Here's a summary of today's news
- The first case of coronavirus was found in Tokyo’s Olympic village, adding to doubts over how “safe and secure” the games will be. There have been 14 other cases linked to the games but with the competition starting next week it has caused more concern that this case was identified where most athletes will be staying.
- UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s plans to lift all restrictions on Monday are still facing opposition. With cases still rapidly rising, hitting 54,000 today, experts have warned that they could spiral out of control and allow for more variants to be develop.
- The beta variant of Covid-19 spreading in France is causing concern, especially over fears it evades vaccines. France is being excluded from Monday’s changes in the UK that would otherwise exempt fully-vaccinated travellers from amber list countries from self-isolation. But some have pointed out that the beta variant is dwindling in France as the delta variant starts to dominate and the travel industry believes the British government’s decision makes the travel rules more complicated.
- Brazil recorded 868 deaths and 34,399 cases. It had the worst death toll of any country in the world over the past week.
- Facebook hit back at the US government over accusations it has not done enough to stop vaccine misinformation. The company said it should not be blamed for US president Joe Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70% of the population by 4 July. Biden said social media companies are “killing people” by not taking down misinformation about vaccines According to research cited by the White House, only 12 people were responsible for 73% of anti-vaccine content on Facebook.
- Authorities and experts in the US are worried that there are large pockets of unvaccinated people among whom the coronavirus is now rapidly spreading while the country as a whole opens up. Officials are trying to ease vaccine hesitancy with public campaigns and, in the state of Arkansas, with public meetings with the governor.
- UK health secretary Sajid Javid confirmed he had tested positive for Covid-19. Javid said he will continue to work remotely but it could also affect Johnson, who possibly was in contact with Javid on Friday and may have to self-isolate.
- Thailand imposed a nationwide ban on public gatherings and is considering more steps after reporting more than 10,000 new cases. Prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha suggested all but essential facilities will be closed.
Brazil records 868 deaths
Brazil registered another 868 deaths on Saturday and 34,339 new cases.
It remained the country with the most deaths from Covid-19 over the past week.
Brazil has had 541,266 deaths and 19,342,448 cases since the pandemic began.
Facebook has hit back at President Joe Biden’s accusation that social media companies are “killing people” by allowing disinformation on vaccines.
The company said it was not at fault for the US not meeting Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70% of Americans by 4 July and claimed vaccine acceptance had increased among users.
“At a time when Covid-19 cases are rising in America, the Biden administration has chosen to blame a handful of American social media companies. While social media plays an important role in society, it is clear that we need a whole of society approach to end this pandemic,” wrote Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice-president for Integrity.
He also said the company has removed 18 million posts considered misinformation and reduced visibility on 167 million pieces of content that had been fact-checked.
Biden last week accused social media companies of not doing enough to take down misinformation about vaccines.
Updated
Sajid Javid, the health secretary for England, has said his positive Covid result has now been confirmed by a PCR test.
He will have to isolate but, as reported earlier, it may also mean the prime minister, Boris Johnson, will have to isolate after Javid visited Downing Street on Friday.
My positive result has now been confirmed by PCR test, so I will continue to isolate and work from home.
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) July 17, 2021
Here’s a handy reminder of which test you may need and when: pic.twitter.com/cX7Ypye3X6
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Iraqi police have arrested men accused of attacking a hospital in revenge for the deaths of Covid patients, AFP has reported.
The four patients were relatives of the attackers and died at al-Kindi hospital in Baghdad when a power cut turned off their ventilators.
Last week at least 60 people were killed by a fire at a hospital treating coronavirus patients. Another fire in April killed more than 80 at a coronavirus facility.
Updated
A Bangladeshi minister has insisted garment factories will be closed as part of a new lockdown aimed at tackling the country’s worst coronavirus outbreak, Bangladeshi newspaper Dhaka Tribune has reported.
The factories have been able to remain open over the past month despite a series of lockdowns but, with July already Bangladesh’s worst month for deaths during the pandemic, the government is planning a stricter 14-day lockdown.
“The economy will suffer some losses, but the decision is being made in the greater interest of the people, for their health and safety,” said Farhad Hossain, state minister for public administration.
Factory owners have appealed to the government for an exemption from the new rules, which will come into force after next week’s Eid celebrations.
In a letter to the prime minister sent last week, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association called the closure “suicidal”.
They claimed that it would put them behind the competition as clothing brands make orders for next spring and summer season.
Updated
Scotland will require travellers from France to isolate for 10 days because of fears vaccines are less effective against the Beta variant.
The rules will apply to the fully vaccinated despite the isolation requirement being removed from amber countries from Monday.
