A summary of today's developments
- Brazil has registered 37,582 new cases of coronavirus over the last 24 hours, reaching 19.92 million cases. The country had 910 new Covid-19 deaths in the period and the pandemic death toll total reached 556,370, Reuters reports.
- Ireland’s premier Micheal Martin hailed the country’s “brilliant” Covid-19 vaccine programme after its full vaccination rate overtook the UK’s.
- Ireland reached the figure of 72.4% of adults fully vaccinated. In the UK the rate was 72.1% on Saturday.
- China is trying to contain its worst coronavirus outbreak in months, as health officials blamed the highly infectious Delta variant for a surge in infections spanning 14 provinces. It reported 328 symptomatic infections in July, almost equal to the total number of local cases from February to June, AFP reports.
- The UK has recorded 26,144 new Covid cases and a further 71 deaths in the latest 24-hour period, government figures show.
- England’s top midwife urged pregnant women to book themselves coronavirus vaccines. Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent said she was calling on pregnant women to “protect themselves and their babies”, after a study found the Delta variant appeared to increase their risk of severe symptoms.
- The Walt Disney Company has become the latest US company to announce that it will require all its staff to have coronavirus vaccines. “Employees who aren’t already vaccinated and are working on-site will have 60 days from today to complete their protocols,” the company said in a statement.
- Police in France faced more protests against vaccine passports, with officers taking up positions along the Champs-Élysées in Paris. About 3,000 police officers were being deployed around the French capital for a third Saturday of protests against a virus bill requiring a pass in most places as of 9 August.
- Anti-lockdown protests planned to take place in Berlin, Germany, were banned by the city’s administrative court. Some protests had been organised by Germany’s Querdenker (lateral thinker) anti-lockdown movement, while several others had been organised in support of Berlin’s nightclubs.
- There are no plans to bring in vaccine passports for university students in England, the Department for Education has said. In interviews this week, ministers – including the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab – had not ruled out using them, with students set to return to campuses in September.
We are now closing the blog for today, thanks for reading.
Updated
Mexico on Saturday recorded 18,809 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 450 fatalities, according to the country’s health ministry.
It brings the total figures to 2,848,252 infections and 240,906 deaths, Reuters reports.
Several hundred Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv against new coronavirus restrictions and vaccines as positive cases and hospitalisations rose to levels not seen in months, AFP reports.
The health ministry reported on Saturday that 2,435 new Covid cases had been recorded the day before – the highest number since March – driven by the Delta variant.
There were 326 hospitalisations, the highest since April, although well below the January peak, when more than 2,000 people were being hospitalised daily.
Israel has in recent days rolled out a booster vaccine shot for older citizens, reimposed mask requirements indoors and restored “green pass” restrictions requiring vaccine certificates for entering enclosed spaces such as gyms, restaurants and hotels.
Updated
Ireland’s premier Micheal Martin hailed the country’s “brilliant” Covid-19 vaccine programme after its full vaccination rate overtook the UK’s.
Ireland reached the figure of 72.4% of adults fully vaccinated. In the UK the rate was 72.1% on Saturday. More than 5.8 million jabs have been administered in Ireland to date. “The vaccine rollout is continuing at great pace,” tweeted Martin. “Today we edged ahead of our nearest neighbours - a brilliant effort by everyone involved. Ireland: 72.4% of adults fully vaccinated UK: 72.1% of adults fully vaccinated.”
The US administered 345,640,466 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country and distributed 400,675,525 doses as of Saturday morning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The figures were up from the 344,928,514 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by July 30, out of 399,090,105 doses delivered.
The agency said 190,982,149 people had received at least one dose, while 164,446,964 people were fully vaccinated as of Saturday, Reuters reports.
El Salvador has detected its first case of the Delta variant of coronavirus, the country’s health minister Francisco Alabi said, Reuters reports.
Brazil death toll increases by 910
Brazil has registered 37,582 new cases of coronavirus over the last 24 hours, reaching 19.92 million cases.
The country had 910 new Covid-19 deaths in the period and the pandemic death toll total reached 556,370, Reuters reports.
When Sydney bus driver Ke Hua turned up to Royal Prince Alfred hospital last week for his Covid-19 vaccination, he was given some surprising news.
