That’s it from me, Samantha Lock, for today’s Covid blog.
I’ll be back a little later to bring you all the new developments. In the meantime, please follow along with all the latest headlines here.
Summary
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US health officials are not currently recommending lockdowns or economic restrictions to curb rising Covid-19 cases, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday.
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France’s prime minister Jean Castex tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, hours after returning from a visit to neighbouring Belgium and just as France is seeing a nationwide resurgence of infections, according to his office.
- Germany and the Netherlands are set to face tougher Covid restrictions.
- Germany issues stark warning. “Probably by the end of winter, more or less everyone in Germany will be vaccinated, cured or dead,” German health minister, Jens Spahn, said. “That sounds cynical, but it’s the reality.” The outgoing chancellor, Angela Merkel, said tighter restrictions were needed.
- The UK reported an additional 44,917 new Covid cases and 45 new deaths.
- Greece imposes strict new Covid curbs, aimed at reducing Covid-19 infections that have pushed death rates to almost twice the EU average. The new restrictions went into effect as authorities struggled to convince older Greeks in particular to have the jab.
- More than two-thirds of people in high-income countries have been fully vaccinated, while in low-income countries an average of less than one in 20 of people have received a single dose, according to a new report by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
- Israel started rolling out vaccinations for five- to 11-year-olds in a bid to bring down rising Covid infections.
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Italy’s health minister announced that Italians will be able to get a Covid booster five months after their first vaccination cycle.
- The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response accused the UK of throwing unused vaccines “down the drain”.
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Boris Johnson says the UK government is “concerned” about Covid, but that there is nothing to suggest that the country should bring back restrictions, despite rising cases across Europe.
US health officials not recommending lockdowns
US health officials are not currently recommending lockdowns or economic restrictions to curb rising Covid-19 cases, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday.
While some other countries have reimposed lockdowns, “our process and our focus continues to be getting more Americans vaccinated,” she said.
“We will continue to rely on the advice of our own health and medical team, and that is not something that they have recommended.”
French prime minister tests positive for Covid-19
France’s prime minister Jean Castex tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, hours after returning from a visit to neighbouring Belgium and just as France is seeing a nationwide resurgence of infections, according to his office.
The positive test also means that his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo and four other minister immediately went into quarantine since they met with Castex for talks in Brussels earlier Monday.
Castex will adapt his schedule for the coming 10 days to continue his activities in isolation, his office said. Officials at the prime minister’s headquarters did not comment on whether he has any virus symptoms.
One of Castex’s daughters tested positive Monday after her father returned from a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo in Brussels, and Castex himself then took two tests that were both positive, his office said.
De Croo’s office said he will be tested Wednesday and will self-isolate while awaiting the result, as will the foreign affairs, defence, justice and home ministers.
Germany and Netherlands face tightening Covid rules
Germany and the Netherlands have been told they should face still tougher Covid restrictions as the German health minister, Jens Spahn, made the startling prediction that most of his compatriots would be “vaccinated, cured or dead” by the end of winter.
With Europe again the centre of the pandemic, ushering in tighter controls mainly on the unvaccinated across the continent, on Monday Austria became the first west European country to re-enter lockdown since vaccination began earlier this year.
“Probably by the end of winter, more or less everyone in Germany will be vaccinated, cured or dead,” Spahn said. “That sounds cynical, but it’s the reality.” The outgoing chancellor, Angela Merkel, said tighter restrictions were needed.
“We are in a highly dramatic situation. What is in place now is not sufficient,” Merkel told leaders of her centre-right CDU party. About 68% of Germans and 66% of Austrians are fully vaccinated, among the lowest in western Europe.
Read the full story here.
Here's a summary of the latest developments...
- The UK today reported an additional 44,917 new Covid cases and 45 new deaths. The figures mark an increase on cases yesterday, when there were 40,004 new cases, and a slight decrease in deaths compared with yesterday, when 61 deaths were reported.
- The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has condemned violent anti-lockdown rioters as “idiots” after a wave of protests over the weekend. “This was pure violence disguised as protest,” said Rutte.
- Draconian curbs have been imposed in Greece, aimed at reducing Covid-19 infections that have pushed death rates to almost twice the EU average. The new restrictions went into effect as authorities struggled to convince older Greeks in particular to have the jab.
- The UK is to review its Covid-19 travel rules in January, the country’s aviation minister said today. Robert Courts’s comments come amid complaints from airlines who claim that day two coronavirus test requirements and passenger locator forms are putting people off travelling to and from the UK.
- Angela Merkel, Germany’s acting chancellor, has reportedly told leaders of her party that Covid measures are insufficient. “We are in a highly dramatic situation. What is in place now is not sufficient,” she told Christian Democratic Union of Germany leaders in a meeting, according to two participants, reports Reuters.
- Helen Clark, the co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, has accused the UK of throwing unused vaccines “down the drain”. The former prime minister of New Zealand told a press conference today that vaccine manufacturing had been “far too slow” and urged countries such as the UK and the US to exert pressure on manufacturers and to redistribute vaccines.
