That’s it from me, Samantha Lock, for today’s Covid blog.
Here is a helpful explainer on what we know so far about the new Covid variant.
You can also follow along with all Covid developments here.
Czech President Milos Zeman is back in hospital hours after being released Thursday as he tested positive for Covid-19, AFP reports.
Zeman was expected to appoint centre-right leader Petr Fiala as prime minister on Friday, but the presidential spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said this would now be put on hold.
The 77-year-old was hospitalised on 10 October, a day after a general election, and treated for liver problems that doctors have suggested could be cirrhosis.
Zeman left Prague’s Military University Hospital (UVN) for home care at his Lany chateau residence west of Prague on Thursday morning.
But on Thursday afternoon, Zeman “was tested for Covid-19 within the standards of the home care provider. Unfortunately, the result was positive,” Ovcacek said.
Here is an updated map indicating incidence rates across Europe.
Hi I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be taking over from my colleague Tom Ambrose.
As usual, some numbers just released out of Australia for you.
Victoria has recorded 1,362 new Covid-19 cases and seven deaths, as the state’s full vaccination mandate kicked in for about a million authorised workers.
In NSW, 261 new cases have been recorded. The NSW Government has also updated the roadmap for easing restrictions after the State reaches the 95% double dose vaccination target, or 15 December, whichever comes first.
Summary
Here is a brief round-up of all the day’s top Covid stories:
- In the UK, flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday on Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list, health secretary Sajid Javid said.
- Israel has announced it is barring its citizens from travelling to southern Africa and banning the entry of foreigners from the region, citing the detection by South African scientists of a new Covid variant.
-
France says it plans to give Covid booster shots to all adults but has opted against a further lockdown or curfew to help combat a worrying uptick in infections in the country.
- Ministers are urging millions of Britons to get their Covid booster jab by 11 December to ensure they have “very high protection against Covid by Christmas Day” as new evidence shows the risk of infection increases with the time since the second dose.
- Czech president, Milos Zeman, has been readmitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid, just hours after he had been discharged following more than a month’s treatment for an unspecified illness.
- Authorities on the Caribbean island of Martinique ordered a curfew on Thursday after protesters looted shops and set up burning barricades as demonstrations against Covid protocols spread across France’s overseas’ territories.
- President Joe Biden on Thursday wished Americans a happy and closer-to-normal Thanksgiving, the second celebrated in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, in remarks welcoming the resumption of holiday traditions in many homes.
- Bryan Adams has tested positive for Covid after arriving by plane in Milan. The Canadian musician and photographer said it was the second time in a month that the he has tested positive for the virus.
- Amnesty UK has been accused of “spreading false information” about Australia’s Northern Territory Covid outbreak in an extraordinary joint statement from the territory’s peak Aboriginal health organisation and Amnesty’s own Australian operation.
- Coronavirus cases are continuing to rise in the UK, recording 47,240 new cases, and 147 more people died. Yesterday there were 43,676 new cases and 149 deaths.
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Brazil registered 303 Covid deaths on Thursday and 12,126 additional cases, according to data released by the nation’s health ministry.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, this week. My colleague Samantha Lock in Australia will continue to bring you all the latest headlines so be sure to stick around a while longer. Goodnight.
Updated
Amnesty UK has been accused of “spreading false information” about Australia’s Northern Territory Covid outbreak in an extraordinary joint statement from the territory’s peak Aboriginal health organisation and Amnesty’s own Australian operation.
Disinformation about the Covid outbreak in Aboriginal communities near Katherine, spread by third parties online, was on Thursday described by the NT chief minister as “conspiracy theories” pushed by “tinfoil hat wearing tossers”.
Amsant (the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory) and Amnesty Australia subsequently said they were “extremely disappointed” that Amnesty International UK had issued a press release with a headline that misrepresented the situation on the ground without first consulting Aboriginal people.
“False information from social media is dangerous and corrosive to our communities but easily avoided by talking to the community-led health organisations that Amnesty seeks to defend, as they assert,” the Amsant chief executive, John Paterson, and Amnesty Australia director Sam Klintworth said in a joint statement.
Amnesty International released a statement on Thursday via its UK office with the headline “Northern Territory: Australian defence force response to Covid-19 outbreak in Aboriginal communities must not inflict trauma”.
Klintworth said she apologised for the release.
Authorities on the Caribbean island of Martinique ordered a curfew on Thursday after protesters looted shops and set up burning barricades as demonstrations against Covid protocols spread across France’s overseas’ territories.
Martinique and neighbouring Guadeloupe have been hit by violent unrest over the last week after the government imposed tougher measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Compulsory vaccination for health workers, a measure already introduced in the rest of France, has added to a sentiment among the majority Black population of being excluded and marginalised from the mainland. Protesters are also now calling for salary hikes and lower energy prices.
Travellers returning to Scotland from six African countries will have to self-isolate
Travellers returning to Scotland from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana will be required to self-isolate and take two PCR tests from 12pm on Friday, regardless of their vaccination status, the Scottish Government has said.
The decision follows concerns about cases of the emerging B.1.1.529 variant cases in the south of Africa, the Scottish Government said, and concerns over a high number of mutations and the effectiveness of vaccines against it, the Press Association reported.
Michael Matheson, the cabinet secretary for net zero, energy and transport, said on Thursday:
International travel restrictions are necessary to protect the greater public health.
While many restrictions have been significantly relaxed - largely thanks to the success of the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout - we have always said it may be necessary to quickly impose fresh measures to protect public health in Scotland.
Anyone entering Scotland from any of the six countries in the previous 10 days will need to enter a quarantine hotel on arrival to Scotland and will need a day two and day eight coronavirus PCR test regardless of their vaccination status.
The hotels will be stood up to cater for any arrivals from the countries from 4am on Saturday.
Updated
Morocco has decided to delay its decision to suspend flight with France until Sunday instead of Friday as originally announced, the state news agency reported late on Thursday.
The agency quoted the inter-ministerial committee in charge of coordinating international travel during the pandemic as saying that the decision is aimed at facilitating the return of citizens and residents.
Morocco has imposed a vaccine pass for access to public places after it vaccinated over 50% of its population.
