From pools and lidos to tennis courts and golf courses, it has been an action-packed day around England as lockdown regulations are relaxed to allow outdoor sporting activity. People will now be able to meet up legally outside in groups of six or two households and organised outdoor sport can resume
Continue reading...Category Archives: Coronavirus
Coronavirus live news: France ICU cases climbing rapidly; US concern over WHO Covid origins report
Number of patients in intensive care in France near to numbers reached in autumn 2020; US concerned about how WHO report into origins of Covid was made
- Merkel threat to centralise Covid response as some states refuse to act
- Women in Japan suffer isolation and despair amid Covid job losses
- ‘Vaccine interlopers’ skip line in rural Tennessee
- UK coronavirus – latest updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
The UK does not currently have a surplus of Covid-19 vaccines to share with other countries, but will consider how to share any future surplus if there is one, prime minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said on Monday
“Our first priority is to protect the British public, and the vaccine rollout is continuing to that end,” the spokesman told reporters.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that a long-awaited report into the origins of Covid-19 following a mission to China where the virus first emerged will be released publicly on Tuesday, but that further study is required.
Asked to comment further on its conclusions, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “As I have said all hypotheses are on the table and warrant complete and further studies.”
Merkel threatens to centralise Covid response as some states refuse to act
Chancellor complains her government does not yet have power to impose national lockdown
Angela Merkel has threatened to centralise Germany’s pandemic response as several of the country’s federal states refuse to implement an emergency brake mechanism on easing restrictions in spite of rapidly rising infection rates.
Related: Heroes to zeros: how German perfectionism wrecked its Covid vaccine drive
Continue reading...England’s roadmap for easing Covid lockdown
The government’s plan to unlock England moved a step forward on Monday 29 March. Here’s what comes next
England has proceeded to the next step of the UK government’s plan for easing the Covid restrictions imposed at the beginning of January, with “rule of six” meetings permitted in the open air, and group outdoor sporting activities for adults and children allowed to resume.
The proposed timetable outlined four steps along the way to a full reopening, with the government stressing that after the first step the subsequent stages of reopening could be subject to delay and that the programme would be guided by “data rather than dates”.
Continue reading...Queensland Covid: states slam borders shut as Brisbane enters snap three-day lockdown
Two women who travelled to Byron Bay in NSW while infectious are among the four new local cases of the UK variant of coronavirus
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- Brisbane’s lockdown: everything you need to know
- Queensland Covid hotspots; NSW Covid hotspots
A number of states have slammed their borders shut to Queenslanders as greater Brisbane enters a snap three-day snap lockdown after authorities discovered four new locally-acquired coronavirus cases.
Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, on Monday described the growing cluster of seven cases as “significant community transmission” of the UK variant. She warned people in greater Brisbane to stay home over the coming days.
Continue reading...No play, no pay: Covid drives Zimbabwe’s pros to unofficial football matches
Informal games are a lifeline while the Premier League is locked down, but at what risk to players?
Sweaty and tired, the players tussle before the winning goal is scored on a red-dust pitch at the No 1 ground in Mufakose, a township west of Harare. The football fans start up a chant on the touchline, triggering a frenzied response from opposing supporters, who break into rapturous song.
This parched pitch and others like it have become a source of livelihood for some Zimbabwean footballers, struggling to earn a living during the Covid-19 pandemic’s lockdown regulations.
Continue reading...‘I can’t go on’: women in Japan suffer isolation and despair amid Covid job losses
Suicide rates among Japanese women rose sharply during the pandemic, prompting calls for support for low-income households
The coronavirus had barely begun its surge across the globe when Ayako Sato was told that the nursery where she worked would temporarily close as part of Japan’s efforts to curb the outbreak.
The mother of two teenage daughters expected a few weeks of belt tightening, believing it wouldn’t be long before she was working again.
