Mutant strain may emerge amid vaccine hesitancy, experts say, as even medics reject jabs in DR Congo
Dr Christian Mayala and Dr Rodin Nzembuni Nduku sit together on a bench outside the Covid ward at Kinshasa’s Mama Yemo hospital.
They are discussing the health of their father, Noel Kalouda, who contracted coronavirus weeks before, and is now lying in a hospital bed, breathing through an oxygen mask.
Continue reading...Analysis: Proof of vaccination is nothing new and any requirement that people use a ‘health pass’ will involve balancing various rights
With greater numbers of people being vaccinated and countries looking to reopen borders safely, the introduction of some form of vaccine passport seems increasingly likely.
For New Zealand, where the elimination strategy has been largely successful but which remains vulnerable to border breaches, proof of vaccination may well be a condition of entry.
Continue reading...Mystery infections emerge in Victoria and Western Australia; dieticians, midwives could bolster vaccine rollout program. Follow all the day’s news
Scott Morrison will deliver a Closing the Gap update today in the parliament.
Labor will also make a statement.
It seems like Monday was years ago, but we have made it to the last sitting day of the first week of spring sittings.
Barely.
Related: Dentists, midwives and physiotherapists could deliver Covid jabs to bolster Australia’s rollout
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The Mexican government has launched legal action against US gunmakers in an unprecedented attempt to halt the flow of guns across the border, where US-made weapons are routinely used in cartel gun-battles, terror attacks on civilians – and increasingly to challenge the state itself.
The Mexican government is suing six gunmakers in a Massachusetts court, alleging negligence in their failure to control their distributors and that the illegal market in Mexico “has been their economic lifeblood”.
Related: Mexico sues US gunmakers in unprecedented bid to stop weapons crossing border
AP in Washington:
The state department has said that it is looking into the apparent disappearance of a nearly $6,000 bottle of whisky given more than two years ago to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by the government of Japan.
In a notice filed in the federal register, the department said it could find no trace of the bottle’s whereabouts and that there is an “ongoing inquiry” into what happened to the booze. The department reported the investigation in its annual accounting of gifts given to senior US officials by foreign governments and leaders.
Related: $5,800 whisky bottle given to Pompeo as gift missing, state department says
Continue reading...Ministers ditch plans for watchlist of amber countries such as Spain
Millions of Britons have been given the green light to travel to Europe’s holiday hotspots, avoiding quarantine on return from France and Spain where concerns have been raised about Covid variants.
Ministers announced on Wednesday that fully vaccinated holidaymakers returning from France would no longer need to quarantine and ditched plans for a “watchlist” of amber countries such as Spain.
Continue reading...40x40 project encourages people to donate 40 minutes of their time to help women return to workplace
The Duchess of Sussex has used her 40th birthday to launch an initiative to help women back into work after the huge job losses caused by the Covid pandemic.
The project, which was launched with a comedy film featuring a juggling Prince Harry, is called 40x40 and is focused on encouraging people around the world to donate 40 minutes of their time to help women return to the workplace.
Continue reading...JCVI decision comes two weeks after body recommended against routine vaccination of children
Covid vaccines will be offered to all 16- and 17-year-olds without needing the consent of their parents, after government experts reversed their advice from just two weeks ago.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said older teenagers should be offered their first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab and advice on when to offer the second dose would come later.
Continue reading...John Eyers had been climbing mountains four weeks before his death in intensive care
A “fit and healthy” 42-year-old who loved climbing mountains and lifting weights has died of Covid-19 after refusing to get vaccinated, leaving his twin sister and mother heartbroken.
The two women warned others not to think they are invulnerable to the dangers of the virus.
Continue reading...Thinktank says longer wait for treatment since Covid pandemic is main reason, in study of 11 countries
The NHS has lost its prestigious ranking as the best health system in a study of 11 rich countries by an influential US thinktank.
The UK has fallen from first to fourth in the Commonwealth Fund’s latest analysis of the performance of the healthcare systems in the nations it studied.
Continue reading...Now it’s clear the virus is not going away debate about what approach the country should adopt next is emerging
As the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to spread across at least 17 provinces, China is facing a new dilemma: is its once-successful “zero tolerance” approach to containing the spread of the virus over, and what comes next?
Unlike Britain and Singapore, where officials have explicitly encouraged people to “learn to live with the virus”, China has yet to officially shift its messaging.
