That’s it from me today but please tune in later for our new Covid blog which will launch in a few hours time.
In the meantime, follow along with all our coronavirus coverage here.
If you’re just joining us here’s a quick run down of all the key stories.
- British singer Ed Sheeran announced testing positive for Covid-19. In an Instagram post he said: “It means that I’m now unable to plough ahead with any in-person commitments for now, so I’ll be doing as many of my planned interviews/performances I can from my house.” Sheeran will be self isolating and cancelling in-person commitments.
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NHS maternity services feared to be near breaking point, the UK’s most senior gynaecologist has warned. The health service could soon be unable to deliver “the care it needs to” for women giving birth if the surge in Covid cases continues, the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has said. As Covid cases rise the NHS battles a huge backlog of 5.7 million patients caused by the first and second waves of the virus.
- UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak to announce almost £6bn to tackle England’s record NHS waiting list. In an effort to get a grip on the crisis, the chancellor will unveil plans for investment in NHS capital funding this week to help deliver about 30% more elective activity by 2024-25 compared to pre-pandemic levels. This is equivalent to millions more checks, scans and procedures for non-emergency patients.
- US chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci predicts Covid shots for kids five to 11 will be available by early November. A review panel of the US food and drug administration (FDA) found last week that the benefits of Pfizer-BioNTech shots for the younger age group outweighed the risks.
- The UK is lagging behind other G7 countries in sharing surplus Covid vaccines with poorer countries, according to newly published figures. The advocacy organisation One, which is campaigning to end extreme poverty and preventable disease by 2030, described it as shaming for the UK government. The figures show that the UK is behind every member of the G7 – of which Britain is currently the chair – except for Japan.
- STI rates “at their highest numbers” in the US as Covid dominates health funding. Health officials are concerned about how to divert key resources to combatting a rise in sexually-transmitted infections (STI) that is now continuing despite the social restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic and is now in its sixth consecutive year of increase.
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Russia reports 1,000 daily Covid deaths.
- UK records nearly 40,000 positive Covid results.
Updated
Good morning from sunny Sydney, Australia.
I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest coronavirus coverage for next hour or so.
Stay with us while we unpack all the key developments.
Americans living abroad are still awaiting to get their vaccine shots, while Americans back home are receiving their third dose.
The Washington Post reported expats and their advocates, who account for 9 million Americans overseas, have seen their months of pleas go unheard.
The expats cited the commitment by the Biden administration where it would provide shots for all US citizens while becoming an “arsenal of vaccines” for the world.
The Washington Post conducted a series of interviews with Americans living abroad who voiced their distress as hundreds of thousands of doses in the United States expired this summer and fall without any takers.
"Immense pressures" facing maternity staff worries senior gynaecologist
Here is an exclusive one for you.
Dr Edward Morris, the UK’s most senior gynaecologist, is the latest high-ranking clinician to raise the alarm about the pressures facing the health service.
The senior gynaecologist points out the NHS will be unable to deliver “the care it needs” for women amid a surge in Covid cases.
He told the Guardian he is increasingly concerned about the “immense pressures” facing maternity staff.
Click on the link below to find out more about the story:
Updated
Tighter restrictions will come into effect from Monday to ease struggling hospitals in Romania
Al Jazeera reported hospitals throughout Romania are struggling to deal with incoming Covid-19 patients.
Romania has only vaccinated 35% of its adult compared with a European Union average of 74%.
Not only that, Romania is the second-least vaccinated country in the 27-nation bloc.
Tighter restrictions are set to come into effect from Monday to curb the spread and ease pressure on hospitals.
Updated
With Cop26 on the horizon, Scotland’s health secretary say there is “absolutely a risk” of covid cases when delegates descend to Glasgow for the summit.
Humza Yousaf spoke with the BBC saying the Scottish government was doing everything it could to limit transmission of the virus during the 12 days of the summit.
“We have been working with the UK government and the United Nations (UN) to make Cop as safe as we possibly can,” Yousaf said.
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Welsh ministers thinking about extending Covid passes
BBC reported Welsh ministers are considering extending the use of Covid passes for a wider range of venues.
