Summary
Here is a recap of the main Covid updates from around the world:
- Twelve countries- including Portugal, Israel and Gibraltar- have been put on a “green” travel list for people in England. Turkey, the Maldives and Nepal will be added to England’s red list of countries from 04:00 BST on 12 May.
- The Sinopharm vaccine, produced by the China National Biotec Group, has become the fifth Covid-19 vaccine approved by the World Health Organization.
- Tens of millions of asylum seekers, migrants, refugees and internally displaced people around the world have been excluded from national Covid vaccination programmes, according to World Health Organization research.
- The regional government of Madrid has decided against imposing a new overnight curfew when Spain’s nationwide state of emergency ends on Sunday, and will not fine people for meeting up in private.
- A coronavirus variant first detected in India has been designated a “variant of concern” by England’s public health body.
- Germany’s vaccine committee plans to recommend Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine only for people over the age of 60, it was reported.
- People under 40 will be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine where possible and while infection rates remain low, following a recommendation from government advisers.
We are pausing coverage on this blog now. Thanks for following along.
Updated
China’s Sinopharm state company has offered substantial support for the Covax programme to provide Covid vaccines mainly to poor countries, a World Health Organization official has said.
As Reuters reports, senior WHO adviser Bruce Aylward said it would be up to Sinopharm to say how many doses of its vaccine it can provide to the programme, but added:
They are looking at trying to provide substantial support, make substantial doses available while at the same time of course trying to serve China’s population.
The World Health Organization hopes the Olympics can go ahead in Japan this summer, the chief of the WHO’s emergencies programme has said.
“It is our hope that the Olympics can occur,” Mike Ryan told a briefing, describing the Japanese authorities as “highly competent” to make decisions on how to stage the Games while avoiding social mixing that would spread the virus, Reuters reports.
Updated
Production of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid vaccine will likely begin in Mexico during the final week of June, Reuters quotes the Mexican health ministry as saying.
Reuters reports:
Residents of Mexico City will be able to attend open-air concerts and sporting events at limited capacities beginning next week due to a sustained drop in Covid-19 infections, mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday.
The new measures set to take effect on 10 May will include expanded access to movie theaters, banks as well as hotel-based conventions.
The open-air sporting events, at 25% capacity, can begin on 12 May, while concerts and other entertainment venues, including some indoor events, can start on 17 May at 30% capacity.
Museums in Greece will reopen to visitors next week, a day before the official start of the tourism season on 15 May, authorities have confirmed.
Venues such as Athens’ Acropolis museum, housing archaeological treasures found near the ancient citadel overlooking the city, have been closed since mid-November, when a second lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The government started easing restrictions late last month after a small reduction in Covid-19 cases, Reuters reports.
It allowed bars and restaurants to reopen earlier this week while organised beaches will open on Saturday for the first time this year.
Dr Kit Yates, co-director of the centre for mathematical biology at the University of Bath and a member of the Independent Sage group of experts, said of the decision regarding the Champions League final:
In the midst of a global pandemic, with cases as high as they are in Turkey and as low as they are in the UK, it never made sense to ask 8,000 English fans to travel to Turkey. Under the suggested rules in the Road Map, from the 17th of May we may be allowed to have 10,000 fans in English stadiums, which means more fans would be able to watch this important game. This is not to mention the added convenience of travelling to a stadium in the UK rather than abroad with all the attendant inconveniences foreign travel brings with it at the moment. Relocating the final is a good choice for the fans, saving them money and reducing their risk of catching covid, and it’s a good choice from a public health perspective, reducing the potential for the importation of variants of concern.
Shapps is making the concluding remarks. He says he could never have imagined being responsible for locking down domestic and international travel when he became transport secretary. He says we have to follow the science at “every step” as “we don’t want to throw away the very hard gains”. But he says, as other countries push on with their vaccination and testing programmes, he expects more will eventually “open up”.
Updated
The Football Association is in talks with Uefa over relocating the Champions League final to the UK after Turkey was placed on England’s travel red list, throwing into chaos plans for Manchester City and Chelsea fans to attend the game in Istanbul.
Uefa had been expected to confirm details, including ticket allocations, on Friday for the final on 29 May. That decision has been postponed as it holds discussions with the FA.
“We are having to be cautious about this,” the transport secretary, Grant Schapps, said. “I’m afraid we’re having to put Turkey on the red list and it will have ramifications. Fans should not travel to Turkey. The FA are in discussions with Uefa already on this and we are very open to hosting the final. Ultimately it’s the decision of Uefa”
You can read the full story here:
The Northern Echo’s Jim Scott asks if the government is considering preventing people from areas- like the north east- which may suffer a spike in Covid infections as curbs ease from travelling abroad.
Shapps says he hopes we won’t go back to the bad “old days” of areas with high prevalence as the vaccine, and a sophisticated testing system, now exists.
Updated
Lucy Fisher, from the Telegraph, asks why vaccinated Britons can travel to other countries without having to take expensive tests or quarantine, but the UK government insists on those measures from vaccinated travellers. She asks why the government does not have “faith” in the vaccine and if this policy will be reviewed.
Dr Jenny Harries says we do not know about the transmission risk, which continues to be the case as new variants arise. The South African variant has risen a little bit in the UK but has been “reasonably contained”, Harries says. She stresses when people are coming back to the UK, it is vital they have their PCR test (before they leave the country as well). They will be contributing to the knowledge about variants from different countries, which is essential, she says.
Updated
This is from BBC’s Breaking News feed:
Full "green list" of countries revealed for quarantine-free travel into Englandhttps://t.co/gkbTS45h6X pic.twitter.com/TJFtVAS2tM
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) May 7, 2021
Sky’s Paul Kelso asks if it is realistic to think that we will see mass travel this summer and questions if travel has become the preserve of the rich.
