Category Archives: Coronavirus

Vaccine volley: debate rages over ambivalence of tennis professionals

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The ATP and WTA support Covid-19 vaccination but some players have shrugged their shoulders as they would have to remain in tournament bubbles regardless

As the Miami Open marched towards its climax, one of the many off-court discussions that have raged on during the event is the simple question of the sport’s attitude towards vaccination during the pandemic. Players were asked during the week about their stance, and a trend of ambivalence became clear.

For Andrey Rublev, the Russian world No 8, vaccination would make little difference to him as he would still have to remain in the tournament bubbles: “I don’t know,” Rublev said. “There is no reason. Just – I don’t know. Just by the feelings, because I never have any vaccine since I was a kid, so I don’t know. I feel OK with this way. I never had any problems with my health.”

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Covid-19 live news: EMA says ‘no evidence’ to support restricting use of AstraZeneca; German leaders demand tighter lockdown

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Europe’s medicines agency says no risk factors identified; two state premiers say time for discussion is over and lockdown needed

A court in Belgium has ordered the government to either lift all coronavirus measures within 30 days or frame them properly in law, after a case brought by a human rights organisation challenged the use of ministerial decrees to implement them.

A night-time curfew and a ban on non-essential travel are among the restrictions currently in place in Belgium. The court in the capital, Brussels, said the state would have to pay fines of €5,000 (£4,256) a day if it fails to abide by the ruling.

We believe that in view of the restrictions on fundamental freedoms imposed to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, a debate in parliament was essential.

While restrictions on these rights and freedoms may of course be made, given the importance of the issues at stake and the need to protect the rights to life and health of individuals, they must be fair and proportionate.

Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he will be vaccinated against Covid next week, according to Reuters.

“The doctors recommended that I get vaccinated,” he said during his regular morning news conference, without disclosing which day he planned to receive the shot.

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Outdoor mask decree met with dismay by Spain’s tourism industry

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Ruling that face masks must be worn on beaches comes amid fears of fourth Covid wave

The Spanish tourist industry has reacted with dismay to the government’s decree that face masks must be worn in all outdoor spaces, including beaches and swimming pools, even when it is possible to maintain social distancing.

“We’re going through hell with thousands of jobs and businesses threatened and now they want to turn the beaches into open-air field hospitals,” José Luis Zoreda, vice-president of Exceltur, the umbrella organisation that represents Spain’s tourism industry, told El País newspaper.

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UK weather: Wednesday could be hottest March day on record

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Spell of early spring warm weather continues after record 24.5C on Tuesday

Forecasters say there is a small possibility the UK could see the hottest day on record on Wednesday, as the spell of early spring warm weather continues.

It has been particularly welcomed in England, where temperatures have been the highest and people have just emerged blinking into the light as the nation begins to shake off a long national lockdown.

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Merkel, Macron and Putin in talks on using Sputnik V jab in Europe, says Kremlin

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Moscow says leaders discussed possibility of shipments and joint production amid shortage of doses inside Europe

Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron discussed Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and its use in Europe on a conference call on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.

Moscow’s statement said that among other subjects the Russian, German and French leaders discussed prospects for the registration of the vaccine in the EU and the possibility of shipments and joint production in EU nations. It did not say who raised the topic.

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Biden pushes plan to rebuild US infrastructure as Covid cases rise – live

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The Republican governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, announced today that he is lifting the statewide mask mandate.

Hutchinson said recent data on coronavirus case numbers in the state had led him to conclude that the mandate was no longer necessary.

President Biden yesterday: Masks, please.

Gov. Asa Hutchison (R-AR) today: pic.twitter.com/m20KMNVedE

Related: 'I'm scared': top US official shares sense of 'doom' as Covid cases rise

During her press briefing this afternoon, Jen Psaki also criticized the World Health Organization’s report on the origins of coronavirus.

The White House press secretary said China had “not been transparent” about the early days of its coronavirus outbreak.

