That’s it from me, Samantha Lock, for today.
In the meantime follow along with all our coronavirus coverage here.
I’ll be back bringing you the latest with another live blog a little later today.
Summary
Thanks for joining us. Here’s a round-up of the day’s leading Covid stories:
- European Medical Agency approves Moderna booster. The medical body approved doses for all adults, saying the Spikevax booster can be given out and administered, after it gave the green light to the Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty jab earlier in October.
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US introduces new guidelines on non-US citizens’ entry into the country and testing for travellers. Foreign nationals will have to be fully vaccinated before entering the country, with some exemptions in place for under-18s. Those coming from countries with low vaccination rates will have to justify their visit.
- UK reports 38 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid as of Monday, bringing the UK total to 139,571.
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Moderna moves towards expanding shots to children, saying a low dose of its Covid vaccine is safe and appears to work in six- to 11-year-olds.
- Children as young as three will start receiving Covid vaccines in China, where 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated. It comes as authorities continue to maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards outbreaks.
- Worst of US pandemic likely behind us but we can’t drop our guard, experts say. The number of new Covid cases and deaths in the US has been in a steady decline since early September but experts also caution that it’s not yet safe to abandon safeguards against the virus. That’s because parts of the US population and much of the world remain unvaccinated, which could allow for outbreaks and dangerous new variants of the virus to emerge.
- People in Tokyo can eat and drink in bars and restaurants later in the evening from today as Japan eases social distancing rules.
- Russia has reported 37,930 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its highest single-day case tally since the start of the pandemic.
Hi I’m Samantha Lock reporting to you from Sydney, Australia.
I’ll be with you for the next short while while we go through all the key Covid developments.
Stay tuned.
Facebook has deleted a video featuring Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in which he warned of a link between Covid-19 vaccines and Aids.
He had claimed in a Facebook live address that reports from Britain showed that people who are fully vaccinated are developing the syndrome, according to AFP.
Facebook, which took down the comments late Sunday or early Monday, has removed Bolsonaro posts in the past.
The police union in New York has filed a lawsuit against a vaccine requirement for workers ordered by the US city’s mayor Bill de Blasio.
The order, made last week, ordered all city employees to show proof of vaccination or be put on unpaid leave.
The police benevolent association of the city of New York said on Twitter it had filed a suit in the state Supreme Court.
It asked for a temporary restraining order to stop the mandate.
UPDATE: TRO REQUEST FILED, *STILL* NO NYPD GUIDELINES ON MANDATE IMPLEMENTATION pic.twitter.com/ADMXMOlGVK
— NYC PBA (@NYCPBA) October 25, 2021
European Medical Agency approves Moderna booster
The EU’s medical body has approved booster doses of Moderna’s Covid vaccine for all adults, AFP reports.
The European Medical Agency (EMA) has said the Spikevax booster can be given out and administered, after it gave the green light to the Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty jab earlier in October.
“Data showed that a third dose of Spikevax given six to eight months after the second dose led to a rise in antibody levels in adults whose antibody levels were waning,” the authority said.
More details of US's vaccine requirements for foreign travellers
New guidelines have been introduced by Joe Biden’s administration on non-US citizens’ entry into the country and testing for travellers.
Foreign nationals will have to be fully vaccinated before entering the country, with some exemptions in place for under-18s. Those coming from countries with low vaccination rates will have to justify their visit.
Unvaccinated US citizens and long-term residents will have to provide a negative test the day before arriving. Those who have had their full complement of jabs will require a test within three days of arrival.
Restrictions that have been in place since the start of the pandemic stopping non-US citizens from arriving in the country from China, India, South Africa, Brazil and much of Europe, are set to be axed.
Morocco’s health minister has defended the introduction of a vaccine passport to access public spaces, citing an increase in people getting the vaccine.
Its government introduced the pass on Thursday for accessing government buildings, gyms, cafes, restaurants and public transport.
Some opposition parties have criticised the vaccine pass, as have unions and rights organisations.
Health minister Khaled Ait Taleb said: “The adoption of the vaccine pass aims to encourage people who have not been inoculated yet to get vaccinated and to prevent virus hot spots.”
The number of people getting jabbed had risen by more than 400% since the pass was imposed, he said.
This is Harry Taylor bringing you the latest coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world for the rest of tonight.
If you have any comments, tips or suggestions - drop me an email or via Twitter @HarryTaylr.
Here is a round-up of the day’s leading Covid stories:
- The UK government said a further 38 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid as of Monday, bringing the UK total to 139,571. As of 9am on Monday, there had been a further 36,567 lab-confirmed Covid cases in the UK, the government said.
-
Moderna has said a low dose of its Covid vaccine is safe and appears to work in six- to 11-year-olds, as the manufacturer moves towards expanding shots to children.
- The pharmaceutical company Merck says it has asked the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to authorise its Covid antiviral treatment, the first pill that has been shown to treat the disease.
- Children as young as three will start receiving Covid vaccines in China, where 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated. It comes as authorities continue to maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards outbreaks.
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Italy reported 30 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday compared to 24 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 2,535 from 3,725.
- In the UK, pupils have been left feeling “upset” and “intimidated” by anti-vaccination campaigners outside the school gates and the campaign could be making some children hesitant to get the Covid jab.
- People in Estonia can no longer use negative test results to obtain the coronavirus certificates needed to attend sporting events, movie showings, indoor public meetings and other events.
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Slovakia extended tight coronavirus restrictions to more parts of the country on Monday as the latest surge of infections intensified.
