented. Vaccination cards must be presented in person by the individual whose name appears on the card to qualify for this offer,” TimesLIVE reports. “Filter coffees cannot be exchanged for cash or any other offer. Offer is available for sit-down or takeaway.”
It has reportedly become one of the first brands in South Africa to encourage vaccination through free gifts, with 7.5m jabs distributed so far in the country of 59 million people as the average number of reported daily infections continues to fall, according to Reuters.
Updated
VIDEO: As Covid cases surge in Thailand, some Buddhist monks are putting on PPE over their distinctive robes and helping with Covid-19 response efforts pic.twitter.com/izZ5wbtbsT
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 3, 2021
After delaying sittings of state parliament for at least a month, the New South Wales government in Australia has cancelled another transparency process, citing Covid restrictions imposed on staff.
Up to 10 “calls for papers” will not be processed because two of the three staff from the premier’s department responsible for sorting through the papers produced by departments are locked down in Covid-19 hotspot local government areas.
Requests by opposition and minor party MPs for information on a range of topics – including western Sydney schools, the mouse plague, dam infrastructure and the Shoalhaven hospital – will be held up indefinitely.
But a request for information on the state health department’s public health advice to the government between 1 June and 14 July is still being processed. Greater Sydney is in the middle of a lockdown that will last at least nine weeks.
Updated
Summary
That’s all from me but I will leave you in the capable hands of my colleague Mattha Busby. Here’s a summary of the day’s events so far before I go:
- Pakistan hit a target on Tuesday to vaccinate one million people a day against Covid-19, making strides in its inoculation campaign just weeks away from a deadline for workers in public-facing roles to obtain vaccination certificates.
- Indonesia’s health workers are struggling under the weight of new cases seven days after the world’s fourth most populous country faced its deadliest day with 2,069 deaths.
- A total of 327 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 23 July mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - up 50% on the previous week and a three-month high.
- The optimal vaccination schedule to protect pregnant women against Covid-19 is to be explored in a UK clinical trial researchers hope will also allay concerns about getting the jab. Last week, Prof Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, chief midwifery officer for England, urged expectant mothers to get vaccinated as soon as possible, with evidence suggesting the Delta variant poses a significantly greater risk to pregnant women than previous forms of the virus.
-
New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has taken a Covid-19 test after picking up a “seasonal sniffle” from her three-year-old daughter, the government spokesman said on Tuesday. It came back negative.
- Brazil had 15,143 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours and 389 deaths from Covid-19, the lowest death toll for a Monday since early December, according to Health Ministry data.
- Mexico’s health ministry reported 6,506 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country and 245 more fatalities, bringing its total to 2,861,498 infections and 241,279 deaths.
- Health authorities in Iran have reported more than 37,000 cases of coronavirus in 24 hours for the first time, as the country also recorded its highest daily number of deaths from Covid for three months.
- Germany plans to offer booster shots to vulnerable people from September, as well as offer vaccinations to children over 12.
- A new study suggests that spending more time indoors and on screens because of Covid restrictions may be linked to an increased rate of short-sightedness in children.
Pakistan hits one million daily vaccination target
Pakistan hit a target on Tuesday to vaccinate one million people a day against Covid-19, making strides in its inoculation campaign just weeks away from a deadline for workers in public-facing roles to obtain vaccination certificates, Reuters reports.
The government announced last week that from the end of this month workers in schools, shopping malls and hospitality businesses, and the transport and air travel industries would be barred from entering public offices unless they had a certificate.
“Happy to report that the target we had set for 1 million vaccinations in a day was crossed,” Asad Umar, the minister in-charge for Covid-19 operations, said in a tweet.
Happy to report that the target we had set for 1 million vaccinations in a day was crossed yesterday with 10 lakh 72 thousand vaccinations. All federating entities contributed with punjab, sind, kp and Islamabad all doing record numbers. Amazing performance by all involved
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) August 3, 2021
Pakistan has seen soaring coronavirus infections, fuelled by the highly transmissible Delta variant, putting its poor health infrastructure under extreme pressure.
