Category Archives: Coronavirus

Desperation as China’s locked down cities pay price of zero-Covid strategy

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Reports emerge of fatal hospital delays and food shortages as more than 14 million people are confined to their homes in the cities of Xi’an and Yuzhou

Strict lockdowns in the Chinese cities of Xi’an and Yuzhou are taking their toll on the population and healthcare systems, according to residents, with complaints of food shortages and dangerous delays in accessing medical care.

Xi’an, a city of 13 million people, has been under a strict lockdown for nearly two weeks, while Yuzhou’s 1.2 million residents have been ordered to stay inside since Monday evening, after three asymptomatic cases were discovered. Public transport, the use of private motor vehicles, and operation of all shops and venues not supplying daily necessities have all been suspended.

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Australia Covid news live update: more than 64,000 new cases recorded; health systems ‘under pressure’ as hospitalisations rise

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NSW health system ‘under pressure’ as Covid hospitalisations rise to 1,491 and state reports 35,054 cases and eight deaths; Victoria records 17,636 cases and 11 deaths, Queensland 6,781 cases, South Australia 3,493, Tasmania 867, and the ACT 810; Victoria says Novak Djokovic exemption not ‘special treatment’. Follow all the day’s news

ACTU president Michele O’Neil wrote to Scott Morrison late yesterday to ask him to reconsider the federal position on rapid antigen tests and make them free.

Overnight the UK PM Boris Johnson announced that his Conservative government will provide 100,000 critical workers with free rapid tests to help keep essential services and supply chains running, allowing workers to take a test every working day.

Unfortunately, to date you have left this problem in the hands of the market. Now, with Omicron upon us, PCR testing sites are at risk of being overwhelmed, Australians are scrambling to find Rapid Antigen Tests and struggling to afford them.

This puts at grave risk public health and our country’s economic recovery.

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Covid live: France, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Netherlands report record daily cases as Omicron surges

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France reports 335,000 new Covid cases as Italy, Portugal, Netherlands and Turkey all see record cases

India is reporting 58,097 new Covid cases, twice the number seen only four days ago, according to health ministry data.

Wednesday’s figure takes the cumulative total to more than 35 million.

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‘Appalling message’: outrage over Novak Djokovic’s medical exemption to play Australian Open

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Former AMA president says Djokovic shouldn’t be allowed into Australia, while fellow players express surprise at the decision

The decision to grant Novak Djokovic an exemption from Covid-19 vaccination requirements to play in the Australian Open in Melbourne has been labelled “appalling”, with some players expressing surprise at the late decision.

On Tuesday night, the defending Australian Open champion posted on Instagram that he was coming to Melbourne to participate in the tennis tournament with an “exemption permission”.

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Young Australians’ experiences of Covid go viral on Tiktok – video

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So many young people in Australia are testing positive to Covid that videos about their experiences are going viral on TikTok. 'Gorgeous gorgeous girls Afterpay their rapid antigen test,' writes TikTok user @eilishgilligan, in a statement that attempts to capture the mood of young people living in Australia’s major cities

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Macron declares his Covid strategy is to ‘piss off’ the unvaccinated

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French president stokes divisions as parliament debates tighter requirements for mandatory health pass

Emmanuel Macron has prompted a furore after saying that his government’s vaccination strategy is to “piss off” people who have not had coronavirus jabs by continuing to make daily life more and more difficult for them.

“I am not about pissing off the French people,” the president said in an interview with readers of Le Parisien daily on Tuesday. “But as for the non-vaccinated, I really want to piss them off. And we will continue to do this, to the end. This is the strategy.”

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Coronavirus: ‘No excuse’ for being unvaccinated, Biden says – video

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Joe Biden has urged people to get vaccinated, saying that vaccines, booster shots and therapeutic drugs have mitigated the danger for the overwhelming majority of Americans who are fully vaccinated

The US president was speaking ahead of a meeting with his Covid-19 response team at the White House about the impact of the Omicron variant

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Parts of NHS may be overwhelmed by Covid wave, admits Boris Johnson

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PM says England can ‘ride out’ Omicron without lockdown but acknowledges service is under huge pressure

Parts of the NHS may be overwhelmed in the coming weeks, Boris Johnson has admitted for the first time as he insisted England can “ride out” its biggest ever Covid wave “without shutting down our country once again”.

The prime minister acknowledged the health service is under huge pressure after four more NHS trusts – all outside London – declared critical incidents amid rising staff absences and Covid patients. On Tuesday evening hospitals across Greater Manchester announced some non-urgent surgery and appointments would be suspended.

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Prof Chris Whitty sparks confusion over England’s Covid self-isolation rules

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Chief medical officer says people should isolate until testing negative, contradicting official guidance

Prof Chris Whitty has sparked confusion by saying people should stay in self-isolation “until their test goes negative”, despite official guidance allowing a day 10 exit even with a positive lateral flow test.

Last month the rules on self-isolation in England changed to reduce the self-isolation period from 10 to seven days for people who have tested positive for Covid, provided they have a negative lateral flow test on both day six and seven and they do not have a high temperature. Wales and Northern Ireland have followed suit, with Scotland facing pressure to do the same.

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French opposition MPs criticised after Covid vaccine pass debate suspended

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Government spokesman condemns MPs who voted to suspend debate on introduction of tougher measures

The French government has heavily criticised opposition MPs after a parliamentary debate on the proposed introduction of a “vaccine pass” was unexpectedly suspended after members of the Assemblée nationale voted with a show of hands to go home.