Continue reading...Analysis: official advisers have called for jabs to be given to children aged 16 and 17 in a rethink of policy
Just weeks ago, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that children over the age of 12 should only be vaccinated if they were extremely vulnerable or lived with someone at risk, citing concerns about an inflammatory heart condition linked to the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. Now the JCVI has tweaked that decision to allow children aged 16 and 17 to be routinely offered the vaccine.
Continue reading...Dr Peninah Murage says the unjust traffic light system penalises poor countries even though some have relatively low numbers of cases. Plus Dot Mornington-West on being under house arrest after returning from France
Can the Guardian please investigate the rationale behind the Covid travel restrictions relating to “red list” countries? Some of the countries on the red list, such as Kenya, have very low Covid cases and deaths, but are among the world’s poorest and with little influence on government policy.
Essentially, the UK government is using this list to appease the public who need to see the government doing something – but at the same time the government is assured that the backlash will be minimal because these countries have very little voice.
Continue reading...Two deaths overnight in Sydney and 233 new local cases in NSW; Queensland to reschedule public holiday as 17 cases recorded. Question time returns. Follow latest updates
About 2,500 students and staff at a school in Melbourne’s west will need to self-isolate and get tested after a teacher caught Covid-19.
Jeroen Weimar, Victoria’s Covid-19 commander, told ABC Melbourne the Al Taqwa College teacher got tested yesterday and her positive result came back today.
Let’s take a look at the market at the close of play, via AAP.
The ASX200 has closed higher than 7500 points for the first time in its history as traders continue to look beyond coronavirus lockdowns.
Continue reading...Pan-European research shows psychiatric services across the continent reduced level of care
UK Government announces changes to travel rules
Millions of Britons have been given the green light to travel to Europe’s holiday hotspots, avoiding quarantine on return from France and Spain where concerns have been raised about Covid variants.
Related: Fully vaccinated Britons returning from France and Spain will not need to quarantine
Australian authorities warn Covid cases will rise despite lockdowns
Coronavirus cases in Australia, while still low, are rising in some areas despite weeks of lockdown, with authorities warning that infections will rise further because of the more contagious Delta variant.
Continue reading...Minister says JCVI experts to update advice ‘imminently’ on widening access to vaccine to more teenagers
Covid vaccines are expected to be offered to children in the UK aged 16 and 17, in line with many other countries, after a minister confirmed government experts will update their advice “imminently”.
Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said the government was expecting an announcement from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on widening access to the coronavirus vaccine to more teenagers.
Continue reading...Every province has advised residents not to leave as flights are cancelled and Beijing suspends more than a dozen rail lines
China has dramatically tightened travel restrictions as it seeks to control the country’s worst outbreak in months, with hundreds of Delta variant cases linked to airport employees.
The latest outbreak has so far infected more than 400 people in 25 cities, including the capital city Beijing, and in Wuhan for the first time since it contained the first Covid-19 outbreak last year. Cases have been reported in 17 of the 31 provinces.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands flock to cities as government allows manufacturers to reopen, with exporters citing fears Western brands would divert orders
Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers have returned to major cities, besieging train and bus stations after the government said export factories could reopen despite the deadly coronavirus wave.
Authorities had ordered factories, offices, transport and shops to close from 23 July to 5 August and confined people to their homes for a week, as coronavirus infections and deaths hit record levels.
Continue reading...Co-creator of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab hopes it will inspire young girls to enter Stem careers
Prof Sarah Gilbert has had quite a year. The co-creator of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab has been made a dame, been given an emotional standing ovation at Wimbledon – and now a Barbie doll has been made in her honour.
Gilbert, who led the development of the Covid vaccine at Oxford University, said she initially found the gesture “very strange” but hoped it would inspire young girls to work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem).
Continue reading...Polls this week suggest the glacial speed of the Covid vaccine rollout is starting to affect Labour’s support, even as PM remains personally popular
An unbeatable leader in times of crisis, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s soaring popularity has teetered on the country’s slow road to vaccination.
This week, polling in New Zealand indicated some of the gloss may be fading from the Ardern government’s second term, which has enjoyed soaringly high popularity over the past year. The poll, conducted by Newshub/Reid Research, put Labour at 43%, down 9.7 percentage points. The results followed a similar trend line polling by TVNZ from May.
Continue reading...Officials said the three tried to avoid authorities after returning from abroad, sparking a social media flurry
Japan has carried out a threat to publicly shame people not complying with coronavirus border control measures, releasing the names of three people who broke quarantine rules after returning from overseas.
The health ministry said the three Japanese nationals named had clearly acted to avoid contact with authorities after recently returning from abroad.
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