At least three companies close to revealing results of phase three trials, but to be approved for use safety has to be ensured
The race for a Covid vaccine is reaching a crucial stage, with the glimmer of a possibility that one of the leading contenders will be approved by Christmas.
In an interview with the Guardian, Kate Bingham, who heads the UK’s vaccine taskforce, said the UK was in “a very good place”.
Continue reading...Italy also records 199 further deaths; US record surge killing nearly 1,000 Americans a day; Moscow creates vaccination network
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Merkel said populists who call coronavirus harmless are dangerous; UK furlough scheme to end on Saturday; France reimposes national lockdown
As the row over the discharge of Covid-positive patients into Scotland’s care homes during the early days of the pandemic deepens, health secretary Jeane Freeman has insisted that a new report does not diminish government accountability, writes Libby Brookes, the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent.
The report – which concluded the risk of an outbreak linked to discharge of positive or untested patients was “not statistically significant” - prompted anger from opposition parties, care chiefs and unions, who argued that it failed to properly explain why dozens of patients who tested positive for coronavirus, along with thousands who went untested, were discharged from Scottish hospitals into care homes in April and May.
For relatives and families of people who have died in care homes during this pandemic, I want them to know really clearly that I am not saying that this report says there is no accountability here or that I think that report in any way offers them comfort. It’s a very technical report and it comes to a statistical conclusion but that doesn’t take away from the human impact of this virus…
Angela Merkel faced shouts and heckles in Germany’s parliament this morning as she outlined her government’s plans for a “soft” second lockdown, writes Philip Oltermann, the Guardian’s Berlin bureau chief.
From Monday, bars, restaurants, theatres, swimming pools and fitness studios will close for a month, and public gatherings be limited to two households or up to ten people. Unnecessary travel is discouraged and hotels advised not to host tourists. Schools, nurseries and shops will stay open, however.
Continue reading...In this extract from her essay collection Upturn, the actor considers the disruptions of the pandemic and the renewed fervour for social and economic justice
The other day I had to go into town for a dental appointment. I put on all sorts of lovely clothes as if I were going out to dinner and an opening night. The prospect of being out and about was both exhilarating and daunting. I so desperately wanted to be among people and in the city, but I’d also completely forgotten what an event was. The dentist did not seem surprised by my sartorial over-commitment – but then, I was not the first patient he had seen since lockdown.
As a person working in the arts sector, the lockdown was strangely familiar on one level – a lot of actors get stuck in a kind of limbo waiting for someone else to give them permission to do what they are good at. It was as if we were all waiting by the phone for our agent to call. It was also strangely unfamiliar because the community that holds us together, the audiences, as well as the changing of the shows and the new releases, were all put on hold too. The flow between us all was severely affected, and I was both heartened and horrified when it began to surface online. Heartened because the urge to express ourselves and the desire to communicate seems undaunted by anything. Horrified because the worst place to rehearse and perform is alone in the mirror, and sometimes the phone is just a mirror.
Continue reading...America’s top Covid expert says Victoria lockdown and mask-wearing struck right balance between health and economy and he wished US adopted same mentality
America’s top infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, has praised Melbourne’s response to the coronavirus, saying he “wished” the US could adopt the same mentality.
In an interview hosted by the University of Melbourne and the Melbourne-based Doherty Institute, Fauci said Australia was “one of the countries that has done actually quite well” in handling the virus.
Continue reading...A visual comparison of the country’s epidemic curve compared with other nations
The Australian state of Victoria has achieved a remarkable reduction in Covid-19 case numbers after a lengthy period of restrictions.
To put this achievement in context – Australia has done what very few countries have achieved in effectively suppressing a second-wave outbreak from a high point of more than 700 new cases a day. Victoria has now recorded only two cases in three days and lockdown restrictions are being eased.
Continue reading...Academics’ analysis of burial plots points to excess deaths level in crisis-ridden country
A groundbreaking study using high-resolution satellite imagery to analyse graveyards has found that deaths have nearly doubled in Aden, the centre of Yemen’s coronavirus outbreak.