- More than two-thirds of people in high-income countries have been fully vaccinated, while in low-income countries an average of less than one in 20 of people have received a single dose, according to a new report by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
- Germany’s health minister today issued a stark warning amid rapidly rising Covid cases, telling Germans that by the end of winter everyone will either have “been vaccinated, recovered or died”. Jens Spahn urged Germans to urgently get vaccinated – or, if applicable, get booster doses – as the country recorded more than 30,000 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.
- Boris Johnson has said the UK government is “concerned” about Covid, but that there is nothing to suggest that the country should bring back restrictions, despite rising cases across Europe. He claimed he saw “nothing in the data” to suggest the UK should switch course from plan A to plan B in its coronavirus response.
Updated
Israel started rolling out vaccinations for five- to 11-year-olds today in a bid to bring down rising Covid infections.
After a fourth wave subsided in September, over the last two weeks the reproduction rate of the virus has been rising again, with half of confirmed infections among children aged 11 and under.
Updated
Italy’s health minister has announced that Italians will be able to get a Covid booster five months after their first vaccination cycle.
Roberto Speranza wrote on Facebook on Monday:
The booster dose is crucial to better protect ourselves and those around us. After Aifa’s [Italy’s medicines authority] latest advice, it will be possible to take it five months after completing the first cycle.
How has the pandemic changed young people? For the past year, the Guardian has tracked the journey of a group of young people from across the UK. They tell Amelia Hill how coronavirus has turned their lives upside down and transformed their futures.
Scientists in the UK have urged caution in making plans to celebrate Christmas as transmission rates remain high.
Prof Susan Michie of University College London, a member of the government’s Covid-19 behavioural science team and the Independent Sage group of experts, told Guardian science correspondent Nicola Davis:
Rates of transmission are still very high, numbers of Covid weekly deaths continue at around 1,000, the NHS is described by those running it as ‘hitting breaking point’ and ‘unsustainable’, with Covid cases taking up hospital beds with the potential to tip the NHS into crisis. And we haven’t yet hit winter.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia banned unvaccinated people from hotels, pubs, hairdressers and most public events from Monday after Covid-19 cases surged in recent weeks.
The central European neighbours both acted a step behind Austria, which first set restrictions on unvaccinated people but went for a full lockdown on Monday as the region became the world’s latest Covid hotspot.
Less than a day into the new system, Slovakia signalled it could indeed echo Austria with a three-week lockdown for all as the prime minister, Eduard Heger, said he was “intensively” looking at the possibility, to be discussed in the cabinet later this week.
“The prime minister is aware it is necessary to resolve the situation immediately so we can have a calmer Christmas and be able to relax measures in view of the coming tourism season,” Heger’s office said in a statement.
The two countries took the decision to target unvaccinated people last week to encourage inoculations as daily infections hit new records with vaccination rates lagging behind most European Union countries.
Updated
Covid infections are on the rise in South Africa weeks before an expected fourth wave in December, the country’s national health laboratory service said today.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases reported a “sustained” increase over the past seven days, with the majority of cases detected in the most populous province of Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria.
“We are monitoring these trends to see if these increases persist,” said Adrian Puren, NICD’s interim executive director.
He said that while localised increases were expected, “it is hard to say whether the increases indicate the start of a widespread resurgence”.
South Africa, which has the largest caseload on the African continent, has recorded nearly 2.93 million infections, with 687 new cases reported on Sunday, up from about 106 earlier this month. Of the total cases, at least 89,574 have been fatal.
After a rather slow start, vaccination rates have picked up pace with 41% of adults in South Africa having received at least a single dose, while 35% are fully vaccinated.
In the meantime, Pfizer has applied to the country’s regulatory bodies for clearance of its third dose booster shot.
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority said it had received the application on Wednesday and would start assessment of data for the safety and efficacy of the third dose.
Updated
Prof Chris Whitty, the UK government’s chief medical adviser, said businesses had been “extraordinary” during Covid but that more needed to be done to improve ventilation systems and Britain’s “weak” occupational health system.
Whitty told the CBI conference that the pandemic has shown how collaboration between industry and government could be very powerful and said there should be more of it.
But he said Britain’s occupational health needed looking at systematically.
He said the UK was still “firmly in Covid” and urged businesses to help make getting vaccinated as easy as possible for workers and to encourage them to do so. He also encouraged businesses to improve workplace ventilation systems – to prevent the spread of Covid and other illnesses.
In the medium to longer term he said businesses should help employees to be as active as possible, encouraging them to take the stairs rather than lifts, and called for more government-business collaboration in future.
Updated
Latest UK coronavirus figures show increase in cases to 44,917 and 45 new deaths
The UK today reported an additional 44,917 new Covid cases and 45 new deaths.
Between 16 and 22 November, there were 1,027 Covid deaths – a 5.2% decrease on the previous week. On Friday, there were 8,024 patients in hospital with coronavirus and 911 on beds with a mechanical ventilator.
Today’s figures mark an increase on cases yesterday, when there were 40,004 new cases, and a slight decrease in deaths compared with yesterday, when 61 deaths were reported.