Out of a population of 220 million, more than 31 million have received one vaccine shot, but only 6.7 million have been fully vaccinated, according to the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), a military-run body that oversees the Covid-19 operations.
It said Pakistan registered 3,582 new cases and 67 deaths in the last 24 hours, with more than 3,300 people in critical condition. So far 23,529 people have died of Covid-19 in Pakistan, with more than 1m infections.
Officials say more than 70% of new cases are Delta variant infections.
After a sluggish start to the inoculation campaign, the new requirement for certificates of vaccination has led to a rush of people seeking shots, with queues stretching over a kilometre outside some vaccination centres, notably in the southern port city of Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.
Islamabad has become the first city in Pak with a population of 1 million or more to get 50% of its eligible population vaccinated with at least one dose. Peshawar and pindi 35%, faislabad 28%, lahore/gujranwala /sialkot/sargodha 27%, karachi 26%, hyderabad 25%.
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) August 3, 2021
The provincial government in Sindh has put extra pressure on people to get vaccinated, warning it would withhold the salaries of government servants and block people’s cell phone SIM cards unless they had the required certificates.
Around 23% of people being tested for Covid-19 in Karachi during recent days were found to have the virus, while nationwide the positive test rate stood just over 7%, according to the NCOC.
Updated
In case you missed it yesterday, this was a thought-provoking opinion piece from Oxford professor Melinda Mills, a member of SPI-B, the UK’s independent behavioural science advisory group.
She argues that there is a risk that a mandatory Covid pass will be seen as coercive, fuelling greater mistrust around vaccines. Requiring an ID card or passport to enter a football match or nightclub could fuel suspicion for those against the use of Covid certification, she writes.
The UK government is facing claims that its international travel policy is in chaos after Boris Johnson ditched a plan for an “amber watchlist” that would have created a five-tier warning system for England.
After a revolt in the cabinet and a backlash from the travel industry, government sources said on Monday night that Boris Johnson would not be going ahead with proposals for an amber watchlist tier to warn travellers which countries were at risk of turning red.
China authorities to test all Wuhan’s 11 million residents amid new Covid cases
Helen Davidson in east Asia has more on China’s plan to test all 11 million residents of Wuhan, the city where Covid-19 originated, after cases emerged in the city for the first time in more than a year.
Updated
Nearly half (46%) of private landlords in the UK say they reduced or paused their tenants’ monthly rent payments last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Some 28% of landlords surveyed for Shawbrook Bank said they gave their tenants a payment holiday - a period when they did not have to pay rent, PA reports.
A further 18% offered a rent reduction for a certain period.
On average, rental payment holidays lasted for three months, compared to rent reductions which lasted four months, according to the research from among 1,000 landlords.
England and Wales Covid deaths reach three-month high
A total of 327 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 23 July mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - up 50% on the previous week.
It is the highest total since 362 deaths in the week to 16 April.
Updated
Russia on Tuesday reported 22,010 new Covid-19 cases, including 1,952 in Moscow, taking the total to 6,334,195 since the pandemic began.
The government coronavirus taskforce also confirmed 788 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours.
Updated
The female labour participation rate in India fell to 16.1% during the July-September 2020 quarter, the lowest among the major economies, a government report said, reflecting the impact of pandemic and a widening job crisis.
The percentage of women in the labour force had fallen to a record low of 15.5% during the April-June 2020 quarter, when India imposed strict lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 virus, said the report, released late Monday by the Ministry of Statistics as reported by Reuters.
According to World Bank estimates, India has one of the lowest female labour force participation rates in the world. Less than a third of women and girls aged 15 or older are working or actively looking for a job.
Most employed women in India are in low-skilled work, such as farm and factory labour and domestic help, sectors that have been hit hard by the pandemic.
The unemployment rate among women touched 15.8%, compared with 12.6% among male workers during three months that ended in September 2020, the latest quarter for which data was released.
Updated
Rising global oil prices has helped BP make an underlying profit of $2.8bn for the three months to June, up sharply from a loss of $6.68bn in the same quarter last year when Covid-19 brought the oil industry to a standstill.