WATCH: @PressSec says the @WHO COVID-19 origins report "doesn't lead us to a closer understanding or greater knowledge than six months ago about the origins", adding that China has "not been transparent, they have not provided underlying data" on the virus. pic.twitter.com/6KRK7112zn

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Coronavirus live news: Ireland to start easing lockdown next month; Turkey reports record daily Covid cases

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Irish restrictions to ease on 12 April; Turkey has recorded 37,303 new coronavirus cases in the space of 24 hours

The German chancellor Angela Merkel has said she is open to being vaccinated with the Oxford/Astrazeneca Covid-19 jab.

“I have said when it is my turn, I will get vaccinated, also with AstraZeneca,” Merkel, 66, told a news conference on Germany’s decision to limit the use of the British-Swedish firm’s vaccine over health concerns. “The possibility of me being vaccinated is nearing.”

On the basis of the currently available, but still limited, evidence and taking into account the current pandemic situation, the Stiko recommends using the Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca for people over the age of 60.

Their use below this age limit, however, remains possible at the medical discretion and with individual risk acceptance after careful explanation.

South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa announced a four-day ban on take-away alcohol consumption over the Easter weekend, over fears of a possible third wave of coronavirus infections, AFP reports.

The country, which has recorded over 1.5 million cases, has seen infection rates stabilising in recent weeks at an average of 1,200 per day, according to the president.

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UK and US criticise WHO’s Covid report and accuse China of withholding data

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Statement signed by 12 other nations says investigation into virus origins not extensive enough

The US and the UK have sharply criticised a World Health Organization report into the beginnings of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan, implicitly accusing China of “withholding access to complete, original data and samples”.

The statement, also signed by 12 other countries including Australia and Canada, came hard on the heels of an admission on Tuesday by the head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, that the investigation was “not extensive enough” and experts had struggled to access raw information during their four-week visit to Wuhan in January.

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Ever-changing Covid rules on protest set up conflict with the police

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Analysis: public disorder could have been avoided with more clarity about the legality of protests in the UK

Ambiguous, confusing and a mess is how the current coronavirus regulations dealing with protest have been described by MPs and peers tasked with scrutinising the government’s record on human rights. And it is the backdrop to the police versus protesters debate that should not be ignored.

In fact, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR), a cross-party group, concluded that protest has never has been completely illegal during the pandemic, even under lockdown.

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About half of people in UK now have antibodies against coronavirus

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Study by Office for National Statistics based on data from blood test results

Half of people in the UK now have antibodies against coronavirus, either through infection or vaccination, tests conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

According to the most recent coronavirus infection survey, an estimated 54.7% of the population in England would have tested positive for antibodies to coronavirus from a blood sample in the week ending 14 March 2021.

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Tourists in Greece and Spain but most of Covid-hit Europe plans Easter at home

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Several thousand Germans head to Crete and Balearic islands as pandemic third wave spreads across EU

The first foreign tourists may have landed in locked-down Spain and Greece, but as a third wave of the pandemic accelerates across the EU, few Europeans will be enjoying an Easter break abroad – or even away from home.

German holidaymakers began arriving on Crete on Monday, with six half-empty flights landing at Heraklion airport after the tourist minister, Haris Theoharis, said some visitors could be permitted before the country’s planned reopening on 14 May.

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Brazil on edge as three military chiefs resign after Bolsonaro fires defense minister

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Political earthquake rattles country already grappling with one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks

Jair Bolsonaro’s crisis-stricken administration has been rocked by the sudden sacking of Brazil’s defence minister and the subsequent resignation of the heads of all three branches of the armed forces.

The commanders of the Brazilian army, navy and air force – Gen Edson Leal Pujol, Adm Ilques Barbosa and Lt-Brig Antônio Carlos Bermudez – met with the president’s new minister on Tuesday morning and reportedly tendered their resignations during a dramatic and heated encounter. On Tuesday afternoon the defence ministry confirmed all three would be replaced, a political earthquake that rattled a country already grappling with one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks.

