Until cases dip to 10,000 a day, we are still in full ‘pandemic mode’, infectious disease expert says
The US has far too many cases of the coronavirus to see an end to the pandemic, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Axios in an interview published on Thursday.
“The endgame is to suppress the virus,” Fauci said. “Right now, we’re still in pandemic mode, because we have 160,000 new infections a day.”
Continue reading...Fast-track scheme is aimed at those whose jobs put them at risk in pandemic
France has granted citizenship to more than 12,000 frontline workers whose jobs put them at risk during the Covid pandemic under a special fast-track scheme.
As well as speeding up the application process, which normally takes up to two years, the government also cut the residency requirement from five years to two.
Continue reading...At Thursday's daily Covid-19 briefing, the typically unflappable prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, could barely contain her expression when asked to respond to an allegation that a visitor and a patient had sex in a shared room at Auckland hospital. The allegation comes as the Auckland District Health Board faces criticism for allowing hundreds of visitors a day into hospitals, despite the strict lockdown measures in place to help the country stamp out an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.
► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube
NSW freedoms come into effect the Monday after 70% over-16 vaccination is achieved; state confirms five more deaths; new case in Qld quarantine; 107 of Victoria’s new cases linked to known outbreaks – follow the latest updates live
An update on another story I did this week regarding those Craig Kelly text messages everyone has been getting.
We know that under the current legislative situation, there’s nothing preventing political parties like the United Australia Party from sending out those text messages, and people cannot unsubscribe from them.
The carriage of messages is generally a commercial matter for telecommunications providers, except in circumstances where there may be offences against the laws of the commonwealth or states or territories.
Both the Telecommunications Act 1997 and Spam Act 2003 contain provisions about implied freedom of political communications. These provisions set out that the acts or parts of them do not apply to the extent they would infringe on any constitutional doctrine of implied freedom of political communication.
There’s a press conference with the PM at 1.40pm AEST.
Continue reading...New Delta cases below 21 for sixth consecutive day, as Jacinda Ardern announces vaccine purchase from Spain
Daily cases in New Zealand’s coronavirus outbreak have continued to fall, with just 13 new infections recorded on Thursday, the sixth day in a row that numbers have been below 21. The downward trend is an encouraging sign the tough lockdown measures are working and that the country is making progress towards stamping out the virus.
It came as the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced the government had secured another 250,000 Pfizer vaccines from Spain to enable the vaccine rollout to continue at pace.
Continue reading...Data suggesting 20.3% of people are unwilling or unsure on getting jab prompts call for new strategies to reach nation’s wary
Australians must be prepared to see the Covid vaccination uptake curve start to flatten in coming months, a leading vaccine communication expert has warned, due to the rate of hesitancy.
But she is calling for health policy to reach this group in order to stop their lives becoming too difficult or to drive them away from healthcare.
Continue reading...Judge rules against governor while appeals court decides whether ban on public schools mandating masks is ultimately legal
A Florida judge ruled on Wednesday that the state cannot enforce a ban on public schools mandating the use of masks against the coronavirus while an appeals court sorts out whether the ban is ultimately legal.
Related: Three Vermont state troopers accused of creating fake Covid-19 vaccination cards
Continue reading...Low-grade ventilation system at indoor carnival in Gangelt leading factor in outbreak among partygoers
Airborne viruses recycled through a low-grade ventilation system likely created Germany’s first super-spreader event of the Covid-19 pandemic, a CSI-style analysis of a carnival celebration has found.
The event at the town hall of Gangelt, a municipality on the border with the Netherlands, was labelled “Germany’s Wuhan” after it was found to be the driver of a major outbreak in the western state of North-Rhine Westphalia last year.
Continue reading...Victoria to lift regional lockdown for most areas after 221 new coronavirus cases; NSW records nine deaths and 1,480 cases, says international quarantine period likely to be reduced for vaccinated travellers; Morrison throws support behind vaccine certificates for travel – follow updates live
This daily infographic provides the total number of vaccine doses administered in Australia as of 7 September 2021
Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccine information here: https://t.co/lsM33j9wMW pic.twitter.com/roF2l4PwYr
It might be repetitive to say, but I’ll take the good news anywhere. With that in mind, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have recorded zero new cases today. South Australia recorded one case in hotel quarantine, and zero locally acquired cases.
Continue reading...Sajid Javid says he ‘hasn’t even thought about’ snap lockdown if cases rise; New Zealand battles new Delta outbreak
Victoria Police in Australia say future organised large gatherings will not be tolerated, and police will act on intelligence to stop them, after dozens of worshippers gathered near a synagogue in Melbourne’s south east earlier this week, in breach of Covid-19 lockdown rules.