Morocco had previously cancelled flights with Russia, the UK and the Netherlands over Covid concerns.
Updated
What do we know about the new ‘worst ever’ Covid variant? Here is a brief Q and A with all you need to know.
Last Christmas, as ministers rashly promised five days of festive family gatherings while a new variant gathered pace, Boris Johnson held out until the final hours until he bowed to the inevitable and cancelled Christmas.
Despite rising cases in Europe and new restrictions on the continent, ministers had been bullish about going ahead with Christmas gatherings this year. Cabinet ministers have already sent invites for the Christmas drinks dos.
Number 10 has been encouraged that a concerted push for the booster jab programme has seen take-up increase and, although case numbers remain high, deaths and hospitalisations are being kept roughly stable by the vaccine programme – though they are in higher numbers than many countries would tolerate.
Some scientists have warned that people should put off making Christmas plans – but caution is not a word you hear very often on ministers’ lips.
Johnson has always caveated his comments when he is asked about Christmas – roughly once a week – that new variants could throw plans off course. Now the worst news has come from South Africa – a variant that is feared to be more transmissible and has the potential to evade immunity.
President Joe Biden on Thursday wished Americans a happy and closer-to-normal Thanksgiving, the second celebrated in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, in remarks welcoming the resumption of holiday traditions in many homes.
In his first holiday message as president, Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, said this year’s celebrations were especially meaningful after last year’s family separations due to the pandemic.
“This is always a special time in America. But this year, the blessings of Thanksgiving are especially meaningful,” the president said in a prerecorded video message released by the White House.
“As we give thanks for what we have, we also keep in our hearts those who we lost, and those who have lost so much. And those who have an empty seat at their kitchen table or their dining room table this year because of this virus or another cruel twist of fate or accident. We pray for them,” the president said.
More from the UK’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid on that new variant from southern Africa. He said:
The early indication we have of this variant is it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it.
Now to be clear, we have not detected any of this new variant in the UK at this point in time. But we’ve always been clear that we will take action to protect the progress that we have made.
So what we will be doing is from midday tomorrow we will be suspending all flights from six, southern African countries and we will add in those countries to the travel red list. Those countries are South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We will be requiring anyone that arrives from those countries from 4am on Sunday to quarantine in hotels.
If anyone arrives before then they should self-isolate at home and take a PCR test on day two and day eight. If anyone has arrived from any of those countries over the last 10 days, we would ask them to take PCR tests.
The variant has not yet been given the title “variant of concern” in the UK, but one senior UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) expert said: “This is the worst variant we have seen so far.”
Only 59 confirmed cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana, the Press Association reported.
The variant has over 30 mutations - around twice as many as the Delta variant - which could potentially make it more transmissible and evade the protection given by prior infection or vaccination.
Experts from the UKHSA have been advising ministers on the issue.
Javid: Flights from six African countries suspended from Friday
In the UK, flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday on Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said.
“UKHSA is investigating a new variant. More data is needed but we’re taking precautions now,” Javid said in a tweet.
“From noon tomorrow six African countries will be added to the red list, flights will be temporarily banned, and UK travellers must quarantine.”
COVID-19 UPDATE:@UKHSA is investigating a new variant. More data is needed but we're taking precautions now.
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) November 25, 2021
From noon tomorrow six African countries will be added to the red list, flights will be temporarily banned, and UK travellers must quarantine.
Brazil records 303 new Covid deaths
Brazil registered 303 Covid deaths on Thursday and 12,126 additional cases, according to data released by the nation’s Health Ministry.
The South American country has now registered a total of 613,642 coronavirus deaths and 22,055,238 total confirmed cases.
Israel also bans travel from southern Africa
Israel has announced it is barring its citizens from travelling to southern Africa and banning the entry of foreigners from the region, citing the detection by South African scientists of a new Covid variant.
South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini were added to Israel’s “red”, or highest-risk, travel list that reflects coronavirus infection rates overseas.
Israelis are banned from travelling to countries on the “red” list, unless they receive special permission from Israel’s health ministry, Reuters reported.
In a statement announcing the measures, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office said citizens of the seven southern African nations would not be eligible to enter Israel.
Israelis returning home from those countries would be required to spend between seven and 14 days in a quarantine hotel after arrival.
The variant - called B.1.1.529 - has a “very unusual constellation” of mutations, which are concerning because they could help it evade the body’s immune response and make it more transmissible, scientists told reporters at a news conference in South Africa.
Updated
South Africa to be put on England’s travel red list over new Covid variant
South Africa will be placed under England’s red list travel restrictions after scientists raised the alarm over what is thought to be the worst Covid-19 variant ever identified.
Hundreds of people who have recently returned from South Africa, where the B.1.1.529 variant was detected, are expected to be tracked down and offered tests in an effort to avoid the introduction of the new strain, which it is feared to be more transmissible and has the potential to evade immunity.
Whitehall sources said the variant posed “a potentially significant threat to the vaccine programme which we have to protect at all costs”.
The variant, which was identified on Tuesday, initially sparked concern because it carries an “extremely high number” of mutations meaning that the spike protein now looks dramatically different from the version that vaccines were designed to target.
The latest data, presented by South African scientists on Thursday, revealed that the variant also appears to be more transmissible and is already present in provinces throughout the country.
France says it plans to give Covid booster shots to all adults but has opted against a further lockdown or curfew to help combat a worrying uptick in infections in the country.
Coronavirus infections have jumped in France over the last few days, with daily new cases rising above the 30,000 mark, and virus-related hospitalisations and deaths are again rising, the Associated Press reported.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran laid out the plans during a press conference in which he announced a reduction in the time gap between second and third shots from six to five months. He said France already has enough vaccines to launch the nationwide booster campaign.
Veran also laid out a swathe of measures seen as tightening the use of masks in public areas and said that the country’s Covid pass, which is required in many indoor places across the country, will become invalid if a person has not received a booster shot within seven months of a second dose.
He said that there are ten times more unvaccinated people currently hospitalised because of the virus than vaccinated ones, adding that without the vaccine the country would already be in a lockdown situation.
Leading scientists have called for immediate “code red” international travel restrictions following reports that a new Covid-19 variant is driving a surge in cases in southern Africa.