“It is important we act quickly to limit the risk of importation of variants of concern which could undermine the rollout of our vaccine programme,” said the Scottish transport secretary, Michael Matheson.
Updated
The US is still battling with vaccine hesitancy and seeing cases rocket in the most stubborn areas.
In Mobile County, Alabama cases have risen 400% in a month, CNN reported.
According to officials, only a quarter of residents are fully vaccinated compared with almost half of the overall US population.
While they appealed to anyone who has been vaccinated to talk to people they know holding out, the governor of Arkansas, another southern state, has been on tour, trying to personally convince communities.
Asa Hutchinson has held meetings to hear concerns from vaccine sceptics and counter disinformation.
Only about a third of Arkansas’s population is vaccinated. It has the most cases per capita in the US, with 1,342 reported on Friday.
Updated
Boris Johnson is under fire from health experts over “freedom day” and may have to spend it in isolation anyway report my colleagues James Tapper and Michael Savage for the Observer:
Senior public health leaders from across the UK have accused Boris Johnson of “letting Covid rip” by relaxing legal restrictions on Monday, amid warnings that a growing wave of infections will intensify a summer NHS crisis. The rebuke comes as it emerged that England’s health secretary, Sajid Javid, was among those to have tested positive for Covid, despite being fully vaccinated. He said he had mild symptoms and was awaiting the results of a more accurate PCR test.
It creates a headache for the prime minister should Javid test positive again. Under test and trace rules, anybody who has been in contact with Javid in the previous 48 hours would have to self-isolate. The health secretary is understood to have visited Downing Street on Friday. That would leave Johnson in the uncomfortable position of spending so-called “freedom day” stuck inside No 10. Javid is also known to have visited a care home in recent days.
The vast majority of Covid-19 anti-vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories originated from just 12 people, a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) cited by the White House this week found.
CCDH, a UK/US non-profit and non-governmental organization, found in March that these 12 online personalities they dubbed the “disinformation dozen” have a combined following of 59 million people across multiple social media platforms, with Facebook having the largest impact. CCDH analyzed 812,000 Facebook posts and tweets and found 65% came from the disinformation dozen. Vivek Murthy, US surgeon general, and Joe Biden focused on misinformation around vaccines this week as a driving force of the virus spreading.
On Facebook alone, the dozen are responsible for 73% of all anti-vaccine content, though the vaccines have been deemed safe and effective by the US government and its regulatory agencies. And 95% of the Covid misinformation reported on these platforms were not removed.
Among the dozen are physicians that have embraced pseudoscience, a bodybuilder, a wellness blogger, a religious zealot, and, most notably Robert F Kennedy Jr, the nephew of John F Kennedy who has also linked vaccines to autism and 5G broadband cellular networks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Most of UK put on Denmark's red list
Denmark has placed the UK, except Wales, on its red list, advising against all travel.
Anyone travelling from the UK will have to produce a negative PCR test before boarding their flight, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not and including travellers in transit.
Another test is required on entry and travellers will have to isolate. Travel will only be allowed if deemed for a “worthy purpose”.
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Pilgrims have been arriving in Mecca for the downsized Hajj pilgrimage, which begins after sunset on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia has allowed 60,000 fully vaccinated pilgrims to attend, making it the second Hajj performed under coronavirus restrictions.
Muslims from outside Saudi Arabia have again been barred from attending while places were allocated by lottery to those inside Saudi Ararbia, including foreign residents.
Authorities are staggering entry to the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, and sterilising the surfaces between groups.
Updated
France has reported 10,949 cases on Saturday, an increase of 41 on the day before.
It also reported 16 new deaths and authorities said 890 people are being treated in intensive care units.
Iraqi hospital administrators at five hospitals have abandoned their posts after an inquest began into a deadly fire at a temporary Covid-19 facility, AFP has reported.
Local health authorities accused the administrators of not wanting to take responsibility for any future tragedies.
Authorities recently issued arrest warrants against senior staff for Monday’s fire in Nasiriyah, which killed at least 60 people.
The fire was fuelled by exploding gas canisters, just as another fire was in April, when 82 people were killed at a coronavirus facility in the capital, Baghdad.
Updated
Thousands marched across France to protest against a proposed coronavirus passport to enter bars, restaurants, and cinemas, as well as obligatory vaccinations for health workers, Reuters has reported.
Macron this week announced sweeping measures to fight a rapid surge in coronavirus infections, which protesters say infringe the freedom of choice of those who do not want the vaccination.
The measures had already prompted demonstrations earlier this week, forcing police to use teargas to disperse protesters.
“Everyone is sovereign in his own body. In no way does a president of the Republic have the right to decide on my individual health,” said one protester in Paris who identified herself as Chrystelle.