- The Dutch government is seeking advice from a panel of experts on whether it needs to reintroduce Covid restrictions amid sharply rising infection rates, its health minister said today.
- The EU has cancelled its annual reception at this year’s UN climate talks because of Covid restrictions, but a spokesperson denied that delegates would be banned from attending social events at the Glasgow conference.
- People in Tokyo can eat and drink in bars and restaurants later in the evening from today as Japan eases social distancing rules.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. I’ll be back in the morning but for now my colleague Harry Taylor will be taking over the blog from me. Goodbye.
In the UK, pupils have been left feeling “upset” and “intimidated” by anti-vaccination campaigners outside the school gates and the campaign could be making some children hesitant to get the Covid jab.
A secondary school leader in Liverpool, who wishes to remain anonymous, called the police when anti-vaccination protesters blocked the path of pupils who were trying to leave the school this month.
But no reinforcements turned up despite the protest after school getting “quite feisty” and “unpleasant”, he said.
The headteacher told the PA news agency: “We had some youngsters who were really upset about the leaflets that were being given out.
“The leafleteers were blocking students’ way and insisting that they took a leaflet and some of them didn’t want to.”
Only around a quarter of the eligible students came forward to have their Covid-19 vaccine at the school a few days after the anti-vaccination protesters targeted children at the school gates.
He said: “I would have expected a higher proportion.
“I can’t directly attribute that to the leaflets, but the take-up has been slightly less than I would have expected.”
His comments come after the Health Secretary lashed out at “idiots” who mount anti-vaccine protests outside schools as he said exclusion zones are an option to protect children.
Downing Street has dismissed claims that 43,000 false Covid test results from a Wolverhampton laboratory are to blame for the sharp rise in the number of cases in the south-west of England, claiming that the region may be catching up with the rest of the country.
Experts have linked the high case rates in the west country to the problems at the Wolverhampton laboratory of a company called Immensa, which NHS test and trace suspended from processing PCR Covid tests earlier this month.
However, No 10 insisted on Monday that the false results issue was not the cause of the surge, suggesting that the lower Covid rates in the region in the past could be behind the current increase.
“In terms of the causes behind the increase in the south-west, we’ve seen there was this lab error; I don’t believe that accounts for the increases we have seen,” Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said. “We know the south-west was an area that did not previously have as high rates as other parts of the country, which may be a factor as well.”
Italy reported 30 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday compared to 24 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 2,535 from 3,725.
Italy has registered 131,856 deaths linked to Covid since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.74 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with Covid - not including those in intensive care - stood at 2,579 on Monday, up from 2,473 a day earlier.
There were 16 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 18 on Sunday. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 338 from a previous 341.
Updated
Low dose of Moderna vaccine 'works in young children'
Moderna has said a low dose of its Covid vaccine is safe and appears to work in six- to 11-year-olds, as the manufacturer moves towards expanding shots to children.
Its competitor Pfizer’s child-sized vaccine doses are closer to widespread use, undergoing evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for nearly the same age group, starting at age five. Its vaccine is already authorised for anyone 12 or older.
Moderna has not yet got the nod to offer its vaccine to teenagers but is studying lower doses in younger children while it waits.
Researchers tested two shots for the six- to 11-year-olds, given a month apart, that each contained half the dose given to adults.
The Associated Press reported:
Preliminary results showed vaccinated children developed virus-fighting antibodies similar to levels that young adults produce after full-strength shots, Moderna said in a press release.
The study involved 4,753 children aged six to 11, who got either the vaccine or dummy shots. Moderna said that like adults, the vaccinated youngsters had temporary side effects including fatigue, headache, fever and injection site pain.
The study was too small to spot any extremely rare side effects, such as heart inflammation that sometimes occurs after either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, mostly among young men.
Moderna released no further details and has not submitted its data to a scientific journal but said it plans to share the interim results with the FDA and global regulators soon.
Updated
German immunologists have said fundamental misunderstandings about the way vaccines work persist among the population, after the Bayern Munich and Germany footballer Joshua Kimmich confirmed over the weekend that he had declined to receive a Covid jab owing to concerns over long-term side-effects.
“I have concerns about the lack of long-term studies,” the 26-year-old told Sky Sport. “I am of course aware of my responsibility. I follow all hygiene measures and get tested every two to three days. Everyone should make the decision for themselves.”
The midfielder, who captained his country in Germany’s 2-1 victory over Romania earlier this month, denied he was an anti-vaxxer and said he had not ruled out eventually receiving a vaccine. “There is a very good chance that I will still get vaccinated,” hesaid.
News of his unvaccinated status came as a surprise because Kimmich, who has played for his country 64 times, had been widely lauded for his mature leadership off the field. Along with his Bayern teammate Leon Goretzka, Kimmich last March set up the philanthropic initiative WeKickCorona to support charities and medical facilities requiring immediate help as a result of the pandemic.
“Everyone can do their own bit to ensure that the coronavirus won’t spread any further,” reads a statement on the campaign’s website.
Bayern Munich has urged all its players and staff to receive a Covid vaccine, and its longtime executive board chair, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, on Sunday criticised Kimmich’s reluctance. “As a role model, but also as a sheer fact, it would be better if he was vaccinated,” the club legend said.
Some Bundesliga clubs only allow fans into their stadiums if they are either vaccinated or have recently recovered from the virus, while Bayern also admits supporters into the Allianz Arena if they can show proof of a negative PCR test.
