A summary of today's developments
- Austria said only those vaccinated or recovered from coronavirus would be allowed to frequent restaurants, hotels and cultural venues. The new rule takes effect on Monday with a four-week transition phase to incentivise people to get jabbed, chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said.
- There have been a further 193 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for coronavirus in the UK, according to the latest official data. The government’s coronavirus dashboard also reported 34,029 more people testing positive for coronavirus on Friday, and 1,072 patients admitted to hospital.
- The US has secured millions of doses of Pfizer’s experimental antiviral pill, in case it turns out to be an effective treatment for Covid-19, the president, Joe Biden, said on Friday.
- Every single person in Germany should have a Covid-19 vaccine booster jab, the country’s regional health ministers have agreed, as the a fourth wave of pandemic appeared to be swelling in the country.
- The German state of Saxony has announced sweeping new curbs for people who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 or recovered from the disease, AFP reports. From Monday, access to indoor dining and other indoor events will be limited to those who are fully vaccinated or can show proof of recovery, local government minister Petra Koepping told a news conference in Dresden.
- The Covid death toll in Romania passed 50,000 on Friday, after a further 483 deaths from the disease were reported as a fourth wave of pandemic sweeps the country.
- French president Emmanuel Macron is to speak to the nation on Tuesday evening about the resurgence of Covid-19 infections as well as other issues including economic reforms, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said.
- Every person in Malta will be offered Covid-19 vaccine booster doses, after a recent increase in cases, the health minister said on Friday.
- Eleven US states have launched legal actions to challenge a new federal vaccine requirement for workers at companies with more than 100 employees, a key component of Joe Biden’s Covid response plan.
- Japan will ease border controls for fully vaccinated travellers, excluding tourists, from Monday, responding to lobbying by businesses that followed a rapid decline in infections.
- Authorities in Croatia are to limit gatherings and widen the use of Covid passports after the numbers of infected people hit new records again on Friday.
The US is preparing for long lines and delays on Monday when restrictions are lifted on non-US citizen international travelers who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, a senior official told Reuters.
President Joe Biden’s administration “expects pent-up demand for travel, which means longer than normal wait times for travelers,” the official said. The government was boosting staffing to pre-pandemic levels but “long lines are expected in the initial days. The US on Monday is lifting travel restrictions for fully vaccinated air travelers from 33 countries and at its land borders with Mexico and Canada, ending the historic entry bans to address the spread of Covid-19 for much of the world’s population.
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Brazil registered 389 new Covid-19 deaths on Friday and 13,321 additional cases, according to data released by the country’s health ministry.
The South American country has now registered a total of 609,060 coronavirus deaths and 21,862,458 total confirmed cases, Reuters reports.
US company Ocugen announced that it had asked authorities for emergency use authorisation for Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, which was developed in India, for ages 2 to 18.
Ocugen’s data, gathered from clinical trials conducted outside of the United States with only a small group of children, may not be enough for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant the request.
Covaxin, developed in India by Ocugen’s partner, Bharat Biotech, gained emergency approval from the World Health Organization on Wednesday and has already been cleared for use in 17 countries.
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Among the rules to be introduced in Austria are barring the unvaccinated from hotels, events of more than 25 people and, importantly for a country that is a winter sports hotspot, ski lifts.
There will be a four-week transition period in which a first vaccination plus a PCR test will grant admission to places where the unvaccinated will be banned, Reuters reports. After that, only the fully vaccinated and those who have recently recovered from a coronavirus infection will be let in. While those dining out will have to show they have been vaccinated, the waiters serving them will not.
For the latest Covid developments in Australia, you can follow our dedicated blog here -
Wall Street’s main indexes scored record closing highs on Friday and booked solid gains for the week following a strong U.S. jobs report and positive data for Pfizer’s experimental pill against Covid-19, Reuters reports.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched record high closes for their seventh straight sessions, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also closed at a record. All three indexes posted weekly gains for their fifth straight weeks. The Labor Department report showed U.S. employment increased more than expected in October as the headwind from the surge in Covid-19 infections over the summer subsided. A trial of Pfizer Inc’s experimental antiviral pill for coronavirus was stopped early after the drug was shown to cut by 89% the chances of hospitalisation or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease. Pfizer shares jumped about 11%.
Austria announces new Covid measures amid rising cases
Austria said only those vaccinated or recovered from coronavirus would be allowed to frequent restaurants, hotels and cultural venues.
The new rule takes effect on Monday with a four-week transition phase to incentivise people to get jabbed, chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said.
“No one wants to split the society, but it is our responsibility to protect the people in our country,” he told a news conference.
