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More now on the vaccine being offered to over 40s in England, via PA Media:
It comes as the latest NHS England figures revealed more than 28.5 million people in England had received their first jab by April 28, nearly two thirds of the adult population.
The data, published on Thursday, also showed that nearly 12 million people had received their second doses, making them fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who received his first coronavirus vaccination at London’s Science Museum on Thursday, said: “The UK’s vaccination programme has been a phenomenal success so far, with more than 47 million doses administered and one of the highest uptake rates in the world.
“Building on this excellent progress we are now opening up vaccinations to 40 and 41 year olds.
“I got my jab yesterday and I urge everybody in these age groups to book a jab as soon as possible to protect yourself and your loved ones from this dreadful disease.”
Mr Hancock and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also announced on Friday that the UK will host a global summit in 2022 alongside a major scientific coalition aimed at supporting plans to accelerate vaccine development in response to any future pandemics.
The summit, which will be in partnership with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), aims to raise investment from the international community to support the UK and Cepi’s goal of slashing vaccine development time to 100 days - about a third of the time that it took the world to develop a coronavirus jab.
All over 40s in England to be offered jab
People aged 40 and over in England are now being invited to book their coronavirus jab, NHS leaders have announced.
NHS England said that text messages will be sent out from Friday to 40 and 41-year-olds allowing them to arrange their vaccination appointments, PA media reports.
It follows nearly three quarters of a million appointments being made on Monday and Tuesday after the vaccine rollout was extended to people aged 42 to 44, it added.
NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said: “With nine tenths of people aged 45 and over having been jabbed, nearly three quarters of a million new appointments were made in just two days as our booking service opened to people aged 42 to 44.
“With second doses also proceeding apace, we’re now ready to invite all those aged 40 and over to join the most successful vaccination drive in health service history.”
NHS England said that with people aged 42 to 44 having already been texted this week it means 2.5 million more people have been invited for their jab.
Coronavirus variants first detected in India risk becoming the UK’s second most dominant within weeks, experts have warned after total cases rose to 400.
Public Health England (PHE) said on Thursday that there was “no evidence of widespread community transmission or that these variants cause more severe disease or render the vaccines currently deployed any less effective”.
But other scientists said it was worrying that the UK’s detected cases appear to be increasing rapidly despite England still being under social-distancing restrictions. India was placed on England’s travel “red list” from 23 April, restricting arrivals to citizens and residents who must quarantine in a hotel:
As Brazil became the second country to pass the grim milestone of 400,000 Covid-19 deaths after the United States, experts warned the daily toll could remain high for several months due to slow vaccinations and loosening social restrictions, Reuters reports.
A brutal surge of coronavirus infections this year has pushed Brazilian hospitals around the country to the brink of their capacities and led to 100,000 deaths in just over a month.
Brazil’s Covid-19 deaths have fallen slightly from a peak of more than 4,000 in a single day in early April, prompting many local governments to ease lockdowns.
But infectious disease experts warned that this easing will keep deaths elevated for months as vaccines alone cannot be counted on to contain the virus. Two experts said they expect deaths to continue to average above 2,000 per day.
“Brazil will repeat the same mistake as last year,” said epidemiologist Pedro Hallal, who led a national study on Covid-19. “What will Brazil do now? Go back to easing restrictions and that will stabilise us at 2,000 deaths per day, as if 2,000 deaths from a single disease in one day is normal.”
India has recently surpassed Brazil in average daily deaths, although Brazil has a higher cumulative toll despite having a population one-sixth the size of India’s. The surge in infections is being driven by the P.1 coronavirus variant discovered in Brazil that is believed to be 2.5 times more contagious that the original version.
The vaccine rollout, with only about 13% of people having received one shot to date, has not been enough to contain the spread without social restrictions, said Diego Xavier, a researcher at government health institute Fiocruz.
He also predicted more than 2,000 deaths per day would become the norm without a major acceleration in vaccinations, as has been seen in countries like the US.
The experts blamed the death toll on the failure of government - from the president Jair Bolsonaro to many state governors and mayors - to launch a strong enough response to the pandemic.
“We have reached this number of 400,000 deaths mainly because of the managerial incompetence of this government, led by the president,” said Jamal Suleiman, a doctor at the Emilio Ribas Infectology Institute.
Bolsonaro has downplayed the severity of the virus since the beginning, opposed strict lockdown measures, failed to strongly endorse masks and only recently embraced vaccines.
The vaccination campaign has faltered with the Health Ministry over the weekend saying that 30% fewer vaccines were received than expected in January to April. Many municipalities have run out of vaccines and cannot administer second shots as planned, while others have seen long lines as many people fear supplies will not last.
Bolsonaro insists the country must get back to business as usual, arguing that the economic hardship for Brazilians is equally as bad as the pandemic itself.
The Senate this week launched a special committee investigating possible wrongdoing in the government’s pandemic response, promising to call current and former top officials in Bolsonaro’s administration to testify.
Brazil passes tragic milestone of 400,000 deaths
Brazil on Thursday registered a further 3,001 Covid-19 fatalities, taking its official death toll since the start of the pandemic past 400,000, the health ministry said, second only to the death toll of the United States.
Brazil also recorded 69,389 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday, data showed, bringing total reported infections to more than 14.5 million, the third highest total worldwide after the US and India.
Updated
Most of Portugal’s territory will proceed to the final phase of a gradual easing of Covid-19 restrictions from 1 May and the land border with Spain will reopen for normal travel after a three-month hiatus, Reuters reports.
“This does not mean the country can consider the pandemic situation resolved,” the prime minister Antonio Costa told a news conference on Thursday. “Nothing is guaranteed for the future, as this is a daily struggle.”
Portugal, a nation of just over 10 million, imposed a strict lockdown in January to tackle what was then the world’s worst coronavirus surge, which took the public health system to the verge of collapsing.
Lockdown restrictions started to be eased in mid-March and schools, restaurants and cafes, shopping malls, museums and other non-essential services have since reopened, but under strict rules to reduce risk of contagion.
From Saturday onwards, restaurants and cafes, which were for some time forced to shut their doors earlier, can keep them open until 10.30pm and all sport activities can resume.
Big outdoors and indoors events will also be authorised under capacity restrictions. Weddings and baptisms can take place at 50% capacity, compared with 25% currently.
A total of 270 of mainland Portugal’s 278 municipalities will transition to the last stage of the lockdown easing and from now on the government will assess the situation on a weekly basis instead of every two weeks.
Costa also announced that Portugal’s 1,200-km (745.65 miles) land border with Spain will reopen for all travel on Saturday after more than three months of restrictions and border checks.
Portugal has suffered 836,033 cases and 16,974 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Mexico’s health ministry on Thursday reported 3,990 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 529 more deaths, bringing the total number of reported cases in the country to 2,340,934 and fatalities to 216,447. Separate government data published in March suggested the real death toll may be at least 60% above the confirmed figure.
Chile, a global leader in vaccination, is considering issuing a “green card” to those inoculated against the coronavirus in an effort to encourage younger adults who may be reluctant to turn out for their shots, health officials said on Thursday.
Chile’s vaccination drive is the fastest in Latin America thus far, and among the top five globally in terms of percentage of its population with at least one shot, according to a Reuters tabulation.
But a recent slowdown in the pace of vaccination has prompted health officials to fast-track a possible rollout of two government-issued ID cards: a domestic “green card” and an international travel “green passport,” perks aimed to incentivise participation in the drive, officials said.
“We are looking at it and I think it could be a very important stimulus for people to get vaccinated,” the health minister Enrique Paris told reporters, adding the effort was important to “maintain our campaign.”
Chile began vaccinating in December, inoculating health workers, teachers, civil servants, journalists, and age groups progressively - at present, people in their 40s.
But health officials have repeatedly warned that young, healthy adults have been slower to turn out than the elderly, potentially imperilling its goal of vaccinating 80% of its target population, 15 million people, by July to be able to attain herd immunity.
Paris said the ministry had yet to determine what kinds of perks might be associated with the green cards, and said there was not yet a timetable for rolling them out.
Countries around the world are looking at ways to show that people have Covid-19 immunity and can travel, although airports, border agencies and airlines are worried there will be no clear global standard that will be accepted at all borders.
