Experts warn against drawing conclusions from fluctuations as 31,117 daily infections reported
The daily number of Covid cases reported in the UK has risen for the second day in a row, although experts have cautioned against drawing premature conclusions from the fluctuations.
On Thursday, 31,117 cases were reported in the UK, up from 27,734 the day before, which marked the first rise in cases since 20 July.
Continue reading...Case high comes amid another record day of 3,865 infections in Tokyo; French minister complains after England lifts rules for EU but not France
China has reported small coronavirus outbreaks driven by the Delta variant in three provinces as a cluster linked to an eastern airport spreads despite mass testing and a vaccination drive.
AFP reports that the flare-up, which began after nine workers at the Nanjing airport tested positive on 20 July, has seen 171 cases detected in Jiangsu province, while infections have spread to at least four other provinces.
The European Commission has said it had agreed with Hungary to extend a deadline for Budapest to meet demands on its €7bn coronavirus recovery plan.
“The commission is working together with Hungary constructively, with an aim to finalising the assessment by the end of September,” a spokeswoman said. “The commission requested an extended deadline and Hungary did not object.”
Continue reading...Latest updates: latest figures show increase of more than 70,000 compared to previous week
Here are the main points from the Downing Street lobby briefing.
The chancellor has said previously that the triple lock is government policy. But we recognise people’s concerns. We’ve got to ensure fairness for both taxpayers an pensioners.
Thank you @RNLI for all that you do. https://t.co/MkdOU1IHaP
Just made a donation. If you’d like to too - and help save lives - please visit https://t.co/TnJtqXeXbg pic.twitter.com/tk6a8Zky3k
These are from Torsten Bell, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, a thinktank focusing on pay and inequality, on today’s furlough figures. (See 11.44am.)
Two big take-aways from today's furlough stats. 1. almost 2 million workers still furloughed as the scheme's phase out started. That's more than I expected and the rate of decline halved in June from May (lesson = labour market chat has become too complacent) pic.twitter.com/xZgxG1AmAp
2. Furlough is now an older workers story. The young (who were most likely to have been furloughed) are flowing off the scheme much faster. Older workers are more likely to be parked on it and as a result, for the first time, they have the highest furlough rates pic.twitter.com/Ot6ThssfJa
Continue reading...Kristian Pulkownik, 33, is yet to formally apply for bail after he was arrested on Saturday following a so-called freedom march
An alleged Sydney anti-lockdown protester accused of punching a police horse called Tobruk will remain behind bars after refusing a Covid test that was a prerequiste for him to appear in court.
Kristian Pulkownik, 33, is yet to formally apply for bail after he was arrested on Saturday following a march in Sydney’s city centre where thousands of people defied coronavirus restrictions to attend.
Continue reading...Health experts say surge in cases amid Olympics could overload hospitals unless action taken
Health experts in Japan have warned that a recent surge in coronavirus cases in Tokyo, six days into the Olympics, could put hospitals under severe strain unless young people stop socialising at night and get vaccinated.
Tokyo reported 3,865 daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, up from 3,177 on Wednesday, as rising infections in the capital cast a shadow over the Olympics. Wednesday was the first time cases in Tokyo had exceeded 3,000 since the start of the pandemic.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary says government will not ‘hold country back’ because some are not getting vaccinated
The government is using the threat of domestic vaccine passports to coax and cajole people into getting fully vaccinated, the foreign secretary has admitted.
Dominic Raab said ministers did not want to “hold the country back” just because some individuals were not coming forward to get inoculated, confirming publicly what many suspected about Boris Johnson’s sudden decision to throw his weight behind certification for nightclubs.
Continue reading...Former No 10 adviser pressed for appointment to be hurried through, saying he had ‘ordered it’ from PM
Dominic Cummings personally called a former colleague on the Vote Leave Brexit campaign and asked if his company would work for the government on its response to the Covid pandemic, leading to the award of a £580,000 Cabinet Office contract with no competitive process.
In an email on 20 March 2020, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser asked the most senior civil servant responsible for contracts to sign off the budget immediately, and that if “anybody in CABOFF [the Cabinet Office] whines”, to tell them Cummings had “ordered it” from the prime minister.
Continue reading...Flights have reportedly been cancelled and checkpoints set up to verify travellers’ health status amid Delta
Health authorities in China have set up checkpoints and reportedly suspended flights in the eastern city of Nanjing in the country’s worst coronavirus emergency in months.
More than 170 people have been diagnosed with the Delta variant in the past 10 days. The main outbreak is centred on Nanjing, in Jiangsu province, but connected cases have reportedly been identified in Beijing and other provinces including Anhui, Liaoning, Sichuan and Guangdong.
Continue reading...Shelters swept away as activists say people stuck in Cox’s Bazar are highly vulnerable to the ‘rapidly changing climate’
At least six Rohingya refugees were killed by landslides or drowned in flooding after rain inundated refugee camps in Bangladesh over recent days, deepening the despair among those living there.
Knee-deep waters coursed through the camps, battering fragile shelters made of bamboo and tarpaulin and making at least 5,000 people homeless, according to the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR).