The nurses told him he was already fully vaccinated.
Relying on the Australian Immunisation Register (the Air), the national database of vaccination records, hospital staff told him he had received his first dose on 26 March and his second on 18 June.
There was just one problem: the record was completely wrong. He hadn’t had any dose.
A summary of today's developments
- China is trying to contain its worst coronavirus outbreak in months, as health officials blamed the highly infectious Delta variant for a surge in infections spanning 14 provinces. It reported 328 symptomatic infections in July, almost equal to the total number of local cases from February to June, AFP reports.
- The UK has recorded 26,144 new Covid cases and a further 71 deaths in the latest 24-hour period, government figures show.
- England’s top midwife urged pregnant women to book themselves coronavirus vaccines. Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent said she was calling on pregnant women to “protect themselves and their babies”, after a study found the Delta variant appeared to increase their risk of severe symptoms.
- The Walt Disney Company has become the latest US company to announce that it will require all its staff to have coronavirus vaccines. “Employees who aren’t already vaccinated and are working on-site will have 60 days from today to complete their protocols,” the company said in a statement.
- Police in France faced more protests against vaccine passports, with officers taking up positions along the Champs-Élysées in Paris. About 3,000 police officers were being deployed around the French capital for a third Saturday of protests against a virus bill requiring a pass in most places as of 9 August.
- Anti-lockdown protests planned to take place in Berlin, Germany, were banned by the city’s administrative court. Some protests had been organised by Germany’s Querdenker (lateral thinker) anti-lockdown movement, while several others had been organised in support of Berlin’s nightclubs.
- There are no plans to bring in vaccine passports for university students in England, the Department for Education has said. In interviews this week, ministers – including the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab – had not ruled out using them, with students set to return to campuses in September.
Updated
The #COVID19 virus and its variants are dangerous and the Delta variant is the most transmissible variant yet.
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 31, 2021
Dr @mvankerkhove explains some of the possible reasons why and ways we can keep safe ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XUEcecFTde
Updated
Thousands of people protested in Paris and other French cities on Saturday against a mandatory coronavirus health pass for entry to a wide array of public venues, introduced by the government as it battles a fourth wave of infections.
Protesters injured three police officers in Paris, a police spokesperson said.
The interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, said 19 demonstrators were arrested, including 10 in Paris, Reuters reports.
An interior ministry official said 204,090 people had demonstrated across France, including 14,250 in Paris alone. This is about 40,000 more than last week.
Updated
France has reported 23,471 new coronavirus cases, Reuters reports.
The country has had over 6.1 million cases in total.
Britain faces the prospect of thousands of annual Covid deaths for years to come, scientists have warned.
They say waves of cases are likely to sweep the country every winter as Covid-19 joins other seasonal viruses, including influenza, in taking its toll of elderly and infirm people. Every year, as cold weather forces people indoors, virus transmission will increase, case numbers will rise, and some of these will result in deaths.
“We are going to see problems with Covid for a long time,” said Prof Adam Finn of Bristol University.
Updated
NHS devices used by people with Covid in the UK to monitor blood-oxygen levels at home may give inaccurate readings for people with darker skin.
The warning concerned pulse oximeters, currently being used by many of those at risk of severe Covid symptoms to check their blood-oxygen levels. Below a certain reading, they need to go to hospital, AFP reports.
The NHS said: “There have been reports that pulse oximeters can be less accurate for people with darker skin because they may show higher readings of the oxygen level in the blood.”
The devices, clipped on to a finger, work by shining a light through a person’s skin to measure the level of oxygen in the blood.
Updated guidance for virus sufferers on the main NHS website now warns: “There have been some reports they may be less accurate if you have brown or black skin. They may show readings higher than the level of oxygen in your blood.”
But the important thing is to check regularly to see if they are going down, it adds.
Updated
Ohio has planted a memorial grove of native trees to remember people who died of Covd-19, and governors and state lawmakers nationwide are considering their own ways to mark the toll of the virus, Associated Press reports.
Temporary memorials have sprung up across the US — 250,000 white flags at RFK stadium in the nation’s capital, a garden of hand-sculpted flowers in Florida and strings of origami cranes in Los Angeles.