The variant, which was only identified on Tuesday, initially sparked concern because it carries an “extremely high number” of mutations that could allow it to evade immunity. The latest data, presented by South African scientists on Thursday, revealed the variant also appears to be more transmissible and is already present in provinces throughout the country.
Ewan Birney, the deputy director general of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and a member of Spi-M, which advises the UK government, called for urgent “code red” – or “red list-type” – travel restrictions to be placed on southern Africa while the new variant’s transmissibility is investigated, saying it posed a risk of the pandemic regaining momentum.
He urged countries not to repeat the mistake of failing to act quickly. “What we’ve learnt from the other situations like this – some have turned out OK and some haven’t – is that whilst we’re [investigating] you have to be reasonably paranoid,” he said.
The new strain, B.1.1.529, was identified after a surge of cases in Gauteng, an urban area containing Pretoria and Johannesburg. Initially the cluster of cases, centred on a university, was assumed to be due to an increase in socialising.
Good evening, I’m Tom Ambrose and will be bringing you all the latest Covid news over the next couple of hours.
We start with the news that Czech President Milos Zeman has been readmitted to hospital after he testing positive for Covid, just hours after he had been discharged following more than a month’s treatment for an unspecified illness.
The presidential office said Zeman was tested after he arrived at his official residence in Lany, west of Prague, in the afternoon.
The Associated Press reported:
His official programme was postponed, and it was unclear whether Zeman would be able to swear in the country’s new prime minister as scheduled Friday — a process already long delayed due to his previous hospitalisation.
He had been discharged from the Prague military hospital earlier in the day.
Zeman, 77, was rushed to the hospital on 10 October, a day after the election for the lower house of parliament, to be treated in an intensive care unit. His condition was attributed to an unspecified chronic disease.
The hospital said Thursday it would have preferred Zeman to remain hospitalised, but accepted his decision to leave due to a “significant improvement” in his condition.
Here's a summary of the latest developments...
- Ministers are urging millions of Britons to get their Covid booster jab by 11 December to ensure they have “very high protection against Covid by Christmas Day” as new evidence shows the risk of infection increases with the time since the second dose.
- The Portuguese government has said it is to reintroduce vaccination certificates for public spaces including bars, hotels, restaurants and gyms and once again make face masks compulsory indoors. It said that all passengers arriving at airports in Portugal will have to present a negative Covid test.
- Bryan Adams has tested positive for Covid after arriving by plane in Milan. The Canadian musician and photographer said it was the second time in a month that the he has tested positive for the virus.
- The Czech government has declared a 30-day state of emergency and introduced new Covid restrictions today amid record cases. The state of emergency will come into effect tomorrow, Christmas markets will be banned and it will be forbidden to drink alcohol in public places, the health minister, Adam Vojtěch, said.
- Coronavirus cases are continuing to rise in the UK today, recording 47,240 new cases, and 147 more people died. Yesterday there were 43,676 new cases and 149 deaths.
- Outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel has issued a stark warning to her successors on coronavirus, telling them that “every day counts”, as Germany’s death toll exceeded 100,000.
- The Dutch government today said it planned to bring in a swathe of “heavy measures” to slow the spread of Covid, but has yet to decide when they will be introduced.
- Covid vaccination is safe for pregnant women and not associated with higher rates of complications, according to new data released in the UK today. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said data from the Covid vaccine roll-out in Britain supports other studies around the world that vaccines are safe to give at any stage of pregnancy.
- Slovakia has gone into a two-week lockdown – closing non-essential shops and services, restricting movement and banning gatherings of more than six. Hospitals in the country, which has one of the European Union’s lowest vaccination rates, are in a critical situation, reports Reuters, amid rising new infections.
- The European Union executive has proposed that travellers should get a booster jab nine months after their original vaccines, if they want to maintain ease of movement inside the bloc.
- The European Medicines Agency, the European Union’s drug regulator, has approved the use of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid vaccine on children aged five to 11. The EMA said the dose would be lower than that used in those aged 12 and over and will be given as two injections in the upper arm three weeks apart.
- The French health minister, Olivier Véran, said from tomorrow it will be mandatory to wear a mask inside. He said they will also be required at events, including Christmas markets. He also said France will roll out Covid vaccine booster shots for all adults and that the gap between initial doses and boosters will be cut to five months.
That’s it from me for today. Handing over now to Tom Ambrose. Thanks for reading.
Millions of Britons urged to get booster by 11 December for Covid protection by Christmas Day
Ministers are urging millions of Britons to get their Covid booster jab by 11 December to ensure they have “very high protection against Covid by Christmas Day” as new evidence shows the risk of infection increases with the time since the second dose.
Andrew Gregory and Hannah Devlin report:
Portugal to bring back Covid vaccination certificates and mandatory face masks
The Portuguese government has said it is to reintroduce vaccination certificates for public spaces including bars, hotels, restaurants and gyms and once again make face masks compulsory indoors, reports Reuters.
It said that all passengers arriving at airports in Portugal will have to present a negative Covid test.
Vaccination certificates will also be required to enter large events, care homes and nightclubs.
Bryan Adams tests positive for Covid - and says it is second time in a month
Bryan Adams has tested positive for Covid after arriving by plane in Milan. The Canadian musician and photographer said it was the second time in a month that the he has tested positive for the virus.
“Here I am, just arrived in Milano, and I’ve tested positive for the second time in a month for Covid,’’ the 62-year-old wrote on Instagram. “So it’s off to the hospital for me.”
He had been on his way to the unveiling of the 2022 Pirelli calendar that he had photographed.
Updated
Czech Republic declares state of emergency and new Covid measures amid record cases
The Czech government has declared a 30-day state of emergency and introduced new Covid restrictions today amid record cases.
The state of emergency will come into effect tomorrow, Christmas markets will be banned and it will be forbidden to drink alcohol in public places, the health minister, Adam Vojtěch, said.
Bars, restaurants, night clubs and casinos will be forced to close at 10pm and culture and sports events will be limited to capacity of 1,000 and those who have either been vaccinated or recovered from Covid.
All other public gatherings will have a capacity limit of 100. “We’re targeting the places that pose the biggest risks,” said Vojtěch.
It comes after the Czech Republic recorded a record 26,000 cases on Tuesday and the infection rate over seven days rose to a record high of 1,097 new cases per 100,000 residents.