The EU member of almost nine million people recorded more than 9,300 new daily cases Friday, a fresh record for this year, AFP reports.
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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Friday he sought alternative treatments instead of the NFL-endorsed Covid-19 vaccinations because of an allergy he has to ingredients in two of the FDA-approved jabs.
Speaking on SiriusXM’s Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers said: “I’m not an anti-vax, flat-earther. I have an allergy to an ingredient that’s in the mRNA vaccines.
“I found a long-term immunisation protocol to protect myself and I’m very proud of the research that went into that.”
Pfizer Inc is in discussions with 90 countries over supply contracts for its experimental Covid-19 pill, which was shown to reduce by 89% the risk of hospitalisation or death in patients at high risk of severe illness.
Chief executive officer Albert Bourla said Pfizer expects to price its treatment, called Paxlovid, close to where rival Merck & Co Inc has priced its oral antiviral drug candidate. Merck’s U.S. contract price for its pill molnupiriavr is around $700 for a five-day course of therapy, Reuters reports.
New data shows Aboriginal people in NSW and the ACT have been heavily and disproportionately affected by Covid-19, amid concerns that even after two months of “surge” efforts in 30 Indigenous communities, vaccination rates will not be high enough to withstand further outbreaks.
Ten per cent of all Covid cases in NSW and the ACT are Aboriginal and Islander people, meaning they have been affected at twice the rate of other Australians.
In the past three months, there have been 7,000 cases, 700 hospitalisations, 80 people in ICU and 14 deaths among Aboriginal people, according to data from the National Aboriginal community controlled health organisation (NACCHO).
France reported 8,998 new coronavirus cases on Friday, Reuters reports.
The country has had more than 7.1 million cases overall.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has said he will convene a virtual meeting of foreign ministers from around the globe to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic.
The meeting will take place on 10 November, Reuters reports.
The Covid death toll in Romania passed 50,000 on Friday, after a further 483 deaths from the disease were reported as a fourth wave of pandemic sweeps the country.
According to the official figures, reported by Romania-Insider.com, 433 of the 483 patients who died in the past 24 hours had not been vaccinated against the virus.
In total, 8,268 new infections were reported, out of 57,801 tests. Almost 1,000 of those were reported in the capital, Bucharest, where the 14-day incidence rate is now 11.61 cases per thousand people.
France’s prime minister Jean Castex said the national incidence rate - the number of new infections per week per 100,000 inhabitants - was now well above the alert level of 50.
“This is not an explosion, but it requires the greatest vigilance. Now is not the time to let our guard down,” he said. The average weekly incidence rate set a 2021 high of 438 in April and then fell below 20 at the end of June following a series of confinement measures, Reuters reports. It rose again to 247 at the peak of the fourth wave in mid-August. After briefly falling below the alert level of 50 in early October, the trend turned again on October 21 and the incidence rate stood at 65 on Thursday.
The German state of Saxony has announced sweeping new curbs for people who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 or recovered from the disease, AFP reports.
From Monday, access to indoor dining and other indoor events will be limited to those who are fully vaccinated or can show proof of recovery, local government minister Petra Koepping told a news conference in Dresden.
“We have not managed to build a protective wall of vaccinated people over the past few weeks and months,” Koepping said.
The new rules would mark the toughest state-wide restrictions in Germany against non-inoculated people. Only children as well as those who cannot receive jabs for medical reasons will be exempt.
French president Emmanuel Macron is to speak to the nation on Tuesday evening about the resurgence of Covid-19 infections as well as other issues including economic reforms, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said.
The rate of infection has picked up strongly in the past month, with the number of new infections week on week increasing by double-digit percentages for several days in a row.
The seven-day average of daily new infections now stands at more than 6,200, from less than 4,200 in early October, Reuters reports.
“The epidemic is picking up speed again in Europe, Europe has again become the epicentre of the epidemic,” Attal told reporters.
Attal said Macron would review the Covid-19 situation and would also talk about the economic recovery, his government’s reform programme and other issues.
Of the 377 local areas in the UK, 86 (23%) have seen a week-on-week rise in rates and 291 (77%) have seen a fall.
Vale of Glamorgan in Wales has the highest rate in the UK, with 1,025 new cases in the seven days to November 1 - the equivalent of 757.6 per 100,000 people.
This is down slightly from 780.5 in the seven days to October 25, PA reports.
Copeland in Cumbria has the second highest rate, down from 821.6 to 752.5, with 512 new cases.
Torfaen in Wales has the third highest rate, down from 865.7 to 747.6, with 709 new cases.
Clackmannanshire has the highest rate in Scotland (586.9) and Antrim & Newtownabbey has the highest rate in Northern Ireland (560.0).