The process of creating more lasting remembrances that honour the over 600,000 Americans who have died from coronavirus is fraught compared with past memorial drives because of politics.
Last year, a bill kickstarting a national Covid-19 memorial process collapsed in Congress during the Trump administration.
Updated
Covid-19 jabs have been administered inside a circus marquee and at a vaccine festival this weekend as part of the latest efforts to boost uptake in England.
Visitors to the Circus Extreme in Halifax, Yorkshire, one of a host of new vaccine sites across the country, received their jabs with some colourful performers watching on.
Medical staff set up the seating, screens and equipment for the walk-in pop-up clinic inside a marquee on Saturday, PA reports.
Football fans could get vaccinated at Burnley FC, where a pop-up site was administering doses of Pfizer, while jabs were also due to be on offer on Saturday at Goodwood racecourse near Chichester.
In west London, a vaccine bus will be stationed at the Summer of Love Festival in Holland Park.
Updated
People could be refusing to get tested for coronavirus in a bid to avoid having to self-isolate, a UK government adviser has said.
Professor Robert West, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), which advises ministers, said it could be a factor in the difference between the high infection rate in the UK and the decrease in daily positive cases.
The latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that Covid infections are up to their highest level since January in England, and the highest since February in Wales.
Prof West told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “One of the things that is a concern is that people may not be coming forward as they used to do for testing.
One of the reasons for that may be that the messaging from the government in a way has sort of given a bit of a green light to people to say: ‘Well, it is not so bad if you get the infection.’
“[But] if you get tested you’re going to have to self-isolate, at least at the moment, and that’s going to be very disruptive. I suspect that may be a factor.”
Updated
France has reported 34 new deaths in hospital from coronavirus, bringing the total to 85,355.
It has also recorded an increase of 27 people in intensive care with the virus, bringing the total to 1,099, Reuters reports.
Overall, the country has had about 112,000 Covid-19 deaths.
Updated
China facing worst outbreak in months
China is trying to contain its worst coronavirus outbreak in months, as health officials blamed the highly infectious Delta variant for a surge in infections spanning 14 provinces.
It reported 328 symptomatic infections in July, almost equal to the total number of local cases from February to June, AFP reports.
“The main strain circulating at present is the Delta variant … which poses an even greater challenge to virus prevention and control work,” said Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission.
Updated
Updated
Italy reported 16 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, down from 18 the day before, the health ministry said.
The daily tally of new infections fell to 6,513 compared to 6,619 on Friday, Reuters reports.
Italy has registered 128,063 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
The country has reported 4.35 million cases to date.
Updated
There are no plans to bring in vaccine passports for university students in England, the Department for Education (DfE) said, as a row continues over their use.
In interviews this week, ministers – including the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab – had not ruled out using them, with students set to return to campuses in September.
Raab had said students would get “advance warning” if they were to be required, but the DfE said on Saturday it was not planning for proof of vaccine status to be required to attend lectures or stay in halls of residence.
Updated
#COVID19 VACCINE UPDATE: Daily figures on the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses that have been given in the UK.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) July 31, 2021
As of 31 July, 84,938,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given in the UK.
Visit the @PHE_uk dashboard for more info:
▶️ https://t.co/cQkuLQglz1 pic.twitter.com/Zh9nUwDb8f
UK death toll rises by 71
The UK has recorded 26,144 new Covid cases and a further 71 deaths in the latest 24-hour period, government figures show.
Updated
Summary
Key developments in coronavirus-related news in the UK and around the world on Saturday include:
- England’s top midwife urged pregnant women to book themselves for coronavirus vaccines. Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent said she was calling on pregnant women to “protect themselves and their babies”, after a study found the Delta variant appeared to increase their risk of severe symptoms.
- The Walt Disney Company has become the latest US company to announce that it will require all its staff to take coronavirus vaccines. “Employees who aren’t already vaccinated and are working on-site will have 60 days from today to complete their protocols,” the company said in a statement.
- Police in France faced more protests against vaccine passports, with officers taking up positions along the Champs-Élysées in Paris. About 3,000 police officers were being deployed around the French capital for a third Saturday of protests against a virus bill requiring a pass in most places as of 9 August.