Just over 58% of the population has been vaccinated. Prime minister Andrej Babiš said the government is considering mandatory vaccination for some people. “I think it’s inevitable,” he said.
Downing Street has said that a coronavirus variant identified in cases in South Africa and Botswana would be kept under “close investigation”.
PA report a Number 10 spokesman as saying: “We continue to monitor new variants as they emerge with our partners around the world.
“We have one of the largest genomic sequencing programmes here in the UK that allows us to spot and track variants as they emerge and, as we have done throughout the pandemic, we will continue to keep an eye and keep this particular variant under investigation.”
Asked whether travel restrictions would be needed before Christmas as a result of the variant, the spokesman said: “We will continue to keep the latest situation, the latest scientific evidence and data, under review, as we have done throughout the pandemic.
“We have said before if we believe we need to take action we will, but we will continue to monitor this variant and other variants in the same way that we have done throughout the pandemic.”
UK Covid infections continue to rise with 47,240 new cases recorded and 147 new deaths
Coronavirus cases are continuing to rise in the UK today, recording 47,240 new cases, and 147 more people died.
Yesterday there were 43,676 new cases and 149 deaths.
Between 19 November 2021 and 25 November 2021, 303,504 people tested positive - an increase of 9.5% on the previous seven days. During the same period there were 874 deaths - a decrease of 14.8% compared to the previous week.
Covid rates in England are continuing to rise among schoolchildren but falling among over-60s, new figures show.
A total of 932.3 new cases per 100,000 people aged five to nine were recorded in the seven days to 21 November, up from 741.8 the previous week, according to a weekly surveillance report by the Health Security Agency. The equivalent rate among 10-19-year-olds is 814.6, a rise from 712.8 the previous week.
Covid rates have slightly increased among all age groups up to 59 years old. But in older age brackets it has fallen. Among over 80s it has dropped from 81 to 63.6.
This could reflect the impact of booster doses of the vaccine which started for the oldest age groups at the end of September.
Rates have risen in all regions across England except the north east and Yorkshire and Humber. The highest rate is in the south east, with 530.5 cases per 100,000 people, and the lowest is in London, with 318.1 cases per 100,000 people.
Hospital admissions in England fell to 6.5 per 100,000 people in the week to 21 November from 7.7 the week before.
Updated
Merkel warns 'every day counts' in dealing with pandemic and implores successor to bring in more restrictions
Outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel has issued a stark warning to her successors on coronavirus, telling them that “every day counts”, as Germany’s death toll exceeded 100,000.
Speaking a day after Olaf Scholz presented his new ruling coalition to take office next month, she implored the new government to act quickly and decisively on Covid, reports AFP.
“We need more contact restrictions,” Merkel said, adding that she had told Scholz that “we can still manage this transition period together and look at all necessary measures”.
Germany recorded 351 Covid fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll since the start of the pandemic to 100,119.
The weekly incidence rate also hit an all-time high of 419.7 new infections per 100,000 people, the Robert Koch Institute health agency said.
Updated
The Netherlands prepares to introduce a swathe of 'heavy measures' to slow Covid spread amid surge
The Dutch government today said it planned to bring in a swathe of “heavy measures” to slow the spread of Covid, but has yet to decide when they will be introduced.
The health minister, Hugo de Jonge, said: “That heavy measures will be needed is beyond doubt.” The government is expected to announce new restrictions on Friday, reports Reuters.
It comes after health authorities reported more than 20,000 new cases in the past 24 hours.
Updated
People infected with coronavirus in Belgium will soon be asked to log their potential high-risk contacts, reports the Brussels Times.
It comes as the country is planning to streamline its test-and-trace system as contact tracers are overrun with potential contacts.
The news outlet reports that infected people will soon receive a link by text message to log potentially risky contacts on the Mijngezondheid.be website to speed up the process of testing and quarantine.
Updated
New UK data finds Covid vaccination is safe for pregnant women
Covid vaccination is safe for pregnant women and not associated with higher rates of complications, according to new data released in the UK today.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said data from the Covid vaccine roll-out in Britain supports other studies around the world that vaccines are safe to give at any stage of pregnancy.
It found no substantial differences in rates of stillbirths, low birth weights and the proportion of premature births.
Dr Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at UKHSA, said:
Every pregnant woman who has not yet been vaccinated should feel confident to go and get the jab, and that this will help to prevent the serious consequences of catching Covid-19 in pregnancy.
The data found that vaccinated women had a stillbirth rate of 3.35 per 1,000, slightly lower than the rate of 3.60 per 1,000 in unvaccinated women.
The proportion of women giving birth prematurely was 6.51% for vaccinated people, slightly higher than 5.99% for unvaccinated women.
The government is urging pregnant women who have not yet been vaccinated to do so. It said that 98% of pregnant women in hospital with symptomatic Covid were unvaccinated.
Updated
Slovakia goes into two-week lockdown – closing non-essential shops, restricting movement and gatherings
Slovakia has gone into a two-week lockdown – closing non-essential shops and services, restricting movement and banning gatherings of more than six.
Hospitals in the country, which has one of the European Union’s lowest vaccination rates, are in a critical situation, reports Reuters, amid rising new infections.
From Thursday, people are not allowed to leave their district unless for work, school or a doctor.
In the city of Trenčín, musical instrument shop manager Roman Spatny said his income would vanish with another lost Christmas season.
“For us this is a plain knife in the back. We have to be closed at a time that business-wise is the most important for us, same as last year,” he said. “Important decisions are taken from one hour to the next. There is no way to properly react to this.”
Slovakia reported more than 10,000 new cases in each of the past two days, its highest numbers to date.
With 1,929 average daily cases per million population over the past week, it has the world’s highest incidence rate according to Our World in Data.
It has the EU’s third lowest vaccination rate, with only 45.7% of the population vaccinated.
Neighbouring Austria started a lockdown on Monday.
Updated
Denmark to offer booster shots to all adults
Denmark has announced that it is to follow other European nations by offering a booster Covid vaccine to all adults as cases rise.
The Danish Health Authority said today that the “decline in immunity is also happening for people in the younger age groups”, reports the Associated Press.
