A summary of today's developments
- The UK’s health secretary Sajid Javid has been criticised for saying on Twitter that people must no longer “cower” from coronavirus as he announced he had made a “full recovery” from Covid-19.
- Protesters took to the streets in several Brazilian cities on Saturday to demand the impeachment of president Jair Bolsonaro, whose popularity has fallen in recent weeks amid corruption scandals against the backdrop of the pandemic. Over 500,000 Brazilians have died of Covid-19 under Bolsonaro’s leadership.
- Brazil on Saturday reported 1,108 new deaths from Covid 19, the health ministry said, bringing the total fatalities to 549,448. Cases rose by 38,091 to bring the total to 19,670,534.
- Italy reported 5,140 daily infections on Saturday compared to 5,143 on Friday. It also recorded five coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 17 the day before, the country’s health ministry said.
- Tunisia suffered its worst daily toll, recording 317 deaths in 24 hours. Its health ministry also reported 5,624 new cases.
- A further case of Covid was identified among the athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. There were also 17 Olympics-related cases, taking the total to 123.
- Several people were arrested in Sydney as thousands attended anti-lockdown protests. Unmasked demonstrators marched through the city carrying signs calling for “freedom” and what they believe to be “the truth”.
- Malaysia recorded the highest number of daily infections since the beginning of the pandemic. The health ministry reported 15,902 new cases, bringing the cumulative number of cases in the country to 996,393.
- Vietnam posted its greatest daily caseload of the pandemic for the second day in a row. The health ministry said it had identified 7,968 new cases.
Updated
Two men have been charged after allegedly striking police horses during an anti-lockdown protests in Sydney, Australia.
The men, aged 33 and 36, were refused bail and will appear today at Parramatta Local Court.
Updated
Brazil on Saturday reported 1,108 new deaths from Covid-19, the health ministry said, bringing the total fatalities to 549,448.
Cases rose by 38,091 to bring the total to 19,670,534, Reuters reports.
Updated
Summer holiday plans for nearly six million Britons could be ruined if Spain and Greece follow France onto the “amber plus” list requiring isolation on return, according to an analysis.
Labour said an estimated 5,857,558 people face the prospect of last-minute quarantine requirements to protect against the spread of coronavirus after booking trips over the “summer of chaos”.
The UK government introduced an exemption for the requirement to isolate at home for 10 days for fully-vaccinated holidaymakers returning from countries on the amber list, PA reports.
But ministers removed the exemption for France amid concerns over the Beta variant, creating what critics call an “amber plus” designation on the traffic light system for foreign travel.
Labour’s shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said: “Not only have they failed to protect our borders, allowing Covid cases to rocket – they also refuse to be straight with the public and give them the information they need to book travel with confidence, with clear information on the direction of travel of infections in each country.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “The travel list allocations have not changed for Spain or Greece.
“We are closely monitoring the data and will take swift action on travel list allocations and international travel requirements should the data show that countries’ risk to England has changed.”
Updated
Only fully-vaccinated football fans may be able to attend Premier League matches and other events with more than 20,000 spectators from October under UK government plans.
Talks are in an early phase with the Premier League to discuss whether supporters who have not been double-jabbed could be barred from entry, the PA news agency understands.
The use of vaccine passports could also be extended to lower divisions and other sports in England as ministers seek to reduce the surge of Covid-19 cases as other restrictions are ended.
While no final decisions have been made, it is currently being discussed whether vaccine passports could be introduced for seated events with a capacity of 20,000 people and over.
The UK’s health secretary Sajid Javid has been criticised further for saying people must no longer “cower” from coronavirus as he announced he had made a “full recovery” from Covid-19.
Jo Goodman, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said Javid’s “comments are deeply insensitive on a number of levels”, PA reports.
“Not only are they hurtful to bereaved families, implying our loved ones were too cowardly to fight the virus, but they insult all those still doing their best to protect others from the devastation this horrific virus can bring,” she added.
“Words matter and the flippancy and carelessness of this comment has caused deep hurt and further muddied the waters of the Government’s dangerously mixed messaging.”
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A snow leopard at San Diego Zoo in the US has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Ramil, a nine-year-old male snow leopard, was tested for the virus after caretakers noticed that he had a cough and runny nose on Thursday.
The animal’s stool sample was tested by the zoo staff and at a state-level lab, both of which confirmed the presence of the coronavirus, the zoo said.