In response, Shapps urges people to check very carefully when it comes to terms and conditions when booking holidays. He adds that the list was not created to think about where people want to lay on beaches and then “twist the science” to fit those destinations.
He says this would betray the sacrifices people have made since the outbreak of the pandemic. Shapps says we will “gradually see an opening up”, referring to the effectiveness of the vaccines. But he says there is uncertainty about people potentially carrying variants of concern back with them from holiday.
Updated
ITV’s Tom Clark has asked how concerned we should be about the number of variants of concern originally from India rising in the UK. He asks how worried we should be about the Indian variant compared to those from South Africa and Brazil.
Harries says that we should be concerned, but it is complicated. She says one of the three Indian variants have been designated as a variant of concern. She says it takes a while to understand the severity of the disease or what it means for vaccine effectiveness. “We have enhanced contact tracing” and are working with “public directors of health” in response to the rising variant numbers.
Updated
Q from the BBC’s Caroline Davis: There are only 12 countries on this list, why are there so few?
What does putting Turkey on the red-list mean for the UEFA championship final that is due to be played there?
Shapps says that a cautious approach is needed to not undo the progress made. He accepts that the rollout is slow, but is very “deliberate”. He says Heathrow agrees with the “steady, slow process” he has outlined, stressing that checkpoints and reviews will mean the situation can rapidly change.
Shapps says putting Turkey on the red list means that fans should not travel to Turkey. “We are very open to hosting the final but it is ultimately a decision for UEFA,” Shapps says.
Updated
Harries says assessing the effectiveness of vaccines against variants is essential.
Updated
Harries says the number of people testing positive for coronavirus has continued to decline across all four UK nations.
“The case rates per 100,000, which have been in the hundreds, are now down to 23 on average,” she says.
But she adds there is an element of plateauing, saying hospital admissions rates are at just above one per 100,000 people on average, compared to around one per 39,000 at the peak.
Harries adds that people should get both vaccine doses as it is a “really strong part of the armament in the UK”.
Dr Jenny Harries says “we are just coming into” vaccinating the under 40s, so it is wrong to conclude younger people will not take up vaccines, as they have been largely compliant with following the rules to date.
Lincoln says it may take 14 or 15 times longer to process passengers. Explaining the quarantine rules to those arriving from elsewhere and making sure people have completed the passenger locater form are among the reasons that may contribute to delays, though some services will be digitised, Lincoln explains. He has now finished speaking. Questions will follow.
Updated
Lincoln says travel will be different from 17 May, with additional health checks for people crossing borders, meaning it will take longer to enter the UK. He says every passenger, every seaport and airport has a role to play in the endeavour.
Paul Lincoln, the director general at the Border Force, is now speaking. He followed Dr Jenny Harries.
Shapps, who has now finished speaking, says from 17 May English residents can use their existing NHS health apps to gain access to vaccine records, or, alternatively, can request a letter to verify vaccination status.
Shapps says: “We want a summer in which we can reunite family and friends, travel to places we love. “We want to start looking outward again.”
Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel on green list but not France, Greece and Spain
Shapps says Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel will be on initial green list of countries.
France, Greece and Spain are not yet included in the “green list” of countries but every three weeks from opening there will be a review on expansion, Shapps says.
He suggests that as the summer progresses, more “traditional” destinations are hoped to be included in the list. Green list countries will be placed on watch list, with the government withdrawing green status if the Covid situation there changes. Do not book holidays without refund status, Shapps says.
Updated
Turkey, Maldives and Nepal will be added to red-list- Shapps
Turkey, the Maldives and Nepal will be added to red-list today, Shapps says.
He says: “I have to be absolutely straight with you. Our success in combatting Covid here is not yet replicated in many places abroad.”
Updated
Shapps says countries we re-connect with should have high vaccination rates but low infection rates.
Updated
Shapps says “there is simply no substitute for human contact”, as he says travel is essential to rebuilding the economy. But he warns the success in combatting Covid in the UK is not yet replicated in “many countries abroad”. He notes the case in India.
Shapps says the only route out of the pandemic is a “responsible” one.
Shapps says “we are not at the end” of the pandemic but the “signs are very hopeful” and thanks the “discipline” of the British public.
The conference has started.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, will be leading the conference shortly to outline England’s new summer travel rules.
The UK government is to unveil its new traffic light system for foreign travel in a press conference at 5pm. We will be covering it live.
China's Sinopharm becomes fifth WHO-approved Covid vaccine
The Sinopharm vaccine, produced by the China National Biotec Group, has become the fifth Covid-19 vaccine approved by the World Health Organization.
Emergency use listing (EUL) was granted to the vaccine on Friday, meaning it can now be rolled out globally and be used as part of the WHO’s Covax scheme to provide coronavirus vaccines to poorer countries.
The vaccine, which is taken in two doses spaced three to four weeks apart, was approved for use in adults aged 18 or over. No upper age limit was specified, despite the WHO saying that a lack of older subjects in clinical trials meant “efficacy could not be estimated in this age group”.
“WHO therefore recommends that countries using the vaccine in older age groups conduct safety and effectiveness monitoring,” the health agency said.
Announcing the approval on Friday, Dr Mariângela Simão, the WHO’s assistant-director general for access to health products, said she hoped it could boost supplies globally. Richer countries have obtained control of most supplies of vaccines for some time, and distribution in poorer parts of the world remains sparse. Simão said:
The addition of this vaccine has the potential to rapidly accelerate Covid-19 vaccine access for countries seeking to protect health workers and populations at risk. We urge the manufacturer to participate in the Covax facility and contribute to the goal of more equitable vaccine distribution.
There’s a new Covid-19 vaccine on the block, after the World Health Organization approved the Chinese Sinopharm shot. More details on this as it comes.