Italy reported 51 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose by 6,764.
Italy has registered 132,334 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain. The country has also reported 4.8 million cases to date, Reuters reports.
193 new Covid deaths registered across the UK
There have been a further 193 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for coronavirus in the UK, according to the latest official data.
The government’s coronavirus dashboard also reported 34,029 more people testing positive for coronavirus on Friday, and 1,072 patients admitted to hospital.
Deaths and hospital admissions were trending upward over the past seven days, 12.3% and 3.5% respectively.
So far, 87.2% of the population aged over 12 have received a first dose of coronavirus vaccine, 79.6% have also received a second dose, and 16.3% have received a booster or third dose.
On Friday 334,398 booster doses were administered, 20,482 second doses, and 43,731 first doses.
Emmanuel Macron will speak to France soon about the resurgence of Covid-19 infections as well as other issues, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Friday.
“The epidemic is picking up speed again in Europe, Europe has again become the epicentre of the epidemic,” Attal told reporters, according to Reuters.
He declined to be more specific about when Macron would speak or what he may announce. Epidemiologists have suggested widening the scope of the vaccine booster campaign to include new categories of people.
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The US has secured millions of doses of Pfizer’s experimental antiviral pill, in case it turns out to be an effective treatment for Covid-19, the president, Joe Biden, said on Friday.
“If authorized by the FDA we may soon have pills that treat the virus in those who become infected,” Biden was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“We’ve already secured millions of doses. The therapy would be another tool in our toolbox to protect people from the worst outcomes of Covid.”
The growth rate of the coronavirus pandemic in England is between -1% and 2%, equivalent to an R range of 0.9 to 1.1, according to the latest official figures.
That means that, on average, every 10 people infected will pass on the virus to between nine and 11 others people, according to the Health Security Agency.
“A growth rate of between -1% and +2% means that the number of new infections could be broadly flat, shrinking by up to 1% every day or growing by up to 2% every day,” the agency said on Friday.
Every person in Malta will be offered Covid-19 vaccine booster doses, after a recent increase in cases, the health minister said on Friday.
Malta already has the highest number of people vaccinated against the coronavirus in the European Union, with 94% having received two doses. But Chris Fearne told a press conference that it was clear that the effectiveness of the vaccines was waning. On Friday, health authorities said the country recorded 40 new cases of coronavirus, the highest in six weeks.
“A booster shot will be offered to everyone aged over 12,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Boosters have already been given to people aged over 70 and others having health conditions which make them vulnerable, with take-up exceeding 75% so far.
Healthcare workers and teachers will get their boosters from next week. The shots will then be offered to other categories of people according to their age in a programme which will continue well into 2022 for the youngest.
Fearne ruled out any imminent expansion in movement restrictions to help prevent the spread of Covid, but said the situation will be closely monitored. Current restrictions are limited to mask-wearing in closed public spaces and a limit of eight people around restaurant tables.
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All people in Germany should get booster jab amid gathering fourth wave, says health minister
Every single person in Germany should have a Covid-19 vaccine booster jab, the country’s regional health ministers have agreed, as the a fourth wave of pandemic appeared to be swelling in the country.
Jens Spahn, the federal health minister, has also called for booster jabs for all. However, Germany’s Stiko vaccine commission has as yet recommended them only for over-70s or people with health conditions that put them at greater risk of severe Covid.
The call came after Germany on Friday registered 37,120 new infections in the past 24 hours - a record rise for the second day running.
The health ministers from Germany’s 16 states had met for two days of talks on how to tackle the rising trend, according to the AFP news agency. Bavaria’s health minister, Klaus Holetschek, told a press conference: “The federal states agree that everyone who had their second jab six months ago or longer should be able to get an appropriate booster.”
Germany is in political limbo following a general election in September. The incoming coalition parties, aiming to form a government by early December, have so far ruled out mandatory jabs and said there will be no new lockdowns - at least not for those who are vaccinated. But with just 67% of the population fully vaccinated and intensive care beds filling rapidly, calls are growing for action to tackle the upward curve.
Several of Germany’s states, which have significant powers to decide their own Covid approach, have already agreed or introduced restrictions for the unvaccinated. These include limiting certain events and spaces to people who are fully vaccinated or can show proof of recovery.
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11 US states challenge federal vaccine mandate for private companies
Eleven US states have launched legal actions to challenge a new federal vaccine requirement for workers at companies with more than 100 employees, a key component of Joe Biden’s Covid response plan.
“This mandate is unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise,” said a court filing by Missouri’s attorney general, Eric Schmitt, one of several Republicans vying for the state’s open Senate seat next year, according to the Associated Press.