A surge in Covid-19 infections in the US state of California, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, has prompted San Francisco and six other counties in California’s Bay Area to reimpose mask mandates for indoor spaces, less than two months after experts in the highly vaccinated region celebrated what they hoped would be a return to normal.
In recent days, San Francisco’s infection rates have surged to nearly 20 times what they were at their lowest point in June and two of the city’s hospitals have reported that more than 200 of their own workers have tested positive for the virus.
France’s overseas territory of Guadeloupe will to go into a new lockdown for at least three weeks to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, said the local Guadeloupe authority on its Twitter account, as France battles a fourth wave of the virus.
The authority said the French West Indian island’s new lockdown would start on Aug. 4, with the re-introduction of a curfew running from 8pm (0000 GMT) until 5am (0900 GMT) the following day, and limitations on people’s movements.
France’s overseas territories of La Reunion and Martinique have also entered new lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus.
Updated
Indonesia's health workers are struggling to treat Covid patients amid a surge in cases and a lack of supplies
Indonesia’s health workers are struggling under the weight of new cases seven days after the world’s fourth most populous country faced its deadliest day with 2,069 deaths.
As of Sunday, total official cases stood at more than 3.4 million with 97,291 deaths, though with poor testing and many people dying at home, the real figures are thought to be considerably higher, reports AP news agency.
As the region grapples with a new coronavirus wave fuelled by the delta variant, Indonesia’s death rate hit a 7-day rolling average of 6.5 per million on 1 August, second only to Myanmar and far higher than India’s peak rate of 3.04 that it hit in May during the worst of its outbreak.
Among the dead in Indonesia are more than 1,200 health care workers, including 598 doctors, according to the Risk Mitigation Team of the Indonesian Medical Association. The doctors included at least 24 who were fully vaccinated.
Many others are exhausted from the workload, said Mahesa Paranadipa, who co-leads the mitigation team, making them more likely to fall ill.
Paranadipa said:
We are worried about overburdened workloads lasting for a long time, causing potential burnout conditions. This fatigue causes the immunity of health care workers to decrease.
Acknowledging the risks faced by health care workers, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said Monday that a top priority is giving them a third booster vaccine dose.
Most who have been vaccinated have received Sinovac, which appears to be less effective against the delta variant, and Indonesia has already begun administering booster shots.
On top of the lack of medical personnel, Indonesia is also suffering from inadequate supplies.
Staff report oxygen shortages and hospitals filled far beyond their patient capacity, making it even more difficult to treat people properly.
Over the last two months, it has become common to see dozens of people with severe symptoms waiting in line for a bed in the hospital’s emergency unit, and more lines of people waiting for a space in the isolation ward following treatment, one worker said.
Some patients have brought their own oxygen tanks with them, and as the hospital’s own supplies have waned, doctors and nurses have had to ask them to share with others.
Updated
I absolutely love this story from Ashifa Kassam in Spain. If you fancy yourself as a Line of Duty-style CHIS, police in Ibiza are looking for foreigners to go undercover in the island’s party scene and report any rule-breakers.
It comes as Ibiza seeks to tackle a two-week Covid incidence rate that has soared to 1,814 cases per 100,000 of the population. With most nightclubs shuttered and gatherings in restaurants and bars limited to small groups, officials have blamed illegal parties for the spike in cases.
Hopes UK trial will allay pregnant women’s Covid vaccine concerns
The optimal vaccination schedule to protect pregnant women against Covid-19 is to be explored in a UK clinical trial researchers hope will also allay concerns about getting the jab.
Last week, Prof Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, chief midwifery officer for England, urged expectant mothers to get vaccinated as soon as possible, with evidence suggesting the Delta variant poses a significantly greater risk to pregnant women than previous forms of the virus.
A Radio Times interview with Jeremy Clarkson looks sure to attract howls of outrage. The British TV presenter criticised a scientific advisory group as “communists” for their cautious approach to ending lockdowns, saying “if you die, you die”. Agree to differ on this one, Jeremy.
It’s Robyn Vinter in the UK here, bringing you rolling global Covid news for the next few hours.