Updated
UK records 36,567 new Covid infections and 38 further deaths
The UK government said a further 38 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid as of Monday, bringing the UK total to 139,571.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 164,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate.
As of 9am on Monday, there had been a further 36,567 lab-confirmed Covid cases in the UK, the government said.
Updated
Slovakia extended tight coronavirus restrictions to more parts of the country on Monday as the latest surge of infections intensified.
The number of counties affected by the measures doubled in a week, from five to 10. They are mostly located in northern Slovakia, on or near the border with Poland and the Czech Republic. Slovakia has 79 counties.
The measures include the closure of hotels, bars and restaurants, with people only allowed to buy meals at takeout windows. Fitness, wellness and aquatic centres also have been closed.
The maximum number allowed to attend public gatherings is reduced to 100 fully vaccinated people. It’s also mandatory to wear face coverings both indoors and outdoors.
Slovakia, which has a population of nearly 5.5 million people, is one of the countries in the European Union that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. It has registered around 457,431 cases and 12,917 deaths.
Updated
People in Estonia can no longer use negative test results to obtain the coronavirus certificates needed to attend sporting events, movie showings, indoor public meetings and other events.
As of today, only proof of vaccination or having recovered from Covid are accepted as the basis for obtaining a certificate.
Authorities said the rule, along with another requiring masks in indoor public places, will remain in place until 10 January. The Associated Press reported today:
It wasn’t immediately clear why the government disqualified negative test results from the certificate process, although concerns about the reliability of some tests could be a factor.
The Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, said that among the people who have died of Covid-19 in the Baltic nation, there are five times more unvaccinated people than people who have been vaccinated. Kallas did not give the timeframe for the statistic.
Estonia on Monday reported 1,787 new daily cases, a number equivalent to its March pandemic peak.
On Sunday the country’s 14-day coronavirus infection rate stood at 1,311.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in Europe, the Estonian broadcaster ERR said.
Updated
The Dutch government is seeking advice from a panel of experts on whether it needs to reintroduce Covid restrictions amid sharply rising infection rates, its health minister said today.
The Netherlands has one of the fastest-rising infection rates in Europe. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases increased over the past two weeks from 13.43 new cases per 100,000 people to 29.27 new cases per 100,000 people on 24 October.
“It’s just going too fast. We have to face up to the fact that the numbers are rising faster and sooner than expected,” the health minister Hugo De Jonge told reporters in The Hague.
He said hospital admissions also are rising faster than anticipated when the government relaxed its lockdown last month. “The cabinet will have to think about extra measures,” he said.
The Netherlands ended almost all Covid restrictions on last month, including social distancing. At the same time the government mandated use of coronavirus health passes to get into bars, restaurants, cinemas and other public venues.
Updated
The EU has cancelled its annual reception at this year’s UN climate talks because of Covid restrictions, but a spokesperson denied that delegates would be banned from attending social events at the Glasgow conference.
The European Commission usually sends a delegation to UN climate talks to represent its 27 member states, but this year fewer top officials will attend.
A commission spokesperson denied reports that officials would be banned from socialising or attending side events at Cop26 over Covid concerns. They said:
The officials attending the conference will adhere to the sanitary restrictions and the safety measures which are put in place by the Cop presidency and the UNFCCC and of course we have full confidence in those.
The spokesperson said the EU would not be organising its usual annual reception due to Covid restrictions, but senior representatives had scheduled multiple bilateral meetings, adding:
We will be taking part in various events as usual so there is really no question of our diplomatic efforts being curbed in any way by the current situation.
In the UK, 328,287 people have tested positive for coronavirus from 18-24 October, an increase of 9,4% on the previous week. During the same period 949 people died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, an increase of 11.4%
Updated
A bit more on that story about Merck asking for EU approval for its anti-coronavirus pill.
The US pharma company Merck has asked the European Medicines Agency to authorise its Covid-19 antiviral treatment, the first pill that has been shown to treat the disease.
The company said the EU drug regulator had started an expedited licensing process for molnupiravir, which forces coronavirus to mutate itself to death. If given the green light, it would be the first treatment for Covid-19 that does not need to be administered via needles or intravenous infusions.
Earlier this month, Merck asked the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, to approve molnupiravir, and a decision is expected within weeks.
The company reported this month that the pill cut hospitalisations and deaths by half among patients with early symptoms of Covid-19. The results were so strong that independent medical experts monitoring the trial recommended stopping it early.
An antiviral pill that people could take at home to reduce their symptoms and speed recovery could prove groundbreaking, easing the crushing caseload on hospitals and helping to curb outbreaks in poorer countries with weak healthcare systems.
It would also bolster a two-pronged approach to the pandemic: treatment, by way of medication, and prevention, primarily through vaccinations.
Updated
Appointments for coronavirus vaccine booster jabs are being offered to the over-60s in Scotland and adults with health conditions.
Invitation letters are being sent to the 60-69 age group for a third dose of a Covid vaccine, the Press Association reported.
Vaccination boosters are already being administered to Scots aged 70 and over, those at the highest risk from infection, care home residents and frontline health and social care workers.
Scotland’s health secretary, Humza Yousaf, insisted the booster programme is “on track” despite calls from opposition parties to speed up the rollout. Yousaf said:
For those eligible for the Covid-19 boosters, appointments can only take place six months (24 weeks) after your second dose.
As such, it may take several weeks before you receive your invitation letter. We remain on track with Scotland’s booster programme, prioritising those at the highest risk for both Covid-19 and flu.