Ramil is not showing additional symptoms. But because he shares an enclosure with a female snow leopard and two Amur leopards, the staff assume they have been exposed. As a result, the animals were quarantined and their exhibit was closed.
It is unclear how Ramil got infected, Associated Press reports.
In January, a troop of eight gorillas at the zoo’s sister facility, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, contracted Covid-19 from a keeper who had the virus but showed no symptoms.
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Updated
Protesters took to the streets in several Brazilian cities on Saturday to demand the impeachment of president Jair Bolsonaro, whose popularity has fallen in recent weeks amid corruption scandals against the backdrop of the pandemic.
Over 500,000 Brazilians have died of Covid-19 under Bolsonaro’s leadership. He has been widely criticised for dismissing the severity of the disease and opposing masks and social distancing measures, Reuters reports.
Bolsonaro is now being investigated in the Senate, which is probing the possibility of corruption tied to the purchase of an Indian coronavirus vaccine.
Updated
A summary of today's developments
- The UK’s health secretary Sajid Javid has been criticised for saying on Twitter that people must no longer “cower” from coronavirus as he announced he had made a “full recovery” from Covid-19.
- Italy reported 5,140 daily infections on Saturday compared to 5,143 on Friday. It also recorded five coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 17 the day before, the country’s health ministry said.
- Tunisia suffered its worst daily toll, recording 317 deaths in 24 hours. Its health ministry also reported 5,624 new cases.
- A further case of Covid was identified among the athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. There were also 17 Olympics-related cases, taking the total to 123.
- Several people were arrested in Sydney as thousands attended anti-lockdown protests. Unmasked demonstrators marched through the city carrying signs calling for “freedom” and what they believe to be “the truth”.
- Malaysia recorded the highest number of daily infections since the beginning of the pandemic. The health ministry reported 15,902 new cases, bringing the cumulative number of cases in the country to 996,393.
- Vietnam posted its greatest daily caseload of the pandemic for the second day in a row. The health ministry said it had identified 7,968 new cases.
An emergency UK government plan to prevent the spiralling “pingdemic” from hitting food supplies has descended into chaos, with industry leaders condemning the scheme as an “absolute disaster” that has done more harm than good.
As train services were also disrupted on Saturday by the number of workers self-isolating, airports reported long queues at passport controls and the hospitality industry warned of a summer of closures, Downing Street defied growing calls to bring forward a full relaxation of quarantine rules from the scheduled date of 16 August.
In an attempt to prevent more empty supermarket shelves and avert wider economic damage, ministers bowed last Thursday to persistent pressure from the food industry, announcing that around 10,000 workers in the sector would be exempted from the rules if they tested negative on a daily basis. Others in key sectors of the economy and vital public services are also included in the emergency plan.
But several food industry leaders responsible for the supply chain told the Observer the measures had been so badly mishandled and poorly communicated that they had made the crisis worse.
Updated
UK’s health secretary criticised over Covid recovery remarks
The UK’s health secretary Sajid Javid has been criticised for saying people must no longer “cower” from coronavirus after he announced he had made a “full recovery” from Covid-19.
Shadow justice secretary David Lammy accused him of having “insulted” people who followed the rules to protect others, while the Lib Dems told him to apologise to those who have shielded because they are particularly vulnerable to the disease.
Javid, who had received both jabs before testing positive, said on Saturday he had made a “full recovery” and his “symptoms were very mild, thanks to amazing vaccines”.
“Please, if you haven’t yet, get your jab, as we learn to live with, rather than cower from, this virus,” he wrote on Twitter. Lammy questioned his use of the word cower, as did many social media users.
“129,000 Brits have died from Covid under your Government’s watch,” the Labour MP wrote.
“Don’t denigrate people for trying to keep themselves and their families safe.”
Lib Dem health spokeswoman Munira Wilson said Javid’s tweet was “outrageous” while thousands remain in hospital with Covid-19.
“Cower”?
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) July 24, 2021
129,000 Brits have died from Covid under your government’s watch.
Don’t denigrate people for trying to keep themselves and their families safe. https://t.co/u5JJCmIbiu
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Greek police used teargas and water cannon to disperse people who had gathered in central Athens on Saturday to protest against mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations.
More than 4,000 people rallied outside the Greek parliament for a third time this month to oppose mandatory inoculations for some workers, such as healthcare and nursing staff.