Continue reading...Australia news live: premier announces three-day lockdown for Brisbane as Queensland records more Covid cases
State reports four new local cases; Nationals MP Anne Webster lodges complaint over alleged sexual harassment in parliament. Follow the latest updates
• Queensland Covid hotspots
• Queensland authorities contradict earlier advice about Covid case hosting ‘party’
• Coalition women call for MP drug and alcohol testing in response to sexual misconduct crisis
The Victorian state government won’t release a three-page email chain in which a decision to put Melbourne under a coronavirus curfew was made, reports Karen Sweeney from AAP.
Victorian opposition MP David Davis requested all documents relating to the curfew to be released under Freedom of Information.
These are the documents that relate directly to the decision to put Melbourne under a curfew and the reality, in our view, is there is little reason the documents should not be in the public domain.
We have one document - it is three pages of an email chain containing legal advice.
It is a single document - it may just be a single decision has to be made by the tribunal...
It’s just hard to see why this has been strung out for so long.
It’s worth considering how soon this lockdown is coming after the end of jobkeeper and how close it is cutting it to the start of the federal government’s half-priced plane ticket program.
Jobkeeper ended on Sunday, and the tourism sector support program is slated to start on 1 April.
Continue reading...Johnson urges caution as England takes first big step out of lockdown
Outdoor group socialising allowed from Monday but ad campaign stresses Covid risks of indoor meeting
Boris Johnson will stress the need for people to be cautious on Monday as England takes its first significant step towards easing lockdown restrictions for adults.
People will now be able to meet up legally outdoors in groups of six, or in two households, including in private gardens, and organised outdoor sport can resume.
Continue reading...Most US Covid deaths ‘could have been mitigated’ after first 100,000, Birx says
Former coronavirus taskforce coordinator tells CNN deaths could have been prevented if Trump administration acted sooner
The “vast majority” of the almost 550,000 coronavirus deaths in the US could have been prevented if Donald Trump’s administration had acted earlier and with greater conviction, according to one of the public health experts charged with leading the pandemic response at the time.
Related: CDC ‘deeply concerned’ about rising Covid cases as vaccinations accelerate
Continue reading...‘Lack of perspective’: why Ursula von der Leyen’s EU vaccine strategy is failing
European commission president accused of focusing too much on UK and domestic German image
Forging unity within the European Union is rarely easy for a president of the European commission but Ursula von der Leyen managed at least to bring together two strange bedfellows in recent days.
When Jean-Claude Juncker, her predecessor in the commission’s Berlaymont headquarters, took aim at the EU’s error-strewn vaccine strategy last week, it prompted a tweet of appreciation from Dominic Cummings, former chief adviser to Boris Johnson and key architect of Brexit.
Continue reading...5,000 attend rock concert in Barcelona after Covid screening
Performance at Palau Sant Jordi concert hall in Barcelona on Saturday night recalls pre-pandemic times
If one overlooked the white face masks dotting the tightly packed crowd of music lovers, it was almost like pre-pandemic times in Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi concert hall Saturday night.
Five thousand rock fans enjoyed a real-as-can-be concert after passing a same-day coronavirus screening to test its effectiveness in preventing outbreaks of the virus at large cultural events.
Continue reading...UK on track to hit Covid vaccine target by July, says Oliver Dowden – video
A third coronavirus vaccine will start being administered in the UK next month, joining the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs already in use, the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, has confirmed. Britain has ordered 17m doses of the Moderna vaccine, which has a 94% efficacy rate in trials, which are expected to start arriving in April. Dowden also insisted the government was confident it would be able to meet its target of getting people over 50 vaccinated by 15 April, and all remaining adults by the end of July
Continue reading...In and out of lockdown: the most uplifting and surprising videos from the past year – video
As many countries faced restrictions and lockdowns to battle the coronavirus pandemic, communities adapted in surprising ways, with some of the most uplifting moments being filmed and shared across the world.
From concerts for plants, to animal roaming empty streets, here are some of the most memorable videos from 12 months of fight against Covid-19
Continue reading...Chile imposes lockdowns to fight new Covid wave despite vaccination success
Nearly half the population has received at least one vaccine dose but residents of the capital and other regions face strict new curbs
Despite mounting the world’s fastest per-capita Covid-19 vaccination campaign, Chile has been forced to announce strict new lockdowns as it plunges deeper into a severe second wave of cases which is stretching intensive care capacity.