Paris said Chile believed the issue should be overseen by international health organisations.
“It must be studied at the Latin American or world level,” Paris said, adding that “hopefully the World Health Organization will be the one to lead this issue with respect to the validity of vaccines to international level.”
They will be remembered as India’s lost months: the stretch between September and February when Covid-19 cases in the country defied global trends, falling sharply throughout the coldest months of the year until they reached four-figure daily totals.
It was inexplicable. Was it the Indian climate? A protection conferred by childhood immunisations? Some speculated India may have naturally reached herd immunity. It was a tantalising idea that took hold in India’s highest circles of policymaking, media and science – even a government-commissioned study suggested herd immunity may indeed have been achieved. It would prove one of the most fatal miscalculations of the Covid-19 pandemic so far.
Now, with daily cases crossing 360,000, and recorded deaths beyond 3,200 per day, many see the lull between Covid-19 waves as a cruel illusion. “The elections, religious festivals and everything else opened up completely,” says Sujatha Rao, a former secretary of the Indian ministry of health and family welfare. “That was a very bad mistake and we have paid a very dear price, a heavy price for that oversight.”
An outbreak the size of India’s second wave, apparently fuelled by Covid-19 variants that appear to be more infectious than earlier strains, would have overwhelmed most public health systems – let alone one of the most chronically underfunded in the world, serving a vast, spread-out population.
But public health experts, including some involved in advising the government, say the scale of India’s current outbreak was also partly manmade, the result of a feeling of exceptionalism that emanated from the top of the Indian government and rippled across society, leading to countless administrative and personal decisions that, within a few months, would prove disastrous.
“There was a misreading of the situation in January that we had attained herd immunity and were unlikely to see a second wave,” says K Srinath Reddy, the president of the Public Health Foundation of India. “India went into full-blown celebratory mode. And we know the virus travels with people, and celebrates with crowds.”
Alongside warnings that people should maintain precautions, governments at all levels relaxed restrictions, allowed massive social events to resume and pressed ahead with raucous electioneering, confident the continued circulation of Covid-19 in states such as Kerala or Maharashtra were the dying embers of the virus, not evidence of the sparks that would ignite a second firestorm.
“There was a lot of mixed messaging coming through which made people very complacent,” Shahid Jameel, a virologist at Ashoka University, told a forum there on Tuesday. Some politicians and scientists boasted of low infection and death rates that gave Indians the impression “that somehow we are special”, Jameel added. “We are not special.”
Read the full piece here:
Updated
Tens of thousands of pilgrims took part in a pilgrimage in northern Israel on Thursday in the country’s largest public gathering in the age of coronavirus, AFP reports.
The annual pilgrimage for the feast of Lag BaOmer is staged in Meron around the reputed tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second century Talmudic sage. Last year, the event was called off due to restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19.
On the back of the world’s fastest vaccination campaign, Israel has since late February emerged from its third national lockdown.
Since December, more than 50% of the nine-million population, or about 80% of over-20s, have been fully vaccinated with two shots.
Early evening summary
Here is a quick recap of the main Covid updates from around the world:
- The World Health Organization has warned European governments that relaxing Covid restrictions too soon could cause cases to spiral again, potentially triggering a wave of new infections as seen in India.
- The French president, Emmanuel Macron, unveiled a roadmap on Thursday for a progressive unwinding of France’s lockdown over the next two months.
- Thailand has added more measures to contain its biggest Covid outbreak yet, including a nationwide requirement to wear masks in public and a ban on dining at restaurants in and around its capital, Bangkok.
- Italy has extended Covid restrictions already in place on travellers from other European countries for 15 days, the health ministry said.
- Romania has reported its first case of a Covid variant first identified in India, according to its health ministry.
- Ireland will press ahead with plans to reopen all retail stores, personal services and non-residential construction in May with hotels, the foreign minister said.
Updated
Up to a quarter of British healthcare workers have expressed hesitancy towards Covid-19 vaccines, the first comprehensive study of NHS and care staff suggests.
Conspiracy beliefs, a paucity of black and ethnic minority participants in vaccine trials, or assuming immunity to Covid-19 because of previous infection were some of the key reasons cited.
Dr Manish Pareek, associate clinical professor in infectious diseases at the University of Leicester who led the study, said:
Understanding these drivers is important, because without this understanding you can’t implement any interventions.
You can read the full story here:
Reuters reports:
India’s severe medical oxygen supply crisis is expected to ease by mid-May, a top industry executive told Reuters, with output rising by 25% and transport infrastructure ready to cope with a surge in demand caused by a dramatic rise in coronavirus cases.
Dozens of hospitals in cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai have run short of the gas this month, sending relatives of patients scrambling for oxygen cylinders, sometimes in vain.
Medical oxygen consumption in India has shot up more than eight-fold from usual levels to about 7,200 tonnes per day this month, said Moloy Banerjee of Linde Plc, the country’s biggest producer.
“This is what is causing the crisis because no one was prepared for it, particularly the steep curve up,” Banerjee, who heads the company’s South Asia gas business, told Reuters on Thursday.
It has emerged that the high court is to rule on whether the UK government acted unlawfully by refusing to extend the £20-a-week universal credit Coronavirus costs uplift to 2m disabled benefit claimants.
Two disabled claimants have won permission to challenge the decision on the grounds that it discriminates against disabled people in receipt of “legacy” benefits such as employment and support allowance (ESA).
They argue it is unjustifiable that despite facing same extra financial pressures during the pandemic as people who claim universal credit they have been denied the Covid uplift, which was introduced in April 2020 and is worth £1,040 a year.
Stephen Timms, the chair of the Commons work and pensions committee, which has repeatedly called for the uplift to be extended to legacy benefits, said:
We can see no reason why people should face hardship simply because—through no fault of their own—they happen to be receiving older benefits. At a time when living costs, especially for disabled people and carers, have been higher than ever, the government’s approach has undoubtedly left many facing hardship.
Updated
In France, the number of Covid patients in hospitals fell for the third consecutive day, with the overall figure down by 424 to 29,487, and the number of patients in intensive care wards down by 75 to 5,804.
The health ministry also reported 306 new coronavirus deaths in hospitals on Thursday, down from 315 on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Boris Johnson’s refusal to trigger a public inquiry into the UK’s handling of Covid is facing a fresh challenge as some of the country’s leading experts in government and healthcare demand the launch of an immediate investigation.
The Institute for Government (IfG), whose leadership includes the former Conservative cabinet minister David Lidington and the former Labour science minister Lord Sainsbury, will call on the prime minister to set up a statutory public inquiry as soon as May, with hearings to start in September.
At the same time the respected healthcare thinktank the King’s Fund, which is chaired by Lord Kakkar, a government adviser on race and professor of surgery at University College London, will tell Downing Street: “Now is the time.”
Their intervention comes weeks after the Guardian revealed the extent of support for an inquiry, with senior doctors, government scientific advisers and a former head of the civil service all demanding that Johnson launch a process. He has resisted so far – insisting it is not the right time.
You can read the full exclusive from Robert Booth, the Guardian’s social affairs correspondent, here:
European lawmakers approve EU wide Covid pass
European lawmakers have approved the creation of an EU-wide Covid certificate sought by southern member states to help revive summer tourism, Reuters reports.
The plan, which tourism-dependent countries Spain and Greece hope will help resuscitate their economies, aims to introduce a standard pass for people who have been vaccinated or tested negative for the virus to travel across the 27-nation bloc.
However, finding common ground may be difficult due to national differences over recognising negative antibody tests on top of PCR tests, technical difficulties in creating a single EU gateway and worries about discrimination against those who have not been vaccinated.
As a result, the likely result is a system that would introduce Covid certificates as a minimum common denominator but leave much leeway to each country on what rights they would be willing to grant to holders of such passes, diplomats said.
In voting overwhelmingly for an “EU Covid-19 certificate”, the European parliament said member states should not impose additional travel restrictions on those carrying such passes, and that they should make free testing widely available.
But the European commission has proposed that countries should be able to retain extra requirements, as many member states also want.