#BREAKING WHO approves China's Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/xLajbfxYUf
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 7, 2021
Health workers in Nepal have said they are struggling to cope with a surge in Covid-19 patients, a day after the country reported its highest daily increase in infections.
Hemanta Chandra Ojha, of Nepal’s epidemiology and disease control division, told AFP:
Health facilities have been flooded with symptomatic cases... The situation could become worse in the coming days.
We can manage the oxygen supplies but ventilators and ICU facilities required for the treatment of severe cases are in short supply.
The number of cases has shot up in the Himalayan country in the past three weeks, where two out of every five people tested are now coming back positive for the Sars-CoV-2 virus. On Thursday, Nepal reported new 9,023 infections, its highest single day increase.
More than 3,500 people have died since the pandemic began, 400 of them in the last two weeks alone, according to official figures.
Nepal shut down almost all flights this week and has imposed lockdowns or partial lockdowns in 80 percent of its districts to curb infections. But the country shares a 1,850-kilometre (1,150-mile) open border with India, and communities commonly travel across it for work and to visit family, and many are now returning home.
Bangkok, Thailand, is said to be facing a Covid pandemic resurgence after it confirmed 869 new coronavirus infections, a local record, and 18 deaths.
The Associated Press quoted Taweesilp Visanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Covid situation centre, as saying that Bangkok has recorded more than 500 new cases every day since the beginning of this month.
On Friday night, the city government said it is extending restrictions - including limiting restaurants to takeaway meals, closing 35 types of venues including bars, gyms, stadiums and boxing rings, and limiting the operating hours of other businesses - until 17 May.
Bangkok currently has 496 patients in critical condition, a number that is straining the capacity of hospitals to provide ICU beds. Anyone in Thailand who tests positive for the virus, even without symptoms, is supposed to be hospitalized, so there is a shortage of hospital beds for non-critical cases as well.
Almost 30,000 patients, including 1,170 in critical condition, are in hospitals and field hospitals around the country.
Thailand reported 2,044 new cases and 27 new deaths nationwide on Friday, bringing the total since January last year to 78,855 cases and 363 deaths.
This has been shared by PHE London Region:
BREAKING NEWS: a Variant Under Investigation first identified in India has been reclassified as a Variant Of Concern, with cases detected across London.@ProfKevinFenton gives the latest on the situation in the city, and what we can all do to #KeepLondonSafe from #COVID19 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/GFj4IP9OzL
— PHE London region (@PHE_London) May 7, 2021
India's opposition leader warns Covid wave threatens the world
India’s main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has warned that the deadly second Covid wave sweeping the country would devastate India, as well as threaten the rest of the world, if it is not brought under control, Reuters reports.
In a letter, Gandhi implored prime minister Narendra Modi to prepare for another national lockdown, accelerate a countrywide vaccination programme and scientifically track the virus and its mutations (see earlier post).
Gandhi wrote:
India is home to one out of every six human beings on the planet. The pandemic has demonstrated that our size, genetic diversity and complexity make India fertile ground for the virus to rapidly mutate, transforming itself into a more contagious and more dangerous form. Allowing the uncontrollable spread of the virus in our country will be devastating not only for our people but also for the rest of the world.
In the UK, organisations representing obstetricians, GPs and midwives say the system to let people choose their vaccines is not viable, with pregnant women being passed “from pillar to post” as they try to book jabs.
As the government announced that people under 40 would also be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine where possible, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) said the system for pregnant women – who are advised to have the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines – was not working.
Dr Pat O’Brien, the RCOG vice-president, said:
The latest government guidance for pregnant women is to contact their GP for advice on how to receive the appropriate vaccine. However, GP practices are reporting that they don’t have the ability to do this, leaving pregnant women feeling frustrated and helpless as they are passed from pillar to post.
My colleague Alexandra Topping has the latest here:
Vietnam’s health ministry has reported its first death in a patient who received AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine shot, Reuters reports.
A 35-year-old female health worker in the southern province of An Giang died on Friday, one day after she received her first coronavirus vaccine shot, the Ministry of Health said in a statement, adding that she died from allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis.
Updated
Referencing England’s public health body designating a coronavirus variant first detected in India as a “variant of concern” (see earlier post), Boris Johnson, the UK’s prime minister, has told reporters:
What we’re doing there is making sure that we are absolutely ruthless in the surge testing, in the door-to-door tracking of any contacts. At the moment we’re looking carefully at the way the Indian variant seems to function, we don’t see any evidence that it is resistant to the vaccines or in any way more dangerous.
This has been shared by the Financial Times’ John Burn- Murdoch:
So we know its trajectory looks different to the other imported variants, but that doesn’t tell us enough. We need a better benchmark: how does its growth compare to B.1.1.7 at the same stage of its emergence?
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) May 7, 2021
Remarkably similar, it turns out: pic.twitter.com/z32Q6QGC8n
Updated
Asked if people should continue working from home once limits on social contact are lifted on 21 June in England, one source said there was no reason to return to an office full-time if work could be done at home, PA Media reports.
They said it made sense for people to carry on working from home as it reduced the levels of contact people have, and this had been supported by many business who are allowing hybrid or home working.
The news agency reports that government scientific advisers believe the country is still on track for the safe lifting of coronavirus restrictions.
This is from AP:
Countries wrestling with new coronavirus surges are trying to ensure they aren’t hit by an India-style disaster. More world cases have been reported in the past two weeks than in the entire first six months of the pandemic, the WHO director general said.
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 7, 2021
Reuters reports:
The Basque Country’s top court on Friday ruled that the region must stop its current Covid-19 curfew, while a court in Valencia approved continuing the measure, in a sign of the confusion that could be in store when Spain ends its national state of emergency this weekend.
Imposed last October to curb a rampant second wave of infections, the state of emergency allowed the central government to temporarily enforce a nationwide 11pm curfew, as well as local travel bans and lockdowns.