Helene Probst, deputy head of the government agency, said:
When we see the epidemic flare up right now, it is primarily due to the transition from summer to autumn and winter, and at the same time we have an open society with only a few restrictions. Combined with the fact that the effect of the vaccines decreases over time, it is expected that the infection will increase.
Like much of Europe, Denmark, has seen a rise in cases, and hospitalisations have risen faster than expected.
Booster shots have already been offered to older people and the vulnerable. Now they will be offered to all adults six months after their second vaccine dose.
Vaccination is voluntary in the country. So far, 88.4% have had one vaccine dose and 86.4% have had two.
The Danish government said said yesterday that it would seek support in parliament to reinstate Covid measures, including mandatory face masks in public places and the use of the Covid-19 digital pass. The health minister, Magnus Heunicke, said that “the Delta variant is far more contagious, and that challenges us”.
It comes after its Scandinavian neighbour Sweden recommended yesterday that everyone aged 18-65 should have a booster shot six months after their second vaccination.
Updated
The Irish deputy prime minister, Leo Varadkar, has said that Ireland’s regulator is expected to approve vaccines for five to 11-year-olds in the coming days, reports Reuters.
Updated
Travellers within EU should get Covid booster to avoid testing and quarantine, says executive
The European Union executive has proposed that travellers should get a booster jab nine months after their original vaccines, if they want to maintain ease of movement inside the bloc.
The European Commission said there should be a standard nine-month acceptance period for vaccines across the bloc, in a bid to avoid a confusing hodgepodge of rules across the 27 member states. Travellers moving within the EU should get a booster jab after nine months in order to avoid testing and quarantine.
The Commission is expected to propose similar measures for travellers coming into the EU later on Wednesday. The nine-month period reflects scientific advice that the first round of vaccines wanes after six months, adding three months to allow governments to get booster-shot programmes up and running.
Both draft laws would have to be approved by EU member states before entry into force, which is expected in 2022.
Didier Reynders, the EU commissioner for justice, described the policy as a move to a person-based approach, rather than classifying travellers purely by their country of departure.
Our main objective is to avoid diverging measures throughout the EU. This also applies to the question of boosters, which will be essential to fight the virus. Among other measures, we propose today that the council [of EU ministers] agrees on a standard validity period for vaccination certificates issued following the primary series. Agreeing on this proposal will be crucial for the months ahead and the protection of the safe free movement for citizens.
Under the plans, cross-border commuters, lorry drivers and children under 12 would continue to be exempt from travel rules, although the list of exempt groups has been reduced.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, urged European citizens to get vaccinated, after EU health agencies recommended booster jabs earlier this week as part of a strategy to stem a surge in infections.
Von der Leyen, a trained medical doctor, said:
A quarter of EU adults are still not fully vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated, you are more at risk of having severe COVID-19 symptoms. Vaccination protects you, and the others.
Updated
What is driving Europe’s surge in Covid cases? Here’s a video to explain:
Some hospitals in the Netherlands have stopped chemotherapy and organ transplants to make way for Covid patients in intensive care.
The Dutch Hospital Association for Critical Care said it had asked the health minister, Hugo de Jonge, to escalate the national Covid response plan so that regular care requiring an overnight stay would be cancelled, reports Reuters.
With the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals surging, experts have warned that hospitals will reach full capacity in just over a week if the virus is not contained. Earlier this week several Covid patients were transferred to hospitals in Germany.
“There are hospitals in several regions scaling back care,” a spokesperson for the hospital association said. “We are talking about care that requires a bed. That means a lot of appointments are being cancelled.”
The European Commission has said that by the end of the week the European Union will have delivered 1bn doses of Covid vaccines to member states, reports Reuters.
Updated
Scientists in South Africa are working “overtime” to understand the new Covid variant, B.1.1.529, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases has said.
South Africa has confirmed around 100 specimens as B.1.1.529, but the variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, with the Hong Kong case a traveller from South Africa, reports Reuters. As many as 90% of new cases in Gauteng could be B.1.1.529, scientists believe.
South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a statement: “Although the data are limited, our experts are working overtime with all the established surveillance systems to understand the new variant and what the potential implications could be.”
The country has requested an urgent sitting of a World Health Organization (WHO) working group on virus evolution on Friday to talk about the new variant.
Updated
EU regulator approves Pfizer vaccine for children aged five to 11
The European Medicines Agency, the European Union’s drug regulator, has approved the use of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid vaccine on children aged five to 11.
The EMA said the dose would be lower than that used in those aged 12 and over, Reuters reports, and will be given as two injections in the upper arm three weeks apart.
The regulator said that it concluded that the benefits for children in the age group outweighed the risks, especially in those with conditions that increase their risk of getting severe Covid.
The EMA said it will now send its recommendation to the European Commission which will make a final decision.
Updated
Millions of Americans have got Covid boosters in recent days after the US expanded eligibility to all adults last week.
A total of about 37.5 million people have received booster shots so far. But health officials urged more people to get them amid fears of a rise in infections over the winter holiday season.
“I think it is a good start,” said Dr William Schaffner, a leading infectious disease expert from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told Reuters. “I am hoping for much better. I would like to see all of that doubled very, very quickly.”
Updated
From tomorrow, face masks mandatory indoors and at Christmas markets in France
The French health minister, Olivier Véran, said face masks have been left behind, especially by the vaccinated who think they have nothing to fear. From tomorrow he said it will be mandatory to wear a mask inside. He said they will also be required at events, including Christmas markets.
He also said that starting in December there will be a new anti-viral drug on the market in France that they are “very hopeful” about.
Updated
More from France:
Véran says people are no longer being as responsible as they should be, so they need to “shape up”.
He says hospitals and ICUs are filling with people who decided not to be vaccinated.
He says people need to be “constantly vigilant” and go back to the good habits they might have lost.
Updated
France announces new Covid measures including booster shots for all
The French health minister, Olivier Véran, is speaking now.
He has confirmed that France will roll out Covid vaccine booster shots for all adults and that the gap between initial doses and boosters will be cut to five months.
He said it will be “quite a feat” to roll out millions of vaccine doses.
From 15 December, the health pass for people aged 65-plus will no longer be valid if they have not had a booster five months after the first jab.