We started this as soon as possible following the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) advice that the booster dose should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of the primary vaccine course.
The Scottish government has said it intends to allow over-50s, unpaid carers and household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals to book booster appointments online from mid-November.
Many Scots, including those with underlying health conditions, will be offered a flu vaccination at the same time.
Updated
Sajid Javid has said the government is considering making it obligatory for all NHS staff in England to get vaccinated for Covid after a similar move in the care sector, to pass into law on 6 November, led to a surge in vaccines.
About 93% of NHS staff have received a Covid vaccine, according to the health secretary, who said the continued lack of uptake by a small minority raised concerns about patient safety.
Updated
Children as young as three will start receiving Covid vaccines in China, where 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated. It comes as authorities continue to maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards outbreaks.
Local city and provincial level governments in at least five provinces issued notices in recent days announcing that children aged three to 11 will be required to get their vaccinations.
The Associated Press reported:
The expansion of the vaccination campaign comes as parts of China take new clampdown measures to try to stamp out small outbreaks.
Gansu, a north-western province heavily dependent on tourism, closed all tourist sites on Monday after finding new Covid cases.
Residents in parts of Inner Mongolia have been ordered to stay indoors due to an outbreak there.
The National Health Commission reported 35 new cases of local transmission had been detected over the past 24 hours, four of them in Gansu.
Another 19 cases were found in the Inner Mongolia region, with others scattered around the country.
China has employed lockdowns, quarantines and compulsory testing for the virus throughout the pandemic and has largely stamped out cases of local infection while fully vaccinating 1.07 billion people in its population of 1.4 billion.
Updated
People in Tokyo can eat and drink in bars and restaurants later in the evening from today as Japan eases social distancing rules.
It comes as the country’s daily coronavirus cases reach the lowest levels in more than a year, the Associated Press reported.
Crowds have been returning to bars and trains since Japan lifted its moderate state of emergency on 30 September. But officials in Tokyo had asked food and beverage businesses to maintain their early closures until Sunday as a precaution against a quick resurgence.
After seeing daily jumps of nearly 6,000 cases in mid-August, Tokyo is now reporting fewer than 50 new coronavirus infections a day. The 17 new cases reported on Monday was the lowest since June 2020.
Updated
Merck asks EU regulator to authorise Covid pill
Good morning, I’m Tom Ambrose and will be bringing you all the latest Covid news throughout the day.
We start with news that the pharmaceutical company Merck says it has asked the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to authorise its Covid antiviral treatment, the first pill that has been shown to treat the disease.
In a statement on Monday, Merck said the EU drug regulator had started an expedited licensing process for molnupiravir. If given the green light, it would be the first treatment for Covid that does not need to be administered through needles or intravenous infusions.
Earlier this month, Merck asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to OK molnupiravir, and a decision is expected within weeks. The Associated Press reported:
The company reported this month that the pill cut hospitalisations and deaths by half among patients with early symptoms of Covid The results were so strong that independent medical experts monitoring the trial recommended stopping it early.
An antiviral pill that people could take at home to reduce their symptoms and speed recovery could prove groundbreaking, easing the crushing caseload on hospitals and helping to curb outbreaks in poorer countries with weak health care systems.
It would also bolster a two-pronged approach to the pandemic: treatment, by way of medication, and prevention, primarily through vaccinations.
Updated
Today so far
- Russia has reported 37,930 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its highest single-day case tally since the start of the pandemic. The government’s coronavirus taskforce reported 1,069 deaths related to the virus, six short of the record of 1,075 set on Saturday.
- There’s a change in Bulgaria today, as enforcement will begin on the Covid “green certificate” scheme that came into effect on 21 October. There continued to be protests in Sofia over the weekend about the move. Bulgaria has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe.
- A Covid outbreak in northern China is expected to get worse, authorities have said, after cases were detected in 11 provinces. The news that China is cancelling the Beijing and Wuhan marathons as it battles a Delta outbreak comes badly timed for the International Olympic Committee, which today issued the first “playbooks” for the Covid protocols that will be put in place for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics.
- The Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) published a letter to Hong Kong’s finance secretary, Paul Chan, warning that the city’s Covid restrictions were causing it to be left behind rival financial centres. ASIFMA said it had surveyed its members and found 93% said operations had been “moderately” or “significantly” affected by the coronavirus restrictions.
- The UK health secretary, Sajid Javid, has said he is “leaning towards” making Covid vaccinations compulsory for all NHS staff. The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has said the government will be making a “mistake” if it forces mandatory vaccinations on health workers.
- Prof Anthony Harnden, the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), has said booster jabs are important because immunity levels are “starting to fall off a little bit”.
- The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) revealed this month that most of the schools surveyed by the union (79%) had been targeted by anti-vaxxers. Sajid Javid described them as “idiots” pushing “fully false vicious lies” outside schools. Keir Starmer has called for schools to be protected from anti-vaccine protests.
- Unvaccinated tennis players could be allowed to travel to Melbourne and compete at the Australian Open, according to an email sent to WTA players that appears to contradict previous federal and state government advice.
- The 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.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for today. Andrew Sparrow has a UK live blog where the latest Covid and politics news is unfolding. Tom Ambrose will be here shortly to bring you the rest of the day’s global coronavirus developments on this blog.
Updated
IOC issues Covid protocol plans for 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics
The news that China is cancelling the Beijing and Wuhan marathons as it battles a Delta outbreak comes badly timed for the International Olympic Committee, which today issued the first “playbooks” for the Covid protocols that will be put in place for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics.