Marches, which also took place in France’s largest cities such as Marseille, Lyon and Lille as well as many smaller centres, also included gilet jaune (yellow vest) protesters seeking to revive the anti-government movement curbed by coronavirus lockdowns.
Updated
UK reports 41 new deaths, 54,674 cases
The UK has reported a further 41 deaths on Saturday from coronavirus, dropping from 49 the day before.
Overall cases, however, have risen to 54,674 from 51,870 on Friday and are up more than 40% over the past week.
Since last Sunday, 284 people have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test – an increase over the previous week of 47.9%.
Updated
Italy reported 13 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 11 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 3,121 from 2,898.
Italy has registered 127,864 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.28 million cases to date, Reuters reports.
Patients in hospital with Covid-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 1,111 on Saturday, edging up from 1,088 a day earlier.
There were nine new admissions to intensive care units, down from 13 on Friday. The total number of intensive care patients rose to 162 from a previous 161.
Italy carried out 244,797 tests for Covid-19 in the past day, compared with 205,602 the day before, the health ministry said.
Updated
Rachel Clarke, an NHS doctor and author, has claimed that the health secretary has given incorrect advice about lateral flow tests (LFTs) in the video he posted on Twitter to announce his positive Covid-19 test.
In the video, Sajid Javid says: “I was feeling a bit groggy last night so I took a lateral flow test this morning.”
He later says: “If like me you might feel a bit groggy or you think you might have come into contact with someone who is positive, please also take a lateral flow test too.”
Clarke also adds: “LFTs are for those without symptoms, as the NHS website clearly states.”
If you feel unwell:
— Rachel Clarke (@doctor_oxford) July 17, 2021
Please *don’t* do what Sajid Javid describes here.
LFTs are for those without symptoms, as the NHS website clearly states.
A negative LFT does *not* rule out Covid.
If you have Covid symptoms, book a PCR test & self-isolate until the result is back 🙏 https://t.co/aK9qGDRugy
She also shared the NHS website with the guidance about LFTs, adding:
Here’s the NHS guidance on LFTs. They’re for asymptomatic testing. If you have symptoms, you need to book a PCR test.
[Sajid Javid] please will you consider deleting this video? It contradicts NHS advice & may well mislead the public.
He is yet to respond to the request.
The NHS website specifies three symptoms as requiring a PCR test - a high temperature; a new, continuous cough; or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.
Updated
The health secretary’s positive test for coronavirus underlines the need for the British government to drop its plans to end lockdown restrictions in England on Monday, the Liberal Democrats have said.
Health spokeswoman Munira Wilson said:
I really wish Sajid Javid, his team and family are well, and all those he has been in contact with over recent days, including visits.
This shows no one is safe from this deadly virus. The government needs to rethink its reckless plans for Monday.
By easing all restrictions with cases surging, they are experimenting with people’s lives. Right now, they are pursuing a strategy of survival of the fittest, where the young and clinically vulnerable will be left defenceless.
Updated
The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, has urged the Japanese public to welcome the Olympics when it starts on 23 July and insisted they will be “safe and secure” despite a positive Covid test at the athletes’ village.
While acknowledging the widespread scepticism in Japan, Bach said that more than 15,000 people had arrived for the Olympics, with 15 testing positive. He also said the Games would be the most restrictive sporting event in the world, thus limiting the possibility of widespread infections.
Toshiro Muto, the chief executive of the Tokyo Olympic organising committee, confirmed today that a visitor from abroad who is involved in organising the Games had tested positive. He would not reveal the person’s nationality, citing privacy concerns, but said they had been placed in a 14-day quarantine.
The case is a concern to organisers and the IOC, which had promised the village would be the “safest place” in Tokyo, but Bach said it was important to look at the wider picture. At the first IOC press conference of these Games, he said the rate of positive tests was “very low at just 0.1%”.
“It goes without saying that all the people were immediately isolated and they do not [present] any risk to the Japanese people,” he added.
Japan’s public has been lukewarm about the Games after a resurgence in new coronavirus infections and worries that an influx of foreign visitors may help turn it into a super-spreader event, which in turn could put further strain on the country’s already stretched medical system.
But Bach said: “We are very well aware of the scepticism in Japan. My appeal to the Japanese people is to welcome these athletes who are here for their competition of their lives and to acknowledge that is not for any price.
“They have the same interest as the Japanese people in ensuring these Games are safe and secure. And for this they accept and even welcome measures that make these Olympics the most restricted sports event not only in Japan but in the entire world.
“What will make the Games so historic is the demonstration that they can happen in a safe and secure way, even under the circumstances of this pandemic.”