- Anti-lockdown protests planned to take place in Berlin, Germany, were banned by the city’s administrative court. Some protests had been organised by Germany’s Querdenker (lateral thinker) anti-lockdown movement, while several others had been organised in support of Berlin’s nightclubs.
- There are no plans to bring in vaccine passports for university students in England, the Department for Education has said. In interviews this week, ministers – including the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab – had not ruled out using them, with students set to return to campuses in September.
- The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, has said that plans to impose vaccine passports for domestic use were “unworkable, expensive and divisive”. Davey called for the recall of parliament to debate changes to the NHS app which allows it to be used as proof of vaccine status.
That’s it from me, Damien Gayle for the day.
Updated
Some nationwide lockdown restrictions are to be eased in Uganda after a decline in daily cases of coronavirus in the east African country.
Forty-two days after the country reimposed it’s lockdown, the president, Yoweri Museveni, on Friday said that public transport would reopen at 50% capacity, and private transport would also reopen but with no more than three occupants in a car, including the driver, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Shopping malls and business centres will also reopen, but they must adhere to operating procedures to prevent virus transmission.
However, many other curbs remain in place. Public gatherings including places of worship remain closed over the next 60 days, while weddings and funerals may only take place with a maximum 20 guests.
A night-time curfew of 7pm to 5.30am remains in place.
“Indoor games, music concerts and comedy shows remain closed for another 42 days. The artists are encouraged to hold their concerts online,” Museveni was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
“Gaming and sports betting bars remain closed and violators including revellers and bar owners [are] to be arrested,” he added.
Updated
There are no plans to bring in vaccine passports for university students in England, the Department for Education has said, as a row continues over their use, writes Harry Taylor for the Guardian.
In interviews this week ministers – including the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab – had not ruled out using them, with students set to return to campuses in September.
Raab had said students would get “advance warning” if they were to be required, but the Department for Education (DfE) said on Saturday it was not planning for proof of vaccine status to be required to attend lectures or stay in halls of residence.
A DfE spokesperson said: “Vaccinations are important in helping to keep higher education settings safe for when students return in the autumn term and we strongly encourage all students to take up the offer of both vaccine doses.
“The government currently has no plans to require the use of the NHS Covid pass for access to learning however universities and FE [further education] colleges are encouraged to promote the offer of the vaccine and should continue to conduct risk assessments for their particular circumstances.”
Updated
Iran reported 286 more deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours on Saturday, bringing the country’s total toll from the pandemic to 90,630.
According to the latest update from the country’s health ministry, 19,846 new cases were detected in the same period, 2,620 of whom were hospitalised. There were 5,455 Covid-19 patients currently in critical condition in intensive care units.
So far 3,367,272 patients, out of a total of 3,871,008 infected people, have recovered or been discharged from hospitals.
The ministry also said that 9,552,526 Iranians have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,687,311 people have so far received their second dose.
Updated
Eight more deaths of patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 have been reported in Northern Ireland, the PA news agency reports.
The Department of Health said there had also been 1,117 new confirmed cases of the virus in the last 24-hour reporting period.
Even as the White House highlighted what it considered alarmism in reporting of the surge in cases of the Delta coronavirus variant across the US, reports in the same national media suggested vaccinations were increasing in hotspot areas, writes Edward Helmore for the Guardian US.
On Friday, an unnamed senior Biden administration official told CNN the press was reporting misleadingly on federal data indicating the Delta variant spread among vaccinated as well as unvaccinated people.
The official said a focus on “breakthrough infections” might lead to people being more hesitant to get vaccinated, and said the White House had asked news organisations to tone down coverage.
“The media’s coverage doesn’t match the moment,” the official was quoted as saying. “It has been hyperbolic and frankly irresponsible in a way that hardens vaccine hesitancy. The biggest problem we have is unvaccinated people getting and spreading the virus.”
Updated
The heads of the World Health Organization, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund and World Bank have issued a collective call for Covid vaccine makers to prioritise doses for poorer countries.
In a joint statement they said countries which have progressed far in vaccinating against the disease should release doses rapidly in favour of less fortunate nations, French news agency AFP reports. They said:
We reiterate the urgency of providing access to Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments to people throughout the developing world.