Health minister Eluned Morgan said the government is “hugely” concerned about the high levels of Covid. Wales’ Covid-19 case rate is the highest of all of the UK nations.
The move is being considered after compulsory NHS Covid passes were introduced to allow people to legally attend big events and nightclubs, the BBC reports.
The Welsh government will review the Covid-19 rules this coming week ahead of an announcement on Friday.
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Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves told the BBC that it would like to see the government introduce its Plan B measures, which includes mask wearing and working from home.
She was asked by Andrew Marr whether Plan B should be introduced now. “Yes, but let’s not let the government off the hook with Plan A either” said Ms Reeves.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said data didn’t lead one to suggest “immediately moving to Plan B”.
Ed Sheeran announces positive test for Covid-19
Ed Sheeran took to Instagram to inform his followers that he has tested positive.
Sheeran said he will be unable to “plough ahead with any in-person commitments for, so I’ll be doing as many of my planned interviews/performances I can from my house.”
The musician added: “Apologies to anyone I’ve let down. Be safe everyone x.”
On 29 October Sheeran is due to release his new album.
Updated
In Portugal, where it has one of the world’s highest coronavirus vaccination rates, it is learning to live with Covid-19 while easing its restrictions.
The Wall Street Journal reported the Portuguese government lifted many of its restrictions, including lifting a 30% capacity limit at stadiums imposed to control Covid-19.
Maria Mota, executive director of Lisbon’s Institute of Molecular Medicine, said: “Almost the whole population is vaccinated here and the virus still circulates, showing it won’t go away.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that other countries with high vaccination rates is looking at Portugal very closely to see if this strategy will work.
Russia reports 1,000 daily Covid deaths
Russia reported 1,072 Covid-19 deaths on Sunday 24 October, days after President Vladimir Putin approved a government proposal of for a week-long shutdown to take place in the beginning of November.
Russia is ranked in the top five of countries reporting the most deaths from Covid-19, according to a Reuters analysis. Reuters analysis addressed Russia having 120 people testing positive every five minutes.
Updated
UK records nearly 40,000 positive Covid results
Hello, Streisand Neto here and I will be giving you a rundown of all the coronavirus news, starting with the latest UK case numbers.
The latest data provided today reveals 39,962 reported to have tested positive. 328,287 tested positive within the last 7 days. The previous 7 days (11 October 2021 - 17 October 2021) had 28,206 testing positive. Today’s figure is an 9.4% increase.
The latest figures also revealed 72 deaths from within 28 days of positive test. Within the last 7 days there were 949 deaths, which is an increase of 11.4% from the 97 deaths that happened from 11 October - 17 October.
Updated
Summary
That’s all from me, Caroline Davies. Thank you for your time.
Here’s a round up of the key events today.
- The UK chancellor Rishi Sunak said data did not suggest it was time to move to plan B. “We’re monitoring everything. But at the moment the data does not suggest that we should immediately be moving to plan B,” he said.
- Boris Johnson said vaccines will get the country through the winter and out of the pandemic. The prime minister, who has said there are no plans for another lockdown, said: “Vaccines are our way through this winter.”
- Prof Adam Finn, who is on the UK’s Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said Covid-19 hospital admissions and deaths are rising, and warned against complacency in what he said is a “worsening” situation. Vaccines were not going to be enough to keep the spread under control, and people need to make effort to avoid contact in order to slow transmission rates, he added.
- Chief executive of NHS England Amanda Pritchard tweeted on Sunday afternoon: “Yesterday was the biggest day yet for Covid booster jabs: more than 325,000 people getting vital protection.
- Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the UK government should introduce its plan B to tackle the rising rates of coronavirus now. On whether plan B should be introduced now, she said: “Yes, but let’s not let the government off the hook with plan A either.”
- Dr Katherine Henderson, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said emergency departments in the UK are in a “terrible place”. She said: “We’re already struggling to cope”.
- Parents in England are now able to book Covid vaccinations online for children aged between 12 and 15. Just over 2.5 million letters will arrive with parents and guardians from Monday inviting them to book a jab online through the National Booking Service.