At least five athletes have tested positive for Covid-19 since arriving in Japan for the Games, while the Refugee Olympic Team was forced to delay travelling to Tokyo after one of its delegation also returned a positive test.
Read the full story here:
Updated
'The only pandemic is among the unvaccinated,' says Biden
The US president, Joe Biden, says the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, reports AP.
“Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated,” Biden said on Friday, echoing comments made earlier in the day by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cases of Covid-19 have tripled over the past three weeks, and hospitalisations and deaths are rising among unvaccinated people.
The rising numbers are being driven by large pockets of infection among the more than 90 million eligible Americans who have yet to get jabs.
Four states with low vaccination rates made up 40% of new cases last week, and nearly half of them came from Florida alone.
Walensky said Friday that in low-vaccination areas with rising cases, “local policymakers might consider whether masking at that point would be something that would be helpful for their community”.
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The suspension comes after warnings to the UK government over a surge in the number of workers and medics being forced into self-isolation over coronavirus contacts as England prepares for “freedom day” on Monday.
Transport unions have said there will be “dire consequences” next week when staff are “pinged” as the level of infections rise.
Elsewhere in the country, passengers were warned of alterations on some northern routes this weekend due to a number of frontline staff either testing positive for Covid-19 or having to self-isolate.
According to the national rail inquiries website, trains may be cancelled in both directions on services connecting Huddersfield, Sheffield and Lincoln, Sheffield and Leeds, Retford and York and between Leeds and Doncaster.
Updated
A London tube line has been suspended due to “a shortage of control room staff” triggered by workers being told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid-19 app.
The Metropolitan line was not running on Saturday due to control room staff being alerted by the app in the morning.
Services on the Piccadilly and District lines were also affected.
Updated
The UK health secretary is self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19.
Sajid Javid got the positive test from a lateral flow test he took after feeling “a bit groggy” on Friday night. He said he was self-isolating at home with his family.
He was made health secretary last month after his predecessor, Matt Hancock, resigned following the leak of a video showing him kissing his closest aide, Gina Coladangelo, in his ministerial office – in breach of his own Covid-19 rules.
The health secretary’s announcement comes as the government prepares to go ahead with the final lifting of lockdown restrictions in England on Monday, despite the misgivings of some scientists.
Updated
UK health secretary Sajid Javid tests positive for Covid-19
The British health secretary, Sajid Javid, on Saturday said he had tested positive for Covid-19, but that his symptoms were mild.
He has had both doses of vaccine against the disease.
This morning I tested positive for Covid. I’m waiting for my PCR result, but thankfully I have had my jabs and symptoms are mild.
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) July 17, 2021
Please make sure you come forward for your vaccine if you haven’t already. pic.twitter.com/NJYMg2VGzT
“This morning I tested positive for Covid,” he said in a tweet, adding he had taken a rapid lateral flow test and was awaiting confirmation from a PCR test, which needs processing in a laboratory.
He said:
I’m waiting for my PCR result, but thankfully I have had my jabs and symptoms are mild.
Javid urged anyone who had not been vaccinated against Covid-19 to come forward to get a jab.
He said: “If everyone plays their part, you’re not only protecting yourself and your loved ones but you’re also safeguarding the NHS.”
Updated
The delay in deciding whether to vaccinate children over 12 against Covid is unlikely to help resolve what is already a contentious issue.
A survey by the Office for National Statistics has found that almost 90% of parents in England would favour giving their children a vaccine if offered, and school leaders have also backed jabs for pupils.
Opinion among scientists, however, is less clear-cut. A key question is whether the benefits of vaccinating children outweigh any risks and in particular, whether those benefits extend beyond the protection afforded to adults by reducing spread of the disease from younger age groups.
Some argue that the direct health benefits to children may be low because they are rarely seriously affected by the infection, although there have been reports of long Covid and a complication called multi-system inflammatory syndrome.
“Given the low risk of Covid for most teenagers, it is not immoral to think that they may be better protected by natural immunity generated through infection than by asking them to take the ‘possible’ risk of a vaccine,” Prof Robert Dingwall, a sociologist and member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation(JCVI), tweeted last month.
Read more here:
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Greece has banned music in restaurants and bars and restricted movement on its popular holiday island of Mykonos on Saturday after a rise in new coronavirus infections there.
Known as the party island of the super-rich, Mykonos is one of Greece’s most popular destinations, attracting more than a million visitors each summer, among them Hollywood stars, models and world-famous athletes, Reuters reports.
Following a “worrying” local outbreak, the civil protection ministry said it was banning music on the island around the clock and would only allow movement between 1am to 6am to those going to and from work, or for health reasons. The restrictions will be in place until 26 July, it said.
