Category Archives: Coronavirus

Australia Covid live update: national cabinet mandates vaccinations for aged care and quarantine staff; AstraZeneca to be available for under-60s

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An $11m grant announced to pay for leave for aged care staff to be vaccinated; Darwin in lockdown after four cases; restrictions for WA and SA; Queensland makes masks mandatory in hotspots. Follow live

Well that was a press conference and a half.

Here’s a brief summary of the key things Scott Morrison announced:

Another decision out of national cabinet is an agreement to make it mandatory for all quarantine workers, including those working in transport, to be vaccinated. However, this will be the responsibility of the states and territories, not the commonwealth.

This announcement follows the case of a Sydney limousine driver transporting international air crews contracting Covid-19 while being unvaccinated, NSW police admitting this breached no public health orders.

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Coronavirus live news: Portugal to quarantine unvaccinated British visitors; Taiwan tightens border rules

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British travellers to Portugal face 14-day quarantine; Taiwan imposes new quarantine rules; South Africa re-introduces curfew, alcohol ban; all of Italy mask free and low risk from Monday

Greece wants more young people vaccinated and it trying to encourage them by offering €150 for them to take the first dose, Reuters reports.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told ministers on Monday morning it is “a gift out of gratitude” - being offered on prepaid cards to spend during the summer and on cultural events.

Italy dropped the obligation to wear a face mask outdoors from Monday as the whole country entered the lowest-risk ‘white zone’ category of coronavirus restrictions.

However, people will still need to wear a face mask if in a crowded area or when inside shops, restaurants and other indoor premises, and when using public transport.

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Vaccine inequality: how rich countries cut Covid deaths as poorer fall behind

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Developed countries are seeing the benefits of quickly vaccinating their populations, but concerns remain about the unequal share of global vaccine supplies

New analysis by the Guardian has confirmed that a speedy Covid vaccination campaign pays off when it comes to escaping the worst of the pandemic.

As the chart below shows, countries such as Israel, the UK and the US have all seen deaths decline as vaccination coverage extended to the most vulnerable in their societies.

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India’s Covid gender gap: women left behind in vaccination drive

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Misinformation and access issues combined with patriarchal social norms fuelling disparity in distribution across most states

Deep-rooted structural inequalities and patriarchal values are to blame for India’s worrying Covid vaccine gender gap, campaigners and academics have warned.

As of 25 June, of the 309m Covid vaccine doses delivered since January 2021, 143m were administered to women compared with nearly 167m to men, according to CoWin, India’s national statistics site – a ratio of 856 doses given to women for every 1,000 given to men. The difference is not accounted for by India’s gender imbalance of 924 women to 1,000 men.

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‘It opened my eyes’: Lesotho ski resort goes off-piste to keep workers

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The pandemic has hit tourism but retraining and a range of initiatives have enabled staff to stay and even hit the slopes

Masiane Nthina made her way nervously from the kit room to the slopes. Shuffling with skis on her feet for the first time is not easy.

Nthina, an intern at the Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation, lives close to Afriski Mountain Resort, but had never visited it. She had always viewed the resort as the preserve of the elite and thought that on her meagre wages she could not afford to go.

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Sufferers of chronic pain have long been told it’s all in their head. We now know that’s wrong

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In the first of a series looking at chronic pain and long Covid, Linda Geddes explores the growing realisation that pain can be a disease in and of itself – and the pandemic could be making it worse

It started with headaches and neck pain, but no sooner had Tricia Kalinowski’s physiotherapist come up with a strategy to tackle these problems, then another area of her body would start to hurt: her lower back, her hip or her jaw.

“The physio was chasing the pain up and down my body,” says Kalinowski, 60, from Minneapolis, US. Eventually, she was referred to an oral surgeon, who believed the root cause of these issues was a problem with one of the joints in her jaw, so she underwent surgery to replace a thumbnail-sized disc.

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‘Health systems should be prepared’: doctors brace for tsunami of long Covid

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As the debilitating post-viral condition affects millions around the world, medical experts are scrambling to nail down what causes it – and how to treat it

When his throat first started hurting, John Brown didn’t think much of it.

It was March 2020 and the 48-year-old was onboard the Voyager of the Seas, a cruise travelling through the Pacific Islands.

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Buck naked: nude sunbathers fleeing deer fined for breaking Sydney lockdown

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Police fined two men $1,000 each after helicopter and rescue crew sent to help the pair who became lost in bushland after wildlife encounter

New South Wales police have fined two men for breaching coronavirus restrictions after they were startled by a deer while sunbaking naked on a beach south of Sydney and ran into the bush, becoming lost and needing to be rescued.

Police sent a helicopter to search for the pair, who were fined $1,000 for breaching public health orders amid a coronavirus outbreak that has seen residents in greater Sydney locked down and banned from travelling outside their local area.

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Covid live news: Luxembourg PM ‘tests positive for Covid’; UK records 14,876 new cases

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Xavier Bettel in isolation after self-test result, according to reports; UK’s daily cases figure falls slightly from Saturday

France reported 1,345 coronavirus patients in intensive care today - four less than yesterday - and updated its overall death toll to 84,512, reports Reuters.

UK opposition leader Keir Starmer says there are “huge questions still to answer” following the resignation of health minister Matt Hancock.

Asked if Sajid Javid is a good replacement for Hancock, who resigned after footage emerged of him kissing an aide, PA reports that the Labour leader said:

We need a strong Health Secretary as we come through the pandemic.

But obviously there’s huge questions still to answer. If anybody thinks that the resignation of Matt Hancock is the end of the issue, I think they’re wrong and I think the incoming Health Secretary and the Prime Minister now have serious questions to answer about the CCTV, about the access, the passes, the contracts, etc.