Reflecting the confusion, commission spokesman Eric Mamer said:
The certificate is not about allowing or forbidding travel. It has nothing to do with that. It’s a system of information on your health status in relation to Covid... Member states have the prerogatives, the responsibility when it comes to health safety measures (required for entry); the green digital certificate does not change this.
Updated
In the Czech Republic, retail shops will reopen from 10 May, industry minister Karel Havlicek has confirmed, a week later than the government’s original target as the Covid case rate did not ease as quickly as expected.
The government had wanted to include all retail in the next stage of its easing of lockdown on 3 May - when hair salons, other services and some spas can reopen - but the infection rate, while falling, remains well above the target of 100 per 100,000 people over a seven-day period.
It stood at 146 on Thursday, down from 177 a week earlier.
If the rate falls to 75, further liftings such as the opening of restaurant terraces or hotels could take place, Reuters notes.
Bangladesh’s drug regulator has approved the emergency use of a vaccine developed by an affiliate of China’s Sinopharm, as it scrambles to find alternative sources for Covid inoculations after supplies from India faltered.
Bangladesh’s vaccination drive, as Reuters reports, suffered after its bigger neighbour halted exports of the AstraZeneca shot in response to a record surge in domestic infections.
“Hopefully 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine will arrive in Bangladesh within two weeks,” Mahbubur Rahman, head of the Directorate General of Drug Administration, told reporters.
The regulator this week also approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.
Italy reported 288 Covid-related deaths on Thursday against 344 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,320 from 13,385.
As reported by Reuters, patients in hospital with Covid-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 19,351 on Thursday, down from 19,860 a day earlier.
About 330,075 Covid tests were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 336,336, the health ministry said.
Updated
This has been shared by Stella Creasy, the Labour & Co-op MP for Walthamstow in London:
A week later and still no system for pregnant women get the Pfizer or moderna vaccine- and NHS letters still telling women to contact their GP who can’t specify which vaccine either. This my fifth invite so admin intensive too! @nadhimzahawi any joy sorting? 🙏😬@PregnantScrewed pic.twitter.com/HTOpKgdH7p
— stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) April 29, 2021
Updated
PA Media reports:
Sickness absence rates for NHS workers in England have increased, showing the impact of the second wave of Covid-19 on health staff.
Official figures showed that absence rates last December for England were 5.1%, compared with 4.9% the previous month.
Union leaders said there were high absence levels for stress, anxiety and the toll on mental health after the challenges of the past year.
The number of full-time equivalent days lost because of coronavirus was 164,641 in October, rising to 286,592 in November and 362,774 in December.
Covid was responsible for 9.5% of all FTE days lost to illness in October, 15.6% in November and 18.4% in December.
Heathrow has urged the UK government to “get a grip” of immigration and customs control and simplify the measures needed for international arrivals to restart mass travel from 17 May, after reporting another quarter of huge losses (see earlier post).
Despite a 90% drop in passengers in the first three months of 2021 to just 1.4 million people, the airport’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said there was huge pent-up demand for travel – but a “prime concern” was how arrivals would be processed at the airport.
He said there had been “horrendous queues” due to a lack of staff in immigration halls, which are operated by the government.
The Home Office has to get a grip of Border Force and make sure that doesn’t become the bottleneck for the whole economic recovery. We’ve had to turn away flights because of congestion in immigration. If they struggle with less than 10% of normal volumes they are going to have to do something very different to be ready for 17 May.
Read the latest from Gwyn Topham, the Guardian’s transport correspondent:
Jeremy Hunt, a former health secretary, has said the test and trace system would have been more successful if it was led by local authorities, which have done “heroically well” during the pandemic.
He told the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services’ Spring Conference:
I think that local government has done heroically well in the pandemic overall and my own view is we should have asked it to do more. I think we would have had more success with our contact tracing programme if we’d run it through local Government as the primary place that it operated from.
Hunt added:
My observation would be: why has the vaccine programme been a success? Because it’s been very locally led. And that has meant you had local NHS people, local government people, local public services, local volunteers. And I think that one of the reasons we’ve had low compliance with requests to self-isolate...is because the request comes from someone in a call centre 300 miles away, not from a local authority that is in a better position - it would need the support to do this of course - but would be in a better position to monitor whether compliance was actually taking place.
Millions of Indians voted in elections in the state of West Bengal on Thursday despite fears that people going to the polls may contribute further to the country’s escalating coronavirus catastrophe.
As long queues were reported at polling stations, India’s total recorded coronavirus cases during the pandemic passed 18 million. The country reported a record 379,257 new infections on Thursday and 3,645 deaths – its highest daily total.
Peter Beaumont, a senior reporter on the Guardian’s Global Development desk, reports:
Pakistan has bought 13m doses of Covid vaccine from three Chinese companies, its health minister has told Reuters.
Faisal Sultan said Pakistan had procured the vaccine from Sinopharm, CanSinoBio and Sinovac, but did not specify how many shots each were supplying.
Sultan said another 2.4m doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will arrive under the first tranche of the Gavi/Covax programme as part of the World Health Organization’s efforts for poorer nations.
The UK government has announced that more than 34 million people have been given a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, while a further 2,445 have contracted the disease, up slightly on the day before.
There were 22 new deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive test, compared with the 29 deaths recorded on Wednesday.
Updated
A reminder that the US embassy in India has issued an alert to its citizens in the country, stating that “access to all types of medical care is becoming severely limited”.
It added:
US citizens who wish to depart India should take advantage of available commercial transportation options now. Direct flights between India and the United States are offered daily, with additional flight options available to US citizens via transfers in Paris and Frankfurt.
Updated
Indian gravediggers have been working around the clock to bury victims, while hundreds more were cremated in makeshift pyres, Reuters reports.
Sayyed Munir Kamruddin, a gravedigger in Mumbai, has been working nonstop with his colleagues to bury victims.
“I’m not scared of Covid. I’ve worked with courage. It’s all about courage, not about fear,” he said.
“This is our only job. Getting the body, removing it from the ambulance, and then burying it.”
Updated
Russian developers of the Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus have said that they are suing the Brazilian regulator for defamation, alleging that it had spread false information without testing their product. This comes after the Brazilian regulator rejected importing the vaccine into the country on Monday, after its staff warned of flaws in its development alongside incomplete data regarding the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.
Reuters reports:
A crucial issue for the Brazilian regulator was the risk of other viruses used to make the vaccine reproducing in patients, which an Anvisa expert had called a “serious” defect.
Sputnik V’s official Twitter account on Thursday cited a Brazilian media story citing the same expert as saying that no tests had been carried out to test the Brazilian theory.
“Following the admission of Brazilian regulator, Anvisa, that it did not test Sputnik V vaccine, Sputnik V is undertaking a legal defamation proceeding in Brazil against Anvisa for knowingly spreading false and inaccurate information,” it said.
“Anvisa made incorrect and misleading statements without having tested the actual Sputnik V vaccine.”
Updated
Hi there, Tobi Thomas here taking over the blog for the next hour while my colleague has a break. If you would like to get in touch with any tips, please do email me at tobi.thomas@theguardian.com
WHO warns European governments of Covid spike if curbs are eased prematurely
The World Health Organization has warned European governments that relaxing Covid restrictions too soon could cause cases to spiral again, potentially triggering a wave of new infections as seen in India.
Hans Kluge, the head of WHO’s Europe region, said relaxing protective measures when there were more contagious variants and vaccine coverage was still low could lead to “a perfect storm in any country … The situation in India can happen anywhere.”
Kluge spoke after numerous European leaders announced plans this week to begin gradually lifting lockdown restrictions in the run-up to summer, despite new daily infection numbers that often have only just started to flatten.
He said that while new cases in the region had fallen “significantly” last week for the first time in two months, infection rates across the region “remain extremely high”. Nearly half of all cases in the region since last January occurred in the first four months of this year, he said.
But Kluge said vaccinations were now advancing across the European region, with 16% of the population having had a first dose and 7% fully inoculated – meaning more people in Europe had been fully vaccinated than had been infected with the disease.
“Where vaccination rates in high-risk groups are highest, admissions to hospitals are decreasing and death rates are falling. Vaccines are saving lives,” Kluge said.
But it is a combination of vaccines and strong public health measures that offer us the clearest path back to normal.