When it ends, each of Spain’s 17 regions must individually seek approval from local courts to continue such measures, likely creating a kaleidoscope of diverging restrictions and legal battles.
The regional government of the Basque Country, the northern region that neighbours France, had asked for permission to keep restrictions in place.
As of Thursday, it has the highest coronavirus incidence rate per 100,000 people, at 463.
But the region’s top court said the curfew, and other restrictions such as limits on the number of people who can meet up, must end because they “affect the fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution”.
Basque regional president Inigo Urkullu said on Thursday he would not appeal to the Supreme Court, a last resort for regions, if the measures were struck down.
In Valencia on Friday, a court approved a 12am to 6am curfew, highlighting the potentially chaotic patchwork of measures that will come info force in Spain from Sunday.
Some regions, however, are keen to see the back of restrictions (see earlier post).
According to Reuters, Novavax Inc has said the distribution of its Covid vaccine in Japan is expected to begin in late 2021 or early 2022.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, Japan’s biggest drugmaker, is helping bring the vaccine to the domestic market.
The coronavirus reproduction number, or R value, in England is between 0.8 and 1, according to the latest government figures.
Last week, the figure was between 0.8 and 1.1.
R represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect.
An R number between between 0.8 and 1 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 8 and 10 other people, PA Media notes.
EU regulator reviews reports of rare nerve disorder after AZ shot
Reuters reports:
Europe’s medicines regulator said on Friday it was reviewing reports of a rare nerve-degenerating disorder in people who have received AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, and requested more detailed data on the cases from the company.
As part of a regular review of safety reports for the vaccine, Vaxzevria, the European Medicines Agency’s safety committee is analysing data provided on cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, the regulator said.
The EMA is also looking into reports of heart inflammation with Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine, called Comirnaty, and Moderna’s shot, it said.
Both the vaccines use new mRNA technology to build immunity against the coronavirus.
The EMA and other regulators are already reviewing the possibility of rare blood clotting conditions with Covid-19 vaccines, including AstraZeneca’s.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare neurological condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the protective coating on nerve fibres. Most cases follow a bacterial or viral infection, and develop over the course of days or weeks.
It is an extremely rare, known risk associated with respiratory and gut infections, as well as some vaccinations in the past.
46m displaced people excluded from Covid jab programmes
Tens of millions of asylum seekers, migrants, refugees and internally displaced people around the world have been excluded from national Covid-19 vaccination programmes, according to World Health Organization research seen by the Guardian.
The gaps mean that a scattered group numbering at least 46 million people, about the size of the population of Spain, may struggle to get vaccinated even if a global shortage of doses eases.
Among the excluded are 5.6 million people internally displaced by six decades of civil war in Colombia, hundreds of thousands of refugees in Kenya and Syria and nearly 5 million migrants in Ukraine.
Michael Safi, an international correspondent for the Guardian, has the exclusive here:
Updated
Madrid government decides against new overnight curfew
The regional government of Madrid has decided against imposing a new overnight curfew when Spain’s nationwide state of emergency ends on Sunday, and will not fine people for meeting up in private despite advising against household mixing.
The region’s ruling conservative government announced on Friday that bars and restaurants would be allowed to remain open for an extra hour – until midnight – and that shops will be allowed to stay open until 11pm.
However, despite the fact that the number of Covid cases per 100,000 people in the region is 323 against a national average of 202 – and the fact that 42% of Madrid’s intensive care unit beds are occupied by coronavirus patients compared with 22% across the rest of Spain – groups of people will not be fined for gathering in private places and mixing with other households.
It said in a statement:
The [regional] health department recommends that gatherings of people in public places for family, social or leisure activities be limited to six people unless they live together. Similarly, we advise that gatherings of people for family, social or leisure activities at home or in private spaces be limited to people in the same family or household.
Until now, different households had been banned from mixing with each other at home.
The announcement comes three days after Madrid’s regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, won a snap election under the campaign slogan of libertad (freedom).
Ayuso had opposed many of the central government’s lockdown initiatives and said the region’s bars and restaurants needed to stay open for the sake of the economy.
Updated
Asked in the briefing (see earlier post) if someone under 40 who turns up for a vaccine and is offered AstraZeneca can re-book to get a different one, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, said that is “a bit of a theoretical argument”.
He said:
I don’t expect it to apply to many people at all. I am very assured that the NHS will be able to enact the JCVI recommendations, without impacting scale. But in this country, we don’t force people to have medical treatments. We don’t force people to have vaccines. We never have done, and I don’t anticipate we’re going to start any time soon.
Talking to reporters about the Indian variant spreading (see earlier post) , Boris Johnson, the UK’s prime minister, said:
I think we’ve got to be very careful about that. We’re doing a huge amount, obviously, to make sure that when we do find outbreaks of the Indian variant that we do surge testing, that we do door-to-door testing.
Sweden registered 5,671 new Covid cases on Friday, health agency statistics indicate.
The country of 10 million inhabitants registered 15 new deaths, taking the total to 14,173, Reuters reports.
Updated
In England, the Lancashire Post has reported that Runshaw College is to close for 10 days, with students to learn remotely after positive Covid cases were detected in the “college community” (see full story here).
The message to students read:
We have become aware today of some potential issues in relation to 2 positive Covid cases in our college community. Of course, these cases have been swiftly and safely dealt with in accordance with our college procedures and risk assessment. We have been working closely with Public Health England during the course of the day, to identify the best way of continuing to ensure the health and safety of everyone in our college community. As a result, we have taken the decision to move to online learning for all students from tomorrow (Friday 7th May). We will send a further update as soon as we can, regarding any further details.
Updated
Surge testing is being rolled out in certain parts of Bolton, Greater Manchester, today after a rapid rise in Covid infection rates, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Earlier this week, public health bosses at Bolton Council confirmed that cases of the South African and Indian Covid variants had been identified in the borough.