The #COVID19 Dashboard has been updated: https://t.co/XhspoyTG79
— UK Health Security Agency (@UKHSA) November 22, 2021
On 22 November, 44,917 new cases and 45 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported across the UK.
Our data includes the number of people receiving a first, second and booster dose of the #vaccine: pic.twitter.com/2FCfrMrB2d
Updated
More than half of people aged 50 and over in England have now received an additional dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Figures from NHS England show that 11,093,652 booster and third doses have been given to people in the age bracket, the equivalent of 52.1%.
Scotland, where 56.4% of over-50s have received an additional dose, became the first UK nation to reach the milestone last week.
Wales and Northern Ireland do not publish a full breakdown by age group of extra doses, but do give figures for boosters.
Public Health Wales said that 610,267 booster doses had been given to over-50s as of yesterday (equivalent to 46.8%). Meanwhile, Northern Ireland department of health said it had administered 233,167 booster doses to people aged 50-plus (equivalent to 33.9%).
Across the UK, booster doses are being extended to all people aged 40-plus from Monday.
Updated
Dutch PM condemns violent anti-lockdown rioters as 'idiots'
The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has condemned violent anti-lockdown rioters as “idiots” after a wave of protests over the weekend.
More than 100 people were arrested during three nights of violence that saw police open fire at rioters in Rotterdam on Friday after a protest against plans to ban most unvaccinated people from public spaces turned violent. It came after daily infections surged to their highest levels since the start of the pandemic.
“This was pure violence disguised as protest,” said Rutte, reports Reuters.
He added:
There is a lot of unrest in society because we have been dealing with the misery of corona for so long. But I will never accept idiots using pure violence just because they are unhappy.
Other European cities that saw protests were Zagreb, Rome, Vienna and Brussels.
Updated
Strict new Covid restrictions for unvaccinated come into effect in Greece
Draconian curbs have been imposed in Greece, aimed at reducing Covid-19 infections that have pushed death rates to almost twice the EU average.
The new restrictions went into effect as authorities struggled to convince older Greeks in particular to have the jab.
As of today, unvaccinated citizens are barred from entry to all enclosed public spaces, including bars, restaurants, cinemas and museums.
Gyms are also off-limits for those unable to provide proof of immunisation or recent recovery from the virus – reportedly triggering many to sell gym memberships.
Until further notice, employees in the public and private sector will have to work staggered shifts, with masks being made obligatory in all workspaces.
The measures were imposed as capacity in ICU units across the Mediterranean nation exceeded 90%, according to health officials.
Vaccination rates in Greece are much lower than other parts of Europe, with a quarter of all adults yet to have the shot. As a result fatalities have also risen in recent weeks.
The death toll, as of Sunday, stood at 17,313 in a population of around 11 million. Barely six weeks ago, the country crossed the grim milestone of 15,000 deaths.
The restrictions were enforced as dozens were charged with producing fake inoculation certificates. In an unprecedented step, 48 people were prosecuted for participating in a criminal ring that had manufactured and sold scores of fraudulent Covid-19 certificates out of a health centre in central Greece. Judicial authorities signalled that similar investigations were under way in other parts of the country.
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, told parliament on Monday that bonuses averaging €900 would be given to 100,000 health workers in recognition of their help throughout the pandemic. “It is the least that we can [do] today [given] the great many things that we owe them,” he said.
Updated
In the US, more than 90% of federal workers have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine ahead of today’s deadline set by the president, Joe Biden.
In September, Biden mandated that more than 3.5 million federal workers needed to be vaccinated, unless they had a medical or religious exemption, in order to keep their job.
A US official told the Associated Press that the vast majority of federal workers were fully vaccinated, with a minority with either pending or approved exemption.
Updated
UK to review Covid travel rules in January, says minister
The UK is to review its Covid-19 travel rules in January, the country’s aviation minister said today.
Robert Courts’s comments come amid complaints from airlines who claim that day two coronavirus test requirements and passenger locator forms are putting people off travelling to and from the UK.
“We will be reviewing the policy in January. We’ll be looking to see what we can do at that stage,” Courts told the Airlines UK conference, reports Reuters.
He also said that reforming the UK’s airport slots system, which saw the usual “use it or lose it” takeoff and landing rights waived during the pandemic, remains a priority for the UK government.
“We are carefully considering the role of the slot system as part of our future aviation strategy,” he said.
The European Union’s drug regulator said today that it was assessing data on booster doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine and that it expected a decision “within weeks”.
The application is for a booster of the one-dose vaccine, Covid-19 Vaccine Janssen, to be given at least two months after the first dose to adults, according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Updated
Merkel reportedly warns Germany in 'highly dramatic situation' and urges party to do more
Angela Merkel, Germany’s acting chancellor, has reportedly told leaders of her party that Covid measures are insufficient and warned that the country is in a “highly dramatic situation”.
“We are in a highly dramatic situation. What is in place now is not sufficient,” she told Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) leaders in a meeting, according to two participants, reports Reuters.
Updated
Independent panel accuses UK of throwing unused vaccines 'down the drain'
Helen Clark, the co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, has accused the UK of throwing unused vaccines “down the drain”.