Christophe Dubi, the IOC Olympic Games executive director, said: “The playbooks provide a game plan to help Olympic and Paralympic Games participants, and consequently the local population, stay safe and healthy during Games-time. They have been developed jointly by the IOC, the IPC and Beijing 2022, incorporating the very latest scientific advice and proven countermeasures implemented during the pandemic. This includes important learnings from international sports events held in recent months.”
He continued: “We want everyone at the Games to be safe, that’s why we’re asking all participants to follow these guidelines. Keeping everyone healthy will ensure the focus remains on the very fundamentals of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – the athletes and the sport.”
Colleen Wrenn, the IPC’s chief Paralympic Games delivery officer, said: “The last 12 months in particular have proven that major sport events involving multiple stakeholders from around the world can be held safely providing everyone involved follows the Covid-19 countermeasures outlined by organisers.”
The Winter Olympics will take place between 4 and 20 February 2022 and the Paralympic Winter Paralympics between 4 and 13 March 2022.
Updated
There’s a change in Bulgaria today, as enforcement will begin on the Covid “green certificate” scheme that came into effect on 21 October. BNT reports:
From today, 25 October, a green certificate is required for entry to indoor activities such as visits to shopping malls, restaurants, fitness centres. Exceptions are visits to pharmacies, banks and grocery stores.
Checks will be undertaken and customers and owners will be fined if there are people who do not have a certificate of vaccination, a negative PCR or antigen test, or a document proving that they been ill and recovered from Covid-19.
There continued to be protests in Sofia over the weekend about the move. Bulgaria has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe.
Updated
Here’s a little more from Agence France-Presse on that story of a warning to Hong Kong that its Covid policy is damaging its position as a financial centre.
The Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) published a letter to the finance secretary, Paul Chan, that warned Hong Kong was being left behind while rival financial centres such as London, New York, Paris, Singapore and Tokyo were learning to live with the coronavirus.
“Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre is increasingly at risk along with its long-term economic recovery and competitiveness as a premier place to do business,” the letter said.
ASIFMA said it had surveyed its members and found 93% said operations had been “moderately” or “significantly” impacted by the coronavirus restrictions. Nearly three-quarters complained they were having trouble retaining or attracting talent and nearly half said they were considering moving some staff and operations.
ASIFMA’s chief executive, Mark Austen, said major banks and financial firms were having a real issue with talent drain, with employees no longer willing to remain cut off from loved ones overseas.
“They’re seeing a huge amount of people leaving and they can’t replace them,” he told Bloomberg TV. “Half of firms are contemplating that they need to move positions out of Hong Kong, and that’s really significant.”
Earlier this month the city’s leader, Carrie Lam, said the Chinese mainland was “more important” than international business and that even a single fatality from the coronavirus would be a “major concern”.
Recent attempts by Hong Kong to normalise travel with the mainland have made no concrete progress. Meanwhile China, which also maintains strict curbs on overseas arrivals, has given no timetable for opening its borders.
Updated
Russia sets new daily Covid cases record as non-working week firebreak looms
Russia has reported 37,930 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its highest single-day case tally since the start of the pandemic.
The government’s coronavirus taskforce reported 1,069 deaths related to the virus, six short of the record of 1,075 set on Saturday. Faced with worsening infection rates and frustrated by the slow take-up of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine by its own population, authorities are introducing stricter measures this week to try to curb the spread of the virus.
Reuters remind us that President Vladimir Putin declared last week that 30 October to 7 November would be paid non-working days. From this Thursday Moscow will introduce its tightest lockdown measures since June 2020, with only essential shops such as supermarkets and pharmacies remaining open.
Updated
There’s an interesting piece in the Washington Post this morning about US citizens who live abroad who feel abandoned by the US when it comes to getting vaccinated against Covid. Dan Diamond writes:
Leighton Slattery, Asray Gopa and Charlie Blocker are all US citizens, attempting to navigate the pandemic without easy access to the high-quality vaccines that are the linchpin of the US strategy. They are among 14 Americans abroad who spoke with the Washington Post about their struggles to get the shots, saying they received little guidance from the Biden administration and watched enviously as hundreds of thousands of doses in the United States expired this summer and fall without any takers.
The disparity has grown as millions of people in the United States are receiving their third dose of high-quality vaccines, while some citizens abroad have yet to get their first. And months of pleading from the expats and their advocates, who represent as many as 9 million Americans overseas, has produced no change in policy.
“You have Americans who are filing and paying taxes, and a promise by the administration that all Americans will get vaccinated, and yet that whole community has been left out of the equation,” said Marylouise Serrato, executive director of American Citizens Abroad, which advocates for expatriates.
The White House has insisted that it has no special responsibility to vaccinate Americans abroad, citing precedent that the US government doesn’t provide private health care to citizens living overseas. State Department officials also don’t want to spark international disputes over vaccine priorities, particularly with many countries struggling to secure enough doses to immunize their own citizens.
Read more here: The Washington Post – Americans abroad search for a first vaccine dose as millions at home get their third one
Beijing and Wuhan marathons postponed as China battles Delta outbreak
A Covid outbreak in northern China is expected to get worse, authorities have warned, after cases were detected in 11 provinces and two marathons were postponed.
Authorities recorded more than two dozen new community cases of coronavirus on Sunday, including four in the capital, Beijing, seven in Inner Mongolia, six in Gansu, six in Ningxia, and one each in Hebei, Hunan and Shaanxi.