From 15 January, the same rules will apply for all adults aged 18-plus.
Updated
France to announce booster shots for all adults and stricter face mask rules amid Covid surge
France is to announce booster shots for all adults, stricter face mask rules and health pass checks to tackle a surge of infections, Reuters reports.
Two parliamentary sources confirmed the plans to the news agency today, ahead of a press conference with the health minister, Olivier Véran.
It comes after the country reported more than 30,000 new infections yesterday for a second consecutive day. Meanwhile, the seven-day moving average of daily new cases is at a three-month high of 21,761 and nearly quadrupled in a month.
Updated
In the UK, relatives of a grandmother in her 50s who was left brain damaged and paralysed from the neck down after contracting Covid have won the latest stage of a legal fight to keep her on life support.
A judge in the court of protection ruled earlier this year that the woman should be allowed to die. But relatives challenged the decision at a court of appeal hearing a few weeks ago. Today appeal judges allowed their appeal and said the case should be heard again, reports PA Media.
Her daughter welcomed the news. “I almost cried when I found out. It’s like a ton of bricks has been lifted off me. We are now preparing for the next hearing – we are preparing for everything,” she said.
This is Miranda Bryant looking after the blog for the next few hours. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk
Updated
Today so far
- The World Health Organization has issued a warning in the lead-up to Christmas, saying social mixing is back at pre-pandemic levels and threatens to spread the virus in the run-up to the holidays.
- “We are concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic, and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions,” the WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, said. “Vaccines save lives, but they do not fully prevent transmission.”
- Germany, which weathered earlier bouts of the pandemic better than many of its neighbours, has found itself back at the centre of Europe’s virus outbreak as the latest wave of the pandemic infects people at a record pace.
- Officials recorded 100,119 Covid deaths in Germany in total as of Wednesday. The head of the Robert Koch Institute has put the mortality rate in Germany at about 0.8%, meaning that at daily case numbers of around 50,000, some 400 people per day will end dying.
- Some hospitals in the Netherlands have halted chemotherapy treatments and organ transplants to free up intensive care beds for a surging number of Covid-19 patients.
- France is to announce new Covid measures as infections surge across the country.
- Reports claim that the European Union will recommend a nine-month time limit for the validity of Covid-19 vaccinations for travel into the bloc and also propose prioritising vaccinated travellers.
- Ministers are urging millions of Britons to get their Covid booster jab by 11 December to ensure they have “very high protection against Covid by Christmas Day” as new evidence shows the risk of infection increases with the time since the second dose.
- Novavax is expected to be approved as a fourth Covid vaccine in UK. Trials show the protein-based jab causes fewer side-effects. The British government has so far ordered 60m doses.
- Deaths of people being treated for substance misuse problems in England rose sharply during the pandemic, data shows, as charities put the rise down to treatment services closing their doors due to Coronavirus.
- Turkey’s domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine, Turkovac, has applied for emergency authorisation. Health minister Fahrettin Koca said he hoped the shot would be available for use by year-end.
- A little known sect led by a pastor who pokes eyes to heal is at the centre of a Covid outbreak in South Korea, as the country reported a new daily record of 4,116 cases and battles a rise in serious cases straining hospitals.
- Airline Cathay Pacific has said it is “cancelling a number of flights to Hong Kong” for December blaming “operational and travel restrictions that remain in place”. Hong Kong’s strict quarantine rules are increasingly out of step with rivals for international business like Singapore.
- Chief minister of Australia’s Northern Territory Michael Gunner has lambasted Covid conspiracy theorists as “tinfoil hat wearing tossers, sitting in their parents’ basements in Florida.”
- Protests against Covid measures turned to violence on France’s Caribbean island of Martinique overnight.
- Scientists say a new Covid variant that carries an “extremely high number” of mutations may drive further waves of disease by evading the body’s defences.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, today. I am now off to go and host our Thursday quiz. Andrew Sparrow has our UK politics live blog. Miranda Bryant will be here with you shortly to carry bringing you the latest coronavirus news from the UK and around the world.
Updated
Deaths of people being treated for substance misuse problems in England rose sharply during the pandemic, data shows, as charities put the rise down to treatment services closing their doors due to coronavirus.
Official figures show that in 2020-21 3,726 people died while in contact with treatment services, a 27% increase compared with the year before when there were 2,929 deaths.
There were 275,896 adults in contact with drug and alcohol services between April 2020 and March 2021, up from 270,705 the year before. The number of adults entering treatment in 2020-21 remained relatively stable at 130,490, up from 132,124. Over half (51%) of the adults in treatment were there for problems with opiates, a medication or an illegal drug that is derived from the opium poppy including fentanyl and methadone.
Like other services, drug and alcohol treatment services were affected by the pandemic and had to restrict face-to-face contact, which affected the types of interventions that service users received.
For example, most patients whose opioid substitute consumption was supervised before the pandemic were given take-home doses from March 2020, after a risk assessment. Fewer service users were able to access inpatient detoxification for alcohol and drugs. Testing and treatment for blood-borne viruses and liver disease were also greatly reduced.
The government data release said it was likely that factors such as changes to alcohol and drug treatment, reduced access to other healthcare services, changes to lifestyle and social circumstances during lockdowns, and Covid-19 itself were likely to be behind the numbers.
Nuno Albuquerque, head of treatment for the UK Addiction Treatment Group, said: “The start of the coronavirus crisis was extremely frightening and uncertain. But drug and alcohol treatment is critical care intervention and cannot be simply put on pause. We know that a concerning number of facilities closed their doors to addicts who were already in the treatment process and although it was such a difficult time, it cannot be a coincidence that more people have subsequently lost their lives when they were in fact trying to save it.”
The figures show that people in treatment make up the second largest group (28%) after those in treatment for opiates. The number of people who started treatment for alcohol addiction in 2020 rose by 3% compared with the previous year – from 74,618 to 76,740.
Last year, all substance groups except opiate users recorded a decrease in deaths in treatment compared with the previous year. By contrast, there were increases in the proportion of people dying while in treatment in all substance groups this year. This includes 20% rise among opiate users and a 44% rise among those with alcohol misuse problems.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of those who started treatment for all substance groups needed mental health treatment as well, but a quarter of them (25%) who had a mental health need were not receiving any treatment to meet this need.
