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Canada will extend its ban on arriving passenger flights from India to 21 September because of the risks posed by Covid, the federal transport ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The ban was first imposed on 22 April and has already been rolled over several times. The measure does not apply to cargo flights or medical transfers.
The UK health department has refused to reveal how many people have turned off contact tracing on the NHS Covid-19 app.
The government admitted it knew the number, but refused to publish it – prompting speculation ministers were embarrassed their test-and-trace system was not as “world-beating” as promised.
Some people – including Tory MPs – have reported either deleting the app or permanently turning off contact tracing, amid fears a “pingdemic” is forcing people into isolation unnecessarily.
More than 2.1m alerts telling people to self-isolate were sent during July in England alone, leading to disruption of services including public transport, bin collections and food supplies.
After initially resisting calls to change the app to decrease its sensitivity, the health secretary, Sajid Javid, said the technology would be tweaked so that only people who came into contact with a positive Covid case two days before would be pinged, instead of five.
But confidence in the app already appeared to have faltered, with the number of new downloads in a week falling. According to a Savanta ComRes poll from mid-July, 19% of UK adults said they had already deleted the app and 20% that they planned to delete it.
People can also keep the app but turn off contact tracing, rendering useless the Bluetooth technology that scans nearby devices to alert users if someone they came into close contact with later tests positive.
When asked in a freedom of information request by the Guardian how many people had permanently turned off contact tracing, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) admitted it did hold the relevant data.
But it said the information was being “withheld” under an exemption, known as “section 22”, allowing it to publish the figure at an unspecified date.
Here is the full story:
Updated
Germany wants to end free coronavirus tests in October, the RND group of newspapers reported on Monday, citing a draft proposal to be discussed by the chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders of the country’s 16 states.
The government made the tests free for all in March to make a gradual return to normal life possible after a lockdown to break a third wave.
But with 55% of the population fully vaccinated there have been calls to stop spending taxpayers’ money on a subsidised scheme that now mainly benefits those who are not yet vaccinated even though vaccines are available for all.
“Given that all vaccination is immediately available to all citizens, it is no longer justifiable that the federal government and therefore taxpayers cover the cost of all tests,” RND cited from a draft proposal.
Less than seven weeks before a federal election, Merkel and state leaders will discuss measures to keep rising new infections spurred by the Delta variant in check without instituting lockdowns.
The draft stipulates that people who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons like pregnant women and children under 18 will continue to be entitled to subsidised tests.
An exact date in October for curtailing the programme has not yet been made, RND added.
Germany has recorded more than 3,000 cases on each of the past five days, but with almost 63% of the population having received at least one shot the government is hoping lockdowns could be avoided.
Updated
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on Monday against travel to Israel, France, Thailand, Iceland and several other countries because of a rising number of Covid cases in those nations.
The CDC has been adding to its highest “Level 4: Very High” Covid level as cases spread around the globe. The US added Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, along with other places, including Aruba and French Polynesia.
The US State Department also issued its parallel “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisories for Iceland and France on Monday.
In July, the CDC had raised concerns about Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, lifting its travel health notice by two levels to “Level 3: High.”
The CDC also hiked alert levels to Level 3 for Austria, Croatia, El Salvador, Azerbaijan, Guam, Kenya and Jamaica. The CDC says unvaccinated travellers should avoid nonessential travel to those countries.
Updated
Whitehall officials have held high-level talks about taking away a salary boost awarded to London-based civil servants amid efforts to encourage workers back to the office.
The Guardian understands that several UK government departments have considered stripping some officials of topped-up wages – known as London weighting and worth about £4,000 to offset higher living costs in the capital – if they resist at least a partial return to Whitehall.
Downing Street stressed on Monday that flexible working is here to stay and said there were no plans to dock civil servants’ pay. But the decision ultimately rests with each department, and some Tory MPs have piled pressure on them to take a tougher approach to end the move to working remotely during the pandemic.
The full story is here:
Updated
The European Union will not change its safe travel list this week, an EU official told Reuters on Monday, allowing non-essential travel from the United States to continue for the time being despite a surge in Covid cases there.
The list currently comprises two dozen countries, including the United States, Japan and Australia, which are considered safe from a health perspective under the ongoing pandemic.
Last week, an EU official said the inclusion of the US in the list might be reconsidered.
The list will be reviewed again in two weeks or even earlier if the Covid situation changes, according to EU officials.
The 27-nation bloc has repeatedly asked Washington to let in EU citizens after the US was added in June to the so-called white list.
The list is non-binding, although EU governments tend to apply it. They can however ignore it.
The EU is divided among states that are pushing for reciprocity from the US, and others that are more reliant on tourism and reluctant to remove the US from the list, officials have said.
The UK government is planning to relax key Covid-19 restrictions for delegates to the UN Cop26 climate conference to be held in Glasgow for two weeks this November.
Delegates from 196 countries are expected to attend the talks, viewed as one of the last chances for the world to agree limits on greenhouse gas emissions that would avoid the worst ravages of climate breakdown.
The government has offered vaccines to countries coming to the talks, to enable all delegates to be fully vaccinated before the event. However, officials were unable to say how many had taken up the offer.
Those who are fully vaccinated and from red list countries will have to self-isolate for five days in hotels on arrival, and for 10 days if they are unvaccinated. Most attendees are expected to arrive through London.
All vaccines – most of which require two doses to give full protection – will be recognised by the government for the purposes of the event. Attendees will also be tested frequently throughout the event, but additional booster vaccines will not be required.
There will be no requirement for Cop26 attendees coming from amber or green list countries to self-isolate on arrival in the UK whether vaccinated or not, officials said.
Around 20,000 are expected at the talks in what will be the biggest diplomatic meeting on UK soil since the second world war, and the biggest UK-hosted public event since the 2012 Olympics.
Scientists warned on Monday, in a landmark report, that extreme weather caused by human actions was now widespread across the world and would get much worse unless countries take drastic action to cut emissions now.
At Cop26, regarded as the most important climate talks since the Paris agreement was signed in 2015, countries will be asked to come forward with new commitments to reduce their carbon output in line with scientific advice.
The government has been determined to hold the event in person rather than virtually, a stance praised by veterans of the UN talks, who said forging an international deal would be impossible without face-to-face negotiations.
The full story is here:
Australia risks “eroding” its reputation as a welcoming place for international students if it does not offer them hope about when they can return to the country to study, a senior diplomat has said.
India’s high commissioner to Australia, Manpreet Vohra, said extended travel restrictions could cause frustration, uncertainty and anxiety among thousands of students who have been unable to travel to Australia to undertake their courses, adding that online education was “not what they signed up for”.
In an interview with Guardian Australia, Vohra said he was urging the Australian government to spell out a timeframe for a staged, Covid-safe return to on-campus studies so students had something “to look forward to”. It would be a pity if students ended up turning to other countries to continue their studies, he said.
Updated
Good evening from London. I’m Lucy Campbell, I’ll be bringing you all the latest global developments on the coronavirus pandemic for the next few hours. Please feel free to get in touch with me as I work if you have a story or tips to share! Your thoughts are always welcome.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
Today so far...
