20 May 2020: what was UK doing while No 10 aide organised a party?

At the time, there was no mixing indoors, non-essential shops were shut, and hospitality businesses remained closed

To many, May 2020 may feel like a lifetime ago, so much has happened in the last 20 months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On 20 May 2020, when the prime minister’s private secretary was inviting colleagues to bring their own booze for socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden to “make the most of this lovely weather”, the rest of the country was in a very different position.

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Protesters on French island pelt MP with seaweed over Covid pass

Fellow politicians condemn attack on Stéphane Claireaux outside his home in St-Pierre-et-Miquelon

Protesters opposed to Covid regulations pelted a French MP with seaweed and stones outside his home in the overseas territory of St-Pierre-et-Miquelon at the weekend.

Stéphane Claireaux, a member of the governing La République en Marche (LREM) said he had made an official police complaint after the attack, which fellow MPs described as a “lynching”.

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China battles Omicron outbreak weeks before Winter Olympics

Cases of Covid variant come in run-up to lunar new year, when millions of people usually travel to see family

China is battling to stamp out its first outbreak of the Omicron variant, only weeks before the Chinese new year and the Beijing Winter Olympics, with cases recorded in at least two distant provinces.

On Monday, health authorities reported 97 new locally transmitted cases for the preceding 24 hours, across several cities. At least 30 cases were in Henan province, while at least 31 new cases were reported in the Tianjin, including 15 children aged five to 15.

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Novak Djokovic appeals in court against cancellation of Australian visa – live updates

Lawyers for the Australian government have rejected tennis star’s claim he was given assurances a medical exemption would allow him to enter the country for the Australian Open as case heard in court

I have a live stream up and running now. Updates coming soon.

A spokesperson for the court says the hearing is going ahead, but the live stream is still down:

I am now advised the hearing has started. The court is working to rectify the situation. Apologies.

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Covid live: Record numbers admitted to US hospitals with coronavirus; Sweden to introduce stricter curbs

Over 132,000 patients currently on US wards with Covid; Swedish measures include work from home mandate

Two of New Zealand’s most prominent Covid-19 experts have warned that the country is unprepared to prevent the health system from being overloaded by an Omicron outbreak, with likely fatal consequences.

Otago University’s Dr Nick Wilson and Dr Michael Baker also said it was only a “matter of weeks” before the highly transmissible variant seeped into the community due to border failures.

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New Zealand not prepared for Omicron outbreak expected in ‘matter of weeks’, experts warn

Dr Nick Wilson and Dr Michael Baker say country’s ‘traffic light’ Covid protection framework is ‘not fit for purpose’

Two of New Zealand’s most prominent Covid-19 experts have warned that the country is unprepared to prevent the health system from being overloaded by an Omicron outbreak, with likely fatal consequences.

Otago University’s Dr Nick Wilson and Dr Michael Baker also said it was only a “matter of weeks” before the highly transmissible variant seeped into the community due to border failures.

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UK government urges all pregnant women to get immediate Covid jab

Campaign comes as figures show almost all expectant mothers hospitalised with coronavirus symptoms were unvaccinated

The UK government is warning that almost all pregnant women admitted to hospital with Covid symptoms were unvaccinated in one analysis over several months last year, as it kicks off an advertising campaign encouraging expectant mothers to get boosted.

The campaign is calling on pregnant women not to wait to get either their first, second or booster jab. It will highlight the risks of Covid-19 to mothers and babies, with testimonies of pregnant women who have had the vaccine to be broadcast on radio and social media.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announces positive Covid test

  • Progressive congresswoman ‘experiencing symptoms’
  • Office says political star had booster vaccine shot last year

The Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has tested positive for Covid-19.

In a statement on Sunday evening, the office of the New York progressive said she was “experiencing symptoms and recovering at home.

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‘Living with Covid’ does not have to mean ditching all protective measures

Analysis: reports and denials that free LFTs will be axed highlight gulf in opinions on how to move forward

Reports on Sunday that free lateral flow tests could be axed under a strategy of living with Covid within weeks were met with a swift backlash. The government promptly denied the suggestion that free tests could soon be scrapped.

The story highlights a gulf in opinions on what “living with Covid” might look like, with some saying we will achieve this only through continued caution and others equating the phrase to ditching all Covid measures and partying like it’s 2019.

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Nadhim Zahawi: UK should lead move from pandemic to endemic Covid – video

The education secretary has called for the UK to show the rest of the world how to move from 'pandemic to endemic' Covid, as he suggested it would be helpful to cut the isolation period to five days to ease workforce shortages. Nadhim Zahawi also played down suggestions that the government was about to start charging for lateral flow tests, which would lead to fewer infections in the community being identified

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Covid live news: official cases in Africa pass 10m; UK minister says cutting self-isolation would be ‘helpful’

South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Libya among countries hardest hit; Nadhim Zahawi says he supports reducing isolation to five days

More on the Philippines, after the country set a record for new 28,707 Covid infections for a second consecutive day.

A senior government official confirmed an increase in hospital beds and medical resources in and around the capital Manila have been ordered, Reuters reports.

