Category Archives: Coronavirus

Covid live news: UK reports 36,722 new cases as weekly deaths in Scotland highest since February

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Latest UK-wide case figures come as Scotland sees rise in hospitalisations

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is in advanced talks with vaccine manufacturers to purchase further vaccine doses for its members, Reuters reports.

The region recorded more than 26,000 COVID-19 related deaths last week – more than any other global region.

Health authorities in Greece have recorded a further 2,187 coronavirus cases, taking the cumulative total since the start of the pandemic to 653,535.

The National Organisation for Public Health said 44 patients have died from Covid-19, raising the total death toll to 14,795.

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YouTube to remove misinformation videos about all vaccines

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Streaming site cracks down on harmful content about all approved Covid jabs

YouTube is to remove videos that spread misinformation about all vaccines, as it steps up a crackdown on harmful content posted during the coronavirus pandemic.

From Wednesday, the video streaming site, which has already banned Covid jab falsehoods, will take down content that contains misinformation such as claiming any approved vaccine is dangerous, causes chronic health defects or does not reduce spread of disease.

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The California region where Covid ‘just isn’t slowing down’

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The state has the country’s lowest case rate. But in the vaccine-resistant Central Valley and rural north, healthcare workers are pushed to the limit

California has the lowest coronavirus case rate in the country. But within the state, the agricultural Central Valley and rural north remain overwhelmed.

Resistance to vaccines and public health mandates, combined with the advance of the Delta variant, have triggered an explosion of cases that are pushing already strained public health systems to the brink. In some counties, the case rate per 100,000 people is three or more times that of the state.

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Australia Covid news live update: NSW records 863 cases, 15 deaths; Victoria records 950 cases, seven deaths; one case in Qld

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Worksafe has just issued a statement about charges against the Victorian health department over its hotel quarantine system.

WorkSafe alleges that the Department of Health breached OHS laws by failing to appoint people with infection prevention and control (IPC) expertise to be stationed at hotels it was utilising for the program.

It alleges the department failed to provide security guards with face-to-face infection prevention control training by a person with expertise in IPC prior to them commencing work, and either failed, or initially failed, to provide written instruction for the use of PPE.

Thanks Nino Bucci. Continuing on at the National Press Club, when asked about the implications of Australia’s withdrawal from its deal with France, Turnbull has some strong words:

What seems to have been overlooked is that one of our national security assets is trust, trustworthiness… This is an appalling episode in Australia’s international affairs and the consequences of it will endure to our disadvantage for a very long time.

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Covid: New Zealand reports jump in cases as opposition calls for opening up

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45 new positives in a day as National party lays out coronavirus plan for ‘vigorous suppression’ instead of elimination

New Zealand’s daily Covid cases have jumped sharply to 45 – more than five times the previous day’s number. The rise comes after several days of about 12 cases a day, and around a week after the Auckland region lifted its strictest lockdown restrictions.

“This is a big number. It’s a sobering number. I don’t think anybody who’s involved in this process would be celebrating a number like the one we’re seeing today,” said the Covid-19 response minister, Chris Hipkins.

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Guam’s vaccination success story turns grim with Covid surge

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Once the great vaccination success story, the island is under strain amid a new wave of infections, but experts say cases would be far higher without vaccine coverage

Outside Guam Memorial hospital, blue medical tents have sprung up to accomodate an overflow of Covid patients.

The sight is bewildering for Guam residents. The island ran an incredibly successful vaccination campaign, with almost 90% of eligible people having received two doses, and even began offering jabs to tourists in an “Air VnV” – vacation and vaccination – scheme.

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Covid can infect cells in pancreas that make insulin, research shows

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Results of two studies may explain why some people develop diabetes after catching the virus

Covid-19 can infect insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and change their function, potentially explaining why some previously healthy people develop diabetes after catching the virus.

Doctors are increasingly concerned about the growing number of patients who have developed diabetes either while infected with coronavirus, or shortly after recovering from it.

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Covid: 37% of people have symptoms six months after infection

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A large study reveals the scale of long Covid, with symptoms affected by sex, age and severity of infection

One in three people infected with coronavirus will experience at least one symptom of long Covid, a new study suggests.

Much of the existing research into the condition – a mixture of symptoms reported by people often months after they were originally ill with Covid-19 – has been based either on self-reported symptoms or small studies.

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Coronavirus live: 10% of England’s secondary school pupils have long Covid symptoms; record Russia deaths

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One in 10 secondary school pupils in England and third of staff have long Covid symptoms; official Russian tally reports 852 fatalities in 24 hours

Egypt has moved to provide immediate coronavirus vaccinations at youth centres without prior online registration.

It is aimed at encouraging vaccinations and relieving pressure on hospitals and health centres amid a fourth wave of infections, Reuters reported.

Singapore’s population size saw its sharpest percentage drop since 1950 this year, a report said on Tuesday.

It came as coronavirus-induced travel restrictions kept foreigners away from the Asian financial hub, Reuters reported.

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Inside the San Francisco Bay Area’s pandemic murder surge: ‘No one knows this pain but us’

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Guardian analysis reveals region-wide increase in violent deaths, but Black and Latino residents make up majority of victims

On the night of 3 September 2020, Sonya Mitchell got a call as she was leaving work. Her 23-year-old son, Daimon “Dada” Ferguson, had been shot in a drive-by outside his older sister’s home.

In the months before, Mitchell, 56, had been watching reports of shootings in her hometown of Vallejo, in the San Francisco Bay Area, with increasing concern. There was the shooting at a birthday party on 9 June that killed two women and injured a 10-year-old. Three separate shootings had rocked the city on 20 August, including a double homicide that left a 25-year-old man and his 24-year-old girlfriend dead in a car with their infant son.