- The UK is on course to “hoard” up to 210m spare coronavirus vaccines by the end of the year, new research suggested, as ministers were accused of leaving poorer countries “fighting for scraps” after the UK opposed a move to allow more companies abroad to manufacture the doses themselves.
- An extension to France’s “health pass” covering activities including going to restaurants and cafes, taking long-distance train journeys and visiting hospitals has come into effect after a fourth weekend of protests. Opponents believe the pass sanitaire violates the most fundamental of French principles: the liberté and egalité of the national motto.
- The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has put the issue of vaccine mandates firmly in the hands of employers, saying government legal advice backs the view that bosses may be able to require workers to get a Covid-19 jab, particularly in high-risk fields.
- Canada today lifted its ban on Americans entering, though under a strict regime they must be both fully vaccinated and test negative for Covid-19 within three days. Long delays were reported at as tourists rushed to travel north during the busy summer season.
- One person is now dying with Covid-19 every two minutes in Iran, state TV has said, as the Middle East’s worst-hit nation reported a new record daily toll of 588 fatalities. It compares to a reported rate of about one death per three minutes a month ago.
- Fake versions of anti-Covid “green passes” have begun to circulate in Italy just days after they were introduced to gain entry to a number of indoor places, police said. One network selling false evidence of vaccination, recovery or testing has been broken up, they claimed, saying they have identified four suspects, including two minors.
- California’s ambitious programme to provide rent relief to every low-income tenant struggling during the pandemic has been plagued by delays and challenges, and some renters who are waiting for the aid to arrive say they are now facing eviction threats.
- Saudi Arabia is from today taking travel requests from vaccinated foreign visitors seeking to visit the holy city of Mecca as part of the Umrah pilgrimage. The tight restrictions, including rules on which vaccines are considered acceptable, means that millions of Muslims could be prevented from going on the pivotally important journey.
- Scottish clubbers have vowed to be “out every night” as the easing of coronavirus restrictions allowed venues to reopen for the first time in more than a year. Nightclubs across the country opened their doors as the clock moved a minute past midnight today.
Updated
Sky News Australia has quietly deleted at least 31 videos that question the public health response to Covid-19 or promote unproven treatments as the broadcaster prepares for its chief executive, Paul Whittaker, to appear at a Senate inquiry on Friday, Guardian Australia can reveal.
Sky News will face the media diversity inquiry after the broadcaster was suspended from YouYube for seven days for posting 21 videos that violated the platform’s Covid medical misinformation policies.
Whittaker, presenter Sharri Markson and the Sky News digital editor, Jack Houghton, have all criticised YouTube for deleting the videos but Sky has given no explanation for scrubbing its own skynews.com.au website of what could be perceived as contentious content.
Updated
Anger over chaos involving PCR tests in the UK
There is anger over overflowing Covid PCR test drop boxes, with the requirement for all UK international arrivals to provide at least one test within two days of landing branded “pointless” and “a rip off”.
One of the biggest providers, Randox, told the BBC it was increasing the number of drop boxes and the frequency of box collections after people posted pictures of returned test kits piled high in Sutton and Hampstead.
The size of the piles suggests the tests may not be being processed quickly enough for it to represent an effective strategy to contain Covid.
Labour MP Ben Bradshaw tweeted in reaction to the photos: “These pointless rip-off day two PCR tests for people returning from amber and green list countries, most of which have a fraction of our Covid-19 rates, are becoming a bad joke.”
Rory Boland, travel editor at Which?, told the BBC it has observed an increase in complaints over tests not arriving on time, inability to book and misleading prices.
“The system isn’t set up for large numbers of people travelling and now many people are travelling the system is not working properly,” he said. “The government might now say it is looking into the prices of tests, but it’s very late in the day and these problems were foreseeable.”
Gavin Marshall had dropped off a test kit on behalf of his daughter two days after her return from Portugal. “I had no choice but to leave the sample at that site, because there wasn’t enough time to get to another drop box before collection deadline,” he told the BBC, adding it represented a “Covid travel rip-off”.
A spokesperson for Randox told the BBC: “Randox is providing premium testing services in dynamic and rapidly changing circumstances and is committed to continuously improving its logistics network, to ensure that international travellers receive their results in time. All of the sample kits pictured will be processed.”
You think that one’s bad? pic.twitter.com/1TDX9Or5PK
— Tilly Slight (@Slightly) August 8, 2021
Updated
Tory peer Dido Harding will step down from her role as chair of NHS Improvement in October, after also overseeing the test-and-trace programme.
Harding was executive chair of NHS test and trace until April this year. The scheme has come in for criticism over the course of the pandemic, with a report from the Commons public accounts committee in March saying there was “no clear evidence” the £22bn venture contributed to a reduction in coronavirus infection levels.
Critics of England’s system have argued that test-and-trace systems in other places have worked much more effectively. Harding defended her record in June, saying the main issue with the service was that “expectations were set too high”.
Among her previous jobs, Harding was chief executive of TalkTalk for seven years until 2017, and before that worked in senior roles for both Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
Every time Dido Harding's name is mentioned I think back to this awkward photoshoot of her inexplicably agreeing to hold the Daily Mail's Wooden Spoon award for worst customer service in the UK when CEO at TalkTalk. https://t.co/2ASEqscXV3 via @MailOnline
— Rob Davies (@ByRobDavies) August 17, 2020
Updated
Nepal has today begun a rollout of second jabs for nearly 1.4m elderly people, following a months-long delay after neighbouring India halted exports over a surge in infections.
People aged over 65 became eligible from March to receive their first AstraZeneca-Oxford shots from India, but were unable to get their second dose after the stock ran out, AFP reports.
The vaccination drive was later opened in stages to everyone above 18 using 1.6m shots donated by China and 1.5m single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines sent by the US via the international Covax programme. The government has not allowed vaccine shots to be mixed.
After an international appeal by the government for vaccines, Japan donated 1.6m AstraZeneca shots and neighbouring Bhutan sent another 230,000. Nepal, population 30m, has reported more than 710,000 infections and over 10,000 deaths.
“Those who were waiting for the second dose of vaccine after getting the first jab of [Indian-made AstraZeneca shot] Covishield in March will be administered from today,” the head of the government’s National Health Emergency Operation Centre, Samir Kumar Adhikari, said.
Panna Das Shrestha, 72, said after receiving his second jab that he was relieved. “We were very worried and were wondering what we should do. But luckily, in time, we got it,” Shrestha told AFP.
The nation launched its inoculation programme in January with health and other frontline workers using 1m Covishield doses donated by India.
It bought 2m more Covishield shots, but only half arrived before India suspended its exports. Covax, which had allocated nearly 2m Covishield doses to Nepal, has so far delivered only 348,000.
Updated
Switzerland has approved Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for youngsters aged between 12 and 17 years old, weeks after EU regulators authorised the drug for the same age group.