- From 4am today, the coronavirus rules have been relaxed for travellers returning to England who are fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine. Just in time for half-term, fully vaccinated people arriving in England from a non-red list country can use a lateral flow test rather than the more expensive PCR version on or before day two.
Updated
The Liberal Democrats have said the UK government should be prepared to reintroduce the furlough scheme if plan B measures are introduced.
The party’s treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “This Conservative government’s bungling and inaction make it look increasingly likely Covid restrictions will have to be reintroduced. If jobs are to be protected, the chancellor must ensure there is also a plan B for furlough.
“This new wave of furlough needs to be flexible, provide support whenever businesses need it, and be targeted at the industries that will be hit hardest. Without this, many sectors of our economy could grind to a halt, putting jobs at risk and limiting our ability to invest in skills and other priorities.
“Now is not the time to turn off the taps and say job done, it is time to step up and tell businesses we have their backs this winter.”
Updated
Five Covid-19-related deaths have been reported in Northern Ireland on Sunday, the BBC said. Deaths are measured by recording those who died within 28 days of receiving a positive result in a test for coronavirus. The total number of deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland since the start of the pandemic is 2,661.
Updated
More than 325,000 people in England got booster jab on Saturday
Chief executive of NHS England Amanda Pritchard tweeted on Sunday afternoon: “Yesterday was the biggest day yet for Covid booster jabs: more than 325,000 people getting vital protection.
“In the past three days over 800,000 people have had their booster jab.”
Yesterday was the biggest day yet for Covid booster jabs: more than 325,000 people getting vital protection. In the past three days over 800,000 people have had their booster jab.
— Amanda Pritchard (@AmandaPritchard) October 24, 2021
Thank you for coming forward, and if you're eligible, book your jab today. https://t.co/V8A8tCIw9H
Updated
With so much talk of the UK government’s plan A and plan B, here’s a handy reminder of what they are.
Updated
Tourists hoping to visit Jerusalem or Tel Aviv after Israel’s announcement last week that it would open to some vaccinated foreign travellers should read the fine print before booking, local hoteliers say.
Reuters reports:
The new rules due to go into effect on 1 Novebmer ahead of the Christmas season, permit individual tourists who have received Covid-19 vaccine boosters to enter but not if more than six months have lapsed since their last dose, with some exceptions. That has tempered excitement among hoteliers hoping for some improvement around 20 months after Israel banned most foreigners to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
“How many tourists out in the world have actually gotten boosters or are sitting in that six-month period following their second dose?” Israel Hotel Association CEO Yael Danieli said. “Even if both parents in a family are vaccinated, their children under 12 are not, so they mostly can’t come to Israel.”
Israel has offered third doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab to all residents over 12. That means many would-be travellers whose last dose was before 1 May cannot enter Israel.
Hotel owners in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Nazareth and in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank say they have yet to see a large increase in bookings. The entry rules also apply to visitors wanting to visit the West Bank as Israel controls all the border crossings. Tourists who enter Israel are also generally able to travel to Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns.
“It is a great step to start but I am not expecting big numbers until next year,” said Joey Canavati, manager of Bethlehem’s Alexander Hotel. “At the moment we just want to stop the bleeding, stop digging into our savings.”
Tourism dropped over 80% in 2020 after hitting a record high of 4.55 million visitors in 2019 that contributed $7.2bn to Israel’s economy and boosted tourism-dependent Bethlehem.
The new rules, which await ratification, include some exemptions. Entry will be granted to travellers, including children, who recovered from Covid-19 in the six months prior. Anyone who recovered earlier will also be admitted if they received least one vaccine dose approved by the World Health Organization.
Updated
Summary
Here’s a round up of the key events so far today.
- The UK chancellor Rishi Sunak said data did not suggest it was time to move to plan B. “We’re monitoring everything. But at the moment the data does not suggest that we should immediately be moving to plan B,” he said.
- Boris Johnson said vaccines will get the country through the winter and out of the pandemic. Johnson, who has said there are no plans for another lockdown, said: “Vaccines are our way through this winter.”