The former prime minister of New Zealand told a press conference today (see also 12.32pm and other recent posts) that vaccine manufacturing had been “far too slow” and urged countries such as the UK and the US to exert pressure on manufacturers and to redistribute vaccines.
On paper, she said, countries’ vaccine donation pledges “don’t look so bad”, but they were aimed at dates too far in the future.
Meanwhile, she said, “wealthy countries like the UK have thrown vaccines down the drain because they haven’t used them”.
She said 80 counties were not on track to reach a 40% vaccination target by December.
Updated
Helen Clark said intellectual property (IP) rules should go out the window when the world has to fight a pandemic.
She said a “fundamental redesign” of the Covax concept is needed.
Zane Dangor said he hopes Covid leads to new discussion over IP rules so that countries don’t have to go back each time to ask for a new waiver.
Updated
Zane Dangor, a special adviser to South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation, told the panel that a “vaccine-plus strategy is vital”.
Updated
David Miliband, the president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee and former UK foreign secretary, has condemned the “comprehensive global failure” and “inadequate” global leadership of the pandemic response.
Speaking to the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (see also 12.32pm), he criticised the “grotesque failure of the G20” to come up with reforms.
Updated
An average of fewer than one in 20 people have received a vaccine dose in low-income countries, finds report
More than two-thirds of people in high-income countries have been fully vaccinated, while in low-income countries an average of fewer than one in 20 of people have received a single dose, according to a new report.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response and former president of Liberia, urged global cooperation, warning that the world is “losing vital time against a virus that continues to thrive when we don’t work urgently together”.
It comes ahead of a three-day conference of health ministers next week.
The panel’s other co-chair, Helen Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand, recommended the introduction and implementation of a global health threats council as part of a package of measures and urged the UN and World Health Assembly to “get cracking”.
She said vaccines “can’t do the job alone” and warned that if action is not taken, coronavirus will “slip through every crack that we have”.
Updated
Health minister tells Germans they will either have 'been vaccinated, recovered or died' from Covid by end of winter
Germany’s health minister today issued a stark warning amid rapidly rising Covid cases, telling Germans that by the end of winter everyone will either have “been vaccinated, recovered or died”.
Jens Spahn urged Germans to urgently get vaccinated – or, if applicable, get booster doses – as the country recorded more than 30,000 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.
Hospitals warned that ICUs were almost full and that some patients were having to be transferred to far-away clinics to be treated, reports the Associated Press.
Spahn told reporters in Berlin:
By the end of this winter pretty much everyone in Germany ... will have been vaccinated, recovered or died.
Admitting that some saw his prediction as cynical, he added: “But it’s true. With the highly contagious delta variant this is very, very likely and that’s why we are recommending vaccination so urgently.”
He said he expects the EU to approve vaccines for five- to 11-year-olds at the end of the week. Children of school age have among the country’s highest infection rates.
Updated
Belgium’s deputy prime minister has called for a debate on compulsory vaccination, after protests against coronavirus restrictions turned violent in the Belgian capital on Sunday (see 10:48).
Pierre-Yves Dermagne, the Socialist deputy prime minister, who is responsible for the economy, called for a “genuine social dialogue” on compulsory vaccination.
“We must have this debate because we know that we are going to live with this virus for months and even years. We cannot limit ourselves to short-term measures.”
Belgium’s seven-party ruling coalition is divided on compulsory vaccination for all, although it agreed to introduce mandatory jabs for healthcare workers.
On Sunday an estimated 35,000 demonstrators gathered in Brussels to march against the Covid Safe Pass, the app demonstrating vaccine and covid recovery status, which is essential to enter bars and restaurants. Under the slogan of “together for freedom”, many were voicing their discontent with Covid restrictions in general, which were tightened last week as infections rise across Belgium.
On Sunday, police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters, who had gathered close to EU headquarters, and were throwing firecrackers, smashing cars and setting bins on fire. Police said 42 people were arrested, while one was taken to hospital with injuries to their hand. Three police officers were injured and taken to hospital.
Belgium’s home affairs minister, Annelies Verlinden, condemned the violence. Writing on Twitter, she said: “A mature democracy respects the opinion of a minority but does not accept that a few abuse their protest vote by force. Vaccinated or not: it is important that we continue to follow the measures. Only together can we win the fight against the virus.”
The weekend there were two nights of violent protests in the Netherlands, as well as demonstrations in Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Croatia and the French overseas territory of Guadeloupe as governments in various EU countries tighten restrictions in response to a fourth wave of the pandemic.
Updated
Boris Johnson says no evidence for UK to bring back Covid restrictions
Boris Johnson has said the UK government is “concerned” about Covid, but that there is nothing to suggest that the country should bring back restrictions, despite rising cases across Europe.
He said he saw “nothing in the data” to suggest the UK should switch course from plan A to plan B in its coronavirus response.
However, the prime minister said the UK must remain “humble in the face of nature” and urged people to get their booster vaccine dose as soon as they are invited.
He told a CBI conference in South Shields:
Of course we are concerned about the potential from that disease.
You have got to be humble in the face of nature but at the moment we see nothing in the data to say that we need to move from plan A to plan B, or any other plan.