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Nadhim Zahawi denies there is plan to end free lateral flow Covid tests

Education secretary ‘puzzled’ by reports government will start charging for tests in England in few weeks

Ministers are “absolutely not” planning to scrap free rapid Covid tests, amid reports the government will start charging for them in England in the next few weeks.

The Sunday Times reported free lateral flow tests (LFTs) could be limited to high-risk settings – such as care homes, hospitals and schools – and to people with symptoms.

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Coronavirus: should the UK make vaccination mandatory?

With more countries ready to oblige citizens to receive the Covid jab, what are the key questions in the debate?

In Italy, it is now obligatory for people aged 50 or over to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Greece is pondering a similar move. In France, which has seen record numbers of positive cases, President Emmanuel Macron has also announced that he wants to “piss off” the unvaccinated, while Austria is contemplating a law to make the vaccine mandatory for all its citizens. By contrast, in the UK, Boris Johnson has confined himself to accusing anti-vaxxers of talking “mumbo-jumbo”.

But is that enough? Should the UK take a harder line on those who refuse to be vaccinated? After all, this is a virus that threatens to overwhelm the NHS. As doctors continue to point out, hospital beds are now filling up with more and more seriously ill Covid patients, many of whom are unvaccinated. So, should vaccines against Covid be made mandatory, not just in certain workplace settings but for all individuals?

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Omicron drives Covid surge but New York a long way from pandemic’s early days

America’s biggest city is seeing another winter spike, but with good vaccines and a new message many residents say this wave feels different

In the spring of 2020, Hart Island, a mile from City Island in the Bronx, was a focal point of grief in New York. It was here, at the city’s public cemetery or potter’s field, the final resting place of more than a million people, that officials ordered trenches dug to accommodate those the coronavirus was expected to kill.

The trenches were never filled. Many bodies were returned to funeral parlors or stored in mobile freezers on Randall’s Island, better known for music festivals and the Frieze art fair than cold storage of corpses.

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Chinese city of Tianjin to test 14 million people after Covid outbreak

The port near Beijing began mass testing after 20 children and adults tested positive, including at least two with Omicron

Tianjin, a major Chinese port city near the capital Beijing, has begun mass-testing its 14 million residents after a cluster of 20 children and adults tested positive for Covid-19, including at least two with the Omicron variant.

Those infected include 15 students aged between eight and 13, a staff member at an after-school centre and four parents. The citywide testing, begun on Sunday, is to be completed over two days.

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More than 99,000 new cases nationwide on NSW’s deadliest day of pandemic

NSW records 30,062 new Covid cases and 16 deaths; Victoria reports 44,155 cases and four deaths; Queensland records 18,000 cases, South Australia 4,506 cases and one death, Tasmania 1,406 cases, ACT 1,039, NT 481 and WA one. This blog is now closed

The health minister, Greg Hunt, has been asked about Novak Djokovic’s court case.

Hunt declined to comment, citing the fact the matter is before the court but did reveal that two other people connected with the Australian Open tournament have left Australia after their visas were cancelled.

In relation to Novak Djokovic, as this is now a matter before the courts, I will respectfully leave any commentary until after it has been heard by the court and my understanding is that there is a hearing tomorrow.

My other advice from border force is that their assessment of any visas relating to the Australian Open has now been completed and two other individuals have now voluntarily left the country – as is the case with an individual who has their visa cancelled is entitled to leave the country at any time, even while they are going through a court proceeding but that is a matter for them. Beyond that, the advice is that there is an ongoing court case so we respectfully are not making any additional comment.

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Covid live: ‘concerning’ rates of Omicron in northern England; two linked to Australian Open leave country

Latest developments as Philippines reports record 26,458 cases and scientist says Omicron variant could become endemic in UK

The north-east and north-west of England are seeing “concerning” rates of the Omicron variant, an expert has said.

Figures showed that three of the five UK areas with the biggest week-on-week rises in Covid case rates are Middlesbrough (748.8 to 2,651.4), Copeland (1,731.3 to 3,525.8) and Redcar & Cleveland (846.8 to 2,564.3).

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Novak Djokovic relied on December Covid infection for Australian vaccine exemption, court documents reveal

Tennis star accuses Australian government officials of unfairly pressuring him to accept visa cancellation, documents show

Novak Djokovic relied on a weeks-old Covid infection to justify his vaccine-free travel to Australia and was given a green light by the federal government just days before arriving in the country, court documents reveal.

Court documents associated with Djokovic’s challenge to his visa cancellation were published by the federal circuit court late Saturday, ahead of an urgent hearing on Monday.

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Requiring PCR tests for isolation funds may fail legal test, UK officials told

Legal advice says any challenge under equalities law would have reasonable chance of success

Government lawyers have said any legal challenge against making low-paid people take confirmatory PCR tests to get financial support during isolation would stand a high chance of success, the Guardian has learned.

Legal advice circulated within the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) is understood to warn that there is a risk of a challenge under equalities law.

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Australia records more than 100,000 cases nationally – as it happened

Country records over 116,000 cases as Victoria surpasses NSW with 51,356 cases including rapid test results; Nick Kyrgios says Djokovic treatment ‘not really humane’; Queensland grapples with flood emergency. This blog is now closed

Labor MP Andrew Giles has announced he has tested positive for Covid-19.

We have collected stories from readers on what it is like trying to get tested this week.

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