- Prof Adam Finn, who is on the UK’s Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said Covid-19 hospital admissions and deaths are rising, and warned against complacency in what he said is a “worsening” situation. Vaccines were not going to be enough to keep the spread under control, and people need to make effort to avoid contact in order to slow transmission rates, he added.
- Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the UK government should introduce its plan B to tackle the rising rates of coronavirus now. On whether plan B should be introduced now, she said: “Yes, but let’s not let the government off the hook with plan A either.”
- Dr Katherine Henderson, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said emergency departments in the UK are in a “terrible place”. She said: “We’re already struggling to cope”.
- Parents in England are now able to book Covid vaccinations online for children aged between 12 and 15. Just over 2.5 million letters will arrive with parents and guardians from Monday inviting them to book a jab online through the National Booking Service.
- From 4am today, the coronavirus rules have been relaxed for travellers returning to England who are fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine. Just in time for half-term, fully vaccinated people arriving in England from a non-red list country can use a lateral flow test rather than the more expensive PCR version on or before day two.
Updated
Hi. Caroline Davies here, back with the blog. You can get in touch on caroline.davies@guardian.co.uk
Romania reported record numbers of daily coronavirus fatalities and infections on last Tuesday, Reuters reports. The virus was killing one person every five minutes on average this month in a country where the inoculation rate is low.
The Covid death rate in Romania has risen sharply in the past few weeks. Max Roser, a researcher at the University of Oxford and founder of Our World in Data, posted the following chart. He noted the death rate is now higher than in the US or the UK during their worst waves during the pandemic.
The COVID death rate in Romania.
— Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) October 24, 2021
After a very fast increase it is now higher than in the US or the UK during their worst waves in the pandemic.
[here you can find it for all countries: https://t.co/cyYwixWeP7] pic.twitter.com/kxiGfdLBFP
It comes as Reuters reports that hospitals in Romania are stretched to breaking point, with emergency beds fully occupied across the country. Morgues were also running at full capacity.
While rich countries debate booster jabs, many in the world’s poorest have yet to receive any. AP reports on the extraordinary length researchers are going to to reverse engineer a coronavirus vaccine to help alleviate these dire shortages:
In a pair of Cape Town warehouses converted into a maze of airlocked sterile rooms, young scientists are assembling and calibrating the equipment needed to reverse engineer a coronavirus vaccine that has yet to reach South Africa and most of the world’s poorest people.
The energy in the gleaming labs matches the urgency of their mission to narrow vaccine disparities. By working to replicate Moderna’s Covid-19 shot, the scientists are effectively making an end run around an industry that has vastly prioritised rich countries over poor in both sales and manufacturing.
And they are doing it with unusual backing from the World Health Organization, which is coordinating a vaccine research, training and production hub in South Africa along with a related supply chain for critical raw materials.
It’s a last resort effort to make doses for people going without, and the intellectual property implications are still murky.
“We are doing this for Africa at this moment, and that drives us,” said Emile Hendricks, a 22-year-old biotechnologist for Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, the company trying to reproduce the Moderna jab. “We can no longer rely on these big superpowers to come in and save us.”
Some experts see reverse engineering – recreating vaccines from fragments of publicly available information – as one of the few remaining ways to redress the power imbalances of the pandemic. Only 0.7% of vaccines have gone to low-income countries so far, while nearly half have gone to wealthy countries, according to an analysis by the People’s Vaccine Alliance.
That WHO, which relies upon the goodwill of wealthy countries and the pharmaceutical industry for its continued existence, is leading the attempt to reproduce a proprietary vaccine demonstrates the depths of the supply disparities.
The UN backed effort to even out global vaccine distribution, known as Covax, has failed to alleviate dire shortages in poor countries. Donated doses are coming in at a fraction of what is needed to fill the gap. Meanwhile, pressure for drug companies to share, including Biden administration demands on Moderna, has led nowhere.
Updated
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have signed a “green corridor” agreement allowing passengers vaccinated against Covid-19 to travel freely between the two countries, Reuters reports citing the Israeli consulate in Dubai.
Hello, I’m Aamna Mohdin and I’ll be taking over the blog while Caroline has a break. If you want to get in touch, you can email me: aamna.mohdin@theguardian.com or message me on Twitter
Updated
Melbourne, which emerged from its latest spate of Covid-19 restrictions on Friday, will see more curbs eased next week when Victoria state reaches an 80% full vaccination rate, officials said on Sunday.