A police official, who asked not to be named, said some protesters had thrown petrol bombs, prompting the police to respond with tear gas.
Nearly 2,500 Covid-19 cases in Greece were reported on Saturday, bringing the total number of infected people to 474,366.
Updated
Libyan authorities on Saturday stepped up their vaccination campaign around the capital Tripoli, as coronavirus cases rise across the country.
The health ministry has set up temporary centres in six districts of the capital.
“The campaign will continue until all the available doses are used,” doctor Rawad Behelille told AFP in central Tripoli.
Algeria will manufacture the Chinese coronavirus vaccine Sinovac locally, the government announced.
Chinese experts arrived Friday to inspect equipment destined for a factory in Constantine, in eastern Algeria, a statement from the pharmaceutical industry ministry said.
Sinovac will be the second coronavirus vaccine to be produced in Algeria, with the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to be produced locally from September, according to authorities.
The Pasteur Institute of Algeria said it had received 2.4 million doses of Sinovac, bringing the total number of doses of all vaccines received so far by the country to nearly six million, AFP reports.
Russia has sent a shipment of coronavirus-related humanitarian assistance to Cuba, including 1 million medical masks, the defence ministry said, adding President Vladimir Putin had given instructions for the aid.
Cuba, which kept coronavirus infections low last year, earlier this week reported the highest rate of contagion per capita in Latin America. That has strained its healthcare sector and helped stoke rare anti-government protests earlier this month on the Communist-run island.
Two military planes carrying 88 tonnes of aid – including food and personal protective equipment, amongst it over 1 million medical masks – departed from an airfield near Moscow on Saturday, the defence ministry said.
“On the instructions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, military transport aircraft are delivering humanitarian aid to the Republic of Cuba,” the ministry said.
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Thousands of people protested in cities across Italy against the government’s introduction of restrictions on unvaccinated people as Rome tries to slow an upturn in Covid-19 infections, AFP reports.
“Freedom!” and “Down with the dictatorship!” chanted Italian flag-waving demonstrators from Naples in the south to Turin in the north, while rain-soaked protesters in Milan shouted: “No Green Pass!”
The vast majority were not wearing masks.
The “green pass”, which is an extension of the EU’s digital Covid certificate, will be required from 6 August to enter cinemas, museums, indoor swimming pools or sports stadiums, or eat indoors at restaurants.
It will serve as proof bearers have either been vaccinated, undergone a recent negative Covid-19 test, or recovered from a coronavirus infection.
Updated
An official with France’s interior ministry said 161,000 people had demonstrated across the country on Saturday against Covid-19 restrictions and a vaccination campaign, up from 114,000 a week earlier, Reuters reports.
Updated
Since the vaccine rollout began in England last year, the journey has been relatively smooth. The few bumps that the jab juggernaut has encountered, mostly hiccups in the supply chain, have been successfully navigated.
Yet there are now concerns about the final stages, with under-30s showing markedly more reluctance to get their first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines than older people.
So far, 58.4% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 58.9% of 25- to 29-year-olds in England have received a first dose since they became eligible on 18 June according to Public Health England, but that number is now rising slowly enough to alarm NHS trusts.
During protests in Paris against Covid-19 restrictions and a vaccination campaign, police sought to push back demonstrators near the capital’s Gare Saint-Lazare railway station after protesters had knocked over a police motorbike ridden by two officers, television pictures showed.
Images showed a heavy police presence on the capital’s streets. Scuffles between police and demonstrators also broke out the Champs-Elysees thoroughfare, where teargas was fired and traffic was halted, Reuters reports.
At another protest called by far-right politicians in west Paris, demonstrators opposed to anti-coronavirus measures carried banners reading “Stop the dictatorship”.
Protests were also planned in cities including Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes and Toulouse.
French lawmakers are due to vote this weekend on a bill drafted by the government aimed at setting up a health pass and mandatory vaccination for health workers.
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Turkey’s new coronavirus cases jumped to 12,381 on Saturday, the highest level since mid-May.
Health ministry data also showed that 58 people died due to Covid-19, Reuters reports.
According to the BBC, on 15 October, the prime minister allegedly sent a WhatsApp message: “I must say I have been rocked by some of the data on Covid fatalities. The median age is 82 – 81 for men, 85 for women. That is above life expectancy. So get Covid and live longer.” Presumably, this was a joke, but why is the reasoning so wrong?