As a result, two mobile testing units will be opened for asymptomatic people - at the Memory Lane Wedding Venue in Gilnow Lane and at Makkah Mosque in Grecian Crescent.
Updated
This has been shared by Public Health England:
Prof Anthony Harnden, GP & Deputy Chair of the JCVI, explains the new advice.
— Public Health England (@PHE_uk) May 7, 2021
The risk of blood clots with low platelets from the AstraZeneca #vaccine is extremely low.
If you've already received one dose of the AZ vaccine and are offered your second dose, you should accept it. pic.twitter.com/I1f7hRcksQ
Indian Covid variant is ‘of concern’, says Public Health England
Following a rise in cases in the UK and evidence of community transmission, Public Health England (PHE) has reclassified the variant, first detected in India, as a Variant of Concern.
The public health body said this is based on evidence that suggests this variant (VOC-21APR-02) is at least as transmissible as the Kent variant (B.1.1.7).
There is insufficient evidence to indicate that any of the variants recently detected in India cause more severe disease or render the vaccines currently deployed any less effective.
Cases of VOC-21APR-02 have increased to 520 from 202 over the last week and almost half the cases are related to travel or contact with a traveller, PHE said in a release.
The cases are spread across the country however the majority of the cases are in two areas – the North West (predominantly Bolton) and London – and this is where there is the greatest transmission.
PHE says it is carrying out laboratory testing to better understand the impact of the mutations on the behaviour of the virus.
Updated
China’s president Xi Jinping has said China will continue to cooperate with International Olympic Committee to support the Tokyo Olympics, and strengthen vaccine cooperation with the IOC for the games.
Xi made the comments in a phone call with the president of IOC, Reuters reports state television as saying.
Opposition to Tokyo 2020 has intensified since nurses and other medical workers took to social media to object to requests to volunteer their services this summer.
An online petition calling for the Games to be cancelled has attracted more than 200,000 signatures in the space of a couple of days.
Updated
Prevalence of Covid-19 in England falls again- ONS
Around one in 1,180 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to 2 May - down from one in 1,010 the previous week, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics.
It is the lowest figure since the week to 5 September 2020, when the estimate stood at one in 1,400, PA Media reports.
We’ve published the latest release of our #COVID19 Infection Survey.
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) May 7, 2021
Infection rates have decreased in England, Wales and Scotland and remained level in Northern Ireland in the weeks up to 2 May 2021 https://t.co/KLrvxJAeHI pic.twitter.com/rfzD8PZDIy
The head of Northern Ireland’s vaccination programme, Patricia Donnelly, has said the rollout to the under-40 age group will be limited over the coming weeks due to the changed advice on who should get Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs, PA Media reports.
Donnelly said:
Protecting our adult population through vaccination is a huge and unprecedented undertaking. Logistical challenges are inevitable, but the programme has already proved itself to be highly resilient. I would again appeal for patience from the public, as we reset the programme in light of the updated JCVI advice. Pfizer supplies remain steady but limited, so our progress with the 30-39 age group will be limited for the next few weeks. Likewise, those under 30 will have to wait a few weeks before being offered appointments for their first dose.
Asked about the risk of vaccine hesitancy in light of the new AstraZeneca guidance, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam told a briefing (see earlier post):
All of the opinion polls I read very clearly show that the British public has very, very high confidence in the vaccine programme in the UK, can already see what it is doing in terms of changing our future, and the data get better and stronger in terms of the layers of protection, not just the aversion of deaths, serious infections, but now the prevention of transmission on top for young adults.
He said younger people were “young and sociable” and “therefore they have a higher propensity for transmission”.
Germany's vaccine committee to recommend J&J vaccine for over-60s - reports
Germany’s vaccine committee, known as Stiko, plans to recommend Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine only for people over the age of 60, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday, citing no sources, according to Reuters.
Europe’s drug regulator backed J&J’s vaccine last month after examining cases of a rare blood clotting issue in US adults who received a dose.
However, it left it up to the EU’s member states to decide how to use it.
Stiko has also recommended AstraZeneca’s Covid shot to those aged 60 and above due to the risk of rare blood clots.
Updated
Reuters reports:
Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SA said on Friday they have started an application process with the US Food and Drug Administration for full approval of their Covid-19 vaccine, currently only authorised for emergency use.
If approved, the vaccine will be the first fully approved Covid-19 shot and could help ease vaccine hesitancy due to longer-term data required for an FDA approval.
The companies said they would submit data to support the so-called biologic license application, which requires longer-term follow-up data, on a rolling basis over the next few weeks.
You can watch the Covid-19 briefing, featuring Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, as among the speakers live through the embedded link.
WATCH LIVE: COVID-19 briefing (7 May 2021)
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) May 7, 2021
Speakers:
🔵 Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England
🔵 Dr June Raine, Chief Executive @MHRAGovUK
🔵 Prof Wei Shen Lim, Chair, Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation https://t.co/AqKsYJKa46
Japan extends Covid emergency in Tokyo as Olympics loom
Japan has extended a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until at least the end of the month in an attempt to arrest a surge in cases less than 80 days before the start of the Olympics.
The prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, said the measures would remain in place in the capital, Osaka prefecture, and the neighbouring prefectures of Hyogo and Kyoto, the Kyodo news agency reported.
Similar measures will be introduced in Fukuoka and Aichi prefectures, it added.
As reported in an earlier post, the economy minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, conceded that targeted measures introduced at the end of last month that were due to end on 11 May had failed to check a dramatic rise in infections.
Justin McCurry, the Guardian’s Tokyo correspondent, has the full story here:
The EU’s executive has said it hoped the bloc would soon be able to finalise a new contract with Pfizer for up to 1.8bn doses of Covid vaccines to cover booster shots and the inoculation of children in the coming years, Reuters reports.