Greece depends on tourism for a fifth of its economy and desperately needs a strong season this year following a disastrous 2020 when visitor numbers and revenues collapsed.
The number of infections has been rising in Greece in recent weeks, forcing the government to mandate the vaccination of healthcare workers and nursing home staff, and to introduce new restrictions across the country, including allowing only vaccinated customers indoors at restaurants and clubs.
The ministry said:
We call on the residents, visitors and professionals on our beautiful island to strictly follow the measures... so that we can quickly control and contain the spreading of the virus and Mykonos can return to normality.
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From Monday, vaccinated UK travellers returning to England from all amber list countries except France will not need to quarantine on arrival if they have been double vaccinated or are under the age of 18.
The France announcement underlines the uncertainty in some areas over the lifting of lockdown restrictions in England from 19 July, PA Media reports.
It also marks another hit to the fortunes of the travel sector, with industry body Abta saying it was a further setback for hopes of a “meaningful recovery”.
It also came just two days after the Spanish holiday islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca were moved from green to amber, meaning anyone over 18 who is not fully vaccinated must quarantine on their return.
The UK health secretary. Sajid Javid, said the government had always been clear it would take rapid action at the borders to “protect the gains made by our successful vaccination programme”, while Labour accused ministers of creating holiday “chaos”.
The shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said:
Ministers are making up rules on the hoof and causing chaos. They have never had a proper strategy in place - once again the travel industry and the British people are paying the price.
Meanwhile, the French tourism minister, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, tweeted on Saturday morning that France was adapting its border measures to require non-vaccinated travellers arriving from the UK, Cyprus, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugal to complete an antigen or PCR test less than 24 hours before departure.
Updated
Thailand is looking to introduce more restrictions on movement as authorities on Saturday reported record numbers of new cases and deaths, despite partial lockdowns in Bangkok and nine other provinces this week.
The country’s Covid-19 task force reported 10,082 new coronavirus cases and 141 additional deaths, both daily records and bringing total infections to 391,989 cases and fatalities to 3,240 since the pandemic started, Reuters reports.
Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the department of disease control advised people to stay at home as much as possible and avoid travel between provinces.
Karnkawinpong said:
From the current situation we predict that if we don’t introduce more measures there will be more infections and deaths in large numbers for the next three to four months.
Thailand has already imposed a nationwide ban on public gatherings which carries a maximum penalty of a two-year jail term or a fine of up to 40,000 baht ($1,220), or both, an announcement on the official Royal Gazette published late on Friday showed.
The prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, said the government was considering more restrictions as the country battles its worst coronavirus outbreak yet, fuelled by the highly transmissible Alpha and Delta Covid-19 variants.
Prayuth said on his official Facebook page on Friday:
There is a need to expand measures to limit people’s movement as much as possible and closing more facilities, leaving only the essentials.
Areas considered high risk in Thailand have since Monday been under the toughest restrictions in more than a year, involving curbs on movement and gatherings, the closure of malls and some businesses, and curfews between 9pm and 4am.
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The 2009 romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer has nothing to do with Irish pubs but could end up as an epitaph for some of them.
When Ireland entered lockdown just before St Patrick’s day in 2020 pub owners hoped to reopen after a few weeks, or at worst a few months.
A ticking clock on the website of the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), which represents Dublin’s pubs, shows the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds that some of its members have been waiting to reopen.
On 16 July it showed 487 days. If all goes well they will be able to open by 26 July, day 497. By then the government has promised to let indoor hospitality resume for customers who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from infection.
It will mark the end of one of the longest such lockdowns in Europe and a step toward recovery for an industry that prides itself as a cultural and social institution.
For some pubs it will be too late. Dozens have shut and many more are expected to follow them into oblivion when banks, landlords and other creditors come knocking later in the year.
Noel Anderson, chairman of the LVA said:
It’s been absolutely devastating. The impact on the industry is as severe as it can get. The real test will be when government [financial] supports start dwindling off.
In the box office hit film Summer is the name of a young woman who enchants – and breaks the heart of – a character played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
For Irish pubs the season feels equally capricious. Those that serve food were allowed to open under strict conditions in June 2020, only for indoor hospitality to shut again in September after a fresh wave of infections.
Pubs were allowed to serve takeaway pints in winter and spring, and last month those with outdoor seating were permitted full outdoor service. About two-thirds of pubs across Ireland operate under such limitations. Those with no outdoor options remain shuttered.
Anderson said:
I’ve a number of friends nearly closed for 500 days. For them it’s been tortuous to watch while other people trade well and you have to wait your turn.
Read more here:
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Quite a few people have messaged regarding the story about the Beta variant in France.