In the area of vaccines, a key constraint is the acute and alarming shortage in the supply of doses to low and low-middle income countries, especially for the rest of 2021.
We call on countries with advanced Covid-19 vaccination programmes to release as soon as possible as much of their contracted vaccine doses and options as possible to Covax, AVAT (the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust), and low and low-middle income countries.
The four international agencies have set up a combined task force on Covid-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics for developing countries in order to identify and resolve impediments to production.
More than four billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have now been administered globally, according to an AFP count. In countries categorised as high income by the World Bank, 98.2 doses per 100 people have been injected. That figure drops to 1.6 per 100 in the 29 lowest-income countries.
Some stats on #COVID19 vaccine rollout in Africa!
— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) July 31, 2021
✅ 82 million doses received
✅ 62 million doses administered
✅ 520 million doses expected via #COVAX and #AVAT by end 2021 👏🏿 pic.twitter.com/Qo5holq2qF
Nightclubs in England have experienced low attendances and been forced to cancel events as the pandemic continues to disrupt the nightlife industry almost two weeks on from “freedom day”, reports Alex Mistlin for the Observer.
Many operators blamed “low consumer confidence” in the face of confusing government messages about whether it was safe to attend.
“It has not been the freedom that we’ve been expecting,” said John Clark, owner of Faces nightclub in Gants Hill, east London. “We’re unlocked on paper but we’re just in this twilight zone where it’s not been as busy as we’ve anticipated.”
Updated
Police in France were preparing for more protests against vaccine passports on Saturday, with officers taking up positions along Paris’s Champs-Élysées to guard against any invasion by protesters of the “world’s most beautiful avenue”.
According to a wire report from the Associated Press, about 3,000 police were being deployed around the city for a third Saturday of protests against a virus bill requiring a pass in most places as of 9 August.
The pass requires holders to have been vaccinated, have tested negative for the Sars-CoV-2 virus, or to have proof of a recent recovery from Covid-19. The new law also mandates vaccinations for all healthcare workers by mid-September.
Polls show a majority of French support the pass, but many remain are adamantly opposed. Four separate protests were being held Saturday in Paris, with “liberty” the slogan of the day.
Marches were also called in other cities around France.
Over the past two weekends, police have used water cannon and tear gas sporadically to deter violence, including after some protesters moved to the Arc de Triomphe, at the top of the Champs-Élysées.
Infection numbers are again rising in France, with a resurgence of the pandemic blamed on the more-contagious Delta strain. More than 24,000 new daily cases were confirmed on Friday night, compared with just a few thousand cases a day at the start of the month.
So far more than 52% of the French population has been vaccinated, with the government’s announcement of the pass reportedly driving many who had been hesitant to book appointments.
Updated
Vietnam to extend lockdown as Covid cases soar
Vietnam is to extend its lockdown on the south of the country for another two weeks as coronavirus cases soar.
The government said in an announcement today that strict movement restrictions in 19 cities and provinces would remain in place for another two weeks starting from Monday, reports Reuters.
Updated
Two Trinidad and Tobago athletes withdraw from Olympics after testing positive with coronavirus
Two Trinidad and Tobago athletes were forced to withdraw from the Olympics after testing positive for coronavirus.
Long jumper Andwuelle Wright and 400 metre hurdler Sparkle Ann McKnight have pulled out, the country’s Olympic committee said. One team official also has Covid-19.
Updated
China reported 55 new coronavirus cases on the mainland today.
Local cases were predominantly in reported in Jiangsu province, where there is an outbreak of the Delta variant in Nanjing, its provincial capital, reports Reuters.
The outbreak in Nanjing, which has reported 190 locally transmitted cases since July 20, has spread to other provinces and cities, including Beijing.
Hi, it’s Miranda Bryant looking after the liveblog for the next hour or so.
Updated
Updated
The Walt Disney Company has become the latest US company to announce that it will require all its staff to take coronavirus vaccines, following similar announcements by Google and Facebook.