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This fourth grader just wants to go to school. Florida’s risky Covid policies force her to stay home

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Governor DeSantis’s ‘soft-on-Covid approach’ makes the classroom too dangerous for immuno-compromised children

The only place nine-year-old Reefy Kinder wants to be is in school with her friends. She has missed so many lessons in six years battling a long-term gastro-intestinal condition, including more than 30 surgeries during many months as an inpatient at Orlando’s Arnold Palmer children’s hospital, that she figures she has a lot to catch up on.

Standing in her way, according to Reefy and her mother, Jamie, are Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, and his handpicked new state surgeon general Joseph Ladapo, an opponent of mask mandates who believes vaccines are no more effective than eating healthily and losing weight in the fight against Covid-19.

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‘My future is overseas’: Tunisians look to Europe as Covid hits tourism

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As the pandemic deals a death blow to an already struggling sector, former workers see little hope for recovery

The seafront along the town of Hammamet in Tunisia is deserted. Looking out at the bright empty coast from his souvenir shop, Kais Azzabi, 42, describes the crowds that would stroll along the broad boulevards. Today, there is nobody.

“It was very busy here,” he says, gesturing to the street and the Mediterranean Sea beyond. “Since the corona started, everything stopped.”

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Biden officials move to protect Dreamers brought to US as children – live

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Earlier, the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, pleaded with healthcare workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19 before an end-of-day deadline which could bring staff shortages at hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities.

The Biden administration’s announcement of a new approach to protecting Dreamers from deportation is meant to “bulletproof” existing measures guarding against litigation, a leading expert said.

“Dreamers” are undocumented migrants living in the US who were brought to the country as children. Their fate has long been held in limbo by deadlock in Congress over immigration reform.

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Biden receives vaccine ‘booster’ as confusion continues over third dose

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President receives public Covid jab after FDA and CDC carved out fewer categories than he hoped of Americans eligible for third dose

At the White House on Monday, Joe Biden donned a black surgical mask, rolled his shirt sleeve to his shoulder and received a third dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine as a “booster” shot.

Related: Judge rules in Wisconsin teen’s favor after sheriff threatened jail over Covid post

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Covid live news: UK records 40 more deaths and 37,960 new cases; Japan to lift state of emergency

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UK records 40 coronavirus-linked deaths in the past 24 hours; Japan to lift Covid state of emergency in all regions at the end of September

Hello, it’s Robyn Vinter here, taking over the live blog for the next few hours.

US President Joe Biden has received his booster jab for Covid-19 at the White House. This is his third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine after announcing last week that Americans over the age of 65 and frontline workers would be eligible for booster shots.

Here is a quick round-up of the coronavirus stories dominating the headlines today in the UK and around the world:

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‘It’s awkward’: how UK workers hired remotely feel returning to the office

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For some, finally meeting their colleagues face-to-face has come with a few nasty surprises

Alexandra was delighted when she landed a new job in the midst of the pandemic. The 55-year-old felt she had bonded with her new colleagues online and looked forward to meeting them face-to-face once the lockdown was over.

But when she finally went into the office, she had a nasty realisation. “I strongly suspect that they would not have hired me, had they met me in person during the interview process,” she said.

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Australia Covid live news update: NSW outlines reopening plan as state records 787 cases, 12 deaths; Victoria 705 cases, one death

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ACT eases some restrictions after recording 19 cases, one death; Gladys Berejiklian announces 11 October as day NSW restrictions ease after state records 787 cases and 12 deaths; Victoria records one death and 705 cases; no new cases in Qld; NT continues with reopening plans; 12 new cases in NZ. Follow all the day’s news

A...scamdemic? AAP reports that a record amount has been scammed from Australians this year.

Australians have lost a record $211m to scams so far this year, with people bombarded by bogus calls and texts purportedly from well-known businesses or the government.

The losses between 1 January and 19 September this year have surpassed the $175.6m reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch throughout 2020.

The prestigious Melbourne University joins several other tertiary institutions in announcing mandatory vaccination policies.

The University of Melbourne will make having a COVID-19 vaccine a compulsory requirement for attending any of its campuses. Exemptions to apply on medical or eligibility grounds. #springst @UniMelb

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‘A great loss’: tributes pour in for pioneering PNG female doctor who died from Covid

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Naomi Kori Pomat, the first female doctor in her province, died in country’s first government-confirmed death of a health worker from virus

Tributes have poured in for a doctor in Papua New Guinea’s Western Province who died last week, in the country’s first death of a healthcare worker from Covid-19 confirmed by the government.

Dr Naomi Kori Pomat, 60, the director for curative health services at the Western Provincial Health Authority (WPHA), was medevaced to Port Moresby after contracting the virus and died on 19 September.

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Covid has wiped out years of progress on life expectancy, finds study

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Pandemic behind biggest fall in life expectancy in western Europe since second world war, say researchers

The Covid pandemic has caused the biggest decrease in life expectancy in western Europe since the second world war, according to a study.

Data from most of the 29 countries – spanning most of Europe, the US and Chile – that were analysed by scientists recorded reductions in life expectancy last year and at a scale that wiped out years of progress.

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Tom Fletcher and Strictly partner test positive for Covid

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McFly singer and dancer Amy Dowden will miss next Saturday’s show while in separate isolation

The Strictly Come Dancing contestant Tom Fletcher and his professional partner, Amy Dowden, have tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss next Saturday’s live show, the BBC has said.

Fletcher, one of the lead vocalists from McFly, and Dowden had performed well in their first dance during this weekend’s show.

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