Alex Taylor, a British broadcaster working in France has tweeted that the Beta variant is actually dwindling in mainland France.
Just to point out, listening to and reading today's UK coverage of new quarantine for visitors 🇫🇷➡️🇬🇧 that the vast majority of 🇫🇷 beta variant is in La Réunion (in the Indian Ocean, administratively part of 🇫🇷)
— Alex Taylor (@AlexTaylorNews) July 17, 2021
It's very small and dwindling in mainland France, eaten up by delta
However, there are still concerns about the vaccine being less effective against the variant, which the UK government seems to be concerned about as journalist Isabel Roughol points out.
There were 86 cases of the Beta variants in mainland France in the last 4 weeks. It’s more than anywhere else; it’s also very little and France tests and tracks variants better than most. The UK govt is afraid bc beta appears to better evade vaccines, esp Astra Zeneca.
— Isabelle Roughol 🌍 www.borderlinepod.com 🌎 (@iroughol) July 17, 2021
Asked about whether full lockdown easing in England could lead to the emergence of a new more dangerous coronavirus variant, professor Mark Woolhouse said.
He told Times Radio:
It could be... but there are literally hundreds of variants around the world.
We don’t know where the next variant of concern, one that will actually threaten public health, will come from.
There’s absolutely no guarantee it will come from the UK.
This is an international issue, not a UK one.
In anticipation of an end to the Covid-19 pandemic, states and cities across the United States have enjoyed reopening once-shuttered communities for business, leisure, summer festivities and travel as life has returned to near-normal.
However, health officials remain on high alert given one ongoing obstacle to being finished with Covid-19: wide swaths of unvaccinated people in America that could allow the virus to further mutate and potentially spawn more transmissible and increasingly deadly variants.
That means that unvaccinated people are not only at greater risk of Covid-19 themselves, but could also potentially undermine America’s whole vaccine rollout if any future variant emerging in the US was significantly resistant to the shots.
“Unvaccinated people are basically the cannon fodder of the virus. The virus needs people to infect in order to replicate and the more people it has that are vulnerable or susceptible to infection, the more likely it will mutate,” said Dr Michael Saag, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Forty-six US states recorded at least a 10% increase in new coronavirus cases as of Wednesday, reported by CNN. Travel advisories have been declared for several states including Nevada and Florida because of increased Covid-19 cases, warning wannabe vacationers to stay away.
Against the backdrop of an almost nationwide increase in Covid-19 cases, there is a renewed focus on the vaccine rollout. After just missing a 4 July deadline of getting at least 70% of American adults their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the Biden administration – together with federal, state and local health officials – is encouraging people, especially younger adults, to get vaccinated as quickly as possible.
But, even amid the more aggressive attempts to boost vaccination rates, several states, many concentrated in the south, continue to lag behind. As of 5 July, Arkansas, which has fully vaccinated less than 35% of its adult population, has acquired new Covid-19 cases at five times the national average rate. Similarly, Oklahoma, where only 39% of adults are fully vaccinated, has had a similar increase in Covid-19 cases. Those who remain unvaccinated risk infection as well as an increased chance of hospitalization or death from Covid.
Read more here:
The last-minute announcement from the UK government that travellers returning from France must continue to quarantine from Monday – even if they are double jabbed – has caused “mass confusion”, a travel expert has said.
Gemma Antrobus, of the Association of Independent Tour Operators, told BBC Breakfast that the travel industry had not expected the measure.
She said:
This new level of traffic light, this fifth traffic light that we now have – amber-plus – wasn’t something that’s ever been mentioned, so nobody expected this to come.
So really the travel industry are in as much shock as the consumers are right now and really we would just have to pick up the pieces and deal with it and help our clients through this pretty terrible situation.
Antrobus estimated “hundreds of thousands” of people may be affected by the change, including people who were waiting to see family members.
She added:
We mustn’t forget that this is not just about travelling for leisure purposes, this is also about reuniting families, who again will now have to wait months, possibly longer, before they can do so in a way that is free for them to return (and) not have to self-isolate.
Travellers returning to England from France will still be forced to quarantine next week even if they are double-vaccinated after ministers made a last-minute change to rules due to come into force from Monday.
From 19 July, all Britons who have had two Covid jabs heading back from amber list countries were told they would not need to complete up to 10 days’ isolation at home.
That will remain the case for all those countries apart from France. The Guardian revealed earlier this week there was concern over the country given the rise in cases of the Beta variant – first identified in South Africa.
The move will affect the travel plans of thousands of British holidaymakers who were poised to benefit from the new lighter-touch regime to let them visit France over the school summer holidays, as well as those hoping to visit relatives across the Channel.