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WHO chief backs calls for pandemic treaty – video

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The director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said a pandemic treaty would help to tackle gaps exposed by Covid-19, strengthen implementation of international health regulations and provide a framework for  cooperation in areas such as pandemic prevention and response.

He underlined the importance of taking action now, saying that 'the world cannot afford to wait until the pandemic is over to start planning for the next one'.

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‘The heart of darkness’: neighbors shun Brazil over Covid response

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Latin American countries scramble to protect themselves from a country where nearly 60,000 people are expected to die in March alone

It has long been regarded as a soft power superpower, the sun-kissed, culturally blessed land of Bossa Nova, Capoeira and Pelé.

But Brazil’s shambolic response to coronavirus under far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has cast Latin America’s largest country in an unfamiliar and unpleasant role: that of a Covid-riddled, science-shunning, politically-unstable outcast on whom many regional neighbors are now shutting the door.

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Canada suspends use of AstraZeneca Covid vaccine for those under 55

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Immunisation panel says there is ‘substantial uncertainty about the benefit’ of the vaccine given risk of rare type of blood clot

Canada on Monday suspended the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for people under 55 following concerns it might be linked to rare blood clots.

The pause was recommended by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization for safety reasons. The Canadian provinces, which administer health in the country, announced the suspension on Monday.

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Global treaty needed to protect states from pandemics, say world leaders

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Joint letter signed by Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and others warns ‘nobody is safe until everyone is safe’

The world needs a global treaty for pandemics to protect states in the wake of Covid-19, akin to the settlement forged after the second world war, Boris Johnson and other world leaders have urged.

In a joint article published in newspapers across the world, leaders including the UK prime minister, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, warn that a future global pandemic is an inevitability and that Covid has served as “a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe”.

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New Covid vaccines needed globally within a year, say scientists

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Survey of experts in relevant fields concludes that new variants could arise in countries with low vaccine coverage

The planet could have a year or less before first-generation Covid-19 vaccines are ineffective and modified formulations are needed, according to a survey of epidemiologists, virologists and infectious disease specialists.

Scientists have long stressed that a global vaccination effort is needed to satisfactorily neutralise the threat of Covid-19. This is due to the threat of variations of the virus – some more transmissible, deadly and less susceptible to vaccines – that are emerging and percolating.

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Two union flags flutter in hot air as Johnson tries to connect | Zoe Williams

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All the pomp of the new No 10 briefing room was wasted on a Covid press conference of little substance

The prime minister arrived in his brand new, £2.6m press briefing room with the unmistakable vibe of a feckless absentee father, doing his Monday afternoon teleconference call. Trying to be so many things at once. He wants to be the fun one, so did a shout out to Ilkeston Cycle Club, who met at midnight as the clock turned on the 29 March; then a big up to Hillingdon lido, who did whatever they do there. He also wants to prove that, this time, he’s deadly serious, a grave and sober man of his word, and his brow is heavy with all the memories of why you might not believe him.

He has some new curtains he wants to show you, which are both union flags, and some rather sudden paintwork, a fierce Conservative blue, because obviously that’s the colour of authority and this is your government for ever. Though when you consider how much he could have spent on wallpaper, you have to look on the bright side. The intention of the new setting must have been jocular jingoism, but it came off a little mournful, slightly beseeching, like: “Look, I’ve bought an inflatable mattress, soon you’ll be able to stay the night!”

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‘I’m scared’: CDC director urges action after US Covid surge – video

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Rochelle Walensky, head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged public officials to spread the word about the seriousness of a fourth Covid-19 surge in the country.

The Biden administration and Walensky said Americans should continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19

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Trapped in gloves, tangled in masks: Covid PPE killing animals, report finds

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Mask and gloves protect people but harm animals from penguins to dogs when discarded, researchers say

The masks and gloves protecting people from coronavirus are proving a deadly threat to wildlife when thrown away, a report has found.

A fish trapped in the finger of a rubber glove in the Netherlands, a penguin in Brazil with a mask in its stomach and a fox in the UK entangled in a mask were among the victims.

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