As the rest of the world opens up and resumes travel, China is maintaining a zero-Covid strategy, particularly in the lead-up to the Winter Olympic Games.
It has responded to other Delta outbreaks with localised lockdowns, mass testing and transport shutdowns. Authorities respond swiftly with strict measures to any outbreaks and local officials can face punishment for any finding of inadequate responses.
On Sunday organisers of the Beijing marathon, scheduled for 31 October, announced its postponement, citing the safety of runners, staff and residents. It followed the postponement of the Wuhan marathon, which was scheduled for Sunday.
About 30,000 people were expected to participate in the 40th Beijing marathon, which has run since 1981. Approximately 26,000 had been expected to compete in Wuhan.
More than 130 cases have been linked to the outbreak of the Delta variant since 17 October, a spokesman for the national health commission, Mi Feng, said on Sunday.
Read more of Helen Davidson’s report from Taipei: Beijing and Wuhan marathons postponed as China battles Delta outbreak
Updated
Andrew Sparrow has launched the UK politics live blog for the day, and understandably he is leading with Sajid Javid and mandatory vaccines for NHS staff. You can follow that here.
I’ll be continuing here with the latest coronavirus developments from around the world.
Ukraine’s health ministry has released its latest Covid data. “Some 14,634 new confirmed Covid-19 cases (including 999 cases in children and 173 cases in healthcare workers) were recorded in Ukraine on 24 October,” it said.
That is a bit lower than the last few days, although the rolling seven-day average is still rising, and now stands at 20,103 new daily cases.
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Prof Anthony Harnden, the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), has said booster jabs are important because immunity levels are “starting to fall off a little bit”.
“These boosters are incredibly good at giving you that extra protection,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain. PA Media quote him saying:
It’s clear that the both the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca vaccines are waning in immunity levels. And in terms of what they’re really designed to do – which is protect severe infection or hospitalisations and death – whilst they’re holding up pretty well, they are starting to fall off a little bit.
And that’s why we’re seeing some number of double-vaccinated people ending up in hospital so we really need to encourage people to have that booster vaccine.
He added that the JCVI was “quite clear” that six months is the optimal interval between second dose and booster, saying:
There’s a lot of good reasons for vaccinating from six months onwards, and there’s still a number of elderly and vulnerable people that haven’t yet received that booster, so we really want to concentrate on those groups before reducing the time interval.
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Some contrasting messages on mandatory vaccines for NHS workers on the airwaves in the UK.
Dr Layla McCay, the director of policy at the NHS Confederation, told Times Radio:
We’ve spoken to our members about this, and it’s a bit of a mixed picture because most of them agree that in some ways, mandating the vaccine could be quite helpful to make sure that more people get the vaccine.
But on the other hand, if some people decide they don’t want the vaccine that could lead to staff recruitment and retention problems and we’re going into this incredibly challenging winter.
If we start to lose staff during this time that could be incredibly challenging, so it’s a it’s a real balance.
On the other hand, PA Media reports that Jeremy Brown, a professor of respiratory medicine at University College London hospitals, who sits on the JCVI, told Sky News:
If you’re frontline NHS staff dealing with patients and meeting the general public you should be vaccinated – it’s a professional thing, it’s a safety thing.
We know that quite a few infections [that] have occurred in the hospital have potentially come from staff rather than patients.
And if you’re not vaccinated, I feel, you shouldn’t be dealing with patients or the general public – whether it should be compulsory it is always a tricky thing but I do think it professionally each person should be vaccinated.
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Keir Starmer: forcing NHS staff in to get a vaccine is a 'mistake'
In the UK, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer ,has warned the government will be making a “mistake” if it forces mandatory vaccinations on NHS staff [see 7.20am]
Starmer told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “First thing I’d say is I want all NHS staff to be double vaccinated. I think forcing them is a mistake. It is better to encourage and cajole.”
He warned of staffing problems ahead for the health service if ministers pursued the policy, saying:
I fear what we’re going to get is that you’re going to have thousands of NHS staff who can’t work any longer, just when we’ve got massive vacancies in the NHS as it is. And if I was to ask myself, is the problem in our hospitals, in terms of the virus, or is the problem in our schools where we aren’t getting through the vaccination programme quickly enough, I’d say it’s the second of those.
My wife works in the NHS so I know what it’s like on a daily basis. You’ve got to have a negative test I think three times a week, every week. I’ve forgotten exactly how long my wife’s been doing this, they’ve been operating that system, I’d say, for probably all of this year, if not 12 months.
Actually, if I was the health secretary, I’d say what are you going to do to get our children vaccinated more quickly? What are you going to do to roll out the boosters more quickly? Because I think that is the security wall that needs to be rebuilt. The government has let it crumble.
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Labour warns of 'unintended consequences' of compulsory vaccinations for NHS staff policy
In the UK the shadow education secretary, Kate Green, has been on Sky News and has been highly critical of the government’s pace of rollout of vaccination to 12- to 15-year olds.
We’re now going into half-term, we’ve had a promise that all children would be vaccinated by half-term. Turns out we’ve got fewer than one in five who so far have received the vaccine. So it’s absolutely vital that the government now urgently presses on getting those 12- to 15-year-olds vaccinated where their parents want them to be.
She also suggested that the Labour party would not back the suggestion that the government is planning to make vaccines mandatory for NHS staff. She said:
If you look at, for example, the situation in Wales, they’re doing well with a persuasion and encouragement model that actually gives access to the vaccine very straightforwardly to those workers.