The Swissmedic regulatory authority, which has already approved the Pfizer/BioNTech jab for over-12s, said results from an ongoing study showed Moderna had 93% efficacy in the young age group, AFP reports.
“The vaccine produced a similar immune response ... in this study compared to young adults aged 18 to 25,” the regulator said. Switzerland, which is not in the EU, has its own regulatory process and was the first country in continental Europe to start using the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.
The country has administered more than 9.1m doses and nearly 49.2% of the population of 8.6m are now fully vaccinated. However, take-up has slowed in recent weeks. Nearly 2.5m doses were administered in June but fewer than 1.4m in July.
There have been 10,354 deaths with Covid in Switzerland over the pandemic and 723,907 positive tests have been registered.
Moderna’s Covid-19 jab is used in 48 countries, behind AstraZeneca (161), Pfizer-BioNTech (88) and Sinopharm (49), according to an AFP count.
Updated
In related news, after BioNTech raised its vaccine revenue forecast for 2021, AFP reports that Covid vaccine sales have brought billions of dollars to the banks of pharmaceutical companies.
US firm Pfizer and BioNTech got a head start over rivals as they were the first in the western world to announce positive results from clinical trials of their vaccine last year. They were also first to get authorisation from US and European Union regulators to sell their shot.
Pfizer has earned more than its competitors, raking in $10.8bn in the first half of this year. The US company has raised its outlook for 2021, expecting to make $33.5bn in sales for the full year.
BioNTech reported revenues of $7.3bn in the first half. Unlike its larger partner, the company’s only product on sale is the coronavirus vaccine. It expects vaccine revenues to reach €15.9bn for the full year.
US startup Moderna is the only other firm to have produced an authorised mRNA vaccine so far. Messenger RNA technology works by providing human cells with the genetic instructions to make a surface protein of the coronavirus, which trains the immune system to recognise the real virus.
Like BioNTech, the company’s only product in the market is the Covid vaccine. The vaccine requires two shots taken weeks apart. Moderna reported turnover of $5.9bn in the first six months of the year. It expects to make $20bn in revenues thanks to the vaccine this year.
AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson do not use mRNA technology. They both made more traditional viral vector vaccines, which use genetically-engineered version of a common-cold causing adenovirus as a “vector” to shuttle genetic instructions into human cells.
The two companies also vowed to sell their vaccines at cost during the pandemic, meaning they would not earn profits from them. They are cheaper than the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna jabs, which reflects in their revenues.
AstraZeneca’s Covid jab generated $1.2bn in sales in the first six months of the year. J&J reported $264m in sales and expects to make $2.5bn for the full year. AstraZeneca has not provided a detailed full-year estimate.
Updated
BioNTech said that repeat shots of its Covid-19 vaccine manufactured in partnership with Pfizer, of which more than 1bn doses have been supplied worldwide, was a better strategy than tailoring the product to new variants.
The German biotech firm said that offering a third dose of its established two-shot vaccine remained the best response to concerns over waning immune protection in the face of the more contagious Delta variant, as worse strains may emerge, Reuters reports.
Company data suggests the efficacy of the jab falls from 96% to 84% over six months, and continues to decline by an average of 6% every two months after administration.
Based on delivery contracts signed for more than 2.2bn doses so far, BioNTech said that it expects to accrue €15.9bn in revenue from the vaccine this year, up from a May forecast of €12.4bn.
Pfizer and BioNTech’s decision in early July to seek authorisation for a third dose drew criticism from US health regulators, who said there was not enough data to show booster shots are needed.
US health agencies have since discussed additional doses for people with compromised immune systems, while Germany and France said they would roll out a third dose for the most vulnerable from September.
The World Health Organization has called for booster shot rollouts to be suspended, following a launch in Israel, to allow for supplies to start vaccination campaigns in poorer nations.
BioNTech’s chief executive, Ugur Sahin, said that although work was ongoing to adjust the vaccine to variants it was not clear whether yet another version of the pathogen would supplant the now prevalent Delta variant.
“Making a decision at the moment might turn out to be wrong in three or six months if another variant is dominating,” Sahin said.
The company’s chief medical officer, Özlem Türeci, said lab experiments had shown that a third shot of the established product generated neutralising antibodies against a range of strains and that the antibody boost was above the one following a second dose.
Updated
Covid-19 hospitalisations continued to surge among America’s deep south states today as health officials urge unvaccinated residents to receive the shot and intensive care units near capacity in multiple locations, prompting fears of a surge close to the numbers of last winter.
The state of Louisiana now leads the nation in new Covid cases as the Delta variant rips through a region with some of the lowest vaccination rates in the US. Last Friday, the Louisiana department of health announced a daily increase of 6,116 positive Covid cases, with 2,421 people now hospitalised with the virus including 277 on ventilators. With just 37% of residents fully vaccinated, state data indicated that unvaccinated people accounted for 90% of hospitalisations in the state. 181 people died from the virus in Louisiana last week.
Updated
Another 37 people die in the UK, with 25,161 new cases
A further 37 people in the UK died within 28 days of testing positive as of Monday, bringing the country’s death toll to 130,357.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have been a total of 155,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
As of 9am on Monday, there had been a further 25,161 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the UK, the Westminster government said.
Official data up to 8 August show that, of the 86,611,177 jabs given, 47,059,639 were first doses; an increase of 22,843 on the previous day. Some 39,551,538 were second doses; an increase of 122,070.
Updated
In the UK, testing for returning holidaymakers has been described as as “absolute mess” after images of overflowing boxes for completed test kits were posted on social media.
PA Media reports that teaching assistant Gavin Marshall captured an image of a full box for kits supplied by testing firm Randox in the Sutton area of south London. He expressed his anger at being “forced to pay Randox over the odds for a day two PCR test”.
Marshall explained that he drove for half an hour to drop off his sample as there are “so few collection points”, but on arrival found the box “overflowing and insecure”. He added that the testing system is a “rip off”.
Tilly Slight, who works in the art sector in London, replied to Mr Marshall’s photo with the message “You think that one’s bad?”. She uploaded an image of a full Randox box with dozens of test kits stacked on top.
Another Twitter user, with the account tothepoint2019, posted an image of a pair of packed drop boxes.
Paul Charles, the chief executive of the travel consultancy the PC Agency, said the images demonstrated “the absolute mess that PCR testing has become”.
Charles claimed they were proof that private laboratories “aren’t in any hurry to turn around the results” and warned that personal details and samples were being “left for anyone to take”. A spokesperson for Randox said:
Randox is constantly expanding and improving its Covid-19 testing capacity and associated logistics network, which is already the largest in the United Kingdom, to meet the rapidly growing demand resulting from the loosening of travel restrictions.
Randox continues to increase the number of drop boxes across the United Kingdom, which already totals over 200, and is increasing the frequency of box collections which are already occurring multiple times per day.
Randox is providing premium testing services in dynamic and rapidly changing circumstances and is committed to continuously improving its logistics network, to ensure that international travellers receive their results in time. All of the sample kits pictured will be processed.