Ministers were split over official advice put to them on Wednesday by the Joint Biosecurity Centre that suggested France be added to the red list – a significant step that would have seen only British citizens and nationals allowed to enter England, then forced to stay for 11 nights in a hotel starting at a cost of £1,750.
They decided against the move, a government source said, because of the significant diplomatic and political repercussions, but discussions continued over the following two days that ended in a decision announced late on Friday night.
Anyone who is fully inoculated arriving from France – or who has been in the country for the past 10 days – after 19 July will still be able to leave quarantine after day five by using the “test to release” system.
All travellers will continue to have to take a pre-departure test and fill in the passenger locator form, with those who have had both jabs also required to show proof of their vaccine certificate through the NHS app or on a printed letter. Under-18s will also have to quarantine. Only certain key roles such as hauliers will be exempt.
Read the full story from my colleagues Aubrey Allegretti and Heather Stewart here:
The first case of coronavirus has been reported in the Tokyo Olympics athletes’ village, adding to doubts over how “safe and secure” the games will be.
Organisers confirmed that a visitor from abroad who was working for the Olympics tested positive in a routine check on Friday. The person’s nationality was not revealed due to privacy concerns.
There have been 14 other new cases connected to the games which begin next week, Reuters reports.
The other cases included two members of the media, seven contractors and five games personnel.
The case at the athletes’ village, a 44-hectare site built on Tokyo’s waterfront, is particularly worrying as a majority of the 11,000 competitors will be staying there.
Originally intended to showcase Japan’s recovery from its 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster, the Tokyo Olympics has become an exercise in damage limitation.
Postponed for a year due to the global pandemic, it is being held mostly without spectators and under tight quarantine rules. Most athletes are starting to arrive for the games, which run from 23 July through to 8 August.
The Japanese public has been wary about hosting the games amid a resurgence in new coronavirus infections and worries that an influx of visitors may create a super-spreader event, straining an already-stretched medical system.
Only around 20% of the population is fully vaccinated.
Although Japan has escaped the explosive outbreaks of other nations, it has more than 820,000 cases and about 15,000 deaths. The number of new cases in host city Tokyo, which is in its fourth state of emergency over the virus, has been over 1,000 for four straight days.
Tokyo 2020 president, Seiko Hashimoto, acknowledged the public’s concerns.
She told a news conference on Saturday:
I understand that there are still many worrying factors. Organisers must try to make sure that people will understand that these games are safe and secure.
So far, more than 40 people involved in the Games, including Japanese and foreigners, have tested positive.
Toshiro Muto, chief of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, said on Saturday that officials were working on the assumption that there would be positive Covid-19 cases.
A key part of the anti-contagion measures is daily saliva testing of the athletes who take part, as well as frequent testing of others involved in the event. Visitors’ movements are also due to be monitored and restricted.
Updated
The UK government may have to reimpose lockdown restrictions if Covid cases continue to rise over the summer and into the autumn, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned.
Hunt, who is now chairman of the Commons Health and Social Care Committee, said the situation was “very serious”.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:
The warning light on the NHS dashboard is not flashing amber, it is flashing red.
Covid hospital patients are doubling every two weeks. That means we are heading for 10,000 Covid hospital patients by the end of August, which is about 20 times higher than this time last year. It is a very serious situation.
I think coming into September we are almost certainly going to see infections reach a new daily peak going above the 68,000 daily level, which was the previous daily record in January.
If they are still going up as the schools are coming back I think we are going to have to reconsider some very difficult decisions. How we behave over the next few weeks will have a material difference.
Hunt said the British government needed to make changes to the NHS Covid app amid signs people were deleting it due to the high numbers being “pinged” and told to self-isolate.
He added:
The risk with that app is that it is beginning to lose social consent and so we should either make it less sensitive or move to a system where you have to get a test when you are pinged.
The risk is that if people are deleting the app then you can’t even ping them to ask them to have a test.
Updated
Boris Johnson’s plan to lift virtually all of England’s pandemic restrictions on Monday is a threat to the world and provides fertile ground for the emergence of vaccine-resistant variants, international experts say.
Britain’s position as a global transport hub would mean any new variant here would rapidly spread around the world, scientists and physicians warned at an emergency summit. They also expressed grave concerns about Downing Street’s plans.
Government advisers in New Zealand, Israel and Italy were among those who sounded alarm bells about the policy, while more than 1,200 scientists backed a letter to the Lancet journal warning the strategy could allow vaccine-resistant variants to develop.
An adviser to New Zealand’s government told the summit he and his colleagues were astounded at the approach being taken in England.