Updated
Reuters has more in on France’s plan to ease some of its lockdown curbs (see earlier post):
Foreign tourists with a “health pass” will be allowed to visit France again from 9 June, according to the timetable published by Ouest France and other newspapers.
The timetable is provisional and could be delayed on a region-by-region basis in areas where intensive care units are close to saturation or the Covid incidence rate exceeds 400 cases per 100,000, reported Le Parisien.
Updated
EasyJet has urged the UK government to declare most of Europe “green” when it publishes its list of permitted destinations for the summer, citing research that suggests travel would have a very limited impact on the number of people admitted to hospital with Covid in the UK.
Gwyn Topham, the Guardian’s transport correspondent, has the full story here:
Case rates in England have fallen slightly among most age groups, with a slight rise in others, according to Public Health England.
The age groups recording a slight rise are 10- to 19-year-olds, with 45.5 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 25 April, up week-on-week from 44.0; five- to nine-year-olds, up from 13.6 to 13.9; four and under, up from 8.4 to 8.9; and 60- to 69-year-olds, up from 12.3 to 12.6. These figures were reported by PA Media.
Updated
Reuters reports:
Vietnam said on Thursday it had detected its first locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus in 35 days, as authorities ordered tighter surveillance to prevent a new outbreak.
Four members of a family in northern Ha Nam province and one person in southern Ho Chi Minh City were infected, the health ministry said, having all been in contact with an individual who had returned from Japan and tested positive, despite clearing quarantine.
Authorities ordered provinces and state agencies to tighten screening and controls and contact-tracing efforts were launched after the community infections were found, state broadcaster Vietnam Television reported.
French government will start to ease Covid curfew from mid May
The French government will begin relaxing its Covid-19 curfew from 19 May.
Emmanuel Macron told local newspapers in an interview that the nightly curfew would be moved back from 7pm to 9pm from 19 May and to 11pm from 9 June before being scrapped on 30 June.
Macron’s interview with regional newspapers detailing the plans to ease restrictions is due to be published on Thursday evening.
From 19 May, restaurants, cafes and bars will be allowed to reopen their outdoor terraces. Museums, cinemas and theatres will also reopen on that day.
Updated
Nearly six million rapid tests for Covid-19 were carried out in England in the week to 21 April, new figures show - a million more than the previous week, PA Media reports.
Since 9 April, everyone in England has been eligible for rapid Covid tests twice a week.
Rapid tests, or lateral flow device tests, are swab tests that give results in 30 minutes or less without the need for processing in a laboratory (see earlier post).
Just under 5.8m rapid tests were carried out in England in the week to 21 April, according to the latest Test and Trace figures – up from nearly 4.8m in the previous week.
Updated
This just in from Public Health England:
Hospital admissions for #COVID19 remain highest in those aged 85 and over.
— Public Health England (@PHE_uk) April 29, 2021
See our weekly surveillance report here: https://t.co/8dYt9zEVk9 pic.twitter.com/KhZ6Ne2uVu
Thailand makes masks mandatory and bans Bangkok dining
Reuters reports:
Thailand added more measures on Thursday to arrest its biggest coronavirus outbreak yet, including a nationwide requirement to wear masks in public and a ban on dining at restaurants in and around its capital.
Authorities reclassified Bangkok and five provinces as highest-controlled zones. There are 46 others with broad restrictions after a third Covid-19 wave that has seen more than half of the country’s overall infections this month alone.
Masks are widely worn in Thailand but the order to make them mandatory comes just a few days after prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was fined $190 for failing to wear one during a meeting.
Parks, gyms, cinemas, bars, restaurants, day-care centres and schools have been closed in Bangkok, the outbreak epicentre, and non-essential travel from the capital is being discouraged.
Public transport is still operating and malls remain open, but for shortened trading hours.
Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, has made a solo visit under cover of darkness to the National Covid Memorial Wall, infuriating bereaved families who have been asking for weeks for him to “walk the wall” and meet them there.
Johnson was spotted at the wall on Tuesday night, a day after allegations – which he denies – that he made remarks to the effect he would rather let “bodies pile high” than announce another lockdown.
Matt Fowler, a co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, told the Daily Mirror it was a “cynical and insincere move” coming after several requests for a meeting.
My colleague Lisa O’Carroll has the full story here:
Italy prolongs curbs on European travellers for 15 days
Italy has extended Covid restrictions already in place on travellers from other European countries for 15 days, the health ministry said, adding that it had also imposed a ban on people coming from Sri Lanka.
People entering Italy from other European countries face five days of quarantine and mandatory testing both before arrival and at the end of their isolation period, Reuters reports.
The government already banned travel from India and Bangladesh amid fears of a surge of cases in the region (see summary for more information).
Updated
Sweden, which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, registered 7,158 new Covid cases on Thursday, health agency statistics indicated.
The country of 10 million registered two new deaths – which have occurred over several days and sometimes weeks – taking the total to 14,002.
Updated
Workers are beginning to come off furlough as a surge in spending by UK consumers allows businesses to start reopening after their long winter shutdown, according to the latest official snapshot of the economy.
Larry Elliott, the Guardian’s economic editor, has the latest here:
In Germany, nearly 1.1 million people were vaccinated on Wednesday, which is more than 1% of the population and more than on any other day so far, health minister Jens Spahn has said (see this post for some of his earlier comments).
Updated
The raging state of the pandemic in India is a wake-up call for Africa that its governments and citizens must not let their guards down, the African Union’s disease control agency has warned.
African nations generally have insufficient numbers of health care workers, hospital beds, oxygen supplies, and the continent of 1.3bn would be even more overwhelmed than India if cases surged in a similar way, said John Nkengasgong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We are watching with total disbelief... What is happening in India cannot be ignored by our continent,” he told reporters.
According to Reuters, Nkengasgong went on to urge people in Africa to wear masks and avoid large gatherings, warning:
We cannot and should not find ourselves in (India’s) scenario because of the very fragile nature of our health systems.
There have been a further 69 Covid cases in Wales, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 211,458.
Public Health Wales said there had been two further deaths, taking the total in the country since the start of the pandemic to 5,550.
The rapid COVID-19 surveillance dashboard has been updated
— Public Health Wales (@PublicHealthW) April 29, 2021
💻 https://t.co/zpWRYTbM6P
📱 https://t.co/HSclxqgUsP
Read our daily statement here: https://t.co/u6SKHyIY46 pic.twitter.com/2tJ6P4Xgsz
Updated
Britons should be “careful” before starting to hug each other and meet indoors again, the vaccines minister, Nadhim Zahawi, has said, as he also warned about the risks of making plans for the summer, according to a report in the Times.
You can read the story here (paywall).
Denmark will likely make a decision on the future use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine next week, health minister Magnus Heunicke has told broadcaster TV2.
A total of 90.5% of people who were tested for Covid in England in the week ending 21 April at a regional site, local site or mobile testing unit received their result within 24 hours. This is up slightly from 90.3% in the previous week.
Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, had pledged that by the end of June 2020 the results of all in-person tests would be back within a day, as PA Media reports.
He told the House of Commons on 3 June he would get “all tests turned around within 24 hours by the end of June, except for difficulties with postal tests or insuperable problems like that”.
Updated
The UK government has been criticised for refusing to make public the training materials call handlers in the NHS 111 coronavirus response service were given at the start of the pandemic, on the grounds that they are “commercially sensitive”.
Kate Osamor, the Labour MP who warned last year that the 111 service “simply couldn’t cope” with the huge number of people needing advice for Covid-19 symptoms, condemned the refusal as an “insult” to families whose relatives have died from the virus.
My colleague David Conn has the full story here:
Reuters reports:
The EU’s contracts for Covid-19 vaccines to be delivered in 2022/23 contain clear rules what would happen if the vaccine makers do not deliver, Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn said on Thursday, signalling the bloc had learned its lesson after troubles with AstraZeneca.
The European commission has launched legal proceedings against the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker for not respecting its contract for the supply of Covid-19 vaccines, and for not having a “reliable” plan to ensure timely deliveries.
Praise for the dogged way in which the UK has driven down the virus in recent weeks has come from Lothar Wieler, head of Germany’s disease control agency Robert Koch Institute.
Wieler said the UK had had an “extremely hard lockdown” from which Germany could learn.