Updated
Police in London have clashed with protesters who appeared to seek to enter a BBC office in White City. The demonstrators are reportedly protesting against Covid health passes and jabs for children.
🚨 | NEW: Scuffles as anti-lockdown protestors attempt to storm a BBC television office in West London
— News For All (@NewsForAllUK) August 9, 2021
Via @newsflarepic.twitter.com/axWM9z35HL
We reported earlier that an extension to France’s controversial “health pass” covering activities including going to restaurants and cafes, taking long-distance train journeys and visiting hospitals has come into effect after a fourth weekend of protests.
In our editorial in the paper today, the Guardian calls for attention to be paid to the French Covid pass protesters.
Conspiracy theorists and eccentric libertarians certainly populate the fringes of the anti-pass movement in France and elsewhere. But as the digital age extends its reach ever more deeply into our private lives, legitimate concerns over an intrusive surveillance society should be respected and addressed.
The anti-passers, while focused on the theme of individual liberty, draw from the same deep well of suspicion and mistrust in the motives of the powerful. In an interview last week, an exasperated Mr Macron said the attitude of the demonstrators was “a threat to democracy. They mix up everything. A few tens of thousands of people have lost their minds to such an extent that they are capable of saying we live in a dictatorship.”
But polls indicate that around a third of French people are sympathetic to the protests. A disturbingly large minority appears to have lost faith in the political class, as evidenced by the remarkable levels of abstention in recent local elections.
Updated
The Indian health ministry has moved to allow foreign nationals resident in the country to access the Covid vaccination programme, local reports say.
Health Ministry has decided to allow foreign nationals residing in India to get registered on CoWin portal to take COVID vaccine. They can use their passport as ID for registration on CoWIN. Once they're registered on this portal, they'll get a slot for vaccination: Govt of India pic.twitter.com/FTUAZF8bLT
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) August 9, 2021
Travellers line up to enter Canada after border restrictions were loosened to allow fully vaccinated U.S. residents, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented 16-month ban, at the Thousand Islands Bridge crossing in Lansdowne. Photo by Alex Filipe pic.twitter.com/JESz7XHk1q
— corinne_perkins (@corinne_perkins) August 9, 2021
Earlier we reported that Canada today lifts its ban on Americans entering, though under a strict regime they must be both fully vaccinated and test negative for Covid-19 within three days.
In related news, a cottage industry connected to US colleges and universities has also sprung up in an attempt to accommodate people who do not want to get vaccinated for either personal or religious reasons.
The Associated Press reports there is concern over how easy it is to get fake vaccine cards. An Instagram account with the username “vaccinationcards” sells laminated Covid-19 vaccination cards for $25 each.
A user on the encrypted messaging app Telegram offers “Covid-19 Vaccine Cards Certificates” for as much as $200 apiece. “This is our own way of saving as many people as we possibly can from the poisonous vaccine,” reads the seller’s message, viewed by at least 11,000 app users.
A Reddit user commented on a thread about falsifying Covid-19 vaccination cards, saying, in part, “I need one, too, for college. I refuse to be a guinea pig.”
On Twitter, one user with more than 70,000 followers tweeted: “My daughter bought 2 fake ID’s online for $50 while in college. Shipped from China. Anyone have the link for vaccine cards?”
Benjamin Mason Meier, a global health policy professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, questions how institutions can verify bona fide records: “The US, unlike most countries which have electronic systems in place, is basing its vaccination on a flimsy paper card.”
In March, the concern over fake Covid vaccination cards prompted the FBI to issue a joint statement with the US Department of Health and Human Services urging people not to buy, create or sell fabricated vaccine cards.
Requiring vaccinations to attend class at colleges and universities has become a contentious political issue in some states, the AP reports. Public colleges in at least 13 states including Ohio, Utah, Tennessee and Florida cannot legally require Covid vaccinations due to state legislation.
Among the states introducing and passing bills barring educational institutions from mandating Covid vaccines, infringement on individual rights or liberties is often cited as the main concern.
Updated
Fake Covid 'green passes' circulating in Italy, police say
Fake versions of anti-Covid “green passes” have begun to circulate in Italy just days after they were introduced, police have said.
One network selling false evidence of vaccination, recovery or testing has been broken up, they claimed, saying they have identified four suspects, including two minors, in an ongoing investigation.
“Thousands of users were registered on well-known communication platforms where fake green passes were offered for sale, with an absolute guarantee of anonymity, to be paid in cryptocurrency or vouchers for online shopping platforms, at a price between €150-500,” Italy’s postal police said.
The green pass, an extension of the EU’s digital Covid-19 certification, became compulsory on Friday in Italy to gain entry into cinemas, museums, indoor sports venues, or for indoor dining at restaurants.
The pass shows that bearers have received at least one vaccine dose, have recovered from Covid within the past six months, or have tested negative in the previous 48 hours, AFP reports.
It will also be required on long-distance trains and buses after 1 September, and will be mandatory for school and university staff as well as university students.
The police investigation came as 20 million Italians downloaded their green passes in the past three days, according to the health minister, Roberto Speranza.
Updated
Scenes in New Delhi as Olympic gold medal javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra receives a hero’s welcome as he returns to India.
The guy practiced social distancing in Tokyo, had a Covid test taken inside the airport and then this happens! https://t.co/MnQpKV77EP
— Aseem Chhabra (@chhabs) August 9, 2021
Some residents of Martha’s Vineyard, an island in Massachusetts, were not overly concerned about hundreds of people travelling to the small community for Barack Obama’s 60th birthday party because the crowd was “sophisticated” and had submitted negative Covid tests.
However, according to a New York Times reporter, others were upset that so many people from across the country had travelled to the island at a time when many are anxious about getting together.
Deceptively edited clips on this site are toxic so I’m going to call one of them out:
— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) August 8, 2021
CNN’s Jim Acosta asked NYT’s Annie Karni what people on the island were saying about the Obama party, not for her own opinion on it (i.e. “sophisticated”).
Here’s how @anniekarni responded: pic.twitter.com/9GZ3k0iBtR
Watch the full clip.
— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) August 8, 2021
The Q was, what do people on the island think of the party? The A was me summarizing views of ppl I spoke with: some are upset, + others think the concerns about it are overblown. "Sophisticated crowd" was from a quote in the story:https://t.co/IZTRj6kU2H https://t.co/IWJbbF4CnJ
Updated
As Covid-era government support for some of the country’s most precariously positioned companies winds down, accounting for their finances remains trapped in a unhealthy pattern of being put off until it’s too late – and then bodged anyway, with often calamitous results, writes Richard Brooks, Private Eye journalist and the author of Bean Counters.
Reforms promised after the 2018 collapse of Carillion, after years of mis-accounting and at a cost to taxpayers of £150m, remain some way off ... Executives will be anxious to impress the markets with strong balance sheets that can be used to justify the restoration of dividends and boardroom bonuses. But without reliable audits, these figures could be as illusory as Carillion’s were.