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Global report: rise in Delta variant cases forces tougher restrictions

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Moscow has reported the highest death toll of any Russian city, while the Delta variant is forcing tighter restrictions in the Asia-Pacific region

Moscow has recorded the highest Covid-19 daily death toll of any Russian city so far, as the highly contagious Delta variant forced tougher restrictions on countries across the Asia-Pacific region and fuelled mounting concern over holiday travel in Europe.

Vaccinations have brought infection numbers down in many wealthy countries, and curbs on daily life continue to ease in much of the EU and US, but experts warn the fast-spreading strain means the pandemic – while slowing globally – is far from over.

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South Africa expected to tighten Covid rules as third wave gathers pace

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Economic heartland hit by rise in infections driven by Delta variant and faltering vaccination campaign

Authorities in South Africa appeared set to impose new restrictions on Sunday in a belated attempt to stem a rise in Covid-19 that is ravaging the country’s economic heartland.

The wave of infections has been driven by the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant, weak countermeasures and public fatigue with existing restrictions.

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Delta Covid variant may be edging race against vaccines

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Analysis: research suggests ‘scarily fleeting’ contact could infect, and that places with high jab rates are susceptible

The transmission advantage of the Delta variant that is spreading at pace globally is a sign that the race between vaccination and the virus could tip in favour of the latter unless countries ramp up their immunisation campaigns and practise caution, scientists say.

The variant, first detected in India, has been identified in at least 92 countries and is considered the “fittest” variant yet of the virus that causes Covid-19, with its enhanced ability to prey on the vulnerable – particularly in places with low vaccination rates.

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Sydney Covid lockdown restrictions: NSW update to coronavirus rules

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New Covid restrictions for the greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong have been introduced. Can you have visitors? Is mask-wearing compulsory? Is travelling permitted? Here’s the full list of what you can and can’t do in NSW

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has announced a two-week lockdown for greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong that came into effect from 6pm on Saturday 26 June until midnight on Friday 9 July.

This supersedes the lockdown already in effect for those who live in or whose usual place of work is in Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick and City of Sydney councils.

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Australia Covid update: outbreaks sweep nation as NSW reports 30 new infections, and Perth, NT and Qld record local cases

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Sydney’s Bondi cluster grows to 110, Virgin Australia flight attendant tests positive, Darwin locks down, WA imposes restrictions and Queensland reports outbreak of Alpha variant

New South Wales reported 30 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday as a string of new outbreaks across Australia forced states and territories to introduce sweeping new restrictions, and prompted urgent calls for vaccine eligibility to be widened.

On the first full day of lockdown for the entire greater Sydney region since May 2020, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian warned the city to prepare for a further increase in cases over the coming days as the Bondi cluster which sparked the new outbreak grew to 110.

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US fight against Covid threatened by growing vaccine gap in the south

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Less than 50% of adults in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine

In the United States, to bring about a long-awaited end to the Covid-19 pandemic, federal and state health officials have been urging all Americans to get vaccinated. But, amid stagnating national vaccine rates, some states in the south have been lagging behind when it comes to vaccinating their populations, raising fears of deepening regional disparities.

That raises the prospect that for a complex web of reasons much of the southern US will continue to experience the pandemic in a different way than the rest of America. That is especially worrisome as the south contains more communities that are more vulnerable to the virus.

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NSW and ACT Covid exposure sites: list and map of Sydney hotspots and coronavirus case locations

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Here are the current coronavirus hotspots and Covid-19 public exposure sites in Sydney, regional New South Wales and Canberra, and what to do if you’ve visited them. Our analysis and map shows where Covid cases are increasing, and a live data update tracks the daily case numbers in NSW

Authorities have released a list of public exposure sites in Sydney, regional NSW, and Canberra ACT visited by a confirmed case of Covid-19.

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots, Covid exposure sites, venues and case location alerts and what to do if you’ve visited them. See the full list and map below.

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Sajid Javid steps back into the cabinet to steer UK out of pandemic

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Incoming secretary of state faces daunting task while mastering his new position in the Department of Health as quickly as possible

Sajid Javid may have already served in two of the most testing offices of state, as chancellor of the exchequer and home secretary. But on Saturday he walked into what is now arguably the biggest and most challenging of all: the job of health secretary.

Not only does Javid have to steer the country out of what will hopefully be the final stages of the pandemic, ensuring we reach the end of what Boris Johnson has called the “irreversible road to freedom”.

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‘Unnecessarily cruel’: how Australia’s closed border is forcing migrants to leave permanently

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Recent arrivals find themselves choosing between their fairytale life in Australia and desperation to see family

“We need to decide how long we can live like this,” says Jennie Edeleanu.

Fifteen months after the coronavirus pandemic brought international travel to a standstill, Australia’s progressive tightening of its borders is forcing newly arrived migrants such as Jennie and her fiance, Steen Reed, to consider leaving permanently.

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‘I’ve seen too many bodies’: Jakarta gravediggers chart Indonesia’s Covid battle

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Workers like Darsiman sometimes work 16-hour days in the mud to handle the coffins brought out from a line of waiting ambulances

It is only noon and the grave diggers at Rorotan cemetery have buried 23 bodies of Covid-19 patients since they started work at 7am.

At least two excavators are on standby because the hard soil in the area makes it difficult to dig with just shovels.

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Matt Hancock resigns as health secretary after day of humiliation

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Ex-chancellor Sajid Javid is made health secretary but Boris Johnson’s authority suffers blow from resignation

Matt Hancock has resigned as health secretary after Tory MPs, ministers and grassroots Conservatives defied Boris Johnson and demanded he be dismissed from the government.

The minister fell on his sword after a day that began with senior Tories observing a deliberate silence over Hancock’s future – seemingly to test public opinion in their constituencies – before many later broke ranks to insist he had to go.

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