Spokespeople for the European Commission declined to comment on whether France was delaying talks on finalising the deal, as had been reported by German newspaper Die Welt.
A spokesperson told a news briefing:
The college of (EU) Commissioners, we’re hoping they’ll be able to give the green light to the new contract … We hope the college will be able to give the go ahead very soon.
Updated
This has been shared by the BBC’s health editor Hugh Pym:
JCVI: advised a preference for adults aged 30-39 without underlying health conditions to receive an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine – only where this is available and only if this does not cause any substantial delays in being vaccinated.
— Hugh Pym (@BBCHughPym) May 7, 2021
People under 40 in UK to be offered alternative to AstraZeneca jab
People under 40 will be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine where possible and while infection rates remain low, following a recommendation from government advisers, Ian Sample writes.
The move comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation reviewed the speed and uptake of Covid vaccines in the UK and the latest figures on very rare blood clots after first shots of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
With the vaccination programme going well and case rates low, the chances of a major surge in hospitalisations and deaths have receded, leading advisers to believe a more precautionary approach can now be taken in 30 to 39-year-olds by offering the Pfizer/BioNTech or NIH/Moderna shots when available.
Updated
Other findings from the Office for National Statistics (see earlier post) survey, which covered between 28 April to 3 May 2021 and was based in adults in Britain, were: 93% of adults said they’d either received the Covid vaccine or would be likely to have one if offered and nearly three in 10 (28%) adults reported to have received their second dose of the vaccine (see full report here).
The ONS also found that personal wellbeing levels are generally yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
Updated
The number of patients in hospital in England with Covid-19 has dropped below 1,000 for the first time since September.
A total of 976 patients were in hospital at 8am on 6 May, figures from NHS England show.
This is the first time the total has been below 1,000 since 17 September, according to analysis by PA Media.
It is also down 97% from a record 34,336 hospital patients on 18 January.
The World Health Organization expects news on Friday about an emergency use listing for the Covid vaccine made by Chinese state-owned drugmaker Sinopharm, Reuters reports.
“We are kind of expecting an update on the EUL listing for Sinopharm in the next hour or so,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a UN briefing.
Results of its review of the Covid shot made by Sinovac Biotech could come next week, he added.
A WHO emergency listing is a signal to national regulators on a product’s safety and efficacy.
It would also allow the shot to be included in Covax, the global programme to provide vaccines mainly for poor countries.
Deaths in private homes in England and Wales rose by a third in 2020, with sharp increases in the number of deaths caused by heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease, new figures show.
A total of 166,576 deaths from all causes in private homes were registered in 2020, compared with an average of 125,255 between 2015 and 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics.
This means there were 41,321 extra deaths, or “excess deaths”, in homes during the year, PA Media reports.
Covid-19 was responsible for 3,221 of these excess deaths, or 8% of the total.
In private homes, influenza and pneumonia deaths were 8% below the five-year average.
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) May 7, 2021
Overall, deaths in all settings due to influenza and pneumonia were down by 29% https://t.co/bLBOx1NGEm
Updated
Hello everyone, this is Yohannes Lowe. I’ll be running the blog until the evening (UK time). As always, feel free to get in touch on Twitter if you have any story tips.
In the UK, the main concerns of people who are hesitant about getting a coronavirus jab are around the vaccines being safe or necessary, according to research.
PA Media reports:
Fifty in-depth interviews were carried out in February and March by the ONS to explore the attitudes of people hesitant about getting the vaccine.
The sample included 30 people who were unwilling, 16 who were uncertain and four who were unable to get a jab.
People who were uncertain about getting a jab, or who were unwilling or unable, had given “considerable thought” to the prospect and were not ‘anti-vaccers’, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
All gave one of two key reasons – that they did not trust the vaccines were safe, and they did not feel the vaccines were necessary for them.
Those who did not believe the vaccines were safe often spoke about the speed in which they were developed, and believed that not enough time had passed to know about long-term side effects. A prominent concern was about the possible impact on their fertility.
Updated
Tunisia has imposed a lockdown for a week from Sunday in an attempt to slow the increase in coronavirus cases, the prime minister Hichem Mechichi has said.
The country is experiencing a third wave of the pandemic, with many hospitals running out of beds and supplies. The country has had a total of over 317,000 cases, and 11,208 deaths.
Updated
The Saudi Arabian government has said that all public and private sector workers wishing to attend a workplace in the country will be required to have taken a Covid-19 vaccination, but without specifying when this would be implemented.
Reuters reports:
“Receiving a coronavirus vaccine will be a mandatory condition for male and female workers to attend workplaces in all sectors (public, private, non-profit),” the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development said on Twitter.
It urged workplaces to start preparations to ensure all employees receive a vaccination.
“The ministry will soon clarify the mechanisms of the decision and its implementation date,” it said.
Updated
My colleague Jessica Glenza reports that data rights organisations in the US have warned that patients lack a clear understanding of how information about their health, employment, contact or location details may be used if it is collected by private entities during the Covid-19 vaccine drive.
Some advocates have already expressed concerns that the information could be used for marketing, targeted advertising or de-identified and sold into the multibillion-dollar health data industry.
Ghana has received 350,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will enable it to start offering second doses of the shot after it nearly ran out, the health ministry said.
Reuters reports:
The West African country was the first to receive vaccines from the World Health Organisation-backed Covax global vaccine sharing scheme in February and kicked off its vaccination campaign in early March.
Unlike other countries where vaccine hesitancy and funding problems slowed delivery, Ghana has administered more than 900,000 doses, according to the health ministry, including the 600,000 doses it received from the Covax scheme, and others obtained through bilateral deals.
The 350,000 doses it received on Friday were part of a batch of 1.7 million doses the Covax scheme delivered to the Democratic Republic of Congo on 2 March.