The big four firms that dominate the country’s accounting sector – EY, PwC, KPMG and Deloitte – will have the responsibility of ensuring that subjective accounting assessments are realistic, rather than flattering. Unfortunately recent experience suggests that they’re not up to the job.
Updated
Scottish clubbers have vowed to be “out every night” as the easing of coronavirus restrictions allowed the venues to reopen for the first time in more than a year.
Nightclubs across the country opened their doors as the clock moved a minute past midnight today. In Glasgow, dancers took to the floor at the Boteco Do Brasil club.
Martin Stewart, 24, from the city, was among the crowd and said he was glad to be back. “It’s been a long wait - I’ll be out till closing,” he told the PA news agency.
At the nearby Polo Lounge, an LGBTQ inclusive club, revellers chanted and screamed as the clock struck midnight and the doors re-opened.
Luke Dunsmuir, 19, from Strathbungo, said he was eager to get back. “I’ve been nightclubbing since I was 15,” he said. “Oot and aboot.” He said with clubs closed he had missed meeting different people and networking with others.
“The only worry was older people, that was the only worry for me, but the younger generation the percentage of them getting Covid is so low ... Out every night, just you wait, you’ll be seeing my face everywhere,” he added.
In the city’s centre people queued round the block outside the Savoy nightclub. Mark Grant, 19, said he only had two months of clubbing when he turned 18 before the country locked down.
“I spent most of my 18 inside so it’s been good to get back out,” he said. “It’s a huge part of our teenage life - especially teens to early twenties - it’s a huge part of it, and we’ve not had it. So we have a lot of time to make up for.”
Updated
Most UK tourists struggle to understand coronavirus restrictions overseas, a new survey suggests.
The majority find following the rules in other countries either difficult (47%) or very difficult (33%), according to the poll by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Some holidaymakers have been prevented from boarding flights out of the UK because airline staff have determined that they do not meet their destination’s entry requirements, PA reports.
For example, Spain requires UK tourists to provide proof of a recent negative result from a coronavirus test or proof of being fully vaccinated, but not all tests and vaccines are recognised.
It was unclear whether a particular culture of monolingualism among many British tourists, or alcohol intake, contributed to the lack of understanding of foreign rules.
A total of 17,720 people from the UK or overseas who were arriving in the UK were questioned for the survey.
Updated
One person is now dying with Covid-19 every two minutes in Iran, state TV has said, as the Middle East’s worst-hit nation reported a new record daily toll of 588 fatalities.
Reuters reports that with authorities complaining of poor social distancing, state media say hospitals in several cities have run out of beds for new patients. Some social media users have criticised a slow vaccination campaign, with only about 4% of the 83 million population fully inoculated.
“Every two seconds one person gets infected in Iran and almost every two minutes one person dies from the coronavirus,” state TV said, adding that most of Iran’s 31 provinces have moved from the lower risk orange level to red alert. That compares to a reported rate of about one death per three minutes a month ago, Reuters reports.
In January, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, banned imports of US- and British-made vaccines, saying they were unreliable and may propagate the infection. Iran has blamed US sanctions for hampering purchases and deliveries of vaccines from other nations.
Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, who received his first dose of a homegrown Covid-19 vaccine in public yesterday, has urged officials to speed up vaccinations and to use “all necessary means” for curbing the pandemic, state media reported.
Updated
Brunei has reported 42 new coronavirus cases, a record daily tally, following the detection over the weekend of the south-east Asian country’s first locally transmitted cases in 15 months.
Reuters reports that Brunei has implemented strict quarantine rules for inbound travellers and reported 406 infections since the onset of the pandemic. One cluster in the current outbreak was linked to a hotel quarantine centre, the health minister, Mohd Isham Jaafar, said.
“Compared to the [outbreak] last year, we don’t know the sources of many cases this time around,” he said.
The outbreak was causing quarantine centres to quickly fill up, and authorities were also investigating the possibility illegal border crossings between Brunei and Malaysia were the source of the latest infections, he said
“We know that the weakest chain is mainly smuggling routes and frontliners from the airport to hotels,” he added.
On Saturday, Brunei reported seven Covid-19 infections transmitted in the community - the first such infections since May 2020.
It immediately reinstated strict movement restrictions, including a ban on most public gatherings. Schools, mosques and most non-essential businesses have been closed.
Around 33% of the country’s total population of 450,000 have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to government data.
Updated
Saudi Arabia is from today taking travel requests from vaccinated foreign visitors seeking to visit the holy city of Mecca as part of the Umrah pilgrimage.
The Gulf state closed its borders 18 months ago due to the pandemic but since the beginning of the month vaccinated foreign tourists are also allowed in.
Last month, just 60,000 vaccinated residents were allowed to take part in a scaled-down Hajj, a foundational element of Islam which Muslims who are able must undergo at least once.
Saudi Arabia will initially allow 60,000 pilgrims to perform the pilgrimage each month, gradually increasing numbers to reach two million people a month, the BBC reports the state Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying.
The tight restrictions, including on which vaccines are considered acceptable, means that millions of Muslims could be prevented from ever going on the pivotally important journey.
Saudi Arabia, population 34 million, has recorded nearly 532,000 coronavirus cases and more than 8,300 deaths.
Updated
Staying in the UK, the online supermarket Ocado has told staff who worked from home during the pandemic they can work remotely outside the country for one month a year.
The firm’s chief people officer, Claire Ainscough, said the move answered a “top question” from staff, particularly those with families abroad who did not want to use up their holiday leave by spending time with them.
Ocado said it wanted to offer “a balance and choice” in response to requests from staff, the Times reports.
Updated
UK set to ‘hoard’ up to 210m doses of Covid vaccine, research suggests
The UK is on course to “hoard” up to 210m spare coronavirus vaccines by the end of the year, research suggests, as ministers were accused of leaving poorer countries “fighting for scraps”.
Pressure is growing on the government to do more to help nations where tiny proportions of their population have had a first jab given that the UK is opposing a temporary waiver to intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines that would allow more companies abroad to manufacture the doses themselves.
About 467m jabs are on order, with 306m due to be delivered to the UK by the end of 2021, data from the life science analytics company Airfinity found. However only about 95m jabs will be needed to fulfil the expected demand of vaccinating all over-16s and giving a booster dose to the most vulnerable in autumn.
Updated
Also in opinion, the Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik writes that it appears there is little desire among many states for normal rates of international travel to return. Instead, they have sought to use this opportunity to make it permanently harder to move around, particularly for those whose starting point is in the global south.
At the top of the pyramid sit the holders of “high-value passports” who don’t need visas to travel to most places and who live in countries with high vaccination rates. At the bottom are those who live in countries with no access to vaccines in the foreseeable future. Political conflict also plays its part: when Egypt was placed on Britain’s red list earlier this year, UK-based Palestinians visiting Gaza were trapped, as Egypt is the only port of entry and exit.
Updated
It is unfathomable that the US is not monitoring post-vaccination breakthrough infections unless they lead to hospitalisations or deaths, writes Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and professor of molecular medicine.