First, more technically, the message confuses two types of averages. As children learn at school, the median means that if you lined up the women according to the age they had died of Covid-19, the woman in the middle would be 85.
But life expectancy is a mean-average – you work out how long, say, 100,000 newborns are likely to live assuming that current mortality rates continue, add them up and divide by 100,000.
Using data from the UK for 2017-19, life expectancy at birth is 79 for men and 83 for women, but the median age at death is slightly higher: 81 for men and 85 for women, the same as that quoted for Covid-19.
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Tanzania received its first batch of 1 million Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines donated by the U.S. government, Associated Press reports.
It had been among the few countries in Africa yet to receive vaccines or start inoculating its population, mainly because its former leader had claimed prayer had defeated the virus in the country.
The vaccines were received by Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Liberata Mulamula, and the U.S. ambassador to Tanzania, Donald Wright, at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in the country’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.
Tanzania’s former president John Magufuli, who died in March, had refused to accept vaccines after he claimed three days of prayer had healed the country of the virus in June 2020.
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More data from Italy. Patients in hospital with Covid-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 1,340 on Saturday, up from 1,304 a day earlier.
There were 21 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 10 on Friday.
The total number of intensive care patients rose to 172 from a previous 155, Reuters reports.
Some 258,929 tests for Covid-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 237,635, the health ministry said.
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Uganda this week provided 25 million euros to MPs to buy new cars, sparking outrage in a country where the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc.
Each of the 529 lawmakers was handed 200 million shillings (48,000 euros, $56,500) to get new vehicles at a time when Covid-19 cases are surging, AFP reports.
Moses Isooba, leader of the National NGO Forum, said: “This act is shameful at a time the government is appealing to private citizens to contribute money to buy the Covid-19 vaccine.”
Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo defended the decision as being in line with a time-honoured tradition.
“It is to facilitate their engagement with the electorate. In any case, the civil society organisations have been part of the budgeting processes and knew [a] long time the MPs were to get money to buy cars,” he said.
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Today's update to the #COVID19 Dashboard is experiencing a delay.
— Public Health England (@PHE_uk) July 24, 2021
On Saturday 24 July, 31,795 new cases were reported across the UK.
46,519,998 people have now received the 1st dose of a #vaccine.
36,953,691 have received a 2nd dose.
Today’s deaths data is not yet available. pic.twitter.com/IuGPZVaDuv
China has supplied over 10,000 Covid vaccines to a Myanmar rebel group operating near its southern border, its spokesman said.
The Kachin Independence Army, which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Myanmar’s far north, has received 10,000 vaccines from Yunnan authorities, Col Naw Bu, a spokesperson for KIA, told AFP.
“KIA asked help from China, and China gave us help for vaccines,” he said, without specifying which shot the group had been given or when the first batch had arrived.
Some of the jabs had been paid for and others were donated, he added.
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Italy records further 5,000 cases
Italy reported 5,140 daily infections on Saturday compared to 5,143 on Friday.
It also recorded five coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 17 the day before, the country’s health ministry said.
Italy has registered 127,942 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, Reuters reports.
The country has reported more than 4.3 million cases to date.
Updated
Summary
Here’s a summary of the latest developments:
- The UK health secretary has said he had made a full recovery after contracting Covid-19 last week. Sajid Javid said his symptoms were mild and called upon people to get vaccinated.
- Tunisia suffered its worst daily toll, recording 317 deaths in 24 hours. Its health ministry also reported 5,624 new cases.
- A further case of Covid was identified among the athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. There were also 17 Olympics-related cases, taking the total to 123.
- Several people were arrested in Sydney as thousands attended anti-lockdown protests. Unmasked demonstrators marched through the city carrying signs calling for “freedom” and what they believe to be “the truth”.
- Malaysia recorded the highest number of daily infections since the beginning of the pandemic. The health ministry reported 15,902 new cases, bringing the cumulative number of cases in the country to 996,393.
- Vietnam posted its greatest daily caseload of the pandemic for the second day in a row. The health ministry said it had identified 7,968 new cases.
Anti-vaccination protesters and other demonstrators against Covid restrictions in France clashed with the police in central Paris on Saturday, leading anti-riot forces to use teargas, BTM Television reports.