It is illegal to leave the UK, unless there is a pressing reason to do so, Wieler said, repeating this information in English for emphasis, whilst in Germany, it remains possible to go abroad, whether on business or on holiday.
“They’ve driven a hard course,” Wieler said of the UK, speaking at his weekly press conference with health minister Jens Spahn, stressing that whilst the vaccine campaign had gone well in the UK, “it is not only vaccines which are driving down the infection”.
Just a few months ago it was the UK which was looking to Germany, with its lower rates, and a significantly lower death rate, as to how to better manage the virus.
This has been shared by the UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, who yesterday announced that the government has ordered a further 60m doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine in an effort to ensure that booster jabs can be given from this autumn.
Brilliant! Got the jab. In & out in 8 minutes. Didn’t hurt at all.
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) April 29, 2021
Massive thanks to JVT & the @sciencemuseum team.
When you get the call, get the jab! pic.twitter.com/dPhUwkGEYB
Covid case rates have fallen below 50 cases per 100,000 people in more than 95% of local areas of the UK, new analysis from PA Media shows.
In the week to 24 January, only three of the 380 local areas in the UK, 1%, had Covid-19 rates below 50 cases per 100,000 people.
The latest figures, for the week to 24 April, show the number is now 364 out of 380, or 96%.
Romania detects first case of variant found in India
Romania has reported its first case of a Covid variant first identified in India, the health ministry has confirmed.
The case was diagnosed in a 26-year-old patient who arrived in Romania about a month ago and presented light symptoms, Reuters reports.
According to the ministry, the national public health institute said the identified mutation was not the more infectious one believed to have produced the sharp rise in cases in India.
Separately, the ministry added it was monitoring an outbreak of coronavirus cases among construction workers recently arrived from India in a village in Brasov county.
Romania reported 1,850 new Covid cases on Thursday, bringing its total to 1.05m cases and 27,971 deaths.
Uğur Şahin, the head of German company BioNTech, which produced the first vaccine against Covid-19, has said that children could be vaccinated from June this year, after “encouraging” studies showed positive results in children from the age of 12.
Şahin said the company had submitted its application for emergency approval of the vaccines in this age group in the US at the start of April, and next Wednesday would be ready to submit the application for approval by EMA, the European medicines agency.
In the USA and the European Union the vaccine is already approved for those 16 year of age and older.
At the end of last month, BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer reported that approval studies had shown a high anti-body response from the vaccine amongst 12 to 15 year olds. Participants tolerated the vaccine well and it offered them a 100 per cent protection against the virus.
Both companies are also testing the vaccine on children aged from six months to 11 years.
In March, the first children in this age group were vaccinated as part of the study.
“In July we can expect to have results for five to 12 year olds, and in September for younger children. The evaluation takes around four to six weeks,” Şahin told Der Spiegel in an interview.
If everything goes well, as long as the data has been analysed by then, we’ll be able to submit an application for the approval of the vaccine for all children in these age groups in a variety of countries.
Şahin said he expected Europe to have achieved herd immunity by July, the latest August. But he also stressed that Europe was only safe as long as the rest of the world has the virus under control.
The efficacy of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine has so far been tested on a total of 30 variants, including the Indian variant B1617, and the results were positive in every case, he said.
He said that everyone who has been fully vaccinated will need a third booster shot, around nine to 12 months after the first. After that, a single annual top up would be required.
Updated
Referring to Germany, Lothar Wieler, the head of the Robert Koch Institute, has told a news conference that the “pandemic is not over yet”, according to Reuters.
Wieler added that Covid cases remain too high and are rising among those aged under 60.
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.
Today so far…
- India’s attempts to ramp up vaccinations in the fight against the Covid surge afflicting the nation have got off to a rocky start, with technical and supply issues thwarting attempts to open up jabs to everybody 18 or over.
- India has prioritised imports of oxygen, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said this morning, adding that 40 countries had pledged their support. Prime minister Narendra Modi has announced that he has reviewed military preparations for assisting with the Covid surge.
- Guardian readers in India have told us what it is like living through the Covid crisis, with one saying: “It’s everywhere you look”.
- India’s health ministry on Thursday said the country had recorded 379,257 new cases and 3,645 new deaths. India’s total number of cases and deaths stood at 18.38 million and 204,832.
- Arundhati Roy says it’s hard to convey the full depth and range of the trauma, the chaos and the indignity that people in India are being subjected to, saying “We are witnessing a crime against humanity”
- The US has advised its citizens inside India to leave as soon as it is safe.
- Ireland will press ahead with plans to reopen all retail stores, personal services and non-residential construction in May with hotels, restaurants and bars to follow sooner than expected in early June, foreign minister Simon Coveney has said.
- Covid-19 case rates in the UK have dropped below 50 cases per 100,000 people in more than 95% of local areas.
- UK health secretary Matt Hancock has posted a picture of him receiving his Covid-19 vaccine from England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam at the Science Museum in central London.
- Germany’s Spiegel magazine has today cited BioNTech’s CEO saying he expects results by September from trials testing its Covid-19 vaccine in children.
- Business leaders and a Nobel-prizewinning biologist have called upon the government to reform Japan’s vaccination programme, including allowing drive-through inoculations in mass centres. Japan has secured the largest quantity of Covid-19 vaccines in Asia, but it has inoculated only 1.6% of its population so far.
- South Korea’s drug safety ministry has said that Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and a shot developed by Novavax have been submitted for preliminary regulatory approval.
- Taiwan began moving more than 400 people to a centralised quarantine facility today from an airport hotel after a rare domestic outbreak of Covid-19.
- Australia’s disability royal commission will investigate the Covid vaccine rollout amid complaints that disability accommodation residents and care workers are facing long waits for jabs – despite being in the top priority phase 1a group.
That’s it from me, Martin Belam. If you fancy something more cheery to fill a couple of minutes, you can do our new weekly news and trivia quiz. Andrew Sparrow has our UK live blog, which is largely focussed on the scandals engulfing Boris Johnson. Yohannes Lowe will be here shortly, and this live blog will continue to concentrate on global coroanvirus news and the lead Covid news from the UK…
Updated
Covid-19 case rates in the UK have dropped below 50 cases per 100,000 people in more than 95% of local areas, new analysis by PA shows.
It is the first time since the start of September that as many as 19 in 20 areas have seen their rates plunge below such a symbolic level. Around one in 10 areas are recording rates in single figures.
It represents almost a complete turnaround from how the data looked three months ago, when the second wave of coronavirus had just peaked.
In the week to 14 January, only three of the 380 local areas in the UK had Covid-19 rates below 50 cases per 100,000 people. The latest figures, for the week to 24 April, show the number is now 364 out of 380, or 96%. The analysis has been compiled by the PA news agency from health agency data.
In Wales every local area is now recording fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 people, while in Scotland all but one local area, North Lanarkshire, has dropped below 50.
Northern Ireland has three of its 11 local areas above 50: Derry City & Strabane, Fermanagh & Omagh and Mid Ulster.
And in England only a dozen areas are still above 50, ranging from Selby on 109.2, the highest rate anywhere in the UK, to Slough on 53.5.
Three local areas, Maldon in Essex, Shetland and the Western Isles, are currently recording case rates of zero.
A quick Reuters snap here that South Korea’s drug safety ministry has said that Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and a shot developed by Novavax have been submitted for preliminary regulatory approval.
Updated
With the Olympics looming, Japan is under pressure to get its vaccination programme performing better. Eimi Yamamitsu reports for Reuters from Tokyo that Japanese business leaders and a Nobel-prizewinning biologist have called upon the government to reform the whole thing, including allowing drive-through inoculations.
Japan has secured the largest quantity of Covid-19 vaccines in Asia, but it has inoculated only 1.6% of its population so far, the slowest among wealthy countries.
Government data yesterday showed that Japan has only used about a fifth of the coronavirus vaccine doses it has imported so far, underscoring logistical hurdles such as a shortage of medical staff.
Twenty-four business leaders, including e-commerce group Rakuten’s CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, and Nobel-winning stem cell biologist Shinya Yamanaka said a bolder and coordinated effort was needed to speed up vaccinations.
“The government and local administrations must not be constrained by outdated thinking and must make effective use of private sector expertise,” they said in a statement.