Still being reported by CDC, from their latest website data, and a constant refrain from public health officials, is that “99.99% of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death.” That could not be further from the truth. In the July Provincetown Delta outbreaks that the CDC reported on the risk of fully vaccinated requiring hospitalization was 1%, not .01%, and that may not be a reliable estimate for the incidence of such infections occurring throughout the country.
With billions of dollars allocated to CDC earlier this year for improved Covid-19 surveillance, this represents a blatant failure that is putting millions of vaccinated Americans at unnecessary risk for breakthrough infections and leaving us without a navigational system for the US Delta wave.
California’s ambitious programme to provide rent relief to every low-income tenant struggling during the pandemic has been plagued by delays and challenges, and some renters who are waiting for the aid to arrive say they are now facing eviction threats.
California officials have been working since March to distribute funds to landlords whose tenants fell behind on rent during the pandemic, and in June authorities promised that the state would pay off the entirety of the rent debt of qualifying tenants. But the program has been slow to roll out, with eligible tenants across the state having difficulties applying while others say they’ve had to wait months for funds.
Tenant groups fear that if problems persist, hundreds of thousands of renters could be vulnerable to displacement when California’s eviction protections expire at the end of September. As of last week, the majority of applicants haven’t received any rent relief yet, according to state data. The city of Los Angeles has run out of money and closed its program, saying it is unable to meet demands.
Updated
Canada today lifts its ban on Americans entering, though under a strict regime they must be both fully vaccinated and test negative for Covid-19 within three days.
The Canada Border Services Agency won’t say how many people it is expecting to enter Canada for the reopening, even though travellers have to register, after the border was closed to non-essential travel since March 2020, the Associated Press reports.
The US has said it will extend its closure to all Canadians making nonessential trips until at least 21 August, which also applies to the Mexican border.
The US also looks set to require that nearly all foreign visitors to the US would have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. But such plans have been criticised as being certain to “further exacerbate inequities”.
Near the border in Washington state, Blaine Chamber of Commerce board member Carroll Solomon told AP the reopening was a step in the right direction for businesses, but due to the tight rules, she doesn’t think that people will be going to Canada for many day trips.
“I have a lot of friends on the Canadian side and would love to go have lunch with somebody, but you can’t just do that; you have to plan days in advance to make sure you can get through,” she said.
Updated
A senior Scottish minister has forecast that face coverings will remain in use through the winter, and perhaps for longer, to continue suppressing the Covid-19 virus.
John Swinney, Scotland’s minister for Covid strategy, said face coverings would remain “a significant part of our lives” and predicted many people could copy the practice in some east Asian countries of routinely wearing them outdoors.
Swinney was speaking as a large proportion of Scotland’s Covid restrictions were lifted at midnight on Monday 9 August, with the country entering a “beyond level 0” phase.
Nightclubs and other hospitality businesses such as music venues can reopen at full capacity. Sports stadiums will be limited to 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 outside, but can admit larger crowds with permission from local councils.
However, face coverings will remain mandatory on public transport and in public places in Scotland, with school pupils expected to continue wearing them indoors for up to six weeks once schools return this month. Teachers must remain 1 metre apart from each other, with office workers expected to work from home.
In related news, Australia’s pharmaceutical regulator has granted provisional approval to Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, Morrison has said. Australia in May agreed to buy 25m doses of the Moderna vaccine, and Morrison said the first 1m doses would arrive in September.
The country has a shortage of the Pfizer vaccine but an abundant supply of locally manufactured AstraZeneca jabs, which many have refused because of the slight blood clot risk.
Updated
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has put the issue of vaccine mandates firmly in the hands of employers, saying government legal advice backs the view that bosses may be able to require workers to get a Covid-19 jab, particularly in high-risk fields.
With companies such as Qantas and SPC already indicating they will require staff to get the jab, employer groups and experts warn it is only a matter of time before the issue is tested in court.
So what is the current law around requiring vaccination – and is it ethical for employers to impose such a requirement?
Updated
An extension to France’s “health pass” covering activities including going to restaurants and cafes, taking long-distance train journeys and visiting hospitals has come into effect after a fourth weekend of protests.
The pass sanitaire, which the government hopes will boost vaccination rates, is shown in the form of a QR code either digitally or on paper and given to those who are fully vaccinated, have a negative Covid-19 test or have had coronavirus and recovered.
It has been required since 21 July for anyone going to the cinema, theatre or a museum and its extension was approved by France’s Constitutional Council on Thursday. The government announced there would be a one-week grace period for customers and businesses to implement the new rules before fines would be introduced for those who do not comply.
Official figures suggested more than 237,000 people demonstrated across France at the weekend against the introduction of the pass, arguing it infringed their civil liberties. This was an increase in the number of protesters from the previous week when 200,000 people took to the streets. Opponents believe the pass sanitaire violates the most fundamental of French principles: the liberté and egalité of the national motto.
Updated
A summary of the latest developments
- British business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said he would like staff in his department to go to the office “at least” two or three days a week.The government has said it would follow a “cautious” approach to the return to the office for civil servants.
- The day after the 2020 Olympics came to a close, Tokyo on Monday reported 2,884 new coronavirus cases. It comes after Tokyo Olympics organisers earlier reported 28 new Games-related cases, bringing the total to 458 since 1 July.
- Australia has expanded its New South Wales lockdown amid fears that coronavirus has spread from Sydney. The rural town of Tamworth, 257 miles northwest of Sydney, and Byron Bay, a popular tourist spot 478 miles from the city, entered a week-long lockdown on Monday - despite neither having recorded a single case.
- In the UK, NHS workers face a “vicious circle” of staff shortages, causing growing numbers of staff to suffer from exhaustion, health experts have warned. Dr Layla McCay, policy director of the NHS Confederation, said vacancies and increasing staff sickness means those left to recover are becoming exhausted and leading to “very challenging” working conditions.
- Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said she has “butterflies in my stomach” about lifting most of the country’s legal coronavirus restrictions on Monday, but that she believes it is the right time to do it. However, she warned that people must “continue to exercise care and caution” over coronavirus and that “we underestimate it at our peril”.
- New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is expected to announce plans later this week to reopen the country’s border amid a shortage in workers. The country’s border has been shut since March 2020 as part of measures to contain the virus.
- As Delta surges in the US, intensive care unit capacity is running out in hospitals in Austin and officials have warned of “catastrophe” in Texas. Local governments have urged residents to stay at home, wear masks and get vaccinated as the state again becomes an epicentre of the pandemic.
- Australian prime minister Scott Morrison’s public approval rating hit its lowest level since the pandemic began amid growing frustration over lockdowns and a sluggish vaccination drive, according to a poll published on Monday.
- Nightclubs across Scotland opened their doors as the clock moved a minute past midnight on Monday and the country’s Covid-19 Levels system was scrapped.
That’s it from me for now. Handing over to my colleague Mattha Busby. Thanks for reading!
UK minister wants his staff to return to office 'at least' two days a week
British business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said he would like staff in his department to go to the office “at least” two or three days a week.
The government has said it would follow a “cautious” approach to the return to the office for civil servants.