His lawsuit, filed in the St Louis-based 8th US circuit court of appeals argues that the authority to compel vaccinations rests with the states, not the federal government.
The regulations, imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, require companies with more than 100 workers to require all staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19, or to be tested weekly and wear masks while working.
Failure to comply with the rules, due to come into force from 4 January, could lead to penalties of up to $14,000 per violation.
Missouri was joined in the lawsuit by the Republican attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
The office of Iowa’s Democrat attorney general, Tom Miller, also joined in the suit, along with several private, nonprofit and religious employers.
The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way out of the pandemic.
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It is too soon to fully lift pandemic restrictions in Canada, the country’s top health official has said, in spite of a continuing decline in cases of Covid-19.
An average of 2,230 new cases were reported daily over the previous week compared with more than 4,400 during the peak of the fourth wave, Reuters reports.
The incidence of reported cases was now highest among the under-12s, who are not yet eligible for vaccinations, Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer, was quoted as saying. As of 23 October, 83.7% of eligible Canadians had been fully vaccinated.
“Over the past month we’ve made good progress in slowing epidemic growth across most jurisdiction in Canada. However, the latest surveillance data suggests that the rate of decline has slowed somewhat,” Tam said.
“As we head into the winter months with a strained and fragile health system in many areas of the country, we must remain vigilant. ... It is still too soon to fully ease public health measures.”
Canada’s federal health ministry says it expects to announce by the end of November whether Pfizer Inc’s vaccine can be given to those aged between 5 and 11.
Japan will ease border controls for fully vaccinated travellers, excluding tourists, from Monday, responding to lobbying by businesses that followed a rapid decline in infections.
Everyone entering the country must be fully vaccinated with Covid vaccines recognised by Japanese authorities. Those eligible include travellers on short-term business visits of less than three months, as well as longer term visitors including foreign students and workers on so-called technical internship programs, with a 14-day quarantine requirement, according to the Associated Press.
Japan shut its borders to virtually all foreign visitors in January, except for those with special permits and for humanitarian purposes.
Daily cases have sharply fallen since September, in a trend generally attributed to vaccinations and extensive mask-wearing.
About 73% of the population have been fully vaccinated.
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One in 50 people in England had Covid by the end of last month
About 1.1m people - about one in 50 - in England had the coronavirus in the week to 30 October, according to official estimates published on Friday. The latest figure meant that the prevalence of Covid infections had steadied at its highest level of the year.
The Office for National Statistics said the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus had increased more slowly over a two-week period, but that the trend was uncertain in that week, the most recent for which figures are available.
The English region with the highest percentage of people testing positive was the South West, where an estimated 2.9 of people had the virus, the statistics agency said. Rates were lowest in London, where an estimated 1.5% were infected.
Breaking the figures down by age, the ONS found that secondary school age children were the most likely to be carrying the virus, with 7.5% of youngsters in years 7 to 11 infected. The percentage was on a downward trend, raising hopes that the pandemic had peaked in that age group.
But, the ONS added: “It is too early to determine the impact of the half-term holiday on the numbers of infections among school-aged children. This is because the tests that were carried out during the week ending 30 October will have identified positive cases from those who became infected before the half term period.”
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Authorities in Croatia are to limit gatherings and widen the use of Covid passports after the numbers of infected people hit new records again on Friday. Croatia reported nearly 7,000 new infections on Friday after confirming around 6,300 a day before, according to the Associated Press.
From Saturday, gatherings must not exceed 50 people and they must be over by midnight, the interior minister, Davor Bozinovic, said after a meeting of the country’s crisis team. Covid passes would be introduced for employees in all state institutions, including schools, from mid-November.
The passes, which require either proof of vaccination, a certificate showing the recipient has recovered from Covid-19, or a negative test, were previously introduced for employees of the health and social care systems.
Bozinovic said that depending on the situation, the use could be further extended.
A leading epidemiologist in Denmark has said the pandemic will effectively be “over” in her country by next spring as sufficient people will have been either vaccinated or have acquired immunity through infection, writes Philip Oltermann, the Guardian’s Berlin bureau chief.
“As the epidemic progresses we will likely reach herd immunity by spring, because by then more than nine out of ten people will be immune”, said Lone Simonsen, professor of epidemiology at Roskilde University. “That’s when the pandemic is over, at least here with us”.
Simonsen also warned German news magazine Der Spiegel the situation would change if a new variant managed to break through vaccination.
Denmark has one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe, with around 95% of people over 50 considered fully vaccinated. Some 77% of the overall population in the Scandinavian country has got the jab.