The best single thing you can all do is get your booster. When you are called forward to get it, please do so.
Hi, I will be looking after the Covid blog for the next few hours. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk
Updated
Today so far
- People in Austria are not allowed to leave home except to go to work, shop for essentials and exercise, as the country returned to a Covid-19 lockdown on Monday morning. The Alpine nation is also imposing a sweeping vaccine mandate from 1 February – joining the Vatican as the only places in Europe with such a requirement.
- Russia’s coronavirus death toll is still hovering near all-time highs – the state coronavirus task force reported 1,241 Covid-19 deaths, down from the pandemic’s record of 1,254 recorded last week.
- Kazan, the central city of the Russian province of Tatarstan, on Monday became the first city in Russia to start demanding QR codes proving vaccination, past illness or a negative coronavirus test on public transport. About 500 people were denied access to public transport in the city of 1.2 million, and a conflict between a passenger and controllers led to a brief suspension of service on one of the city’s tram lines.
- Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organization special envoy on Covid-19, has said he can understand the scenes of protest in Europe over the reimposition of Covid restrictions, but added: “I’m really very, very anxious about what I’m seeing right across Europe, these very large numbers of cases – but also the speed with which they’re increasing really is a cause for concern.”
- People were lining up for Covid-19 shots outside Budapest’s main hospitals as Hungary for the first time offered vaccinations without prior registration amid a surge in new infections.
- There are reports in Ireland today that the government there may be reconsidering the level of financial support available for businesses in the light of rising cases in the run-up to Christmas.
- UK education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has said he was not in favour of exclusion zones for anti-vaccine protests around schools, suggesting that “the moment you start giving them the space to think that they are somehow being prohibited” would be counter-productive.
- Shadow health secretary in the UK, Jonathan Ashworth, has said “There are still parts of the country where the second jab rate, like Leicester or Blackburn, still isn’t good enough. We really need to drive that up.”
- The mayor of a city hit by unrest over Covid restrictions on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has made an appeal to French authorities to restore calm. “We just don’t know how far this will still go,” the Pointe-a-Pitre mayor, Harry Durimel, told Franceinfo radio. Guadeloupe has been hit by violent protests before, but he said there were “big worries” on the island.
- In Kenya, people will have to prove they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to gain access to government services, public transport and public places such as national parks, bars and restaurants under new health regulations.
- Air New Zealand has cancelled about 1,000 flights between New Zealand and Australia, citing “continued border uncertainty” between the two countries.
- Australia will welcome international students and skilled workers for exemption-free travel into the country from next week, in what the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has hailed a “major milestone” for the country returning to normal.
Andrew Sparrow has our UK politics live blog today. Miranda Bryant will be here shortly to take over and bring you the rest of the day’s UK and global Covid developments.
Updated
Riot police and protesters clashed in the streets of Brussels on Sunday in demonstrations over government-imposed Covid-19 restrictions, with police firing water cannon and teargas at crowds. Protesters threw smoke bombs, fireworks and rocks at officers. Belgium tightened its coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday, mandating wider use of masks and enforcing working from home, as cases surged in the country.
There’s another Covid line here via PA Media from the UK education secretary Nadhim Zahawi’s appearance on LBC Radio, where he was asked about anti-vaccine protests outside of schools. He said:
I have spoken to the home secretary about this and she has reassured me that the police have all the resources they need to deal with this.
The anti-vaxx protesters should not be going anywhere near a school or a pupil or a parent or a teacher. If they do, the police will and can take action against them.
Local government, of course, are also working with schools ... if anybody feels threatened by these anti-vaxx protesters, they should report them and they will be arrested.
He also said that he was not in favour of the idea of exclusion zones, suggesting that “the moment you start giving them the space to think that they are somehow being prohibited” would be counter-productive.
Updated
Russia’s coronavirus death toll is still hovering near all-time highs – the state coronavirus task force reported 1,241 Covid-19 deaths, down from the pandemic’s record of 1,254 recorded last week.
The country continues to have a low vaccination rate. About 40% of Russia’s nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated, despite the country approving a domestically developed vaccine months before most of the world.
Vladimir Isachenkov reports for Associated Press that Kazan, the central city of the Russian province of Tatarstan, on Monday became the first city in Russia to start demanding QR codes proving vaccination, past illness or a negative coronavirus test on public transport.
About 500 people were denied access to public transport in the city of 1.2 million, and a conflict between a passenger and controllers led to a brief suspension of service on one of the city’s tram lines.
Just a quick one from PA Media here, who have picked up a quote on LBC Radio by Nadhim Zahawi. He is the education secretary in the UK, but was formerly the vaccines minister. He has said:
Our four-step plan meant that we were able to open up the economy in the summer. Some said it was a mistake – I think it was absolutely the right thing to do.
We will probably, I hope, without being complacent, be the first major economy in the world to demonstrate how you transition from pandemic to endemic using vaccines.
Updated
Andrew Sparrow has launched our UK politics live blog for the day. I’ll be continuing to carry UK Covid lines on this live blog as the day develops.