Six people so far have been fined $5452 each for the illegal gathering in Ripponlea on Tuesday morning, held to mark the start of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
Related: Victoria Police ‘will not tolerate’ anyone organising further gatherings against Covid rules
One of the other topics that has come up during the UK’s morning media round is the issue of vaccinations for 12- to 15-year-olds, and whether they should be able to overrule their parents and get the jab if they want it. Earlier on Sky News UK health secretary Sajid Javid said:
I think we should follow the same rules that we’ve had in this country, under the successive governments, for decades, which is that you first would try to seek the consent of parents. If there’s a difference of opinion between the child and the parent, then we have specialists that work in this area, the school’s vaccination service, they would usually sit down with the parent and the child and try to reach some kind of consensus. If ultimately that doesn’t work, as long as we believe that the child is competent enough to make this decision, then the child will will prevail.
We have a lot of case law about the competence of young people to make decisions on their own. Certainly, in respect of procedure which is of benefit to them. I think we should err on the side of giving young people the opportunity to make decisions.
Continue reading...Vietnam was a Covid success story but the latest lockdown, with people unable to leave the house even for food, is leaving tens of thousands hungry
When the strictest lockdown to date was imposed in Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Thi Hao*, a factory worker, was told that the government would keep her and her family well fed – but for two months they have eaten little more than rice and fish sauce.
She was put on unpaid leave from her job in July, while her husband, a construction worker, has not worked for months. They are behind on their rent, with another payment due soon.
Continue reading...The clinic, which set up an online page to book $85 consultations for the drug, has been listed as a coronavirus exposure site
A medical clinic in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs has been offering patients off-label prescriptions for the anti-parasite drug ivermectin to treat Covid-19, despite a lack of evidence for its use in treating the virus.
The clinic set up a dedicated online page to apply for a consultation to be prescribed the drug to treat Covid-19 on its website after receiving an “influx of ivermectin inquiries”.
Continue reading...Despite a fifth day of falling cases, planned reopening early next year will be changed to grade countries by vaccination and case numbers
See all our coronavirus coverage
New Zealand’s plans to reopen its borders to the world early next year will have to undergo a complete reworking, the government has warned, as the country races to stamp out an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.
The nation recorded 15 new cases of coronavirus in the community on Wednesday, bringing the total number in the outbreak to 855.
Continue reading...Overall jabs administered in the UK stand at 91,827,909; Sweden will remove virtually all Covid restrictions on 29 September
The pandemic has left thousands of migrants stranded in Yemen because of restrictions on movement.
The UN’s migration agency IOM said 32,000 are stuck in Yemen, which is a transit hub for migrants leaving the Horn of Africa and trying to cross through Saudi Arabia.
Another 22,698 people took up first doses of the vaccine in Britain on Monday, taking the latest figures for overall jabs in the UK to 91,827,909, according to government data.
Four in five over-16s have now been fully vaccinated, with the highest percentage (84.1%) in Wales.
Continue reading...Protesters also hit bodyguard but prime minister plays down incident on election campaign stop
Justin Trudeau has been hit by a handful of gravel as anti-vaccination protesters targeted the Canadian prime minister’s campaign for re-election.
A CTV camera captured what appears to be white gravel hitting Trudeau and one of his bodyguards as he walked toward his campaign bus in London, Ontario. The Liberals cancelled an event late last month because of safety concerns linked to anti-vax protesters.
Continue reading...Judge cites lack of ‘convincing evidence’ that drug is effective, siding with hospital that refused to administer medication
An Ohio judge has reversed a court order that forced a local hospital to treat a Covid-19 patient with the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin.
Related: Military doctors shore up exhausted health teams in US south amid Covid surge
Continue reading...Environmental activists demand delay to Glasgow climate talks if costs and travel restrictions block attendance of those worst-hit
The Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow should be postponed until the government can ensure that the talks won’t be a “rich nations stitch-up”, a diverse coalition of international organisations has said.
With less than two months to go before the talks, the Climate Action Network (CAN), a global alliance of more than 1,500 civil society organisations, is warning that many delegates from the global south will be unable to attend due to vaccine inequity and prohibitive quarantine costs.
Continue reading...Video footage recorded earlier in the day appears to show dozens of people entering the building, without wearing masks
Victoria Police are monitoring an ultra-Orthodox synagogue in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea as part of an investigation into an alleged breach of Covid public health orders.
Video footage recorded earlier in the day appears to show people entering without wearing masks.
Continue reading...Firms accused of ‘rounding up workers like animals’ for compulsory vaccination as country acts to stop spread of virus
Thousands of workers in Zimbabwe have been told they will face the sack if they refuse to be vaccinated with one of the Covid-19 jabs, according to the country’s biggest worker’s union.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), an amalgamation of 35 labour unions representing 189,000 people, has accused employers of infringing workers’ rights, saying there is no law providing for compulsory vaccinations. It has taken the government and six companies to court for ordering employees to have the vaccine, arguing that the companies are “taking the law into their own hands” by forcing the issue.
Continue reading...A 49-year-old man died the day after taking his second shot of the vaccine, though authorities said a causal link has not been identified
A third man has died in Japan after receiving an injection from one of three batches of Moderna vaccines since identified as contaminated, though authorities say no causal link has yet been found.
The 49-year-old man had his second shot on 11 August and died the following day. His only known health issue was an allergy to buckwheat, the health ministry said on Monday. As with the previous two deaths, the ministry said it had yet to establish if the latest fatality was linked to the vaccine.
Continue reading...