What we saw in the care sector, when the requirement for care staff to have a jab came in a few weeks ago, was that the sector came under great pressure as staff left who wouldn’t have the jab. That sector and the NHS are already suffering severe staffing pressures.
So I think there is a real downside to the compulsory vaccination route that risks driving much needed care and health workers out of jobs when we we desperately need them to be on the wards and in care homes. It’s a difficult balance, I understand that the health secretary is going to look at it, but I just caution to be very careful about the unintended consequences.
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A couple of other bits bobbling around the UK media this morning. Labour leader Keir Starmer was on Good Morning Britain and he backed wearing face masks and was critical of the how the government has let the Covid numbers in the UK ramp up in the last few weeks.
Starmer on @GMB says masks are a 'small measure' to protect yourself and everybody else. It's not much to ask.
— Kate Proctor (@Kate_M_Proctor) October 25, 2021
Says pop-up vax centres need to be re-instated otherwise boosters won't be rolled out until Spring 2022. PM has 'taken his eye off the ball', Starmer says
Prof Jeremy Brown of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has been backing the idea that people in patient-facing roles in the NHS should have mandatory vaccines.
Professor Jeremy Brown of the JCVI says, in his opinion, NHS staff who are not vaccinated “should not be dealing with patients” and should be in a different role.
— Tamara Cohen (@tamcohen) October 25, 2021
Says we know infections in hospitals do come from staff as well as patients so it’s “a matter of professional pride”
Unvaccinated tennis players could be allowed to play in Australian Open, leaked email says
Unvaccinated tennis players could be allowed to travel to Melbourne and compete at the Australian Open, according to an email sent to WTA players that appears to contradict previous federal and state government advice.
Last week the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, said players who were unvaccinated or would not reveal their vaccine status would not be allowed to enter Australia, placing world No 1 Novak Djokovic in doubt for the January tournament.
Victoria recently introduced a vaccination mandate for all professional athletes, but the WTA Players’ Council has advised players on the women’s tour that they may be allowed to compete under certain conditions, including quarantining for 14 days, if they are unvaccinated.
The leaked email to players said unvaccinated players would have to quarantine, arrive after 1 December and produce a negative test result within 72 hours of departure to be allowed entry.
It would open the door to players such as Djokovic, who has refused to disclose his vaccination status, to appear at the grand slam at Melbourne Park.
Read more of Mike Hytner’s report here: Unvaccinated tennis players could be allowed to play in Australian Open, leaked email says
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Keir Starmer calls for UK schools to be protected from anti-vaccine protests
Just back on those school anti-vaccine protests for a moment, my colleague Sarah Marsh has this report: Keir Starmer calls for schools to be protected from anti-vaccine protests
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) revealed this month that most of the schools surveyed by the union (79%) had been targeted by anti-vaxxers. This had mainly been through emails threatening legal action, but the ASCL said in some cases staff had been threatened with physical harm and some protesters have gained access to school sites.
Starmer said: “It is sickening that anti-vax protesters are spreading dangerous misinformation to children in protests outside of schools. The uptake of vaccines among children is far too low and the government’s rollout is painfully slow. Everything must be done to get those eligible jabbed as quickly as possible in this public health emergency.
“Labour believes the law around public spaces protection orders (PSPOs) urgently needs to be updated so that local authorities can rapidly create exclusion zones for anti-vax protests outside of schools.”
PSPOs can be used to disperse people from a public area and have previously been used to move on protesters outside abortion clinics or to allow police to confiscate alcohol in certain spaces.
But gaining permission to impose one takes significant consultation, and Labour is calling for an expedited process in cases of preventing harassment and intimidation of children outside schools if agreed to by the school, the leader of the local council, and the local police chief constable.
Read more of Sarah Marsh’s report here: Keir Starmer calls for schools to be protected from anti-vaccine protests
Prof Peter Openshaw, a member of the UK’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), has backed the reintroduction of some preventative measures in England, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning: “I don’t think it’s a binary go for plan B or nothing, it’s very clear that the measures that are in included in plan B are sensible and not very disruptive.”
PA Media goes on to quote him saying: “It’s not problematic to give clear leadership about the use of face masks, and working at home if you can is also not particularly disruptive for many people. Those measures are likely to lead to a pretty good reduction in the really unacceptable number of cases that we’ve got at the moment.
“To my mind, the introduction of vaccine passports is also fine – it’s been accepted very easily in most other western European countries.
“It’s very sensible, if you were going into a crowded indoor space and knew everyone there had been fully vaccinated and perhaps had had a rapid test on the day, you’d feel much more secure about going into that space.
“What we’re facing at the moment is unacceptable we’ve got roughly one in 55 people infected, which is an astonishingly high rate compared to most other west European countries. This is connected with the lack of clear messaging about sensible measures that we should all be taking in order to reduce the spread of infection.”
Here’s a map indicating the latest caseloads across Europe, which shows the extent to which the UK is an outlier compared to similar countries in the west of the continent.
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UK health secretary message to anti-vaccine school demonstrators: 'stay at home'
UK health secretary Sajid Javid had a strong message on Sky News for “idiot” anti-vaxxers who are spreading what he described as “fully false vicious lies” outside schools. He said “my message to anti-vaxxers is if it’s not for you, then fine, just stay at home, but leave others alone”.