A statement by the company, published on the entertainment industry news site Variety, said:
At The Walt Disney Company, the safety and wellbeing of our employees during the pandemic has been and continues to be a top priority. Toward that end, and based on the latest recommendations of scientists, health officials and our own medical professionals that the Covid-19 vaccine provides the best protection against severe infection, we are requiring that all salaried and non-union hourly employees in the US working at any of our sites be fully vaccinated.
Employees who aren’t already vaccinated and are working on-site will have 60 days from today to complete their protocols and any employees still working from home will need to provide verification of vaccination prior to their return, with certain limited exceptions.
We have also begun conversations around this topic with the unions representing our employees under collective bargaining agreements. In addition, all new hires will be required to be fully vaccinated before beginning employment. Vaccines are the best tool we all have to help control this global pandemic and protect our employees.
Updated
England's top midwife urges pregnant women to get vaccinated
England’s top midwife has urged pregnant women to book themselves for coronavirus vaccines after a study found the Delta variant appeared to increase their risk of severe symptoms.
Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, chief midwifery officer for England, wrote to GPs and midwives on Friday asking them to encourage expectant mothers to get a jab. She said she was calling on pregnant women to “protect themselves and their babies”.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives have also recommended vaccination of pregnant women. A survey by the RCOG in May found that 58% of pregnant women offered the vaccine had declined it, with most saying they feared harming the baby or were waiting for more information on safety.
A paper based on national data compiled by the UK Obstetric Surveillance System, published online on 25 July, found that the proportion of pregnant women admitted to hospital with moderate to severe infection rose “significantly” after the Delta variant became dominant in May.
The paper by University of Oxford researchers found that pregnant women hospitalised during the Delta wave were more likely to get pneumonia, with a third requiring respiratory support.
“It is very concerning that admissions of pregnant women to hospital with Covid-19 are increasing and that pregnant women appear to be more severely affected by the Delta variant of the disease,” said the study’s chief investigator Marian Knight, professor of maternal and child population health at the University of Oxford.
People in the UK who have chosen not to get vaccinated could not expect “to be treated in the same way” as those who had, a senior Conservative MP has said.
Intervening in the debate over whether people should be coerced into having coronavirus vaccines through measures that would block unvaccinated people from certain elements of daily life, Damian Collins, former chair of the digital, culture, media and sport select committee, told Times radio:
We don’t force anyone to have a vaccine in this country, it is up to their individual choice. But at the same time, it might be unreasonable for someone who has decided not to get vaccinated to expect to be treated in the same way as someone who has been vaccinated twice ...
I think we need to look venue-by-venue at the practicalities of introducing that but I can see certain venue owners, who are putting on large and major events for which they themselves may be trying to get insurance in order to protect their investment in those events, it may well be this is something those venues actively want to encourage so they’ve got that extra level of certainty.
I don’t think in that situation the government should try and stop people doing that - that may be something the venues themselves want.
I think we have to look at this very seriously, we have to look at what the vaccination rates are like by that time and if the double vaccination rates are high enough, it may not be necessary, but I do think this is something that has to be looked at seriously.”
Updated
The coronavirus lockdown in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, and eight other districts is to be lifted, after a cabinet meeting on Friday chaired by the president, Paul Kagame.
There was no immediate explanation for the lifting of the lockdown, which was imposed in mid-July, according to the French state-backed news agency AFP.
Rwanda, a country of 13 million people, has enforced some of the strictest containment measures on the continent and implemented a rigorous regime of testing and contact-tracing. But in recent weeks, infections have increased, with daily infections of over 1,000 for the past seven days.
According to a statement released by the government, movement between Kigali and other provinces and districts of the country can resume, but a dusk-to-dawn curfew remains in place.
All social gatherings are still banned and schools and churches remain closed, but weddings are allowed with a limit of 10 guests.
In total, Rwanda has registered nearly 70,000 cases of Covid-19 of which 798 have been fatal, according to figures published on Friday.
Vaccine uptake in Rwanda has been slow due in part to a lack of doses and to public apathy. A nationwide campaign aimed at vaccinating 60% of the population by next year has so far reached just over 452,000 people, according to the latest government statistics.
Hundreds of young people joined a rally in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to demand the resignation of the prime minister over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
An eight-fold rise in cases of Covid-19 since January has led to anger at the unelected government led by Muhyiddin Yassin, which took power in March 2020 after forming a coalition with the opposition.