The discovery has given a sense of the true scale of the havoc the pandemic has wreaked on the vulnerable country.
Continue reading...Doctors say cases and dozens of deaths from the disease have occurred since August floods, with cases of malaria and cholera also on the rise
An outbreak of Rift Valley fever has killed dozens of people and infected more than 1,000 in Sudan’s Northern state, according to local doctors.
Doctors told the Guardian the disease has spread across the towns of Merowe, Al Dabbah and Karima, mainly among cattle herders.
Continue reading...German minister warns about exponential rise in new cases; protests against Covid restrictions turn violent in Milan and Turin
One of the world’s leading Covid-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in older adults as well as the young, its developers say, raising hopes of protection for those most vulnerable to the coronavirus that has caused social and economic chaos around the world.
Neither Oxford University nor its commercial partner AstraZeneca would release the data from the early trials showing the positive effects, which are being submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. But AstraZeneca confirmed the basic findings about the vaccine it calls AZD1222, which were shared at a closed academic meeting.
Related: Oxford Covid vaccine works in all ages, trials suggest
Structural racism led to the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities in the UK, a review by Dame Doreen Lawrence has concluded.
The report, commissioned by Labour, contradicts the government’s adviser on ethnicity, Dr Raghib Ali, who last week dismissed claims that inequalities within government, health, employment and the education system help to explain why Covid-19 killed disproportionately more people from minority ethnic communities.
Related: Structural racism led to worse Covid impact on BAME groups – report
Continue reading...Investors’ summer optimism gives way to insecurity as curfews and lockdowns return
Stock markets in the US and Europe fell sharply oas investors focused on signs that rich countries’ efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic were foundering.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index lost 1.8% after heavy falls in German blue-chip stocks. In the US the Dow Jones industrial average closed 2.3% down at 27685.38, while the benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.9% to 3400.97.
Continue reading...Chancellor says country is on verge of losing control as Europe death toll passes 250k
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said her country is on the verge of losing control of its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, telling colleagues from her Christian Democratic Union party “the situation is threatening” and “every day counts”.
In leaked comments to an internal party meeting, she told those attending of “very, very difficult months ahead” and added that “every day [would] count” in tackling the virus’s spread.
Continue reading...Disease now suspected of killing at least 139,153 people compared with official toll of 88,924
Mexico’s government has admitted its Covid-19 death toll is dramatically higher than official figures have suggested, with the disease now suspected of killing at least 139,153 people.
The official coronavirus death toll of Latin America’s second largest economy stands at 88,924 – the fourth highest number in the world after the US, Brazil and India. But on Sunday night officials conceded the true number of Covid-19 deaths was likely to be at least 50,000 higher.
Continue reading...From midnight tomorrow night Melbourne businesses will be able to start reopening as restrictions ease. Follow all the latest updates
If I could shout you all one, I would.
Unfortunately, I don’t get paid that much.
the culture pic.twitter.com/mfUM4aFIFc
Daniel Andrews is asked if he would have done anything different in hindsight:
I don’t have hindsight. None of us do.
All we have his hard work and an absolute determination do not listen to the loudest voices, not be pushed to ignore the science, not listen to those who would appeal for us to act out of absolute frustration and nothing more than that.
Continue reading...Restrictions eased in Australian state of Victoria; WHO warns against ‘vaccine nationalism’; Israel to begin first vaccine clinical trials next month. Follow the latest updates
South Korea urged citizens to get vaccinated against influenza and reduce the chances of an outbreak that coincides with the battle against the coronavirus, as it kicked off free inoculations for the last eligible group, Reuters reports.
Public anxiety over the safety of flu vaccines has surged after at least 48 people died this month following vaccinations.
Authorities have said they found no direct link between the deaths and the flu shots and have sought to reassure South Koreans about the safety of the vaccines against flu, a disease that kills at least 3,000 each year.