Melbourne’s population of around 5 million have endured 262 days, or nearly nine months, of stay-at-home restrictions during six lockdowns since March 2020, longer than the 234-day continuous lockdown in Buenos Aires, Reuters reports.
Starting on Friday, when 80% of people across Victoria – of which Melbourne is the capital – are expected to be fully vaccinated, Melburnians will be free to travel throughout the state and masks will no longer be required outdoors.
Updated
Vaccines not enough as UK cases rise, says expert
Prof Adam Finn, who is on the UK’s Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said Covid-19 hospital admissions and deaths are rising, and warned against complacency in what he said is a “worsening” situation.
“And they will go up as the number of cases go up because the virus will reach people who are vulnerable and who may get seriously ill,” he told Trevor Phillips on Sunday on Sky News.
He said the biggest risk is among those who have not had any vaccine yet, including younger adults.
Vaccines were not going to be enough to keep the spread under control, and people need to make effort to avoid contact in order to slow transmission rates, he added.
“They do have an effect on that, but they’re not by themselves going to be enough at the present time to keep the spread of the virus under control.
“And we do need to see people continuing to make efforts to avoid contact, to avoid transmission, and to do other things as well as get vaccinated if we’re going to stop this rise from going up further.”
It was important to “stick to the science” when discussing the prospect of extending the Covid-19 booster programme to people under 50 and offering booster jabs at five months rather than six months.
He said: “Just giving more people vaccines, including people who maybe don’t actually need the vaccines yet, could actually run the risk of making things worse rather than better.
“If you boost people before they actually need the vaccine, it is in some senses a waste of vaccine, but also it means that you are immunising them earlier and they may make a smaller response to the vaccine and that response may wear off earlier.
Asked if the government should move to plan B now, he said: “Well, some kind of plan B.” He worries that the “wrong message” is being sent out to the public, he said.
“And I worry in fact that the vaccine programme itself is suffering as a consequence of this suggestion that somehow the problem’s gone and we can all go back to normal again, because that will increasingly make people jump to the conclusion that if they’ve not been vaccinated there’s no real need to do it.
“So I do think we need to see a very different kind of message coming from the government now that there is a serious problem, and we all need to continue to contribute to reducing transmission, so that we can get through the winter and the NHS can stay afloat and absolutely we can avoid lockdowns, and the disasters that those bring.
Updated
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the UK government should introduce its ”plan B” to tackle the rising rates of coronavirus now.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Reeves was asked what Labour’s position was on reintroducing restrictions such as the wearing of face coverings and working from home.
She said: “Labour as a responsible opposition have always said that we would follow the science, and we’ve seen today that Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) are saying that some aspects of plan B, like wearing masks on public transports and in shops, and also working from home more flexibly should be introduced.
“I think the first thing is the government have got to do more to make plan A work. If the scientists are saying work from home and masks, we should do that. So get A working better because the vaccination programme has been stalling, introduce those parts of plan B.
“But there are also things not in A or B that need to be done, like paying statutory sick pay from day one and also better ventilation in public spaces.”
Asked directly whether plan B should be introduced now, she said: “Yes, but let’s not let the government off the hook with plan A either.”
Updated
UK A&E in 'terrible place' already says emergency medicine chief
Dr Katherine Henderson, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said emergency departments in the UK are in a “terrible place”.
Asked if she thinks emergency departments are going to be able to cope this winter, she told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday:
We’re already struggling to cope. This is not something that’s coming in the next couple of months. We’re already in a terrible place where we have got large queues of ambulances with vulnerable people waiting in those ambulances to be offloaded into departments and other patients at home waiting to be picked up by the ambulance.
That’s the thing that really worries me; that these are patients who have not yet received treatment that we don’t necessarily know what’s wrong with them that we’re really struggling to get into our healthcare facilities to then work out what we need to do.
Crowding was harmful to patients, she said, adding that there was already crowding in emergency departments before the pandemic.