Beyond Paris, protests were expected to take place in cities such as Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes and Toulouse as French lawmakers are due to vote this weekend on a bill drafted by the government aimed at setting up a health pass and mandatory vaccination for health workers.
Jordan will start vaccinating children aged 12 years and older from Sunday, the state news agency has said. Reuters reports:
Children can be given the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine with the approval of a guardian with no prior appointment necessary, the agency quoted the health ministry as saying.
The decision comes as Jordan lifted most restrictions at the start of July, reopening gyms, pools and night clubs at hotels after cases dropped from a peak in March when several thousands of new cases were recorded daily.
Total active cases reached 7,489 on Friday with 331 new cases and four deaths.
Since the start of the pandemic, Jordan has recorded a total of 763,437 cases and 9,933 deaths.
Several other countries in the region are vaccinating children, including Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
UK health secretary recovers from Covid
Sajid Javid has said he had made a full recovery after contracting Covid-19 last week.
Full recovery from Covid a week after testing positive.
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) July 24, 2021
Symptoms were very mild, thanks to amazing vaccines.
Please - if you haven’t yet - get your jab, as we learn to live with, rather than cower from, this virus. https://t.co/OmuaUGp173
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For the second time in my adult life, I feel we must have a national conversation about domestic compulsory ID. Last time, in the mid-00s, it was an authoritarian solution looking for a problem to fix, with immigration, benefit fraud and everything but climate change proffered as justification. This time, the problem posed by the government’s catastrophic “economy first” approach to pandemic management is all too clear.
Still, the introduction of an internal passport will be just as costly, divisive and counterproductive as before – and even more dangerous to any way of life worth fighting for beyond this terrible time.
According to Agence France-Presse, AstraZeneca has said it was scouring its supply chain to find more doses of its Covid-19 vaccine for south-east Asia, which is facing its most serious outbreak yet of the virus. The agency reports:
The statement from the Anglo-Swedish company, which produces its vaccine in Thailand for use domestically and in neighbouring countries, comes in the wake of a supply shortage which has sparked heavy criticism of Thai premier Prayut Chan-o-Cha’s administration.
Under the terms of AstraZeneca’s agreement with Thai authorities, 180m doses are due for production, one-third destined for the Thai market and the rest to be exported.
By the end of July, AstraZeneca will have delivered 11.3m doses for Thailand, according to James Teague, AstraZeneca’s representative in the country.
Exports have still not begun, even as the region faces a particularly virulent wave of Covid-19.
‘We are delivering in the fastest possible timeframe, however, given the gravity of the Delta variant, we are leaving no stone unturned to accelerate supply further still’, Teague said in an ‘open letter to the people of Thailand.
‘We are also scouring the 20-plus supply chains in our worldwide manufacturing network to find additional vaccines for south-east Asia, including Thailand.’
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Joggers and walkers have said they are delighted after taking part in the first parkruns in England for adults since coronavirus restrictions were lifted.
The free 5km runs, which take place in parks, were suspended during the pandemic.
They are billed as a chance for people – regardless of age, gender or ability - to regularly run, jog or walk together and enjoy their local park.
Lawyer KC Lloyd, 32, ran with her 11-month-old daughter Edie Cameron in a buggy, who was not born the last time the run was staged. She said:
It was a lovely experience. Everyone was waving to her which was just lovely and there were lots of smiles. It has just been so lovely to be with all of our friends again and seeing everybody. It has been part of our Saturday and our community that has been missing for the past 16 months. It is so nice to be back.
She said she thinks her daughter, who was smiling and quiet, was “probably overwhelmed because she has not seen this many people before”.
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Vietnam records worst daily caseload
Vietnam’s health ministry has reported 7,968 new cases on Saturday; the second consecutive day it has posted its worst daily increase. More than two-thirds of the cases are in Ho Chi Minh City, Reuters quotes the ministry as saying. The agency reports:
After successfully containing the virus for much of the pandemic, the south-east Asian country has been facing a renewed outbreak of the virus, with southern business hub Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding provinces accounting for most new infections.
The ministry on Friday said it would extend a lockdown in the city until 1 August and impose stricter restriction measures in the capital Hanoi from Saturday. The measures include a stay-home order, a ban on gatherings larger than two people and the suspension of public transport.
The capital city on Saturday also suspended motorbike delivery services, including by companies such as ride-hailing firms Grab and GoJek, adding to its existing restriction measures.