Chile trails only Israel and the UAE in vaccine doses per 100 inhabitants worldwide, but new cases have risen quickly amid mixed health messaging, travel over the southern hemisphere summer holidays and the circulation of new variants.
Related: Chile emerges as global leader in Covid inoculations with 'pragmatic strategy'
Continue reading...France accelerates vaccine rollout – as it happened
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Boris Johnson will stress the need for people to be cautious on Monday as England takes its first significant step towards easing lockdown restrictions for adults.
People will now be able to meet up legally outdoors in groups of six, or in two households, including in private gardens, and organised outdoor sport can resume.
Related: Johnson urges caution as England takes first big step out of lockdown
A government-funded study of care home residents in England has found that their risk of infection with Covid-19 – either symptomatic or asymptomatic – fell by 62% five weeks after they received their first Oxford/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine dose.
Those who were infected after having the vaccine may also be less likely to transmit Covid-19, initial findings showed. The study, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, is key, given that most clinical trials and observational studies evaluated the impact of the vaccines on symptomatic infections, but whether the vaccines can reduce asymptomatic infections – which play a crucial role in the spread of the virus – is still unclear:
Related: First Covid jab cuts infection risk by 62% in England care home residents
Continue reading...Race to contain Brisbane Covid outbreak as cluster grows to three
Queensland police contradict earlier reports from health authorities that man hosted a party for 25 guests after being told to self-isolate
Health authorities in Queensland are scrambling to track down contacts of two Brisbane friends who tested positive for coronavirus, amid fresh concerns about the outbreak growing.
Queensland Health said on Saturday night one of the men, aged 26, held a house party in Strathpine while he was waiting on his test result, despite instructions to self-isolate. But on Sunday morning, Queensland police contradicted that advice and said only five people had been directed to quarantine.
Continue reading...New Zealand’s Covid quarantine fee change places politics over a citizen’s right to return | Sarah Habershon
The government knows that to quell the mutinous grumbling at home you have to nominate an ‘outgroup’
Since the beginning of the pandemic I’ve taken huge comfort in the knowledge that just about everyone I love is safely inside the fortress-like border that’s been erected around New Zealand. I have no doubt that every other Kiwi still living or trapped in the Covid red-zones of the world feels the same way. But this week’s announcement that returning citizens must now commit to a stay of at least six months, double the previous requirement of three, to avoid a NZ$3,100 (£1,600) fee for their managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) prioritises politics over their right to return.
The government’s official line on the issue is that the changes are being made in the interests of fairness and sustainability. In practice, the policy amounts to a thinly veiled deterrence strategy. A strategy with the additional bonus of delivering visible action in response to public restlessness following the recent series of lockdowns. It neither contributes meaningfully to meeting the cost of the policy nor makes the policy more equitable, but it does make for a satisfying user-pays narrative to placate resentment towards the border and those who cross it.
Continue reading...Coercion or altruism: is China using its Covid vaccines to wield global power?
Beijing has donated millions of vaccines to developing countries but its largesse often comes with conditions attached
In May 2020, China’s president, Xi Jinping, told the World Health Assembly its Covid-19 vaccines were “a global public good”, and their distribution would be part of Xi’s vision of a “shared future for the people of the world to work as one”.
But in the months since, China’s alleged “vaccine diplomacy” has been consistently criticised internationally for being rolled out with conditions attached, with allegations of expatriate Chinese nationals being prioritised, and the distribution of vaccines seen as a coercive tool with which to wield geopolitical influence.
Continue reading...Dublin hospital told to stop giving Covid jabs after sharing surplus with private school
Beacon hospital chief is believed to have sent his children to St Gerard’s school, where staff received jabs
The Irish health minister has moved to suspend coronavirus vaccines from being given at a private hospital in Dublin after it used spare doses to vaccinate teachers at a fee-paying school.
Stephen Donnelly said it was “completely unacceptable” and has asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to suspend vaccinations at the Beacon hospital, with the exception of already scheduled appointments.
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