Updated
Europe’s medicines regulator said it has begun a real-time review of GSK and Vir Biotechnology’s antibody treatment for coronavirus, formally starting the process for a potential European Union approval.
Reuters reports that the European Medicines Agency said decision for the rolling review was based on early results from an ongoing study into how well the medicine, termed sotrovimab or VIR-7831, can prevent hospitalisation or death in non-hospitalised Covid-19 patients.
Updated
Deaths in private homes in England and Wales, from all causes, were one-third higher in 2020 than in the previous five years, the ONS said.
PA Media reports:
There were 166,576 deaths from all causes in private homes in England and Wales in 2020, compared with an average of 125,255 between 2015 and 2019.
The majority of deaths due to Covid-19 – where coronavirus was the main cause – occurred in hospitals and care homes, while many deaths from other causes, such as breast cancer and prostate cancer, happened in private homes.
Many of these deaths at home were people who, in a non-pandemic year, may have typically died elsewhere such as in hospital, the ONS added.
Updated
The number of deaths registered in England and Wales in 2020 was 14.3% above the average for the previous five years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has confirmed.
A total of 607,922 deaths were registered, compared with an average of 532,077 in 2015-19.
This means there were 75,845 extra deaths, or “excess deaths”. Covid-19 was responsible for 97% of these excess deaths, the ONS said.
Hong Kong authorities said that residents who have been fully vaccinated can spend a shorter time in quarantine if they have been exposed to a Covid-19 patient, Reuters reports.
The new rule comes as the city government is trying to encourage people to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
Only about 14% of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million people have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine since a campaign was launched in February.
Ronald Lam, controller of the Centre for Health Protection of the city’s Department of Health, said fully vaccinated residents considered a close contact of a Covid-19 patient can do seven days in government quarantine and seven days of self-monitoring at home.
But people exposed to a virus variant would have to do 14 days in quarantine and seven days of self-monitoring, he said.
The city has some of the strictest quarantine measures globally with close contacts of coronavirus patients ordered to go to government quarantine for up to 21 days.
Updated
The German health minister has said that the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic appears to be broken in the country, as social distancing measures and an accelerating vaccination campaign has helped to lower the infection rate.
Reuters reports:
“The third wave appears to be broken,” Spahn told a regular weekly news briefing on Germany’s pandemic management.
The head of the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, Lothar Wieler, said the incidence of Covid-19 infections was falling across all age groups, and he was hopeful of soon controlling the pandemic in Germany.
Russia has confirmed a further 376 deaths among coronavirus patients in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 112,622.
The country also recorded 8,386 new coronavirus cases, taking the national tally of infections to 4,863,514.
Updated
In the UK, all under-40s are to be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca Coronavirus vaccine in a precautionary move.
PA Media reports that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are expected to say there are no new safety concerns after previous data showed the AstraZeneca jab was linked to very rare blood clots.
Previously, the MHRA has said the balance of risk for the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid is very favourable for older people but “more finely balanced” for younger groups, who do not tend to suffer serious coronavirus illness.
Up to 28 April, the MHRA had received 242 reports of blood clots accompanied by low blood platelet count in the UK, all in people who had AstraZeneca, out of around 28.5m doses given.
These clots occurred in 141 women and 100 men aged from 18 to 93, and the overall case death rate was 20%, with 49 deaths. Six cases have been reported after a second dose of the vaccine.
Updated
India’s Biological E Ltd will soon start phase 3 trials of its vaccine, and plans producing up to 80mn doses a month from August.
Reuters reports:
The company has developed the vaccine with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Dynavax Technologies Corp. Late last month it received approval from India’s drug regulator to conduct a Phase III clinical trial, which Managing Director Mahima Datla said would begin soon.
Government officials have said the vaccine, which uses the recombinant-protein technology in which a harmless agent is used to stimulate an immune response in cells, could be rolled out in the country from August.
Datla said Biological E. would apply for emergency use authorisation (EUA) for the drug based on government advice.
Updated
Unused coronavirus vaccines in Japan are set to reach tens of millions of doses, as the country is poised to approve two more shots in coming weeks and the pace of its inoculation campaign remains slow.
Reuters reports that Japan imported 28m doses of Pfizer Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine through late April, but has so far used only 15% of the stockpile, with the remaining 24 million doses sitting in freezers.
The country has vaccinated only 2.2% of its population so far, the slowest among wealthy countries, and the government has an ambitious target of vaccinating its 36 million elderly people by July.
To achieve that goal, Japan would need to administer about 800,000 shots per day, according to a group of business leaders urging the government to speed up the campaign, more than double the pace of the best days so far.
Taro Kono, the minister in charge of vaccines, said that there were snags in inoculation reservation system and that demand in large cities had outstripped capacity.
“Local government employees are really working hard, as are the call center staff so I ask that people refrain from issuing complaints as much as possible,” Kono told reporters on Friday.
Updated
The Australian government has battled a significant backlash from within its own ranks over the controversial decision to criminalise returning to Australia from Covid-ravaged India. More than 9,000 Australians remained trapped in India by the travel ban. Many travelled before the crisis to visit sick and dying relatives, and say they are angry at their treatment. Here is some of the reaction to that decision in the week after it was announced:
India’s opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, has demanded that the government rapidly vaccinate the entire country in order to slow the surge in coronavirus, in which 1.5 million new cases were recorded in one week.
Reuters reports:
“Your government’s lack of a clear and coherent Covid and vaccination strategy, as well as its hubris in declaring premature victory as the virus was exponentially spreading, has placed India in a highly dangerous position,” Gandhi said in a letter addressed to prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
Modi has been widely criticised for not acting sooner to suppress the second wave, after religious festivals and political rallies drew tens of thousands of people in recent weeks and became “super spreader” events.