The National Assembly, the country’s lawmaking body, decided to cut short its meeting in Hanoi by three days to end on 28 July, due to the outbreak.
Vietnam has so far recorded 90,934 coronavirus infections and at least 370 deaths.
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In the UK, the government has expanded its workplace testing programme to an initial 200 testing sites for frontline emergency services personnel amid criticism of its self-isolation policy.
Some police, firefighters, Border Force staff and transport workers were already eligible for a self-isolation exemption, but only if their employers specified their names and they were double-jabbed.
The government has said an expected initial extra 200 testing sites would be opened so that daily contact testing could be “rolled out to further critical workplaces in England”. But they are not expected to open until Monday at the earliest. The home secretary, Priti Patel, said:
Daily testing will keep our frontline teams safe while they continue to serve the public and communities across our country.
The expansion came after the government announced its programme would allow thousands of workers at up to 500 sites in the food sector to avoid the need to self-isolate if identified as a contact of a coronavirus case, and instead take daily Covid tests.
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Rail union leaders have called on the UK government to clarify its new policy on isolation exemption for some transport workers over confusion about who it includes.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union said a failure to brief unions on the plans risked causing damage.
General secretary Mick Lynch said: “It is ludicrous that this announcement has been made without any discussion with the unions or detailed briefing on who this scheme is supposed to cover and how it will be implemented.
“This cavalier approach seems to be aimed at hitting headlines rather than mapping a serious way out of the current crisis.
“It leaves our members facing yet more uncertainty. I am seeking urgent clarification from both the employers and the government before more damage is done.”
The government has expanded a scheme allowing fully vaccinated key workers to avoid self-isolation if they test negative following increasing staff shortages.
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Reuters reports that Singapore’s health ministry announced 127 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases on Saturday, a slight fall from the 130 cases reported the previous day.
This compares with 68 last Saturday, and follows the authorities tightening restrictions in the city state.
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Hello, Clea Skopeliti here to take the blog for the next hour while Kevin has a break. You can reach me on Twitter if you’d like to draw my attention to any developments. Thanks!
In the UK, discontent with the government’s self-isolation policy is growing as food industry bosses condemned changes to ease the “pingdemic” as “worse than useless”.
PA Media reports that hospitality leaders have warned of a summer of closures and train operators have been forced to cut services. The agency says:
There were increasing calls for Boris Johnson to bring forward his wider relaxation of quarantine rules for the fully vaccinated from 16 August as businesses were hampered by staff being told to isolate as coronavirus cases soar.
In a bid to calm the concerns of industry, ministers published a limited list of sectors whose double-jabbed workers are eligible to avoid isolation if they undergo daily testing before the wider easing of rules for England.
Industry leaders said the move did not include sufficient workers, but doctors warned the problem is that the Prime Minister has let the virus “rip” and not the “pings” being issued by the NHS Covid-19 app to tell coronavirus contacts to isolate.
The mounting criticism came as data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Covid-19 cases continued to rise, with around one in 75 people in England infected.
The estimate of the number testing positive – 741,700 – in the week to 17 July is the highest since the week to 30 January.
Highest daily death toll in Tunisia
Tunisia suffered 317 deaths in the last 24 hours, its worst daily toll since the start of the pandemic, its health ministry has said.
According to Reuters, the ministry also reported 5,624 new cases, increasing concerns about the country’s ability to fight the pandemic, with intensive care units in hospitals completely full and a lack of oxygen supplies. The vaccination campaign is moving slowly. The agency reports:
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the daily death tally in Tunisia is now the highest in Africa and in the Arab world.
The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic has reached about 560,000, with more than 18,300 deaths, out of a total population of 11.6 million people.
This month, several European and Arab countries have sent medical aid and more than three million doses of vaccine to help Tunisia tackle the rapid spread.
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Russia has suffered 799 deaths – its joint-worst daily toll. Moscow also reported 23,947 new cases.
The country has been in the grip of a surge in cases that authorities blame on the more contagious Delta variant, though some officials have suggested in recent days that cases, at least in Moscow, have started to decline.
We reported earlier on the Olympics-related cases. Tokyo itself has now reported 1,128 infections.
The caseload has been on the rise in recent weeks, reaching 1,979 on Thursday; the highest since January. The number tends to be lower on holidays and weekends due to less testing, Reuters reports.