They urged the government to simplify vaccine application procedures, quicken administration of vaccines by allowing them to be done using a drive-through system and large-scale facilities, and seek the cooperation of medical experts.
The proposals also called for the government to manage vaccination records to encourage residents and visitors from outside Japan who have been inoculated to resume economic activities.
Rakuten’s Mikitani, who is also the representative director of the Japan Association of New Economy, has said it was “too risky” to hold the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer, as Japan struggles with a nascent fourth wave of the pandemic.
Updated
UK health secretary Matt Hancock has just posted a picture of him receiving his Covid-19 vaccine from England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam at the Science Museum in central London.
Brilliant! Got the jab. In & out in 8 minutes. Didn’t hurt at all.
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) April 29, 2021
Massive thanks to JVT & the @sciencemuseum team.
When you get the call, get the jab! pic.twitter.com/dPhUwkGEYB
Just a reminder that Andrew Sparrow has our UK politics live blog this morning, but there’s such a lot of non-Covid politics news around today that I’ll be picking up the main UK Covid news lines here still. Why not spoil yourself and keep following both…
Taiwan began moving more than 400 people to a centralised quarantine facility today from an airport hotel after a rare domestic outbreak of Covid-19, and will sterilise the entire hotel building.
Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control because of early and effective prevention, including largely closing its borders. Most cases have been imported from abroad, though the island has reported sporadic domestic infections in recent months.
Since last week it has reported COVID-19 infections in nine freighter pilots from Taiwan’s largest carrier, China Airlines Ltd, some of whom had been staying at the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel, now being evacuated. They are thought to have been infected overseas.
Health minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters that an infected hotel worker was in intensive care and that the government had decided to move all 412 people at the hotel, including pilots and staff, to a centralised quarantine facility for tests. The hotel is being thoroughly sterilised, he added.
“We are worried that other workers may also have been infected,” Chen said. China Airlines, which has had to cancel some flights while its pilots are tested, said it was fully complying with government epidemic prevention steps and stepping up vaccinations for staff.
“During the pandemic the virus is everywhere, and China Airlines will not let up for a moment,” it said in a statement, Reuter report
Taiwan’s total case numbers remain extremely small compared with those of some other parts of the world, with only 58 people being treated in hospital. It has reported 1,122 cases to date, including 12 deaths.
Taiwan holds news conferences to announce details of each individual new case.
Updated
Andrew Sparrow has launched our UK politics live blog for today – which has a strong focus on the scandals surrounding British prime minister Boris Johnson.
I’ll be continuing here with global coronavirus news and the top Covid lines from the UK.
Updated
India has prioritised imports of oxygen, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said this morning, adding that 40 countries had pledged their support.
“We are talking about close to 550 oxygen generating plants that are going to come in from different sources from all over the world,” Shringla told a news conference.
In another development, prime minister Narendra Modi has announced that he has reviewed military preparations for assisting with the Covid surge.
Reviewed the efforts being taken by the Indian Army in the fight against COVID-19. https://t.co/bulevS6Kvu
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 29, 2021
A statement issued by Modi said:
General MM Naravane informed the PM that medical staff of the Army is being made available to various state governments. He also briefed the PM that Army is setting up temporary hospitals in various parts of the country.
General MM Naravane informed the PM that the Army is helping with manpower for imported Oxygen tankers and vehicles where specialised skills are required to manage them.
German magazine Spiegel has today cited BioNTech’s CEO saying he expects results by September from trials testing its Covid-19 vaccine in children.
“In July, the first results could be available for the five- to 12-year-olds, in September for the younger children,” BioNTech chief executive Ugur Sahin told Spiegel. He added it takes about four to six weeks to evaluate the data.
“If all goes well, as soon as the data is evaluated, we will be able to submit the application for approval of the vaccine for all children in the respective age group in different countries,” he said.
A spokeswoman for BioNTech confirmed to Reuters the expected timeline for the trial results in younger children.
BioNTech and Pfizer asked US regulators this month to approve emergency use of their vaccine for adolescents aged 12 to 15. Sahin was quoted by Spiegel as saying the company was “in the final stages before submission” to European regulators for children aged 12 and older.
Updated
Ireland to reopen large parts of economy in May, restaurants and bars in June
Ireland will press ahead with plans to reopen all retail stores, personal services and non-residential construction in May with hotels, restaurants and bars to follow sooner than expected in early June, foreign minister Simon Coveney has said.
The government committed a month ago to reopening all shops for the first time this year in May and hotels in June if it could avoid a fourth wave of Covid-19 disease and speed up its vaccine programme - criteria that it has met.
Padraic Halpin reports for Reuters that Coveney said the plan to be signed off by ministers later today, and would permit hotels to open their doors again on 2 June with restaurants and pubs - not mentioned a month ago - allowed to serve guests outdoors from 7 June.
People will also be able to travel anywhere in the country for the first time since late December next month, he added.
“We will I hope be able to manage all of that change in a way that keeps a lid on the spread of this virus but at the same time provides for a much more hopeful and positive summer than perhaps many people were expecting even in the last few weeks,” Coveney told national broadcaster RTE.
Ireland has one of the lowest Covid-19 infection rates in Europe but is opting for a slower reopening of its economy after a relaxation of measures in December triggered a huge spike in cases.
Deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday that a plan for a phased return to international travel this summer should be agreed by the end of May.
US split on vaccine passports as country aims for return to normalcy
Vaccine passport supporters see a future where people would have an app on their phone that would include their vaccine information, similar to the paper record card from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that is given when a person is vaccinated. People would flash the app when entering a large venue for something like a concert or sports game.
While many other countries have implemented or are considering vaccine passports, in a country where political divides have determined belief in mask usage, social distancing and even the lethality of the virus, it comes as no surprise that there is already a political divide in the US over whether vaccine passports should be used at all.
Leaders of some Democratic states have embraced the idea of vaccine passports at big events like concerts and weddings.
“Businesses have lost a lot of money during this whole period here so there’s a lot to recoup,” Mufi Hannemann, president and chief executive of the Hawaii Tourism and Lodging Association, told local news station Hawaii News Now. “We’re anxious to get this economy moving forward in a safe and healthy manner.”
On the flip side, a growing number of states are passing laws banning vaccine passports, citing concerns of privacy and intrusion on people’s decisions to get vaccinated.
“Government should not require any Texas to show proof of vaccination and reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives,” said Governor Greg Abbott, who ordered that no government agency or institution receiving government funding should require proof of vaccination.
Read more of Lauren Aratani’s report here: US split on vaccine passports as country aims for return to normalcy
Boris Johnson 'cynical and insincere' for visiting Covid memorial without meeting bereaved families
British prime minister Boris Johnson is currently mired in a series of rows over party donations, Covid-related contracts and the question of who paid for the refurbishment of the flat in the prime minister’s official residence. There’s another strand adding to his woes this morning.
Overnight Amy-Clare Martin and Pippa Crerar at the Mirror reported that Johnson made a private visit to the UK’s National Covid Memorial Wall – ignoring a long-standing invitation for him to meet grieving families there in person.
Paul Waugh, the executive politics editor at Huffington Post, has some additional reaction this morning. Matt Fowler, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice has said: “This is a cynical and insincere move that is deeply hurtful. Our invitation for him to walk the wall with families who’ve lost loved ones is still open.”
Matt Fowler, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice: "For weeks we’ve asked him to come to the wall and meet bereaved families. He’s refused to even acknowledge our request...
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) April 29, 2021
"Then, the day after it’s revealed he said he’d let “bodies pile high” he makes a late evening visit under cover of darkness..This is a cynical and insincere move that is deeply hurtful. Our invitation for him to walk the wall with families who’ve lost loved ones is still open."
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) April 29, 2021
Molly Blackall has collated for us some of the many responses we are getting from readers in India about the Covid crisis there:
“It’s like we are in the middle of the apocalypse,” says 40-year-old Pia Desai, who lives in New Delhi, at the centre of the coronavirus crisis that has brought India’s healthcare system to its knees.
“Every family I know has been affected by Covid. It’s like a horror movie, everywhere you turn someone is asking for medicine, help with a hospital bed, food, plasma. It doesn’t matter who you are right now, you won’t get a hospital bed.”