Russia’s Covid figures are out for the day – with 35,681 new infections and 1,241 deaths. The seven-day average for new cases has been on a downward trend since 8 November, although that is yet to have any impact on the death figures, which have hovered around the 1,200 mark since 14 November.
Moscow Times notes that President Vladimir Putin appeared on television last night and said that he had received a third vaccine dose, telling viewers that it had been painless.
Updated
The coronavirus picture in parts of Europe is “really worrying”, a senior Labour MP said as he urged ministers to put extra protections in place in order to avoid a winter lockdown.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News: “There are still parts of the country where the second jab rate, like Leicester or Blackburn, still isn’t good enough. We really need to drive that up.
“And of course you need to put in other protections as well. We still don’t pay people decent sick pay. We’re still not doing enough to deal with the fact the virus is airborne - we’re still breathing in contaminated air, we’re not putting in place air filtration systems in public buildings to improve the quality of air.
PA Media quote him saying “So the ball is in ministers’ court really. They’ve got to put these protections in place to avoid further restrictions, but I definitely do not want another one of Boris Johnson’s lockdowns. They do a huge amount of damage to family life, to community life, to the economy, so it is really worrying when you see what’s happening in Austria and parts of Europe.”
Dr David Nabarro, a World Health Organisation special envoy on Covid-19, has told Sky News he can understand the protests in Europe but added: “I’m really very, very anxious about what I’m seeing right across Europe, including now in Western Europe - these very large numbers of cases - but also the speed with which they’re increasing really is a cause for concern.
PA Media quote him saying “I’m not surprised because this virus is just not going away. And I’m also not surprised that people are protesting because, actually, the public in so many countries are really fed up with what’s going on.
“However, me, as a public health person, I’ve got to share with UK and with your viewers that we’re going to have to go on, we’re going have to go on resisting this virus and we do it through making it hard for the virus to get from one person to another with face masks and also with avoiding breathing in the air breathed out by others.”
He said there is a need to “make sure that those who are eligible for vaccination are vaccinated and vaccinated promptly, because that also makes a huge difference to the amount of suffering and death.
“So we’ve got to keep going. And, please, everybody take it really seriously. This virus has got so many surprises in store for us.”
Here’s an updated map of the latest caseloads across the continent.
People were lining up for Covid-19 shots outside Budapest’s main hospitals on Monday as Hungary for the first time offered vaccinations without prior registration amid a surge in new infections.
Reuters report that Hungary had a record high tally of 11,289 new cases on Friday and on Monday reported 27,209 new cases for Friday to Sunday and 392 deaths. Hungary, with a population of 10 million, has reported 33,172 coronavirus deaths in total.
Despite people lining up for shots, Hungary’s vaccination rate lags behind the EU average, with about 5.8 million people having had the two shots.
The government imposed mandatory mask-wearing in closed spaces last week and said it would make Covid shots mandatory for all healthcare workers. But these fall short of the strict measures that the Hungarian Medical Chamber called for on Wednesday.
Janos Szlavik, of Budapest’s main Covid-19 hospital, said late on Sunday on commercial television ATV that further measures could soon be necessary to curb infections.
He was cited as saying that 80-90% of Covid-19 patients requiring intensive care were unvaccinated, and the intensive care unit in his hospital was full.
Updated
Prof Peter Openshaw, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), has told BBC Breakfast this morning that he is pleased that the UK can currently avoid the measures being introduced in Europe.
“The situation appears to have really been destabilised in some parts of Europe because of misinformation, particularly about vaccines,” he said.
“I think, in the UK, we had a very successful early vaccination campaign and we got very high vaccination rates, particularly amongst those who are vulnerable, but obviously that means that many people have now been vaccinated some time ago and they do need the boosters in order to raise their level of immunity back up again and make sure that, as we go into the winter season and towards Christmas, that we have very high levels of immunity again within society.”
PA Media quote him, adding: “I am concerned that we do have really quite high levels of transmission in the UK. My personal preference would be that we should really try to get these rates down – we know that masks do work … because there are people who are unvaccinated for various reasons, and we do need to try and reduce the level of circulation of the virus, as well as getting up vaccination rates.
“No single measure by itself is going to be successful; we need the combination of measures, which includes re-vaccination, third doses, but also wearing masks and being very careful not to transmit the virus.”
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Here’s some more detail from Agence France-Presse in Vienna on Austria’s move into its fourth Covid lockdown:
People in Austria are not allowed to leave home except to go to work, shop for essentials and exercise, as the country returned to a Covid-19 lockdown on Monday morning.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday to protest against the measures, some blaming the government for not doing more to avert the latest coronavirus wave crashing into Europe.
The Alpine nation is also imposing a sweeping vaccine mandate from 1 February – joining the Vatican as the only places in Europe with such a requirement.
Battling a resurgent pandemic almost two years since Covid-19 first emerged, several countries on the continent have reintroduced curbs, some banning unvaccinated people from venues including restaurants and bars.
But not since Covid jabs became widely available has an EU country had to re-enter a nationwide lockdown. Austria’s decision punctures earlier promises that tough virus restrictions would be a thing of the past.
Over the summer, then chancellor Sebastian Kurz had declared the pandemic “over”.