It comes after an unnamed minister reportedly said officials should have their pay cut if they will not return to the office.
Kwarteng told Sky News:
I think we should try to come in maybe 2-3 days a week at least. But it’s a gradual process, no-one is being forced back against their will.
You’ve got to make the environment very safe but I think it is probably quite a good thing to spend more time in the week at work, that’s just a personal view.
Updated
An expert has predicted that the UK faces a “difficult winter” but that afterwards it will emerge from the pandemic to an “endemic situation”.
Prof Linda Bauld, a public health academic from the University of Edinburgh, told BBC Breakfast:
I think the UK and a number of other countries are really looking ahead to the coming months and saying ‘well we’re going to have a difficult winter but if we can get through this, looking ahead to next year, I think we really will be emerging from the pandemic which is an immediate risk to health to everybody in an area, to an endemic situation with this virus’.
Updated
Vaccine hesitancy in the UK has dropped among young people, figures suggest.
According to the Office for National Statistics, which conducted a survey of attitudes between 23 June and 18 July, hesitancy among 16- and 17-year-olds has fallen from 14% to 11%.
Meanwhile, among 18- to 21-year-olds it has dropped from 9% to 5% and among 22- to 25-year-olds it fell from 10% to 9%.
Vaccine hesitancy among younger adults appeared to have decreased slightly and in the latest period was:
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) August 9, 2021
▪️11% for 16-17 year-olds
▪️5% among 18-21 year-olds
▪️and 9% among those aged 22-25
➡️ https://t.co/Pe1V5eE3sS pic.twitter.com/CEJfVCBkQy
Updated
Here’s an explainer from Guardian Australia of the new Sydney and regional New South Wales coronavirus rules:
Tokyo reports 2,884 new Covid cases following close of the Olympics
The day after the 2020 Olympics came to a close, Tokyo on Monday reported 2,884 new coronavirus cases.
It comes after Tokyo Olympics organisers earlier reported 28 new Games-related cases, bringing the total to 458 since 1 July.
The Olympic flame was extinguished at the closing ceremony on Sunday, but the city will now prepare to host the Paralympics, which begins on 24 August.
Updated
Australia expands New South Wales lockdown amid fears virus has spread
Australia has expanded its New South Wales lockdown amid fears that coronavirus has spread from Sydney.
The rural town of Tamworth, 257 miles northwest of Sydney, and Byron Bay, a popular tourist spot 478 miles from the city, entered a week-long lockdown on Monday - despite neither having recorded a single case.
New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian said: “As a precaution, the health experts have recommended we lock down Tamworth for one week.”
New South Wales reported 283 locally acquired Covid cases on Monday, up from 262 cases the previous day.
NHS workers in a 'vicious circle' of staff shortages amid rising exhaustion, health experts warm
In the UK, NHS workers face a “vicious circle” of staff shortages, causing growing numbers of staff to suffer from exhaustion, health experts have warned.
Dr Layla McCay, policy director of the NHS Confederation, said vacancies and increasing staff sickness means those left to recover are becoming exhausted and leading to “very challenging” working conditions. She also called for more investment so that the NHS can deliver what the public needs it to do”.
It comes amid warnings that the NHS waiting list in England could rise to 14m by autumn next year and continue to grow.
Dr McCay told LBC:
It is a very challenging situation right now in the NHS. In order to manage the numbers of people that we already know need care, at the same time as the people who haven’t yet come forward, there is going to have to be a real investment in capacity.
And that is capacity to manage the Covid challenges … and workforce is incredibly important.
So investments will need to be made in all of those areas to make sure that the NHS can deliver what the public needs it to do.
She added:
The overall figures for vacancies are around 76,000 in England
We are seeing increasing amounts of sickness – we’re seeing staff burned out after working intensively for so many months, we’re seeing increasing number of people off with mental health problems, as well as issues around Covid.
There are vacancies, there are absences, and, as remaining staff cover those, there is a vicious circle where there is increasing numbers (of staff who have) exhaustion in the NHS.
Prof Angus Dalgleish, professor of oncology and clinical oncologist at the Cancer Centre London, said the NHS is at a “crisis point” and short of around 40,000 doctors.
“These are funded doctors which we cannot appoint,” he told LBC. “The number of GPs that we are down is about 5,000 to 6,000 and in the next few years it will be 10,000.
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon has 'butterflies in my stomach' about lifting Scotland's Covid restrictions
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said she has “butterflies in my stomach” about lifting most of the country’s legal coronavirus restrictions on Monday, but that she believes it is the right time to do it.
However, she warned that people must “continue to exercise care and caution” over coronavirus and that “we underestimate it at our peril”.
As of one minute past midnight, all venues in Scotland were able to reopen.
Speaking hours after the reopening, Sturgeon told Good Morning Britain:
I think there’s always going to be nervousness when we lift restrictions after such a long period. I have to be honest that there’s some butterflies in my stomach about it today, but I think it’s the right moment to do this.
We see daily fluctuations in our case numbers but the trend is downwards, and of course the vaccine is giving significant protection.
So this is the right moment to remove legal restrictions to try to get that greater normality back in our lives, but with a big caveat that the virus hasn’t gone away, the pandemic is not over.
I think it’s premature to declare victory over it or freedom from it, we’ve got to continue to be careful, which is why in Scotland we’re keeping some sensible precautions in place – for example, face coverings in many indoor settings – so it’s a moment to feel optimistic.
This has been a long, hard year-and-a-half, but we’ve got to continue to exercise care and caution – this virus is unpredictable, and I think it’s true that we underestimate it at our peril.
She said she hopes with “every fibre of my being” that Scotland will never have to bring back restrictions, but that she cannot guarantee it.
She told BBC Breakfast:
Every fibre of my being hopes that the restrictions we are lifting today in Scotland will never, ever have to be imposed, and am I optimistic about that? Yes.
“Can I guarantee it? Well, I could tell you that right now for the sake of an easier interview, but it wouldn’t be the right thing to say because keeping this virus under control depends on all of us continuing to do all of the sensible things I’ve been talking about.
We also know that this is a virus that has already mutated, new variants continue to be our biggest threat, so we’ve got to be careful and we’ve got to be realistic.
But I very much hope that all of that, coupled, of course, principally with the power of vaccination, will mean that never again do we have to face lockdowns.
Updated
Eurostar is selling four times as many tickets than they were last week, travel journalist Simon Calder tells Sky News, as people take advantage of the reopening of quarantine-free travel between the UK and France.
New Zealand to reopen borders amid labour shortage
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is expected to announce plans later this week to reopen the country’s border amid a shortage in workers.
The country’s border has been shut since March 2020 as part of measures to contain the virus. But the dairy, horticulture, housing, services, health and public sector are undergoing severe labour shortages and have called on the government to reopen the border.
“Any changes to border settings will be carefully considered in phases, based on risks,” Ardern said on Monday. “We have come too far and gained too many freedoms to rush at this next step and go backwards.”