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Malaysia suffers worst day for new cases
Malaysia’s health ministry has reported 15,902 new cases; the highest number of daily infections since the beginning of the pandemic. This brings the cumulative number of cases in the country to 996,393, Reuters reports.
Updated
We reported earlier that there are thousands of people protesting Covid safety measures in Sydney. Reuters reports that the state of New South Wales, in which the city sits, is at the centre of Australia’s latest wave of infections.
The city will get 50,000 more doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week, Canberra has said, reversing a rebuff by the Australian government and other states the previous day of a plea for more supplies. Reuters reports:
Australia reported 176 new locally acquired cases on Saturday, a third consecutive daily record with nearly all cases in Sydney. Officials fear the outbreak could jeopardise the rest of the country.
New South Wales state health minister Brad Hazzard said the extra vaccine supply was urgently needed and was the only way to stop transmission of the virus, as people were not sticking to stay-at-home orders.
‘At the moment it’s like fighting a war with both arms behind your back’, Hazzard told reporters.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said it will enforce its transit mask requirements on cruise ships in Florida that opt not to abide by its conditional sail order following a court ruling. Reuters reports:
The 11th circuit court of appeals on Friday abruptly reversed itself and said it would no longer block a lower court ruling that made the CDC’s Covid-related cruise ship rules non-binding in Florida.
CDC also said cruise ships not following its order must abide by other requirements including “reporting of individual cases of illness or death and ship inspections and sanitary measures to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases”.
The CDC said it will not waive mask requirements in indoor spaces on cruise ships for those lines that are not voluntarily complying with its conditional sail order.
Germany has reported 1,919 new cases, taking its total to 3,754,511 Data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases shows that the death toll rose by 28 to 91,520.
Arrests at Sydney protest
Police in Sydney, Australia, are dealing with an anti-lockdown rally, for which thousands of people have gathered to demonstrate against the city’s month-long stay-at-home orders.
The Associated Press reports:
The unmasked participants marched from Sydney’s Victoria Park to Town Hall in the central business district, carrying signs calling for “freedom” and what they believe to be “the truth”.
There was a heavy police presence in Sydney, including mounted police and riot officers in response to what authorities said was unauthorised protest activity. Police confirmed several arrests had been made after objects were thrown at officers.
New South Wales police said it recognised and supported the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly, but the protest was a breach of public health orders.
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Brady Ellison, one of the US athletes to speak out in favour of a colleague who has refused to get vaccinated, has said:
It’s one hundred percent a personal choice, and anyone that says otherwise is taking away people’s freedoms. I said if they made it mandatory that I wouldn’t come.
The US Olympic team’s chief medical officer said on Friday 83% of nearly 600 US athletes to submit health checks had received a shot, but the entire team would be treated as if unvaccinated.
Reuters quoted Ellison’s team-mate Mackenzie Brown as saying she was not vaccinated either.
Getting a shot is something there hasn’t been enough testing in. I would have opted out for the Games if I had to get the vaccine as well.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccines available have gone through rigorous testing.
Both archers said they were complying with protocols – from wearing masks on the field to being tested every day. Ellison, who is aiming for his first Olympic gold, said he tested himself regularly long before he came to Tokyo.
I don’t feel like we’re a danger to society. I’ve been getting tested once or twice a week since April.
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A further Covid case detected at Tokyo Olympics
Another athlete in Tokyo has tested positive, Olympics organisers have said, as Olympics-related cases rose by 17.
They have come under pressure for allowing the Games to go ahead amid the pandemic. Nevertheless, two US archers have defended a colleague who was heavily criticised for not getting vaccinated, saying people are free to choose.
There have now been 123 Olympics-related cases.
In the UK, the BBC reports that airlines and airports are having their busiest weekend since the pandemic began. Many schools have now closed and the summer holidays are beginning for millions. Heathrow airport expects 60,000 passengers to depart daily, while Gatwick says it expects 250 flights a day, up from a low of just 15, the broadcaster reports.
But some people who were hoping to head to France in the coming weeks are being told they will lose their money if they do not turn up, my colleague Miles Brignall reports. Last weekend’s surprise decision by the UK government to require travellers returning from France to quarantine for 10 days – even those doubly vaccinated against Covid-19 – has left thousands of holiday plans in tatters, and many out of pocket as a result.
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