Desai is in the 10th day of self-isolation with her family, after she and her husband tested positive for the virus. She cannot taste or smell, but counts herself as lucky. “I think I got a mild strain,” she says.
“My best friend’s mother-in-law was on a ventilator in a Delhi hospital, we ran around trying to get the right medication. The government says they’ve taken over distribution, but there’s absolutely none available,” says Desai, who runs a PR firm. “We searched on social media to find someone who had it in stock, but you could only find it on the black market and the prices were astronomical. You try to do what you can to help but it’s like a shot glass trying to bail out the Titanic.”
Read more here: ‘It’s everywhere you look’: Guardian readers in India on the Covid crisis
India’s attempts to ramp up vaccinations in the fight against the Covid surge afflicting the nation have got off to a rocky start, report Associated Press. Starting Wednesday, all Indians 18 and older were allowed to register on a government app for vaccinations, but social media were flooded with complaints the app had crashed due to high use, and once it was working again, no appointments were available.
The mass vaccination drive for the nation of nearly 1.4 billion people began in January and has crawled along since. Nearly 10% of people have received one jab, but only around 1.5% have received both required doses. The latest effort to vaccinate those between ages 18 and 44 is expected to face problems, including whether states even have enough supplies.
Yesterday, the health minister in hard-hit Maharashtra state promised free vaccines for that age group but clarified the state didn’t have enough stock to start giving the vaccines on Saturday.
Actor Priyanka Chopra, who has over 80 million followers on social media, is one of many Indian stars to set-up fund-raising and awareness of the crisis in India. In a widely-shared and viewed video posted overnight she said:
Why do we need to care? Why is it so urgent right now? I’m sitting in London and I’m hearing from my friends and family in India about how hospitals are at capacity, there are no rooms in ICUs, ambulances are too busy, oxygen supply is less, crematoriums having mass cremations because the volume of deaths is so much. India is my home and India is bleeding.
— PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) April 28, 2021
London’s Heathrow has fallen deeper into the red as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to hit the travel sector.
The UK’s largest airport has also slashed its forecast for passenger numbers, warning that uncertainty over government policy risks jeopardising a recovery in international travel this year.
Heathrow reported an adjusted loss of £329m for the first quarter of the year, down from a £41m loss a year ago, in the early stages of the crisis.
This takes Heathrow’s total losses since the start of the pandemic to nearly £2.4bn, after over a year of disruption caused by lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Heathrow reports that only 1.7 million passengers travelled through the airport in January-March, a drop of 91% compared to Q1 2019. Cargo volumes are also weaker, around 23% lower than two year ago.
You can follow the latest business news with my colleague Graeme Wearden over on our business live blog…
If you’ve missed it, late last night we published a long read from Arundhati Roy about the Covid crisis in India. She says it’s hard to convey the full depth and range of the trauma, the chaos and the indignity that people are being subjected to:
Things will settle down eventually. Of course, they will. But we don’t know who among us will survive to see that day. The rich will breathe easier. The poor will not. For now, among the sick and dying, there is a vestige of democracy. The rich have been felled, too. Hospitals are begging for oxygen. Some have started bring-your-own-oxygen schemes. The oxygen crisis has led to intense, unseemly battles between states, with political parties trying to deflect blame from themselves.
On the night of 22 April, 25 critically ill coronavirus patients on high-flow oxygen died in one of Delhi’s biggest private hospitals, Sir Ganga Ram. The hospital issued several desperate SOS messages for the replenishment of its oxygen supply. A day later, the chair of the hospital board rushed to clarify matters: “We cannot say that they have died due to lack of oxygen support.” On 24 April, 20 more patients died when oxygen supplies were depleted in another big Delhi hospital, Jaipur Golden. That same day, in the Delhi high court, Tushar Mehta, India’s solicitor general, speaking for the government of India, said: “Let’s try and not be a cry baby … so far we have ensured that no one in the country was left without oxygen.”
Ajay Mohan Bisht, the saffron-robed chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, who goes by the name Yogi Adityanath, has declared that there is no shortage of oxygen in any hospital in his state and that rumourmongers will be arrested without bail under the National Security Act and have their property seized.
Read more here: ‘We are witnessing a crime against humanity’: Arundhati Roy on India’s Covid catastrophe
Australia’s disability royal commission will investigate the Covid vaccine rollout amid complaints that disability accommodation residents and care workers are facing long waits for jabs – despite being in the top priority phase 1a group.
The Morrison government has been facing increasing criticism over the low numbers of residents vaccinated so far, with peak bodies, the opposition and a former disability discrimination commissioner claiming it had failed to prioritise disability care.
Ronald Sackville, the commission chair, told Guardian Australia today the commission was yet to form a view about the progress of the rollout but would now seek to examine the issue.
Sackville said disability groups had raised concerns at a meeting last week about “the process of the rollout” and “the uncertainty associated with [its] progress”.
“The concerns in some ways mirror the concerns that were expressed during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. “For example, concern about the lack of information that has been available about the precise process for the rollout as it affects people with disability and disability care workers.
“Not surprisingly, there is some degree of confusion, according to the reports that we have received, particularly among people with intellectual disability, because they are finding the varying messages that they may have received to be rather confusing.”
The commission will hold a one-day hearing on 17 May when it is expected that Department of Health officials will be questioned about the rollout.
Read more of Luke Henriques-Gomes’ report here: Vaccination delays for top priority groups in disability sector spark investigation
Hong Kong is preparing to reopen its famed nightlife, but with a set of byzantine rules that are making it hugely confusing for residents and businesses alike.
In order to have an evening out in the city’s currently dormant bars and clubs, customers must scan the government’s app and show their vaccination record - stored electronically on their mobile phones - when they enter. Many residents have declined to use the app because of privacy concerns, choosing instead to write down their details.
Restaurants can then stay open until 2am and seat up to 8 people at a table, provided they have received both vaccine doses. But they must have a separate area for unvaccinated customers, and depending on whether staff have been vaccinated, might be required to close 10pm or midnight.
The multi-tiered rules are tough to implement immediately, industry executives said, and many venues cannot open fully as they cannot force staff to get vaccinated, reports Farah Master for Reuters
Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group, a property owner and developer in the nightclub district, said that bar owners were desperate to reopen but that there remained a lot of apprehension among staff about vaccinations.
“The restrictions will not be easy. Customers themselves need to have one vaccine, that in itself is very limiting,” he said, adding that the measures were a baby step forward and an experiment for both the government and the industry.
Simon Wong, chief executive of LH Group, which operates dozens of restaurants and employs hundreds of staff, wrote on his Facebook page that the new arrangement was “so complicated”. Wong said his restaurants would only be able to seat 4 people per table and stay open until 10pm, as many staff did not want to get vaccinated.
Hong Kong residents have been hesitant since the vaccination programme began in February because of a lack of confidence in China’s Sinovac vaccine and fears of adverse reactions.
Updated
Overnight Lena H. Sun for the Washington Post carried this news from the US on the efficacy of Covid vaccines, with data showing that fully vaccinated US seniors are 94 percent less likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19. The Post’s health reporter writes:
In the study, fully vaccinated adults 65 and older were 94 percent less likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 than than unvaccinated people of the same age, according to the CDC. People who were partially vaccinated were 64 percent less likely to be hospitalized with the disease than the unvaccinated.
The risk for severe illness increases with age, and because older adults are at highest risk, the CDC prioritized them for vaccination. About 68 percent of adults 65 and older in the United States — more than 37 million people — have been fully inoculated, the data shows.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky welcomed that agency’s findings about protection for fully vaccinated older adults.
“The results are promising for our communities and hospitals,” Walensky said in a statement. “As our vaccination efforts continue to expand, Covid-19 patients will not overwhelm health care systems — leaving hospital staff, beds, and services available for people who need them for other medical conditions.”
Read more here: Washington Post – Fully vaccinated seniors are 94 percent less likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19
Good morning from London, it is Martin Belam here. Reuters have a quick report by John Miller in Zurich that contract drug manufacturer Lonza plans to double Swiss production capacity for Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, helping the drugmaker boost total output to as many as 3 billion doses in 2022.