Wearing face masks while holding black flags and placards, the protesters chanted: “Fight! Fight!” and “Muhyiddin resign”. Some carried mock corpses wrapped in white cloth to depict the growing virus death toll.
After police blocked them from marching to Independence Square, they sat on the street a meter apart with a large banner that read: “The government failed.”
They put forward three demands: the resignation of Muhyiddin, resumption of regular parliamentary sessions and automatic loan moratorium to help those hit by the pandemic. They dispersed peacefully after nearly two hours.
The rally added to pressure on Muhyiddin, after his government was reprimanded by Malaysia’s king for misleading parliament over the status of emergency measures.
Muhyiddin obtained royal consent to declare a Covid emergency in January, allowing him to suspend parliament and rule by ordinance without legislative approval until 1 August. Critics have slammed the emergency as a ruse for Muhyiddin to cling to power at a time when his razor-thin majority in parliament is in jeopardy.
New daily infections breached 10,000 on 13 July for the first time and have stayed there since, despite a virus emergency in January and a lockdown since 1 June.
Total deaths have risen to nearly 9,000. Nearly 20% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
Updated
Hundreds of thousands of garment workers in Bangladesh were rushing back to major cities on Saturday after the government said export factories could reopen.
Factories, offices, transport and shops had been ordered to close from 23 July to 5 August as daily coronavirus infections and deaths hit record levels.
But with the economy badly hit by the pandemic, the government excluded the factories that supply top brands in Europe and North America from a nationwide lockdown order, according to the AFP news agency.
Officially, Bangladesh has reported 1.2 million cases and more than 20,000 deaths; experts say the real figures are at least four times higher.
The country’s 4,500 garment factories, which employ more than 4 million people, have been allowed to reopen from Sunday, after influential garment factory owners warned of “catastrophic” consequences if orders for foreign brands were not completed.
Bangladesh is the world’s second largest garment exporter after China and the industry has become the foundation of the economy for the country of 169 million people.
Mohammad Hatem, vice president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said up to $3bn worth of export orders were at risk if factories had stayed closed.
“The brands would have diverted their orders to other countries,” Hatem told AFP.
Updated
Ed Davey calls for parliament recall over NHS app vaccine passport features
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, has said that plans to impose vaccine passports for domestic use was “unworkable, expensive and divisive”, as he called for the recall of parliament to debate changes to the NHS app which allows it to be used as proof of vaccine status.
Describing the plan as a “Covid ID card”, Davey said imposing vaccine passports would “be a real attack on people’s freedoms” and a “serious undermining of civil liberties.”
Asked why there needed to be a parliamentary debate on vaccine passports, Davey told Times Radio:
Because the government told us they weren’t going to do this.
We’ve all agreed that for international travel you’ll need to have Covid options but domestically, sort of Covid ID cards, the Liberal Democrats have led the campaign against them, we’ve seen MPs in other parties share our views that this would be a real attack on people’s freedoms and particularly hit businesses and young people – it is unworkable, it is expensive and it is divisive.
That’s why the government haven’t gone ahead with it previously. Now we hear, in the recess when parliament can’t debate it, they’ve by stealth changed the rules so your NHS app could be used as a Covid ID card across venues.
That’s completely wrong, it is undemocratic, they are not being held accountable to it, so Liberal Democrats are saying, given that serious undermining of civil liberties without any debate in parliament, parliament should be recalled.
Davey said changes to the NHS app to allow it to double up as an electronic vaccine passport was an “abuse of democracy”.
Setting out his objections to plans for a domestic scheme for people to have to prove their vaccine status, the Lib Dem leader told Times Radio:
Frankly, this government has given everybody many reasons, time and time again not to trust them.
I do not trust Boris Johnson, I do not trust his ministers and we will watch them like hawks, and we will come down on them – that’s what we are doing now. They are trying to do this in the recess when parliament isn’t sitting – it is a disgrace.
It is an abuse of democracy, it is an abuse of power and it threatens taking people’s freedoms away and stigmatising young people, hitting businesses. That is not acceptable and the Liberal Democrats are going to call them out.
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Anti-lockdown protests planned to take place in Berlin, Germany, have been banned by the city’s administrative court, amid fears the Delta variant will lead to a rise in infections.