Asked about a reported incident where schoolchildren were injured by anti-vaccine protestors outside their school, the health secretary said:
These people are doing so much damage. Here you have three children that are injured, I mean actually physically injured, and that’s heartbreaking to see. Children that are going about what they should be doing, going to school every day, and you’ve got these idiots outside just spreading their vicious lies. It is a problem, and I’ve got to say it’s become a growing problem as time has gone by.
There are options, and in terms of whether it’s an exclusion zone or other potential action, I think it’s got to be done at a local level, which I think is what makes sense for that school and that local area. The Home Office has taken this very seriously as well, and they’ve been helping with advice to schools as well. We have a unit in the Home Office that will give advice directly to headteachers about what they can do.
Overnight the home secretary, Priti Patel, has said it is “completely unacceptable” for anti-vaccination campaigners to be harassing members of the public outside school gates. The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has said it was “sickening” that those against vaccinations were demonstrating at the school gates, and called for councils to be able to use exclusion orders to keep anti-vaxxers from protesting outside schools.
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A financial industry group warned today that Hong Kong’s zero-Covid policy and strict quarantine requirements for international travellers threatens to undermine the city’s status as a financial hub.
Reuters reports that the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) said a survey of members, including some of the world’s largest banks and asset managers, showed 48% were contemplating moving staff or functions away from Hong Kong due to operational challenges, which included uncertainty regarding when and how travel and quarantine restrictions will be lifted.
Hong Kong has some of the most stringent travel restrictions in the world and is virtually Covid-19 free. However, unlike regional rival Singapore, which is slowly reopening its borders despite currently seeing caseloads higher than at any other time of the pandemic, the Chinese-ruled city has no public plan for opening up to international travellers.
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UK health secretary: 'leaning towards' making vaccinations compulsory for NHS staff
The UK health secretary, Sajid Javid, this morning has said he is “leaning towards” making Covid vaccinations compulsory for NHS staff, as the government has already done for social care staff, a change that comes into effect on 11 November. Asked about NHS staff who are not currently vaccinated, he said:
We’ve been very clear about this, there was a consultation on this. We’re yet to make a final decision, but I’m leaning towards doing it. We want to do it properly. We want to work with our friends in the NHS and get this right. But it’s worth just stepping back a bit and saying why is this important. It is because they’re the people that are naturally more vulnerable to being exposed to diseases and viruses and of course that includes Covid, but also the people that they’re looking after are naturally vulnerable, that’s why they’re in hospital, and it’s about giving them the protection they deserve.
Pressed on whether the NHS, which currently has staff shortages, could afford to lose more staff over their vaccine status, Javid told Sky News:
I think that if you keep in mind more than a million people that work in the NHS, so far it’s over I think 94% or 93% thereabouts that are vaccinated, so there is around 100,000 that are not at this point. But what we saw with the care sector, is that when we announced the policy, we saw many more people come forward and do the right thing and get vaccinated, and that’s what I hope that if we do the same thing with the NHS we will see.
Javid refused to put a timeframe on the move.
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A quick update on the situation in Poland from Reuters here. Poland’s daily Covid-19 cases are growing at a rate of around 90% compared to the previous week, a deputy health minister said this morning, as the fourth wave of the pandemic gathers pace.
“The results we got on Monday do not reflect what stage of the pandemic we are currently at, they are always lower … but what is more important is this strong uptrend, and at a high level, which is holding, at the moment it is around over 90% compared to last week,” Waldemar Kraska told public broadcaster Polskie Radio 1.
Yesterday the country recorded 4,727 new cases. The rolling seven-day average for daily cases is 4,762.
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Hi, it is Martin Belam here in London taking over from my colleague Samantha Lock. Currently in the UK the health secretary Sajid Javid is on Sky News as he is doing the media round for the government today. I’ll have the key Covid and healthcare lines from that in due course.
Chinese province closes tourist sites amid new Covid outbreak
A northwestern Chinese province heavily dependent on tourism has closed all tourist sites today after finding new Covid-19 cases, the Associated Press reports.
Gansu province lies along the ancient Silk Road and is famed for the Dunhuang grottoes filled with Buddhist images and other religious sites.
The National Health Commission said 35 new cases of local transmission had been detected over the past 24 hours, four of them in Gansu.
Another 19 cases were found in the Inner Mongolia region, with others spread across several provinces and cities. Residents in parts of Inner Mongolia have been ordered to stay indoors.
Despite having largely stamped out cases of local infection, China maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward the pandemic, characterised by lockdowns, quarantines and compulsory testing for the virus.
The spread of the delta variant by travellers and tour groups is of particular concern ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. Overseas spectators are already banned, and participants will have to stay in a bubble separating them from people outside.
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Scientists attempt to replicate Covid vaccine to end inequity in Africa
Scientists based in Africa are attempting to reverse engineer a coronavirus vaccine by replicating Moderna’s Covid-19 shot in a bid to narrow vaccine disparities between the world’s wealthiest and poorest nations.
The work is being backed by 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, the Associated Press reports.
“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 shot. “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.
Hi there from sunny Sydney, Australia.
I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest coronavirus coverage for the next hour or so.
If you’re just joining us here’s a quick run down of all the key stories.
In a move towards preparing the nation for winter and a potential surge in Covid cases, ministers in the UK say they want to ramp up the booster jab rollout.
More than 5 million people had had a third jab since the vaccination programme began administering them last month, NHS England said on Sunday.
About 7.5 million people have already been invited by text, email and letter, encouraging them to book through the national booking service. Two million more will receive invitations this week.
- 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.
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