But plateauing inoculation rates, record case numbers and a spiralling death toll have forced the government to row back on such bold claims.
Read more here: Austria re-enters Covid lockdown as Europe battles virus surge
India is not considering authorising booster Covid-19 doses yet as many in the country have been naturally infected and the government believes two doses of a vaccine offers sufficient protection for now, three sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.
As vaccine supplies have increased, some doctors and public health experts in India have urged the government to start a booster programme for the most vulnerable like many western nations have done.
Authorities will instead concentrate on having most of India’s 944 million adults complete a two-dose vaccination by January before shifting their focus to a big expansion in exports, said the sources who are involved in vaccine policy discussions.
So far, 81% of India’s adults have received at least one dose, while 43% have had two doses. Vaccination for people under 18 has not yet begun.
“The priority is to fully immunise the adult population,” said one of the sources. “A big majority has been naturally infected, and for them two doses are enough. That’s why we are seeing that even after recent festivals, cases are not rising.”
The source said that once most adults have had two vaccine doses, the government could make boosters optional. The health ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Updated
The mayor of a city hit by unrest on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has made an appeal to French authorities to restore calm.
“We just don’t know how far this will still go,” the Pointe-a-Pitre mayor, Harry Durimel, told Franceinfo radio. Guadeloupe has been hit by violent protests before, but he said there were “big worries” on the island now because rioters had guns.
Speaking in the early hours of the morning, Durimel said he could still hear noise from protests outside.
Tassilo Hummel reports for Reuters that violence erupted last week after walkouts organised by the territory’s labour unions to challenge local Covid-19 restrictions such as the mandatory vaccination of health workers degenerated.
The French prime minister, Jean Castex, is due to meet lawmakers from Guadeloupe later today to try to resolve the crisis.
“France must re-establish peace,” Durimel told Franceinfo when asked about his expectations of the meeting.
He also urged the government in Paris to open up dialogue with the local population suffering from issues such as social distress which were adding to the current health crisis.
Over the weekend, France announced it would send police special forces to restore order in the French overseas territory. The local school authority said on Sunday that all schools in Guadeloupe would be closed on Monday.
Updated
Kenya to introduce Covid passport for end of December, plans mass vaccination campaign
Kenyans will have to prove they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to gain access to government services, public transport and public places such as national parks, bars and restaurants under new health regulations.
The move comes despite Kenya recording a declining number of coronavirus infections in recent weeks. People will be required to show vaccination certificates from 21 December. The government is planning a 10-day mass inoculation campaign from 26 November, the health minister, Mutahi Kagwe, said in a statement.
He said Kenya had recorded a “marked decrease” in the number of severe cases and deaths. “I have no doubt that looking at these statistics, it’s very easy to become complacent and fail to appreciate the magnitude of the problem that we still face with the pandemic,” Kagwe said.
“The current decline in the number of new infections may be attributed to a buildup of immunity both through natural exposure to the disease and the ongoing vaccination exercise. Nonetheless we know that it’s not yet time to celebrate.”
Agence France-Presse reported that only 2.4 million people, or less than 9% of Kenya’s adult population, had been vaccinated, according to official figures, compared with a government target of 30 million by the end of next year. Since the start of the pandemic, Kenya has recorded a total of 254,629 cases and 5,325 deaths.
Updated
The Irish Times this morning is leading with news that the government there may be reconsidering financial support for businesses in the light of rising cases in the run-up to Christmas. Their political correspondent Harry McGee writes:
The Cabinet subcommittee on economics will receive an update on financial supports amid widespread infections across the State and new restrictions being imposed on businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector.
While a proposal is anticipated in relation to the employment wage subsidy scheme (EWSS), a number of sources said they did not expect the Government to reverse reductions in pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) from €250 per week to €200, which kicked in last week.
The EWSS gives businesses impacted by Covid-19 a subsidy per employee to help keep them in work. Payments for each employee are due to fall to €203 per week on December 1st, from the existing rates of €250 and €350. For those receiving €203 at present, this is due to fall to €151.
The subcommittee – which includes the five most senior ministers in government – will discuss putting a stay on those reductions until after the Christmas period.
Cambodia’s vaccination programme got off to a slow start, but the rate has reached 78%, which compares favourably with the rate of 58% in the US and some other Western countries.
The prime minister, Hun Sen, leveraged close ties with Beijing to procure nearly 37m doses from China, some of which were donated. He declared last week that Cambodia’s “victory of vaccination” could not have happened without them. The country also received large donations from the US, Japan, Britain and from the international Covax program.
David Rising and Sopheng Cheang report for Associated Press from Phnom Penh that it still took time to get sufficient supplies, and many countries in the region that started their programs later struggled even more, especially when the region’s major producer, India, suspended vaccine exports during its spring surge.
“Certainly getting the supply in place was really important for the countries that have done particularly well,” said John Fleming, the Asia-Pacific head of health for the Red Cross. “Then there’s the demand creation side – clearly this is about getting a buy-in from the population and also reaching out to marginalized groups.”