“We didn’t go into the pandemic in a great place in emergency care. We didn’t have enough beds then. The problem is that things are worse at the moment so we need everybody to be as careful with the healthcare resources as they possibly can be, and try and minimise the need for healthcare resources.
So if we’ve got 8,000 patients in hospital who are suffering Covid, if we didn’t have those patients that would be another 8,000 beds in the system.
So every bed that gets filled by a patient with Covid in a sense is in a hospital bed with a potentially avoidable disease, and that’s what we need people to focus on if we want to get through the elective backlog.
Updated
China has given complete doses of Covid-19 vaccines to about 75.6% of its population as of 23 October, National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng said on Sunday.
Some 1.068 billion people have been inoculated with the required dosages, out of a population of 1.412 billion, Mi told a news briefing.
The country has administered a total of 2.245bn doses of Covid-19 vaccines as of 23 October, official data showed.
China is giving people whose last dose was given at least six months ago a booster shot, with priority groups including essential workers, older people and those with weaker immune systems.
Updated
UK chancellor says not time to move to Covid plan B 'immediately'
The UK chancellor Rishi Sunak said data did not suggest it was time to move to plan B.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme: “The prime minister has just said we are looking at the data all the time, as you would expect us to. We’re monitoring everything, But at the moment the data does not suggest that we should immediately be moving to plan B.
“But, of course, we’ll keep an eye on that.”
The best protection was vaccine and the booster rollout, he said.
Asked if he might reintroduce furlough if restrictions were reimposed, he said: “Of course, we should always be humble in the face of this virus. That’s obvious given what we have experienced.
“But we have confidence in the vaccine, have modelled all the scenarios, and we have said the winter will be challenging. The ‘plan B’ that we have set out does not involve the same type of very significant economic restriction that we saw previously, so that won’t be necessary.”
“I think we are in a very different place, because of the vaccine rollout.”
He added: “There is a fallback, There is a plan B. The data suggests it isn’t needed today. But if that changes then of course the government will be read to act. That’s why those plans are there”.
On encouraging people to work from home, Sunak said “depending on the circumstances, if we have to move forward on that, that’s what we will do. But again, I would reiterate so people are reassured, the data at the moment doesn’t suggest that that is immediately necessary, and our emphasis should be on making sure that everyone get their booster jab”.
On the possibility of vaccine passports, he said: ‘There’s a range of things we have set out in plan B.`And then there’s degrees of vaccine certification. Those debates have been had in parliament about where’s the appropriate boundary or place to introduce vaccine certification.
He added: “But right now, data does not suggest we need to move to plan B”.
Asked if MPs should lead by example and wear masks in the House of Commons, he said “every work place is slightly different” and he did wear a mask depending on the circumstances.
Updated
Which protects you most against Covid – vaccination or prior infection? Here, the data is examined by David Spiegelhalter, chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at Cambridge, and Anthony Masters, statistical ambassador for the Royal Statistical Society.
Updated
Hillary Clinton, speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, said it was “imperative” that Boris Johnson “do what he can to stop the rise in Covid in the UK”.
He did not need to “shut society down”, said the former US secretary of state, who is in the UK to promote her novel.
But Johnson does need to mandate vaccines – introduce vaccine passports for clubs restaurants and employers, she said.
Part of what we’ve done in New York is all of the big health systems, hospitals and the like, they have mandated vaccines. For example, one very large one, 77,000 employees, 1,000 refused to get vaccinated. They were fired.
And I think you have got to make it clear, we’re not going to go back to lockdown, that is not going to happen. But, if you don’t get vaccinated and if you don’t have proof of vaccination when you go into a club or restaurant, and employers don’t enforce vaccines, we may see some problems here in the UK as the weather gets colder and people are forced back inside again.
Updated
India reported 15,906 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, according to government data on Sunday.
The nationwide tally of infections has reached 34.17 million since the start of the pandemic, according to the health ministry.
The country reported 561 deaths overnight, taking the overall tally to 454,269 fatalities, Reuters reports.
Parents in England are now able to book Covid vaccinations online for children aged between 12 and 15.
Just over 2.5 million letters will arrive with parents and guardians from Monday inviting them to book a jab online through the National Booking Service.