The Conversation has looked into the hot topic of vaccinating children against Covid, and come back with opinions from five experts - four out of five were in favour of the move:
Summary
That’s from me, Helen Livingstone, today. I’m handing over to my UK colleague Robyn Vinter.
Here’s a quick round up of what’s been happening so far today:
- At least 70% of adults in the US have now received at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot, reaching a target Joe Biden originally said he had hoped to achieve by 4 July. Health and government officials have in recent days painted the resurgence of coronavirus there as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”, highlighting that areas of the country with the most spread were those with lower than average vaccination rates.
- Hundreds of critical health workers in the Australian state of Queensland have gone into isolation as the country battles a growing Delta outbreak, while New South Wales raced to administer 6m vaccine doses before the scheduled end of lockdown in less than four weeks’ time.
- Boris Johnson has ditched plans for tougher quarantine restrictions for some holidaymakers after days of chaos, as it emerged the chief of the Joint Biosecurity Centre that advises on travel rules has departed the job leaving it “rudderless”.
- Japan is to focus on hospitalising patients who are seriously ill with Covid-19 and those at risk of becoming so while others isolate at home, amid worries about a strained medical system as cases surge in Olympics host city Tokyo.
- China has reported 90 new confirmed Covid-19 cases in the mainland for 2 August and the city of Wuhan, where the virus was first reported is going to test its entire population after the city reported its first local infections in more than a year.
-
New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has taken a Covid-19 test after picking up a “seasonal sniffle” from her three-year-old daughter, the government spokesman said on Tuesday. It came back negative.
- Brazil had 15,143 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours and 389 deaths from Covid-19, the lowest death toll for a Monday since early December, according to Health Ministry data.
- Mexico’s health ministry reported 6,506 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country and 245 more fatalities, bringing its total to 2,861,498 infections and 241,279 deaths.
- The Philippines will extend a night curfew in the capital, Manila, amid a tightening of curbs in the south-east Asian country to combat a potential surge in cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19, a government official said today.
- Health authorities in Iran have reported more than 37,000 cases of coronavirus in 24 hours for the first time, as the country also recorded its highest daily number of deaths from Covid for three months.
- Germany plans to offer booster shots to vulnerable people from September, as well as offer vaccinations to children over 12. Health ministers from the country’s states
- Poland is stepping up security at vaccination points following two arson incidents overnight in a single town and an attempt by anti-vaccine activists to break into another.
- A new study suggests that spending more time indoors and on screens because of Covid restrictions may be linked to an increased rate of short-sightedness in children.
After a Guardian Essential poll showed that a large proportion of Australian boomers are reluctant to take the AstraZeneca vaccine, columnist Peter Lewis has called on them to play their part in ending the country’s current outbreak:
If you’re interested to know whether vaccine incentives work, Guardian Australia’s Kate Lyons has investigated the issue for you:
More on the Covid outbreak in China from AFP, which reports that authorities in Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged, are going to test its entire population after the city reported its first local infections in more than a year.
The city of 11 million is “swiftly launching comprehensive nucleic acid testing of all residents”, senior Wuhan official Li Tao said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Authorities announced on Monday that seven locally transmitted infections had been found among migrant workers in the city, breaking a year-long streak without domestic cases after it squashed an initial outbreak with an unprecedented lockdown in early 2020.
China has confined the residents of entire cities to their homes, cut domestic transport links and rolled out mass testing in recent days as it battles its largest coronavirus outbreak in months.
The outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta variant has reached dozens of cities after infections among airport cleaners in Nanjing sparked a chain of cases that have been reported across the country.
China has reported 90 new confirmed Covid-19 cases in the mainland for 2 August, compared with 98 a day earlier, Reuters reports.
Of the new confirmed patients, 61 were locally transmitted, according to the National Health Commission. That compares with 55 local cases a day earlier.
A total of 45 local patients with symptoms were reported in the eastern Jiangsu province, with five in Nanjing city and 40 in Yangzhou city, the provincial government said on Tuesday.