Early in the pandemic, many Asian countries imposed strict lockdown and travel rules that kept the virus largely at bay. As vaccines rolled out in force elsewhere, those low rates sometimes worked against them, giving some people the impression that getting the shot wasn’t urgent.
But when the virulent delta variant began ripping through the region, cases rose, encouraging people to sign up.
Updated
Hello, it is Martin Belam in London taking over from my colleague Samantha Lock in Sydney. I’ll bring you any Covid lines that emerge from the UK’s morning media round. Here’s a reminder of the latest Covid statistics in the UK.
That is a 9.4% rise week-on-week in cases. Fatalities are down 5.9% week-on-week, and hospital admissions are down 4.7% week-on-week. I’ll also have the latest coronavirus developments from around the world.
Australia to let in vaccinated visa holders, not tourists
After being shut out since early last year, a range of international visa holders will be able to access exemption-free travel to Australia from 1 December – but there’s still no decision about tourists.
Travel exemptions will no longer be required for fully vaccinated eligible visa holders – including students, skilled workers, and those on humanitarian, working holiday and family visas – for the first time since borders closed in early 2020.
A travel bubble operating for Singapore will also extend to Japan and South Korea, allowing quarantine-free travel for these citizens, including tourists, subject to a negative Covid test before departure.
Government figures show that there are about 235,000 eligible visa holders who would be free to travel to Australia under the eased restrictions, including 162,000 international students.
Read the full story here.
1,000 flights between Australia and New Zealand cancelled
Air New Zealand has cancelled about 1,000 flights between New Zealand and Australia, citing “continued border uncertainty” between the two countries.
The announcement will scuttle the plans of some New Zealanders and Australians who had hoped to be reunited for Christmas.
The airline said about 20,000 customers would be affected. The flights cancelled fall between now and the end of December – while the airline’s flight schedule beyond then remains in place, it’s not clear whether more flights may be cancelled down the line.
“This will be particularly tough news for families and friends who were hoping to catch up over Christmas ... But our hands are tied until border restrictions ease, and we receive further clarity from the New Zealand government,” Air New Zealand’s chief customer and sales officer, Leanne Geraghty, said in a written statement.
The trans-Tasman bubble, which allowed for quarantine-free travel between the two countries, shut in July in response to a Covid outbreak in Australia. It has remained closed since New Zealand began struggling to contain its own outbreak in August.
Updated
It’s Samantha Lock back with you to give a rundown of all the latest Covid headlines.
The regional disparity in tackling Covid has become even more pronounced in recent weeks as Europe introduces more lockdowns and nations in Asia and the Pacific ease restrictions.
Austria has entered its fourth national Covid lockdown today, making it the first western European country to reimpose the measure this autumn in the face of surging coronavirus infections.
Average daily deaths in the nation have tripled in recent weeks and hospitals in heavily hit states have warned that intensive care units are reaching capacity. The lockdown will last at least 10 days but could go up to 20, officials said.
The government also will make vaccinations mandatory starting 1 February. About 66% of Austria’s 8.9 million people are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe.
“For a long time, maybe too long, I and others thought that it must be possible to convince people in Austria, to convince them to get vaccinated voluntarily,” Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said.
Australia will welcome international students and skilled workers for exemption-free travel into the country from next week, in what the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has hailed a “major milestone” for the country returning to normal.
- South Korea’s schools will resume full in-person classes for the first time since the pandemic began on Monday.
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German politicians are debating making Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory for citizens in light of soaring infections and low inoculation rates.
- Germany reports another 30,643 confirmed coronavirus cases and 62 deaths, the Robert Koch Institute reports.
- The US government’s chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci warns that time is running short to prevent a “dangerous” new surge of Covid-19 infections from overwhelming the upcoming holiday season.
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England’s flagship test-and-trace service is still spending more than £1m a day on private consultants, official figures reveal weeks after MPs lambasted it as an “eye-watering” waste of taxpayers’ money that is failing to cut Covid infection levels.
- In the UK, Covid booster jabs are likely to be offered to all adults eventually, with the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation already considering the issue, the health secretary has suggested.
- Some Pacific countries will have less than a quarter of adults vaccinated by the end of the year, with predictions that Papua New Guinea will take five years to vaccinate just one-third of its population, undermining economic recovery and threatening huge loss of life across the region.
- New Zealand will soon be opening up far more freedoms as the country approaches 90% of adults vaccinated, with prime minister Jacinda Ardern announcing it will move into a new “traffic light” framework of covid protections on 3 December.
- The Delta variant was first detected a year ago and is now dominant across the globe. Scientists are concerned that a new strain could supersede it.
- Violence erupted at demonstrations in Belgium and the Netherlands over the weekend as tougher Covid-19 restrictions to curb the resurgent pandemic led to angry protests in several European countries.
- The US Marine Corps has the worst vaccination record among US military branches, Reuters reports, with thousands of active-duty staff set to miss a 28 November deadline for personnel to be fully vaccinated.
- The World Health Organisation said it is “very worried” about a fresh wave of European infection.
- The French government has warned that Covid is spreading at “lighting speed”. The seven-day average of new cases in France reached 17,153 on Saturday, an increase of 81%.