It comes as around 1,500 hospital midwives staged a walkout in response to “critical shortages” and more than 30,000 nurses are to strike later this month.
Last week, Ardern opened one-way quarantine-free travel for seasonal workers from Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, which all have no active Covid cases to address shortages in horticulture.
Updated
Indonesia’s president will today discuss extending the country’s coronavirus restrictions as cases drop in Jakarta but surge in other areas.
Restrictions on movement were introduced in Java and Bali in early July and have since been extended to other areas with high case numbers.
President Joko Widodo suggested on Saturday that rising cases in parts of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua could lead to tougher restrictions.
“When cases are huge, people’s mobility needs to be stemmed,” he said.
On 12 July, Jakarta recorded 14,619 cases. On Thursday, the figure had dropped to 2,311.
The drop in cases could lead to malls and restaurants in the capital being reopened at limited capacity.
Updated
In the UK, Wes Streeting, the Labour MP for Ilford North and shadow child poverty secretary, has said NHS waiting lists of over 5 million is an “intolerable situation”.
He told Sky News that waiting lists must be cut and not left to “spiral out of control”.
Updated
The UK government is considering plans that would allow nightclubs and concert venues to avoid social distancing rules in future coronavirus surges by admitting only the fully vaccinated, reports the Telegraph.
The measures could be used as an alternative to making vaccine passports compulsory, a proposal that the prime minister has said could be implemented next month.
Updated
The UK business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has pledged to put a free market approach at the centre of its plans for coronavirus recovery.
Officials are working on a national enterprise strategy to encourage small businesses and entrepreneurs that will be released later this year, he told the Financial Times.
The challenge, he said, would be “to reassert what we strongly believe in as a centre-right government: in the free markets, enterprise, entrepreneurship”, adding: “These are all things we want to celebrate.”
Updated
Officials warn of 'catastrophe' in Texas as Delta surges
As Delta surges in the US, intensive care unit capacity is running out in hospitals in Austin and officials have warned of “catastrophe” in Texas.
Reporting from Austin, Alexandra Villarreal writes that local governments have urged residents to stay at home, wear masks and get vaccinated as the state again becomes an epicentre of the pandemic.
“The situation is critical,” Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis county’s health authority, said in a statement. “Our hospitals are severely stressed and there is little we can do to alleviate their burden with the surging cases.”
The Texas trauma service area that includes Austin has just six ICU beds available, 499 available hospital beds and 313 ventilators for a population of nearly 2.4 million.
Updated
Nicholas Serota, chair of Arts Council England, has said coronavirus has been “devastating” for performing arts.
But, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today that the UK government has responded and that there have not yet been any “major failures” by arts institutions.
He said that “of course” he and others are worried about the autumn, but that he hopes the government will want to build on the Culture Recovery Fund going forward.
Hi, this is Miranda Bryant looking after the blog for the next few hours. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk
Australian PM’s public approval rating at pandemic low
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison’s public approval rating hit its lowest level since the pandemic began amid growing frustration over lockdowns and a sluggish vaccination drive, according to a poll published on Monday.
A Newspoll conducted for the Australian newspaper showed Morrison’s public support dropped four points to 47%, the lowest level since he fielded criticism early last year over his government’s response to devastating bushfires.
Reuters: Morrison’s Liberal-National party coalition government is also trailing opposition Labor on a two-party preferred basis, where votes for minor parties are distributed, by 47-53. If the poll result were replicated at an election, the conservative government would lose office to centre-left Labor.
Morrison has been under fire for a slow vaccine rollout, which critics said had plunged large parts of the country into a cycle of stop-and-start lockdowns to quell outbreaks of the highly infectious Delta variant.
Approval of Morrison’s handling of the pandemic has almost halved from a high of 85% in April last year, during the peak of the first wave of infections, to 48% in the latest survey.
Sydney and Melbourne – Australia’s two largest cities – are under hard lockdowns while south-east Queensland, home to the third-largest city of Brisbane, came out of strict stay-home orders on Sunday.
Snap lockdowns, tough border controls and swift contact tracing have helped Australia keep its pandemic numbers relatively low, with just over 36,250 cases and 938 deaths.
Updated
Nightclubs reopen in Scotland
Nightclubs across Scotland opened their doors as the clock moved a minute past midnight on Monday and the country’s Covid-19 Levels system was scrapped.
Nightclubs were among the last venues to reopen in Scotland, long after bars were allowed to welcome back customers.
Following initial confusion last week, the Scottish government clarified that masks would not have to be worn when dancing or drinking.
Updated
China’s Wuhan completes citywide Covid tests on 11 million residents
Authorities in Wuhan said they had completed citywide testing of more than 11 million people for Covid-19 on Sunday, after a resurgence of cases more than a year after the coronavirus first emerged there, AFP reports.
The tests – which began on Tuesday – provide “basically full coverage” of all residents in the city except for children under the age of six and students on their summer break, senior Wuhan official Li Tao told a press conference, according to the state-run Xinhua.
By Saturday, the city had recorded 37 locally transmitted cases and found 41 local asymptomatic carriers in the latest round of mass testing, Xinhua reported.
Sunday’s 125 new confirmed infections on the mainland included 94 locally transmitted cases, up from the previous day’s figure of 96, with 81 locally transmitted, while the rest were imported from abroad, the NHC said on Monday.
City officials announced last week that seven locally transmitted infections had been found among migrant workers in Wuhan, breaking a year-long streak without domestic cases after it squashed an initial outbreak with an unprecedented lockdown in early 2020.
Updated
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
Authorities in Wuhan said they had completed citywide testing of more than 11 million people for Covid-19 on Sunday, amid a resurgence of cases more than a year after the coronavirus first emerged there.
Meanwhile, nightclubs across Scotland opened their doors as the clock moved a minute past midnight on Monday and the country’s Covid-19 Levels system was scrapped.
In Glasgow, dancers took to the floor at the Boteco Do Brasil club.
Here are the other key recent developments:
- France’s health minister has appealed for volunteer doctors and nurses to travel to the overseas territories of Guadalupe and Martinique as a wave of Covid-19 infections overwhelms hospitals on the two Caribbean islands.
- The UK has recorded 27,429 new coronavirus cases and a further 39 deaths in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total deaths to 130,321, government figures show.
- Seven more countries have joined the green list from Sunday – and France has left the “amber-plus” list, under widespread changes to the UK’s traffic light system for travel.
- Russia reported 22,866 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, including 2,761 in Moscow, taking the national tally to 6,447,750 since the pandemic began.
- The Philippines’ health ministry recorded 9,671 new coronavirus cases and 287 additional deaths on Sunday, the biggest single-day rise in the country’s death toll since 9 April.
- Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo said the coronavirus outbreak had eased in many parts of the country but remained worrying in the economic capital of Lubumbashi where not wearing a mask will now be punishable by up to seven days in jail.
- Iran reported record new infections and deaths across the country on Sunday , as it grapples with its most severe surge of the coronavirus to date
- Vietnam’s health ministry reported 9,690 coronavirus infections on Sunday, a record daily increase.
Updated