While the rate of new infections has again started to climb steeply over the last week, Simonsen said she was not particularly concerned. “We may now be seeing a rapid rise in infections, but not a strong rise in serious illnesses and deaths”.
The Danish government has lifted mask-wearing and social distancing requirements, and unlike in many other European states people are not required to show proof of vaccination before entering cultural establishments like nightclubs.
“This pandemic now has a completely different character, it is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Simonsen said.
“It is no longer a threat to society as a whole. We now allow it to run its course, even if that will cause local outbreaks. These will no longer be as deadly as they were before the introduction of vaccines”.
French MPs vote to extend health pass regime
MPs in France have voted to allow the government to continue to enforce the use of the controversial pass sanitaire until next August.
People in France must use the pass, introduced in full in August, to partake in aspects of life as routine as visiting a cafe or museum, or travelling on an intercity train.
It consists of a QR code generated for those who can prove they have had either a full course of Covid vaccinations or a recent negative test, or have recovered from Covid-19. It is one of Europe’s strictest such systems.
The lower house approved the extension of the regime by 118 to 89, with support from the majority centrist bloc controlled by Emmanuel Macron, the president, AFP reports. The vote overrode objections from the rightwing-controlled upper house.
This is Damien Gayle taking the reins of the live blog for the rest of the day.
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Today so far
- Germany recorded its second consecutive daily record for new coronavirus cases on Friday as infections pick up across Europe, and its disease control centre said unvaccinated people face a “very high” risk of infection.
- German state leaders said that hospitals could soon soon become swamped by Covid-19 patients and a new lockdown might be needed unless urgent action is taken to reverse a surge in cases.
- Europe is once again at centre of the Covid pandemic, the World Health Organization has said. Cases are at near-record levels and 500,000 more deaths are forecast by February. Uneven vaccine coverage and a relaxation of preventive measures have brought Europe to a “critical point” in the pandemic, WHO says.
- Slovakia reported 6,805 new Covid-19 cases for the past day, the Health Ministry said today, a new daily record.
- Russia reported 40,735 new Covid-19 cases and 1,192 deaths related to the virus. That is up from 40,217 cases yesterday.
- Children in the UK ate fewer vegetables, took less exercise and experienced worsening emotional difficulties following the Covid outbreak, according to a research study.
- Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said she expected the border with mainland China to largely reopen in February next year as the two governments stick to their zero Covid-19 policies.
- A citizen journalist jailed for her coverage of China’s initial response to Covid in Wuhan is close to death after going on hunger strike, her family said, prompting renewed calls from rights groups for her immediate release.
- In New Zealand a second person infected with Covid-19 has died while isolating at home alone, as the country recorded 163 new cases in the community – its highest ever daily number.
- The US federal government has canceled a deal worth $628 million with Emergent BioSolutions, a Maryland-based vaccine manufacturer that was a vanguard of the Donald Trump administration’s programme to rapidly produce vaccines. In March the company contaminated 15m doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
- Republican governors are expected to sue today to stop the Biden administration’s requirement that nearly 2 million US employers get workers tested or vaccinated for Covid-19, saying it trampled civil liberties.
- A trial of Pfizer’s experimental antiviral pill was shown to cut by 89% the chances of hospitalisation or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease, the company said this morning.
That is the last you’ll see of me, Martin Belam, live blogging this week. I will be back on Monday. Sarah Marsh has the UK politics live blog today, Chris Michael is live blogging Cop26 for us, and Damien Gayle will be here shortly to continue bringing you the latest developments on the Covid pandemic from the UK and around the world. I will be back bright and early on Monday – have a great weekend, take care and stay safe.
A trial of Pfizer’s experimental antiviral pill for Covid-19 was stopped early after the drug was shown to cut by 89% the chances of hospitalisation or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease, the company said this morning.
The results appear to surpass those seen with the Merck pill molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the likelihood of dying or being hospitalized for Covid-19 patients also at high risk of serious illness.
Full trial data is not yet available from either company.
Reuters report that Pfizer said it plans to submit interim trial results for its pill, which is given in combination with an older antiviral called ritonavir, to the US Food and Drug Administration as part of the emergency use application it opened in October.
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In Macon county, Alabama, where about four in five residents are Black, Covid rates followed national trends and the Black population bore the brunt of the virus. At least one in seven Macon residents have caught Covid, according to New York Times data.
But the syphilis experiment in Tuskegee, other examples of racism in medical mistreatment and a history of being let down by the government have sown generational mistrust in the healthcare system for many Black Americans, in Alabama and across the US – in turn driving vaccine hesitancy.
Twice a week during football season, county sheriff Andre Brunson pulls on Tuskegee University’s maroon and gold gear – he wears his own 1987 football championship ring from his college days there – and hits the field as the team’s strength coach.