According to Deutsche Welle, judges at Berlin’s administrative court refused to authorise 13 demonstrations, banning tens of thousands of Germans from rallying in their capital city. Organisers of one protest said 22,500 people had registered to take part, according to DW.
Some of the demonstrations had been organised by Germany’s Querdenker (lateral thinker) anti-lockdown movement, while several others had been organised in support of Berlin’s nightclubs.
Berlin police fear that many protesters will still travel to the city.
The ban came as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 2,400 to 3,769,165, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday.
The reported death toll rose by 21 to 91,658, the tally showed.
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Australia will have to vaccinate 80% of its adults against Covid-19 before it can consider reopening its borders, the country’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, has said.
Announcing a four-stage plan for the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, Morrison expressed confidence that phase B - having 70% of the population fully vaccinated - could be reached by the end of the year.
So far only 18% of adults in the country have been fully vaccinated.
Strict measures in Australia, including sealing its borders and snap lockdowns, and high community compliance with public health rules, have left the country comparatively untouched by the coronavirus pandemic, with just over 34,000 cases and 924 deaths so far.
Also on Saturday, New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, reported 210 locally acquired cases of Covid-19, as police cordoned off downtown Sydney with multiple checkpoints to prevent a planned anti-lockdown protest.
Meanwhile, the third-largest city of Brisbane and other parts of Queensland state were to enter a snap Covid-19 lockdown on Saturday as a cluster of the Delta variant bubbled into six new cases.
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The European Championship 2020 final between England and Italy earlier this month helped to “supercharge” coronavirus infections in north-east England, according to a senior public health official in the region.
Middlesbrough currently has the highest rate of new cases in England - although it is down sharply week-on-week from 1,421.5 cases per 100,000 people to 695.8. The biggest fall was recorded by Redcar and Cleveland, which is down from 1,520.2 to 668.6.
With the areas to be offered enhanced support by the g0overnment to tackle its case rates, Mark Adams, joint director of public health for Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
The rates tended to kick off just after the Euros football final - our three highest days were three-to-five days after that final, so I think our momentum was kind of picking up then and that event just supercharged it up to the unfortunate position we found ourselves in.
But what we have seen over the last week is our rates have more than halved, and so even though everyone else’s rates are coming down as well, our rates seem to be coming down very quickly.
So I think areas like Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and places you’ve seen in the north-west and further north in the north-east, are more susceptible to Covid because of the types of jobs that people do, the inability to work from home - Middlesbrough was cited in the ONS survey of being in the bottom 10 of areas where people are able to work from home.
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A record breaking tally of new coronavirus cases was reported in Thailand on Saturday, with 18,912 new infections bringing the country’s total accumulated cases to 597,287.
The country also reported 178 new deaths, also a daily record, taking total fatalities to 4,857.
Earlier this week the Guardian reported from Bangkok, the Thai capital, where a cargo warehouse has been turned into an 1,800-bed field hospital, as the country struggles with its most severe outbreak since the start of the pandemic.
Hospitals in the capital Bangkok, where the outbreak concentrated, have been overwhelmed by patients, and forced to turn people away.
The UK’s equalities watchdog has warned businesses to be “proportionate” and “non-discriminatory”, after a government minister appeared to back “no jab, no job” policies that could allow businesses to compel employees to be vaccinated.
In a follow-up by the PA news agency to the story leading this morning’s Guardian print edition, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it understood firms will want to protect their staff and their customers by requiring employees to be vaccinated, but it advises them to take other factors into consideration.
Saturday's Guardian: "Firms may face legal action over 'no jab, no job' threats" #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday https://t.co/7FuHsAa3Vz pic.twitter.com/GAEdT76Luk
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) July 30, 2021
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has suggested it is a good idea for people to be double jabbed before returning to the office but it will not be required by legislation.
An EHRC spokesman said:
Employers are right to want to protect their staff and their customers, particularly in contexts where people are at risk, such as care homes. However, requirements must be proportionate, non-discriminatory and make provision for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
Good morning from London, this is Damien Gayle and over the next few hours I’ll be taking you through another day of the latest news and developments in coronavirus-related UK and world news.