Six domestically transmitted cases were detected in Hunan province and three in Hubei province, NHC data showed.
Hubei province said all three domestic patients were found in the capital Wuhan city. Henan and Yunnan province reported two locally confirmed patients each, while Beijing city, Shanghai city and Fujian province respectively detected one local case.
China also reported 41 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases, which it does not classify as confirmed infections, compared with 60 a day earlier. No new deaths were reported.
As of 2 August 2, mainland China had recorded 93,193 confirmed cases, with the cumulative death toll unchanged at 4,636.
Updated
In case you missed it, Guardian Australia’s medical editor Melissa Davey has written a fascinating feature on microbiologist Elizabeth Bik, her uncanny ability for scientific detective work – and the online abuse she received when she raised concerns about a paper that claimed hydroxychloroquine was effective in treating Covid-19.
Japan is to focus on hospitalising patients who are seriously ill with Covid-19 and those at risk of becoming so while others isolate at home, Reuters reports, amid worries about a strained medical system as cases surge in Olympics host city Tokyo.
The country has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus cases, and is recording more than 10,000 daily new infections nationwide. Tokyo had a record high of 4,058 on Saturday. Fewer elderly people, most of whom are vaccinated, are getting infected, chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters.
“On the other hand, infections of younger people are increasing and people in their 40s and 50s with severe symptoms are rising,” he said. “With people also being admitted to hospital with heat stroke, some people are not able to immediately get admitted and are recovering at home.”
Prime minister Yoshihide Suga said the government would ensure that people isolating at home can be hospitalised if necessary. Previous policy had focused on hospitalising a broader category of high-risk patients.
Some worry the shift could lead to more deaths, and opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Edano blasted the change.
“They call it in-home treatment but it’s actually in-home abandonment,” NHK public TV quoted him as saying.
Japan on Monday expanded its state of emergency to include three prefectures near Tokyo and the western prefecture of Osaka. An existing emergency in Tokyo - its fourth since the pandemic began - and Okinawa is now set to last through 31 August.
Updated
Summary
Welcome to the Guardian’s rolling updates on the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Livingstone.
At least 70% of adults in the US have now received at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot, reaching a target Joe Biden originally said he had hoped to achieve by 4 July. Health and government officials have in recent days painted the resurgence of coronavirus there as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”, highlighting that areas of the country with the most spread were those with lower than average vaccination rates.
Hundreds of critical health workers in the Australian state of Queensland have gone into isolation as the country battles a growing Delta outbreak, while New South Wales raced to administer 6m vaccine doses before the scheduled end of lockdown in less than four weeks’ time.
Boris Johnson has ditched plans for tougher quarantine restrictions for some holidaymakers after days of chaos, as it emerged the chief of the Joint Biosecurity Centre that advises on travel rules has departed the job leaving it “rudderless”.
Here’s a roundup of what’s been happening elsewhere over the past 24 hours:
-
New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has taken a Covid-19 test after picking up a “seasonal sniffle” from her three-year-old daughter, the government spokesman said on Tuesday. It came back negative.
- Brazil had 15,143 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours and 389 deaths from Covid-19, the lowest death toll for a Monday since early December, according to Health Ministry data.
- Mexico’s health ministry reported 6,506 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country and 245 more fatalities, bringing its total to 2,861,498 infections and 241,279 deaths.
- The Philippines will extend a night curfew in the capital, Manila, amid a tightening of curbs in the south-east Asian country to combat a potential surge in cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19, a government official said today.
- The coronavirus has killed at least 4,227,765 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019.
- Health authorities in Iran have reported more than 37,000 cases of coronavirus in 24 hours for the first time, as the country also recorded its highest daily number of deaths from Covid for three months.
- Germany plans to offer booster shots to vulnerable people from September, as well as offer vaccinations to children over 12. Health ministers from the country’s states
- Poland is stepping up security at vaccination points following two arson incidents overnight in a single town and an attempt by anti-vaccine activists to break into another.
- A new study suggests that spending more time indoors and on screens because of Covid restrictions may be linked to an increased rate of short-sightedness in children.