There are almost 100 sites offering jabs to this age group with hundreds more expected to join them in the coming weeks.
Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and deputy lead for the NHS vaccine programme, said she would urge families to “book in to give children and their loved ones crucial protection ahead of winter”.
The NHS said parents and guardians are asked to attend vaccination sites with their children if they want them to be vaccinated outside school hours and consent will be sought on the day.
Dr Kanani said: “Millions of parents will be receiving letters from tomorrow inviting their children to get a Covid vaccine through the National Booking Service - this provides an additional way for 12 to 15-year-olds to get their vaccine following the rollout in schools that has seen more than a half million vaccinated already.”
Coronavirus cases in eastern Europe will soon surpass 20 million, according to a Reuters tally on Sunday, as the region grapples with its worst outbreak since the pandemic started and inoculation efforts lag.
Countries in the region have the lowest vaccination rates in Europe, with less than half of the population having received a single dose, the agency reports.
Hungary tops the region’s vaccination rates with 62% of its population having had at least one shot, whereas Ukraine has given just 19% of its residents a single dose, according to Reuter’s Our World in Data.
New infections in the region have steadily risen and now average over 83,700 new cases per day, the highest level since November last year, Reuters data through Friday showed. Although it has just 4% of the world’s population, eastern Europe accounts for roughly 20% of all new cases reported globally.
According to a Reuters analysis, three of the top five countries reporting the most deaths in the world are in eastern Europe - Russia, Ukraine and Romania.
The Observer is reporting today new evidence has emerged that the government is paving the way to implement “plan B” measures in England to combat the spread of Covid-19, amid warnings from health chiefs that a “vortex of pressures” is encircling the NHS.
It reports
“In the clearest sign to date that Whitehall is actively considering additional measures, the Observer has learnt that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) contacted local authorities on Friday to canvass their level of support for the “immediate rollout of the winter plan – plan B”.
“The disclosure comes as senior doctors warn that operations are already being cancelled due to NHS staffing shortages and scientists warn of “a triple whammy” of respiratory illnesses this winter, with Covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes cold-like symptoms but can be serious for children and older adults.
You can read the full report here:
Also in the UK, the prime minister and senior health chiefs are calling on the nation to get vaccinated against Covid-19 amid mounting concern over rising infection levels ahead of Christmas.
Boris Johnson said vaccines will get the country through the winter and out of the pandemic, while NHS England’s national medical director Professor Stephen Powis said getting a booster will “protect the freedom and Christmas that we have all earned”.
The repeated calls for people to get jabbed comes as Johnson resists pleas from health leaders for tighter restrictions despite the rising number of cases.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said this week that new cases could reach 100,000 a day, but Downing Street insisted there was still spare capacity in the NHS and that Plan B would only be activated if it came under “significant pressure”.
Plan B includes working-from-home guidance and the mandatory use of face masks.
Johnson, who has said there are no plans for another lockdown, said:
Vaccines are our way through this winter.
We’ve made phenomenal progress but our job isn’t finished yet, and we know that vaccine protection can drop after six months.
To keep yourself, your loved ones, and everyone around you safe, please get your booster when you get the call.
We can and will beat this virus but only if we listen to the science and look out for each other.
This is a call to everyone, whether you’re eligible for a booster, haven’t got round to your second dose yet, or your child is eligible for a dose - vaccines are safe, they save lives, and they are our way out of this pandemic.”
Hi. Caroline Davies here in London. In the UK, as from 4am today, the coronavirus rules have been relaxed for travellers returning to England who are fully vaccinated in what has been hailed by the government as a “huge boost” for the travel industry.
Just in time for half-term, fully vaccinated people arriving in England from a non-red list country can use a lateral flow test rather than the more expensive PCR version on or before day two.
Lateral flow tests for international travel must be purchased from a private provider as NHS test and trace lateral flow tests cannot be used for international travel.
Bookings for lateral flow tests opened on Friday and can be purchased through the private providers listed on GOV.UK.
As of Saturday afternoon, there were 25 providers on the government website and prices ranged from £19 to £39.
You can get in touch on caroline.davies@guardian.co.uk.
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