Normally he would shuttle between the goals, concerned about the team’s conditioning. Now, he worries about the conditions of his lungs.
Read more of Amudalat Ajasa’s report from Tuskegee here: How a vaccine-skeptical sheriff became a vocal proponent
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German state leaders said on Friday that hospitals could soon soon become swamped by Covid-19 patients and a new lockdown might be needed unless urgent action is taken to reverse a surge in cases.
“If we take too much time now, it will end in a lockdown like last year,” the leader of the eastern state of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, told Deutschlandfunk radio.
The premier of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow, said it was a matter of days until the coronavirus situation would mean that there were not enough intensive care beds at hospitals.
Reuters report that as of Thursday there were 2,503 free beds in German intensive care units, down from about 3,100 at the start of October, according to data from the DIVI association for intensive and emergency medicine.
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My colleague Sarah Marsh has launched our UK politics live blog for the day. It will be mostly focused on the government’s woes over sleaze today I should imagine, so I’ll be keeping on with UK Covid lines on this blog, but do feel free to join her if you would rather have a diet of pure politics.
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Slovakia sets a new daily record for Covid cases
Slovakia reported 6,805 new Covid-19 cases for the past day, the health ministry said today, a daily record.
Reuters reports that the central European country of 5.5 million has one of the lowest vaccinations rates in the European Union. The ministry said 69% of the new cases were in unvaccinated people.
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Deja Lewis was walking down a sidewalk in Salem, New Jersey, in the early, frightening days of the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020, when she was stopped by police.
Lewis, 28, was arrested on warrants related to failure to pay traffic tickets, and an incident in which she “escaped” from a police vehicle. She had been a witness to a fight and left the back of the patrol car, her attorney said.
While she was in custody, police said she coughed “in close proximity” to officers, and said she had Covid-19, though no dashboard, body or in-station videos exist to prove the assertion either way.
The allegation has landed Lewis, who otherwise has no criminal history, with a potentially ruinous terrorism charge – one that could land her in prison for 10 years and leave her with a $150,000 fine.
The rare and serious penalty was available to prosecutors only because New Jersey was in a state of emergency, in this case because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lewis is among nearly four dozen people hit with life-altering terrorism charges – the sort of charges normally brought against people who perpetrate bomb threats – after the former New Jersey attorney general led a campaign to show law enforcement “we have their backs” amid the early days of the pandemic.
Read more of Jessica Glenza’s report here: Why telling a cop you have Covid in New Jersey could get you 10 years in prison
Republican governors are expected to sue today to stop the Biden administration’s requirement that nearly 2 million US employers get workers tested or vaccinated for Covid-19, saying it trampled civil liberties.
Tom Hals sets the scene for Reuters, writing that after President Joe Biden said on Thursday he will enforce the mandate starting 4 January, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he will join the governors of Georgia and Alabama as well as private plaintiffs to file suit.
“The federal government can’t just unilaterally impose medical policy under the guise of workplace regulation,” DeSantis said at a press conference. The Republican governors of Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska also vowed to challenge the move in court.
The regulation was implemented as a rarely used emergency rule from OSHA, or Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal workplace regulator. OSHA said the rule takes precedence over conflicting state laws. It will go into effect on Friday when it is due to be published in the federal register.
At least two lawsuits were already initiated against the mandate yesterday.
Germany sets second consecutive daily record for new Covid cases
Germany recorded its second consecutive daily record for new coronavirus cases on Friday as infections pick up across Europe, and its disease control centre said unvaccinated people face a “very high” risk of infection.
The country reported 37,120 new infections over the past 24 hours, according to the centre, the Robert Koch Institute. That compared with Thursday’s figure of 33,949 – which in turn topped the previous record of 33,777 set on 18 December last year.
Associated Press notes that while it is possible that the figures were pushed up by delayed testing and reporting following a regional holiday on Monday in some of the worst-affected areas, they underlined a steady rise in infections over recent weeks that has put Covid-19 firmly back in the headlines in Germany.
A further 154 deaths brought Germany’s total to 96,346 on Friday.
The country’s infection rate has now exceeded its peak during a spike of cases in the spring, though it’s still short of the worst-ever showing in December, according to Friday’s figures
In a weekly report released late yesterday, the Robert Koch Institute said unvaccinated or partly vaccinated people face a “very high” risk to their health – a change from its previous assessment that they face a “high” risk. “For fully vaccinated people, the threat is considered moderate, but rising in view of the increasing infection figures,” it added.