“In New Zealand we have always looked to the UK for leadership when it comes to scientific expertise, which is why it’s so remarkable that it is not following even basic public health principles,” said Michael Baker, a professor of public health at the University of Otago and a member of the New Zealand ministry of health’s Covid-19 technical advisory group.
Read more from my colleague Ben Quinn here:
India on Saturday reported 38,079 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 31.06 million, health ministry data showed.
The number of deaths rose by 560, taking the total to 413,091, according to ministry data.
China reported 30 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the mainland on Friday, compared with 36 a day earlier, the country’s health authority said on Saturday.
Twenty-eight of the new cases were imported and two were locally transmitted, data from the national health commission showed.
Thailand has imposed a nationwide ban on public gatherings and was considering more restrictions on movement as authorities reported record numbers of new cases and deaths on Saturday.
Despite partial lockdowns in Bangkok and nine other provinces this week, the country’s Covid-19 task force reported 10,082 new coronavirus cases and 141 new deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 391,989 cases and 3,240 fatalities since the pandemic started.
A ban on public gatherings has been imposed, with a maximum penalty of a two-year jail term or a fine of up to 40,000 baht ($1,220) or both, an announcement on the official Royal Gazette published late on Friday showed.
The prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, said that the government was considering more restrictions as the country battled its worst coronavirus outbreak yet, fuelled by the highly transmissible Alpha and Delta Covid-19 variants.
“There is a need to expand measures to limit people’s movement as much as possible and closing more facilities leaving only the essentials,” Prayuth said on his official Facebook page on Friday.
Areas considered high risk in Thailand have been under the toughest restrictions in more than a year since Monday, with curbs on movement and gatherings, the closure of malls and some businesses, and curfews between 9pm and 4am.
Updated
Russia reported 25,116 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, including 4,561 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 5,933,115.
Russia is in the grip of a surge in cases that authorities have blamed on the contagious Delta variant and the slow rate of vaccinations, Reuters reports.
The government coronavirus taskforce said 787 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the national death toll to 147,655.
The federal statistics agency has kept a separate count and has said Russia recorded around 290,000 deaths related to Covid-19 from April 2020 to May 2021.
Updated
Professor Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at Edinburgh University, said the assessment of England’s unlocking on 19 July as a “dangerous, unethical experiment” was “very inaccurate”.
He told Times Radio:
The concern at the moment is that the trajectory of hospitalisations and deaths in the UK is upwards, fairly slowly... and we want to see what that trend does.
It’s widely accepted the number of cases would increase, we’ve known this would happen when we unlocked for many months now, we’d expect it.... so ‘dangerous, unethical experiment’ seems to be a very inaccurate description of what’s going on.
This is unprecedented, it’s not an experiment but it’s an unprecedented situation because we’ve got a new pandemic here and the UK is in a particularly interesting position because we have such a successful vaccine programme.
Woolhouse, who advises government in both England & Scotland, said he expected all countries to experience an “exit wave” of coronavirus when they came to unlock fully.
Updated
The UK is facing a prolonged period with a high level of coronavirus infections, a scientist involved in advising the government has warned.
Professor John Edmunds said that with the lifting of lockdown restrictions in England on Monday the disease would continue to spread.
He said cases could reach 100,000 a day within weeks.
He told the BBC Radio 4 programme:
I think this wave of the epidemic will be quite long and drawn out.
My hunch is that we are looking at a high level of incidence for a protracted period right through the summer and probably through much of the autumn.
We started easing restrictions before everybody was vaccinated.
That is going to lead to infections in the unvaccinated people – primarily in this instance the younger individuals. It is inevitable that that was going to happen.
We are at about 50,000 a day now. The epidemic has been doubling roughly every two weeks and so if we allow things as they are for another couple of weeks you could expect it to get to 100,000 cases a day.
The Beta variant of the coronavirus spreading in France may evade vaccines, a scientist involved in advising the government has warned.
The government has said travellers returning from France – unlike other amber list destinations – must continue to self-isolate even if they are fully vaccinated.
Professor John Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said ministers were right to be concerned, PA news reports.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:
The Beta variant has remained a threat throughout. It is probably less infectious than the Delta variant that is spreading here in the UK at the moment. Where it has an advantage is that it is able to escape the immune response to a better extent.
As the population here becomes more and more immune, the conditions are right then for the Beta variant to get an advantage, so I can understand the concern.
Of the variants that are out there and are known about, that one has always been a threat to us. There is some good evidence from South Africa that it can evade the immune response generated by the AstraZeneca vaccine more efficiently.
I’m Nicola Slawson and I’ll be taking you through the day’s events today. Do drop me an email on nicola.slawson@theguardian.com or find me on Twitter (@Nicola_Slawson) if you think I’ve missed anything or if you have any questions.