The move came after seven hours of often-heated exchanges on Monday, when ministers clashed with critics over the controversial measure due to be introduced on 15 January, but now postponed.

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Australia Covid news live update: new daily record of 47,738 cases nationwide; ACCC to ‘name and shame’ over soaring RAT prices

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A key figure in South Australia’s response to Covid has tested positive to the virus this morning.

Police commissioner Grant Stevens is the state’s emergency coordinator during the pandemic. After waking up yesterday with a sore throat he is now isolating at home.

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Detained, missing, close to death: the toll of reporting on Covid in China

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Activists say crackdown is driven by Xi Jinping, who has ‘declared a war on independent journalism’

Chen Kun was living in Indonesia with his wife and daughter when he learned from his brother Mei’s boss that he had been “taken away for investigation” by Chinese police.

He immediately suspected it was to do with his brother’s website, a citizen news project called Terminus 2049. Since 2018 Mei, his colleague Cai Wei, and Cai’s partner – surnamed Tang – had been archiving articles about issues including #MeToo and migrant rights, and reposting them whenever they were deleted from China’s strictly monitored and censored online platforms. It was April 2020, and for the last few months Terminus 2049 had been targeting stories about the Covid-19 outbreak and response.

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Italy reports record 170,844 cases and 259 deaths; fourth jab gives five-fold antibody boost, study says – as it happened

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There were 12,912 people in hospital in Italy; Israel PM says study shows safety of fourth dose and increase in antibodies a week after jab

Over to Europe and Germany is reporting another 30,561 new coronavirus cases and 356 deaths, according to recently released data from the Robert Koch Institute.

South Korea has just released its daily Covid report.

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A crisis of faith in South Africa: ‘People have given up on the state’

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Struggling even before Covid, communities are taking it upon themselves to try to fill the gaps left by the government

One evening a week, Natasha Msweswe and Zanele Madasi leave their children at home and set out to patrol the streets of Thembokwezi. They return at midnight. This is potentially very dangerous but they feel they have little choice.

“It can be scary but we want to protect our community,” said Madasi, 31. “We want to make a difference.”

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Morrison government ‘responsible for largest public policy failure’, says Labor – video

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Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has criticised Scott Morrison’s government over Covid-19 booster and testing shortages. 'This  government is responsible for the largest public policy failure in Australian political history, Albanese said. Labor says it is getting reports of booster shot shortages, particularly in Indigenous communities. Albanese said that, combined with a lack of rapid antigen tests, the shortages show the government’s handling of the pandemic response needs to be questioned

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NHS trusts in England declare critical incidents amid Covid staff crisis

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At least six trusts in have issued alerts as fears grow vital care will be compromised by workforce absence

Multiple NHS trusts across England have declared “critical incidents” amid soaring staff absences caused by Covid-19, with health leaders saying many parts of the service are now “in a state of crisis”.

Boris Johnson on Monday ruled out the introduction of new curbs “for now” but said he recognised that the pressure on the NHS and its hospitals, was “going to be considerable in the course of the next couple of weeks, and maybe more”.

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When will Omicron peak in the UK and is the modelling wrong?

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Analysis: gloomiest predictions may have not come to pass, but experts caution that we’re not out of the woods yet

The family gatherings have disbanded, the new year’s hangovers have lifted. Despite record Covid infection figures over the holiday period, evidence that the rate of increase in cases may be slowing has prompted speculation that London, at least, may be close to reaching “peak Omicron”.

Boris Johnson is said to be obsessed with this hypothetical time point, seeing it as crucial to how the Covid variant may play out nationwide. If hospitalisations follow the same trajectory and peak without the NHS being overwhelmed, the prime minister’s decision not to impose lockdown-style restrictions before the holiday period may be vindicated.

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US regulators approve Covid boosters for children 12 to 15

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  • FDA authorizes boosters as US confronts Omicron spike
  • Pfizer the only vaccine option for US children of any age

The US is expanding Covid-19 booster shots as it confronts the Omicron surge, with the Food and Drug Administration allowing extra Pfizer shots for children as young as 12.

Boosters were already recommended for everyone 16 and older. Federal regulators on Monday decided they are also warranted for 12- to 15-year-olds, once enough time has passed since their last dose.

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Covid live news: Boris Johnson warns of pressure on NHS for weeks as Omicron ‘continues to surge’ in UK

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Latest updates: UK prime minister warns hospitals will be under ‘considerable’ pressure for the ‘next couple of weeks and maybe more’

Québec, Canada proceeded with the first of three planned closures of non-essential retail stores on Sunday as the provincial government attempts to curb a new Covid wave and strain on hospitals.

Québec premier Francois Legault announced last week that the majority of the province’s stores would be closed for the next three Sundays, with the exception of pharmacies, convenience stores and petrol stations.

The last thing businesses need during these difficult times is additional restrictions. We must leave the choice to businesses to open or close at the time that makes the most sense for them, their employees and their customers.

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Masks for school students mandatory in several EU countries

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Analysis: Amid a backlash in England over the rule change, we look at the rules in place in other countries

The return of a requirement in England for secondary pupils to wear face masks in class has sparked a backlash at the start of the new term, but several EU countries have already adopted the measure even for primary school children.

Some Conservative MPs and parents’ groups have objected to the move, warning of a long-term impact of masks on children’s mental health and arguing that they they will have a longer-term effect on people’s ability to learn and socialise.

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