Germany’s health minister has called for booster vaccinations to be stepped up, for more frequent checks of people’s vaccination or test status and for obligatory testing nationwide of nursing home staff and visitors. In highly decentralised Germany, state governments bear the primary responsibility for imposing and loosening restrictions.
Authorities also are appealing anew to German residents who haven’t yet been vaccinated at all to get their shots. They say pressure on hospital beds is rising, particularly in regions where vaccination rates are relatively low.
Official figures show that about two-thirds of Germany’s population of 83 million has completed its first round of vaccination, but there are significant regional variations.
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Andrew Jeong reports for the Washington Post that a prominent vaccine manufacturer in the US has lost their federal contract to supply the government with Covid vaccines over quality issues. He writes:
The federal government has canceled a deal worth $628 million with Emergent BioSolutions, the Maryland-based vaccine manufacturer that was a vanguard of the Donald Trump administration’s program to rapidly produce vaccines to counter the coronavirus pandemic.
The company disclosed the development on Thursday in a conference call discussing its latest financial results. The cancellation comes after Emergent’s manufacturing facilities in Baltimore were found to have produced millions of contaminated vaccine doses this spring, prompting a months-long shutdown.
Emergent will forgo about $180 million due to the contract’s termination, the company said. As part of its coronavirus efforts, the federal government had invested in building additional capacity at two of the firm’s sites.
In March, ingredients intended for use in producing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine shots contaminated 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Read more here: Washington Post – US cancels multimillion-dollar deal with covid vaccine maker whose plant ruined Johnson & Johnson doses
Russia reported 40,735 new Covid-19 cases and 1,192 deaths related to the virus. That is up from 40,217 cases yesterday.
Reuters report that the government coronavirus task force also said that collective immunity in the country stood at 48% as of Friday. That was a slight increase from 46.8% a week ago.
Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said the city will not extend its non-working period past 7 November.
CNN have a piece this morning looking at a study of US veterans that has found that even if they do get a so-called “breakthrough” infection, vaccinations mean people get less ill with Covid. Maggie Fox writes:
Researchers looking at men and women getting treatment at Veterans Health Administration facilities found that overall vaccine efficacy against all types of infection fell from 87.9% in February to 48.1% in October.
The researchers wrote in their report: “Our analysis by vaccine type suggests declining vaccine effectiveness against infection over time, particularly for the Janssen vaccine. Yet, despite increasing risk of infection due to the Delta variant, vaccine effectiveness against death remained high, and compared to unvaccinated Veterans, those fully vaccinated had a much lower risk of death after infection. These results demonstrate an urgent need to reinstate multiple layers of protection, such as masking and physical distancing – even among vaccinated persons – while also bolstering current efforts to increase vaccination.”
The researchers say their data is more up to date than data provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although it looks only at veterans, who may not be representative of the US population. The group studied represents 2.7% of the US population and while it skews more heavily in favour of males, it may represent more minorities than other study groups.
Read more here: CNN – Even if they get breakthrough infections, vaccinated people don’t get as sick with Covid-19, studies show
Updated
In the UK, education secretary Nadhim Zahawi’s first interview of the morning media round was entirely taken up with Tory sleaze and Cop26, but here is a reminder of the latest Covid data in the UK.
A citizen journalist jailed for her coverage of China’s initial response to Covid in Wuhan is close to death after going on hunger strike, her family said, prompting renewed calls from rights groups for her immediate release.
Zhang Zhan, 38, a former lawyer, travelled to Wuhan in February 2020 to report on the chaos at the pandemic’s centre, questioning authorities’ handling of the outbreak in her smartphone videos.
She was detained in May 2020 and sentenced in December to four years in jail for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” – a charge routinely used to suppress dissent.
She is now severely underweight and “may not live for much longer”, her brother Zhang Ju wrote last week on a Twitter account verified by people close to the matter.
Read more of the report here: Chinese journalist jailed over Covid reporting is ‘close to death’, family say
Updated
Welsh study shows impact of Covid on 10- and 11-year-olds
Children in the UK ate fewer vegetables, took less exercise and experienced worsening emotional difficulties following the Covid outbreak, according to a research study.
A biennial survey conducted by investigators at Cardiff University found that primary school-age children reported a sharp increase in “elevated or clinically significant emotional difficulties” in early 2021, compared with the same survey conducted in 2019.
The survey between April and June found that 27% of children in year 6 showed significant emotional difficulties, compared with just 17% in 2019, while reporting little change in behavioural difficulties. Children from poorer backgrounds were nearly twice as likely to report emotional and behavioural difficulties compared to those from affluent families.
Kelly Morgan, a social science research fellow at Cardiff, said the impact of the pandemic was likely to leave a “lifelong footprint” on the mental health of children as they grew older, based on evidence from previous international studies.