However, last month, about 5 million doses had to be disposed of after not being stored at recommended temperatures.
Singapore has temporarily halted the use of two influenza vaccines as a precaution after these deaths, becoming among the first countries to publicly announce a halt of the vaccines’ usage. Singapore has reported no deaths linked to flu vaccinations.
India’s total coronavirus infections stood at 7.91 million on Monday, having risen by 45,148 cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed.
The world’s second-most populous country also has the second-highest number of infections after the United States, which has around 8.1 million.
However, India recorded its lowest death toll in about four months on Monday with 480 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, taking total fatalities to 119,014.
Authorities test 2.84 million people after 137 asymptomatic cases found - the first local infections in China since 14 October
China has detected 137 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases in Kashgar in the north-western region of Xinjiang after one person was found to have the virus the previous day – the first new local cases for 10 days in mainland China.
All the cases detected on Sunday were linked to a garment factory where the parents of a 17-year-old girl who was found on Saturday to have the virus – but showed no symptoms – worked, a Xinjiang health commission official told a press briefing.
Continue reading...US expert Dr Anthony Fauci says it should be known by early December if vaccine is safe to roll out
Hopes are rising that a coronavirus vaccine will be approved by the end of the year, with healthcare workers receiving their first dose in early 2021.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the US’s leading expert in infectious diseases, said on Sunday it should be known by the end of November or early December if a vaccine was safe and effective.
Continue reading...Different approaches are having notably different outcomes
A second coronavirus wave is sweeping continental Europe, with new infection records broken daily in many countries. There are wide variations, but almost no country has been left untouched – even those that fared well in the first wave.
Across the 31 countries from which the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control collects national data, the average 14-day case incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants has multiplied from just 13 in mid-July to almost 250 last week.
Continue reading...France, Italy, Austria and Greece report record increases in Covid-19 cases; Melbourne cluster grows. Follow the latest updates live
More than 100 inmates have tested positive for covid-19 at Indonesia’s Kerobokan prison, on the island of Bali.
The Jakarta Post reports today on a growing cluster inside the notorious prison, detected after complaints of symptoms by some inmates prompted mass testing earlier this week.
Here is our full report on the latest from Victoria, Australia, where the country’s largest outbreak and which sparked one of the world’s strictest lockdowns, is being brought under control. From Calla Wahlquist:
Daniel Andrews has delayed an announcement about easing coronavirus restrictions in Melbourne pending the outcome of tests connected to an outbreak in the northern suburbs, prompting criticism from the business community, the state opposition, the federal government and his own former health minister.
In a heated press conference, the Victorian premier said he had “hoped” to be able to announce significant steps about opening up the retail and hospitality industries from the middle of the week.
Related: Daniel Andrews under fire over delayed easing of restrictions after seven new cases reported
Continue reading...Latest updates: Spain declares new national state of emergency; Dr Anthony Fauci tempers expectation of vaccine breakthrough in 2020
The US saw its highest ever number of new coronavirus cases in the past two days, keeping the pandemic a top election issue as Vice president Mike Pence travels the country to campaign despite close aides testing positive.
The US reported 79,852 new infections on Saturday, close to the previous day’s record of 84,244 new cases, as we reported earlier.
The Czech government will almost certainly have to tighten its anti-coronavirus measures again as current curbs have not halted a surge in infections, prime minister Andrej Babis said on Sunday.
Cases are up across Europe, but the Czech Republic has recorded the sharpest rises in infections on the continent in recent weeks, Reuters reports.
Regional Victoria has now moved to ‘step three’ of the roadmap out of lockdown. Here’s what you need to know
Regional Victoria has consistently outperformed its metropolitan counterpart in suppressing the Covid-19 virus and as such is subject to significantly fewer restrictions.
Currently, it is in the third step of the state’s roadmap out of lockdown allowing for a significant reopening of the retail and hospitality industries.
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