His government has also been criticised for lifting social restrictions too soon following the first wave and for delays in the country’s vaccination programme, which medical experts say is India’s only hope of controlling the second Covid-19 wave.
Updated
Japan’s government is set to extend a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas on Friday until the end of May, in order to prevent a surge in coronavirus cases ahead of the start of the Tokyo Olympics.
My colleague, Justin McCurry, reports from Tokyo that the economy minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, conceded on Friday that targeted measures introduced at the end of last month that were due to end on 11 May had failed to check a dramatic rise in infections.
Tobi Thomas here, taking over from my colleague Helen Sullivan. If you would like to get in touch with any tips for the blog please do email me: tobi.thomas@theguardian.com
Thanks!
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today.
May bring to your attention, for a bit of relief before the more serious news, this phallic fuss-maker:
UK no-quarantine travel list to be announced
UK holidaymakers will finally discover which destinations they can visit this summer without quarantining, with Portugal, Iceland and Malta among those expected to be on the travel green list, PA Media reports.
Gibraltar and Israel could also make the cut when the list is published on Friday following weeks of speculation.
Quarantine and coronavirus testing requirements for people arriving in England once foreign holidays are permitted from 17 May will be based on a new traffic light system, with destinations placed on green, amber and red lists.
People arriving from a green location will not need to quarantine on their return and will have to take one post-arrival test.
Those returning from an amber list country must self-isolate for at least five days and take two tests.
The red list requires an 11-night stay in a quarantine hotel at a cost of 1,750 for solo travellers.
Assessments will be based on a range of factors, including the proportion of a country’s population that has been vaccinated, rates of infection, emerging new variants, and the country’s access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.
Updated
US-Germany rift could scupper vaccine patent waiver
A bold US bid to waive patents on much-needed coronavirus vaccines was strongly opposed by Germany on Thursday, threatening to derail the proposal that requires the consensus of World Trade Organization members to pass, AFP reports.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla meanwhile told AFP his company was “not at all” in favor of the measure, insisting intellectual property is not the main roadblock to more production and that building new plants would be counterproductive.
Rich nations have faced accusations of hoarding shots while poor countries struggle to get inoculation programs off the ground, with the virus surging across the developing world in contrast to the easing of restrictions in Europe and the US.
The problem was highlighted as India, one of the worst-hit countries, registered record Covid-19 cases and deaths on Thursday.
Under intense pressure to ease protections for vaccine manufacturers, Washington’s Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Wednesday that the US “supports the waiver of those protections for Covid-19 vaccines”.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed the announcement as “a monumental moment in the fight against Covid-19”.
The move was also praised by the African Union, Paris, Rome and Vienna as well as World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who previously voiced reluctance on the issue, said Brussels was ready to discuss the proposal.
Momentum built as Russian president Vladimir Putin said he too supported the idea of a patent waiver, as Russia registered a single-dose virus shot called Sputnik Light.
But Berlin’s decision to come out strongly against the proposal has now left its fate unclear.
Updated
WHO warns of new Covid wave in Africa
The World Health Organization on Thursday warned of a new wave of Covid-19 infections in Africa due to delayed vaccine supplies, a slow rollout and new variants, AFP reports.
The African bureau of the UN agency said the continent had to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of vaccine rollouts.
“The delay in the delivery of vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India earmarked for Africa, the delay in the deployment of vaccines and the emergence of new variants means that the risk of a new wave of infections remains very high in Africa,” it said in a statement.
It added that new variants such as the ones that emerged in India and South Africa could unleash a “third wave” on the continent.
“The tragedy in India does not have to happen here in Africa, but we must all be on the highest possible alert,” said regional WHO director Matshidiso Moeti.
“While we call for vaccine equity, Africa must also knuckle down and make the best of what we have. We must get all the doses we have into people’s arms.”
Some African countries had been exemplary in deploying vaccines, the WHO said, without naming them.
But it added that in spite of this, only just under “half of the 37 million doses received in Africa have been administered so far”.
Africa now accounts for only one percent of vaccine doses administered globally, the WHO said - down from two percent a few weeks ago, as other regions’ rollouts are progressing much faster.
The first vaccines deliveries to 41 African countries under the Covax scheme began in March but nine countries have so far administered only a quarter of the doses received, while 15 countries have used less than half of their allocations.
The vaccination rate in Africa is the world’s lowest. Globally an average of 150 vaccine doses per 1,000 people have been administered, but in sub-Saharan Africa it is hardly eight doses per 1,000, according to the WHO.
India cases rise by world record 414,188
India on Friday reported a record daily rise in coronavirus cases of 414,188, while deaths from Covid-19 swelled by 3,915, according to health ministry data.
India’s total coronavirus infections now stand at 21.49 million, while its total fatalities have reached 234,083.
Updated
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
We’ll be bringing you the latest developments for the next while.
The World Health Organization on Thursday warned of a new wave of Covid-19 infections in Africa due to delayed vaccine supplies, a slow rollout and new variants. The African bureau of the UN agency said the continent had to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of vaccine rollouts.
India on Friday reported a record daily rise in coronvirus cases of 414,188, while deaths from Covid-19 swelled by 3,915, according to health ministry data.
Here are the other key recent developments:
- Denmark has eased more Covid restrictions with a “corona pass.” Gyms, theatres and cinemas opened on Thursday as part of the country’s Covid-19 relaxation programme.
- Support for vaccine patent waivers grows across the globe despite Germany’s opposition.
- England’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty has said that Covid-19 is unlikely ever to be eradicated, and the outlook for the pandemic remains “pretty bleak” in the medium term.
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of a new wave of Covid-19 infections in Africa due to delayed vaccine supplies, a slow rollout and new variants.
- The United States has administered 251,973,752 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country and distributed 324,610,185 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday.
- Brazil registers 73,380 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases above the 15 million mark.
Updated