Albuquerque said reports such as this one are “frightening” because each figure “is a person”. He added: “We have been lobbying for the government to reinforce ring-fenced, protected budgets for drug and alcohol treatment and prevention for some time.”
Updated
Russia’s Covid case numbers remain on a gradual downward trend overall, although today’s official figure of 33,796 is up slightly on yesterday’s 33,558. There were 1,238 deaths officially recorded.
The head of the Robert Koch Institute has put the mortality rate in Germany at about 0.8%, meaning that at daily case numbers of around 50,000, some 400 people per day will end dying.
Germany’s incoming three-party government has said it would create a team of experts who would assess the situation on a daily basis. Greens co-leader Annalena Baerbock said the new government had set itself 10 days to decide if further restrictions were needed.
Germany has already limited large parts of public life in areas where the situation is acute to people who have been vaccinated or have recovered.
Reuters reports that the chancellor-in-waiting, Olaf Scholz, has promised to ramp up vaccinations and did not rule out making them compulsory, a move undertaken already by Austria
“We must vaccinate and give booster shots to prevent the spread of the virus,” said Scholz. “Vaccination is the way out of this pandemic,” he said.
He said long queues for booster shots in some areas that are slowing things down had to be sorted out.
Updated
Some Dutch hospitals have halted chemotherapy treatments and organ transplants to free up intensive care beds for a surging number of Covid-19 patients, an official said on Thursday.
The number of coronavirus patients in hospital has hit levels not seen since early May, and experts have warned that hospitals will reach full capacity in little more than a week if the virus is not contained.
The Dutch Hospital Association for Critical Care said it had asked the health minister, Hugo de Jonge, to escalate the national Covid plan to a stage under which regular care requiring an overnight stay would be cancelled. Several Covid patients were transferred to German hospitals this week.
Responding to record high infection rates, the government’s leading outbreak management team convened an emergency meeting last night and new lockdown measures are expected to be announced on Friday.
Anthony Deutsch reports for Reuters that although 85% of the adult Dutch population has been fully vaccinated, new cases hit a record high of 23,709 in 24 hours on Wednesday and are up almost 40% on a weekly basis.
“There are hospitals in several regions scaling back care,” a spokesperson for the hospital association said. “We are talking about care that requires a bed. That means a lot of appointments are being cancelled.”
Updated
Turkey’s domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine, Turkovac, has applied for emergency authorisation, the health minister, Fahrettin Koca, has said, adding he hoped the shot would be available for use by year-end.
Speaking at his ministry’s budget debate in parliament, Koca said work on Turkovac was nearing completion, and added the shot would mark the first Phase III clinical research project to be fully carried out by Turkey.
“I would like to share a piece of good news for our people: our domestic inactive Covid-19 vaccine Turkovac has applied for emergency authorisation as of today,” Koca said.
Reuters reports that Turkey began developing Turkovac this year, but the launch date for the vaccine has been beset by delays. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has previously said Turkey would make the shot available globally.
Turkey has already administered nearly 120m doses of vaccines using China’s Sinovac and Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccines, with more than 50 million having received two doses of the vaccines. It has also begun administering boosters shots.
Turkey’s daily infection numbers have hovered around 30,000 since mid-September, while the daily death toll, which peaked at 290 in September, remains near 200. The government has called on people to take personal measures and get vaccinated, attributing the high infections to insufficient vaccination levels.
Updated
EU to recommend nine-month vaccine validity for travel – reports
Alberto Nardelli (formerly of this parish) and John Follain have a story leading the Bloomberg site at the moment, claiming that the EU is to propose a nine-month limit on Covid vaccine validity for travel. They write:
The European Union will recommend a nine-month time limit for the validity of Covid-19 vaccinations for travel into the bloc and also propose prioritising vaccinated travellers.
The European Commission will propose that member states should continue welcoming all travelers inoculated with shots approved by the bloc, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. It also calls for countries to reopen as of 10 January to all those who have used vaccines approved by the World Health Organization.
The proposed updates introduce the new time limit for the validity of Covid inoculations, suggesting that boosters will be needed beyond the 9-month period.
Aboriginal elders, health organisations and frontline workers in the Australia’s Northern Territory’s Covid outbreak have lashed out at false information about public health measures on social media, with the NT chief minister blaming the misinformation on “tinfoil hat wearing tossers, sitting in their parents’ basements in Florida”.
Over the past few days false claims have been circulating online that Aboriginal people from Binjari and Rockhole were being forcibly removed from their homes and taken to enforced quarantine in Howard Springs, and people including children were being forcibly vaccinated.
None of these claims are true, according to the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), the local Aboriginal health services and community leaders.
On Thursday, the chief minister, Michael Gunner, laid into “conspiracy theorists” online, blaming overseas groups for the misinformation.
“Hello to all the conspiracy theorists overseas watching this. Please get a life,” Gunner told a media briefing on Thursday.
“There are ridiculous, untrue rumours about the ADF’s involvement. As we all know, they aren’t carrying weapons – they are carrying fresh food for people.
“Ninety-nine-point-nine-nine per cent of the BS that is flying around on the internet about the Territory is coming from flogs outside the Territory – mostly America, Canada and the UK, people who have nothing better to do than make up lies about us because their own lives are so small and so sad.
“If anybody thinks that we are going to be distracted or intimidated by tinfoil hat wearing tossers, sitting in their parents’ basements in Florida, then you do not know us Territorians,” he said.
Read more here from our Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam: ‘Tinfoil hat wearing tossers’: NT chief minister and Aboriginal elders hit back at Covid ‘false information’
Airline Cathay Pacific has said it is “cancelling a number of flights to Hong Kong” for December blaming “operational and travel restrictions that remain in place”.
The city’s strict travel curbs continue to keep international travellers away at a time when rivals are seeing their prospects improve. Hong Kong has maintained some of the world’s harshest quarantine measures and travel restrictions during the pandemic which has seen the business hub cut off internationally for the past 20 months.
Hong Kong’s government has followed China’s strict coronavirus strategy and said normalisation of travel with the mainland must come before any reopening to the rest of the world.