Continue reading...Residents of eight local government areas banned from leaving hotspots unless they are essential workers; tradespeople now allowed into clients’ homes. Follow all the day’s news
Oooh, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is speaking early this morning. I wonder if we will get the Covid-19 update at this event or if we will have to wait for the CHO to step up later in the day:
Daniel Andrews is speaking at from 9.45am at a level crossing removal.
NSW is lagging behind many other states and territories when it comes to vaccinating its elderly population, with fewer than 40% of over-70s fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
New data released by the federal government on Wednesday provides a state breakdown of national vaccination numbers for the first time. The figures reveal that of the almost 1 million people over 70 in NSW, 77% have received a first vaccine dose and 39% have received a second.
Related: Just 39% of NSW residents over 70 are fully vaccinated against Covid, despite push for jabs
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The Federal Reserve chair said today that the Delta variant poses little threat to the economy, so far. At a news conference, chair Jerome Powell said:
What we’ve seen is with successive waves of COVID over the past year and some months now, there has tended to be less in the way of economic implications from each wave. We will see whether that is the case with the delta variety, but it’s certainly not an unreasonable expectation.”
Dining out, traveling, some schools might not reopen. We may see economic effects from some of that or it might weigh on the return to the labor market. We don’t have a strong sense of how that will work out, so we’ll be monitoring it carefully.”
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has said he will vote to move forward with the infrastructure bill:
Based on a commitment from Leader Schumer to Senators Portman and Sinema that the Portman-Sinema amendment to be filed will be the substitute amendment, I will vote to proceed to the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Continue reading...We examine the new regulations regarding quarantine, testing and proving inoculation after 2 August
Millions of people living outside the UK will be allowed quarantine-free entry following the most significant lifting of restrictions on international travel in months. Here’s what you need to know:
Continue reading...Observers fear pandemic could be responsible for deaths, adding intrigue to freedom protests taking place in Cuba and US
Five mostly elderly and retired Cuban military generals have died in recent days in mysterious circumstances, the country’s communist regime has confirmed, adding intrigue to a new round of freedom protests taking place in the island and US.
Related: Leftwing rural teacher Pedro Castillo sworn in as president of Peru
Continue reading...The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, on Wednesday heaped disdain on the Republican minority leader’s criticism of Congress’s new mask requirement – a reversal of policy that reflected growing number of cases and fears about the highly-transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant at the Capitol.
Related: Bipartisan group reaches agreement on ‘major issues’ of infrastructure bill, Republican says – live
Continue reading...Police speak with wealthy billboard operator who depicted French president as Nazi leader
Emmanuel Macron is taking legal action against a wealthy billboard operator who displayed posters depicting him as Adolf Hitler.
Lawyers for the French president are suing after the large images appeared in the Var in the south of France.
Continue reading...Health secretary’s comments came after a week of declining cases ended with 4,000 increase in one day
Sajid Javid has said “no one really knows” what trajectory the Covid pandemic will take in the weeks ahead, as new cases across the UK rose after seven days of consecutive declines.
The latest Covid data, published on Wednesday, showed 27,734 people testing positive across the UK – up by 4,000 from a day earlier.
Continue reading...Loosening of international travel restrictions will let millions more people visit friends and family in England
Double-vaccinated travellers from the US and most of Europe will have their jab status recognised, meaning they can avoid quarantine when arriving in England.
The Guardian revealed on Tuesday that the government was poised to announce a significant loosening of international travel restrictions to let millions more people visit friends and family in the country, as well as boost the struggling tourism and aviation sectors.
Continue reading...Special rapporteur urges security council to call for ceasefire amid fears Covid will spread across wider region
Myanmar is at risk of becoming a super-spreader Covid state that fuels outbreaks across the region, the UN special rapporteur for the country has warned as he urged the security council to call for a ceasefire.
The south-east Asian country is facing its most severe outbreak yet, on top of a deep political and economic crisis brought about by the military coup in February. Its vaccination programme has ground to a standstill, testing has collapsed, and government hospitals are barely functioning.
Continue reading...Efficacy of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine falls from 96%; French health pass to be compulsory for cafe visits and some travel
An interesting story from Cuba - five mostly elderly and retired Cuban military generals have died in recent days in mysterious circumstances. Cuba’s government has not given an explanation for the deaths but it is thought Covid may be to blame, as the rate has risen almost eight-fold since the start of July.
Related: Five Cuban generals dead in recent days – is the Covid spike to blame?
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in Kuwait on Wednesday where he pledged his support to the UN agency’s investigation in China into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Agence France-Presse.
“The U.S. supports the @WHO plans for additional studies into Covid-19 origins, including in (the People’s Republic of China), to better understand this pandemic and prevent future ones,” Blinken tweeted after arriving in the Gulf Arab state.
Continue reading...NSW records 177 local cases, lockdown extended four weeks; single bubbles now allowed in greater Sydney; those on welfare support now eligible for federal disaster payments, NSW premier says; Victoria records eight local cases overnight, and a new local, non-quarantined case today. Follow all the day’s news
And here’s the video of Scott Morrison comparing the vaccine take-up to a gold medal run at the Olympics earlier today:
Reviews of rapid Covid-19 tests in Australia have found markedly different results in their effectiveness, but experts say the New South Wales government’s decision to employ them in schools and essential workplaces will help to control the virus.
Michael McGowan has this story after NSW announced that rapid tests would be used during Sydney’s continuing lockdown.
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