The deal, an extension of a 10-year pact announced in May 2020, foresees three further production lines at Lonza’s site in Visp, Switzerland, in addition the three built since last year. Moderna’s vote of confidence in Lonza will also increase pressure on the Swiss company to find qualified workers to run operations making the US company’s complex mRNA vaccine.
Moderna has warned its vaccine deliveries in the second quarter to countries including Britain and Canada will miss original targets, saying “the trajectory of manufacturing ramp-up” that includes Lonza’s plants led to a shortfall.
Each production line has capacity to make ingredients for roughly 100 million doses annually, so this expansion would bring Lonza’s total capacity to 600 million doses.
The company, which is now recruiting for workers in Switzerland and abroad, said that it will take lessons from getting its earlier production lines staffed and into operation to help speed commissioning of the new facilities expected to start production in the earlier part of 2022.
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. My colleague Martin Belam will be taking over the blog now.
Here is something silly, should you need a break from the bad news:
The United States has advised its citizens inside India to leave as soon as it is safe as the country reported another record day of Covid cases and deaths.
India’s health ministry on Thursday said the country had recorded 379,257 new cases and 3,645 new deaths. India’s total number of cases and deaths stood at 18.38 million and 204,832.
An alert on the US embassy website warned that “access to all types of medical care is becoming severely limited in India due to the surge in Covid-19 cases” and noted that deaths had risen sharply.
“US citizens who wish to depart India should take advantage of available commercial transportation options now,” it said.
The Department of State “advises US citizens not to travel to India or to leave as soon as it is safe to do so due to the current health situation in country”:
As coronavirus rages across India, its neighbour China has made repeated offers of help. Some are asking whether this could be an occasion to ease the tense relations between the world’s two most populous countries following last year’s border skirmishes.
China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said this week that Beijing was “ready to provide support and assistance to the Indian people at any time according to the needs of India”. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Delhi said it would “encourage and instruct Chinese companies to actively cooperate”.
On Sunday the Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka tweeted: “800 oxygen concentrators have been airlifted today from #HongKong to #Delhi; 10,000 more in a week.” A related hashtag on China’s social media site Weibo had been viewed more than 23m times as of Wednesday:
India confirms record new infections, deaths
India reported on Thursday a record rise in coronavirus cases and deaths over the last 24 hours, with its overall caseload rising above 18 million, Reuters reports.
With 379,257 new cases and 3,645 new deaths, India’s total number of cases and deaths are now at 18.38 million and 204,832, respectively, according to health ministry data.
Cambodia reports national record new cases
Cambodia reported a daily record of 698 new coronavirus cases, the health ministry said in a statement issued late on Wednesday, as the country struggles to contain a wave of infections that emerged about two months ago.
The Southeast Asian nation has recorded one of the world’s smallest caseloads, but the outbreak first detected in late February has seen infections climb to 11,761, with 88 Covid-19 deaths.
Authorities have put Phnom Penh and the nearby town of Takhmau under lockdown until May 5, while all markets were shut in the capital on Saturday.
The government has, however, eased movement restrictions for some residents in “yellow” zones designated as safe, while those in “red” and “orange” zones are still banned from leaving their homes except for medical reasons.
Third of Mexicans show exposure to coronavirus
As many as one-third of Mexicans may have been exposed to the coronavirus by the end of 2020, according to a study of random blood samples taken between February and December, AP reports.
Antibodies were found in 33.5% of samples from blood banks and medical laboratory tests in Mexico unrelated to Covid-19. The levels varied according to regions; the highest exposure rate was in the northwest, from Baja California to Chihuahua, at 40.7%. The lowest was in western states, at 26.6%. In general, areas along the U.S. border had higher rates.
Victor Borja of the Mexican Social Security Institute said the rate may have risen by as much as 10 percentage points on average nationwide following the steep upsurge in cases in January. But even if the exposure rate is currently as much as 43.5 %, Borja stressed the country was still far from herd immunity.
Authorities have suggested that with almost 350,000 virus-related deaths, and about 40 million Mexicans exposed to the virus, the mortality rate could be just under 1%.
Moreover, the study suggested about 86% of those infected had developed effective antibodies, but that around 14% hadn’t and could be re-infected.
Mexican authorities also announced they detected three cases of the South African variant on Tuesday. The UK and Brazilian variants have already been detected in the country, but Mexico does relatively little variant testing.
The country has received about 22.6 million vaccine doses and given almost 17 million shots, covering over 12 million people, some of whom have gotten two doses. That remains a small amount for a country of 126 million. Mexico has vaccinated many of its senior citizens and plans to begin vaccinating people between the ages of 50 and 59 in May.
Two NSW deaths reported after AstraZeneca vaccine, including man who developed blood clots
Australia’s drug regulator and the New South Wales health department will not confirm whether two deaths that occurred after vaccination with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine are being investigated, saying only that they are “aware” of the cases.
On Thursday the Northern Daily Leader reported that a man in the northern NSW city of Tamworth had died in hospital on 21 April from blood clots in his lungs, which developed after he received the vaccine. And the ABC reported that a man in his 70s had died in Sydney after receiving the vaccine, but did not name the cause of the man’s death.
It is unclear whether health authorities suspect that a rare and severe clotting condition linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, is being investigated as a possible cause of the deaths. Though the Tamworth man developed clotting in his lungs, it is not yet clear whether the clotting was TTS or a more common form of clotting unrelated to the vaccine:
Facebook blocks hashtag calling for Modi to resign
A hashtag calling for the resignation of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, was briefly blocked on Facebook on Wednesday, hiding more than 12,000 posts critical of the Indian government as the coronavirus pandemic spirals out of control in the country.
Facebook users based in India noted on Twitter that the hashtag #ResignModi had been blocked from view on Facebook.
Users searching the hashtag were given a message that said such posts were “temporarily hidden here” because “some content in those posts goes against our Community Standards”:
World nears 150 million cases
The global caseload is nearing 150 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, with 149,206,501 cases currently confirmed and global infections rising by around 800,000 a day.
That means that about one in 50 people worldwide have contracted the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
Updated
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
As always, you can find me on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
The global toll of cases is nearing 150 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, with 149,206,501 cases currently confirmed and global infections rising by around 800,000 a day.
Meanwhile a hashtag calling for the resignation of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, was briefly blocked on Facebook on Wednesday, hiding more than 12,000 posts critical of the Indian government as the coronavirus pandemic spirals out of control in the country.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
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“This pandemic is not only not over, it is accelerating,” the head of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, said, which is why equitable access to vaccines and effective preventive measures are crucial to helping turn the tide.
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India suffered its worst day yet of the pandemic, as both new Covid-19 cases and deaths break previous records. Crematoriums in Delhi have become so overloaded with bodies that they are running out of both space and wood, and are being forced to build makeshift funeral pyres on spare patches of land. Story here.
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The Philippines’ president Rodrigo Duterte extended restrictions in the capital region and four nearby provinces for another two weeks. From 1 May, non-essential movement, mass gatherings and dining in restaurants will remain banned in Metro Manila and in the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite. The country is battling one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia, with hospitals and medical workers in Manila overwhelmed, while authorities face delays in the delivery of vaccines.
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Almost 30 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection in the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin in 2021 amid a deepening crisis, a report by the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Unocha) has estimated. Poverty, the climate emergency, armed conflicts, chronically high food insecurity and malnutrition have all contributed to the worsening crisis, and across the region Covid-19 is further compounding acute needs. Story here.
- British and European travellers should be able to visit EU countries this summer but may have to deal with multiple, potentially unconnected health certificates unless the bloc can agree on cost, privacy and technical aspects of a common pass. Story here.
- Italy has imposed an entry ban on travellers from Bangladesh in a move aimed to prevent a spread of Covid-19 infections from the country hard-hit by the virus. Restrictions will be imposed on returning residents.
- The UK has secured 60m doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be used for booster shots later this year, the health secretary Matt Hancock said. He said said the extra doses would be used alongside other approved vaccines in “protecting the progress that we have made”. Story here.
- Progress with the UK’s vaccine rollout should limit the damage from any third wave of Covid-19 infections, one of England’s top doctors, Jonathan Van-Tam, said, adding that there would likely still be bumps in the road in the coming year.
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