As the peak holiday season approaches, Agence France-Presse report the airline will convert around one-third of flights bound for Hong Kong to handle cargo.
Cathay is currently relying on volunteer staff to fly in and out of Hong Kong. Bosses have implemented a “closed loop” operation where cabin crew and pilots work three-week shifts, during which they are confined to hotel rooms between flights. When their shift has finished and they return home, they must quarantine for another two weeks.
Distribution and logistics firm FedEx has already announce it is closing its Hong Kong crew base and relocating pilots overseas. In contrast, Singapore Airlines is seeing flights and passenger numbers pick up as that city begins reopening to the outside world and switching to learning to live with the virus.
There have been another 628 deaths from Covid in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, according to figures released by the ministry of health. There were 16,943 new cases, which included 1,451 cases in children and 304 cases in healthcare workers.
The seven-day average for new cases stands at 16,025, comparing favourably with the level of over 20,000 a week ago.
Here is an updated map indicating incidence rates across Europe.
Protests against Covid measures turned to violence on France’s Caribbean island of Martinique overnight.
France Info published a video of protesters targeting a shopping centre and running away with goods, as well as videos of demonstrators setting up burning barricades on roads.
Reuters notes that France’s Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe have both been hit by unrest over the last week due to anger over Covid protocol measures, including moves to ramp COVID vaccination on the islands.
During the 20th century, many people on Guadeloupe were systematically exposed to toxic pesticides used in banana plantations, fuelling a distrust of medical interventions from the authorities.
The Caribbean region has been hit in recent weeks by a new wave of coronavirus infections that is causing lockdowns and flight cancellations and overwhelming hospitals, just as tourism was beginning to show signs of recovery.
Hello, it is Martin Belam, taking over here in London from Samantha Lock in Sydney. Here is a reminder of the current coronavirus figures from the UK.
There were 303,071 new cases in the last seven days, and that total is up 11.1% on the week before. Deaths are down 9.4% week-on-week and the number of people being admitted to hospital is down 11.6% week-on-week. The UK government’s dashboard states that there are 7,874 people in hospital, of whom 919 are in ventilation beds.
UK eligible public urged to get booster by 11 December
Ministers are urging millions of Britons to get their Covid booster jab by 11 December to ensure they have “very high protection against Covid by Christmas Day” as new evidence shows the risk of infection increases with the time since the second dose.
About 16 million people have had a booster vaccine or a third dose across the UK. Everyone aged 40 and over and the clinically extremely vulnerable are eligible to get a booster six months after their second jab.
“If you’re yet to get your first, second or booster dose, please do come forward for the jab as soon as possible,” said Maggie Throup, the vaccines minister.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson added: “People who have had their booster vaccine by 11 December will have very high protection against Covid by Christmas Day. Following a rise in cases and a return of lockdown restrictions in Europe, those eligible for a booster have been urged to take up the offer as soon as possible to protect themselves and their families, and help to reduce the pressure on the NHS.”
Read the full story here.
South Korean cult leader at centre of Covid outbreak
A little known sect led by a pastor who pokes eyes to heal is at the centre of a Covid outbreak in South Korea, as the country reported a new daily record of 4,116 cases and battles a rise in serious cases straining hospitals.
In a tiny, rural church in a town of 427 residents in Cheonan city, south of Seoul, at least 241 people linked to the religious community tested positive for coronavirus, a city official told Reuters on Wednesday.
“We believe the scale of the outbreak is large …” the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said in a statement.
Read the full story here.
Vaccines give people ‘false sense of security’, WHO says
The World Health Organization has issued a warning in the lead-up to Christmas, saying social mixing is back at pre-pandemic levels and threatens to spread the virus in the run-up to the holidays.
“We are concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic, and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“Vaccines save lives, but they do not fully prevent transmission.”
Last week, more than 60% of all reported cases and deaths from Covid-19 globally were in Europe, Tedros told a news conference.
WHO emergency director Mike Ryan added: “We are back to pre-pandemic levels of social mixing (in Europe)... even in the midst of very strong resurgence in cases and even in the midst of some of those countries under high pressure in health systems.”
We're concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the #COVID19 pandemic. Vaccines save lives, but they do not fully prevent transmission. So please be careful and:
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 24, 2021
Wear a mask.
Keep distance.
Avoid crowds.
Open windows.
Clean hands. pic.twitter.com/p2crxQvGuu
Hello and thanks for joining us.
I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest Covid developments from across the world this Thursday.
Germany, who weathered earlier bouts of the pandemic better than many of its neighbours, has now found itself back at the centre of Europe’s virus outbreak as the latest wave of the pandemic infects people at a record pace.
Officials recorded 100,119 Covid deaths as of Wednesday, according to the latest data from the RKI public health institute.
The World Health Organization has also issued a warning in the lead-up to Christmas, saying social mixing was back at pre-pandemic levels.
“We are concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic, and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“We are back to pre-pandemic levels of social mixing (in Europe)... even in the midst of very strong resurgence in cases and even in the midst of some of those countries under high pressure in health systems,” WHO emergency director Mike Ryan added.
- Novavax is expected to be approved as a fourth Covid vaccine in UK. Trials show the protein-based jab causes fewer side-effects. The British government has so far ordered 60m doses.
- Covid cases surge 23% in Americas, mostly in North America, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said.
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US air travel is set to be busiest since pandemic began due to Thanksgiving.
- Germany’s next chancellor seeks targeted vaccine mandate. German Social Democrat Olaf Scholz called on Wednesday for vaccinations to be made compulsory for targeted groups.
- Scientists say a new Covid variant that carries an “extremely high number” of mutations may drive further waves of disease by evading the body’s defences.
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Italy unveiled new Covid measures banning the unvaccinated from numerous venues, extending compulsory vaccination and expanding booster shots to all adults.
- Portugal’s health secretary pledged to give Covid booster shots to a quarter of the population by the end of January to tackle the “pandemic storm that has not yet passed”.
- The World Health Organization director-general has declared that Europe is once again at the epicentre of the pandemic and warned that “no country or region is out of the woods”.
- Countries should consider implementing mandatory Covid vaccination, the director of World Health Organization (WHO) Europe said today.
- France is to announce new Covid measures as infections surge across the country.
Updated