“From our findings, children and their families were extensively affected over the course of the pandemic,” Morgan said. “We know that it was illegal for children to meet others to play at some points, but also that children were deeply concerned about the health of their family and others.”
The survey highlighted the important role schools have played during and after the pandemic. Of the children surveyed, 90% said they felt cared for by their teachers and 80% said there was at least one adult in school they could talk to.
Read more of Richard Adams’ report here: Welsh study shows impact of Covid on 10- and 11-year-olds
Hello, it is Martin Belam here in London. I’ll be with you for the next few hours. The UK media round is being handled for the government this morning by education secretary Nadhim Zahawi. I’ll bring you any Covid lines that emerge from that shortly.
Hong Kong expects border with mainland China to reopen in February
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Friday she expected the border with mainland China to largely reopen in February next year as the two governments stick to their zero Covid-19 policies, public broadcaster RTHK reports.
Despite barely recording any local coronavirus cases in recent months, authorities in the global financial hub have tightened up quarantine and patient discharge rules to convince Beijing to allow cross-border travel.
Lam told the South China Morning Post that the most pressing matter was for Hong Kong’s business community to be able to take commercial trips to the mainland without undergoing quarantine.
Hong Kong is following Beijing’s lead in retaining strict travel curbs, in contrast to a global trend of opening up and living with the coronavirus.
International business lobby groups have warned Hong Kong could lose talent and investment, as well as competitive ground to rival finance hubs such as Singapore, unless it relaxes its restrictions on travel.
Lam has repeatedly said opening the border with mainland China, Hong Kong’s main source of growth, was her priority.
Welcome back to today’s live Covid coverage and a happy Friday to all.
I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the top stories from across the world.
Before I get started, here’s a run down of what you might have missed.
As China and Hong Kong continue to pursue strict zero Covid policies, it doesn’t appear that the border between the two will open any time soon.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Friday she expected a reopening would begin in February next year, public broadcaster RTHK reported.
Despite barely recording any local coronavirus cases in recent months, authorities in the global financial hub have tightened up quarantine and patient discharge rules to convince Beijing to allow cross-border travel.
Meanwhile, over in New Zealand a second person infected with Covid-19 has died while isolating at home alone, as the country recorded 163 new cases in the community – its highest ever daily number.
The man, who was in his 50s, was recently treated in hospital and discharged himself on 3 November. Ambulance medics found him in his home in Mt Eden, a central Auckland suburb, on Friday morning.
It is the second death of a Covid-19 positive man self-isolating at home this week, and the fourth death during the August outbreak. Thirty people with Covid-19 have died in New Zealand since the start of the pandemic.
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Europe is once again at centre of the Covid pandemic, the World Health Organization has said. Cases are at near-record levels and 500,000 more deaths are forecast by February. Uneven vaccine coverage and a relaxation of preventive measures have brought Europe to a “critical point” in the pandemic, WHO says.
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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Friday she expects the mainland China border to reopen in February next year as the two governments stick to their zero Covid-19 policies, public broadcaster RTHK reports.
- The Chinese journalist jailed over Covid reporting last year is “close to death”, her family say.
- The UK has become the first country to approval an oral antiviral pill to treat Covid. Nearly half a million doses of molnupiravir, a pill that can be taken twice daily at home, are due for delivery from mid-November and will be given as a priority to elderly Covid patients and those with particular vulnerabilities, such as weakened immune systems. The drug will initially be given to patients through a national study run by the NHS.
- Central and Eastern Europe are grappling with spiralling coronavirus cases with several countries hitting new daily records in the regions, which have lower vaccination rates than the rest of the continent. Ukraine, Croatia, Slovenia and Slovakia reported their highest ever numbers of daily cases, while other countries registered the most infections in months.Most Central and Eastern European countries have vaccinated about half of their populations or less, which is lower than the European Union average of some 75%.
- Understanding the origins of Covid-19 remains a key focus of the Biden administration and that they will continue pushing for answers, The White House said.
- A study suggests UK Covid cases may have peaked for this year. The study, which estimates the number of Covid cases in the community from the information that users log on an app, found a clear decline in cases in under-18s since mid-October, with infection rates levelling off in most other age groups though still climbing in 55- to 75-year-olds.
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Latvia will allow businesses to fire workers who refuse to either get a Covid vaccine or transfer to remote work, from 15 November as the country battles one of the worst Covid waves in the EU.
- US vaccine mandates for private sector workers are set to begin on 4 January. President Joe Biden will begin enforcing the mandate that private-sector workers in the US be vaccinated against Covid or be tested weekly.
