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Coronavirus live news: France warns homemade masks may not halt spread of new variants; Dutch set for curfew Coronavirus live news: France warns homemade masks may not halt spread of new variants; China finds two cases resemble UK strain
(32 minutes later)
French health officials warn against wearing home-made fabric masks; Dutch curfew set to be introduced between 8.30pm and 4.30am French health officials warn against wearing home-made fabric masks; Two cases in China considered to be highly similar to UK variant; Dutch curfew set to be introduced between 8.30pm and 4.30am
Efforts by Chinese authorities to change the narrative around Covid-19’s origins have reignited on social media this week after a government spokesperson revived a conspiracy theory that it came from a US army lab, Helen Davidson reports from Taipei.
Two Daxing cases reported on 17 January were analysed and are considered to be highly similar to the new, more transmissible strain of the virus that began spreading in Britain, Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of Beijing’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a news conference on Wednesday.
The two cases have no genetic association with previous local and imported cases in Beijing, nor to recent local cases in other Chinese regions, Pang said, adding the source of infection was initially determined to be from overseas, according to Reuters.
See earlier posts about China’s health authorities ramping up anti-pandemic measures in response to its ongoing outbreak.
The German government’s decision to introduce the obligatory wearing of high filtration medical masks, instead of fabric masks as has been the norm since early on in the pandemic, has prompted an inevitable scramble for them, amid fears of escalating prices, their affordability for those on low incomes, and fakes.The German government’s decision to introduce the obligatory wearing of high filtration medical masks, instead of fabric masks as has been the norm since early on in the pandemic, has prompted an inevitable scramble for them, amid fears of escalating prices, their affordability for those on low incomes, and fakes.
So-called FFP1, 2 or 3 masks (FFP stands for filtering face piece) and the thinner, paper masks often donned in operating theatres must now be worn in the workplace, on public transport and in shops, Angela Merkel announced yesterday evening, in response to experts’ advice that cloth face coverings do not offer sufficient protection from the more virulent mutations of the disease.So-called FFP1, 2 or 3 masks (FFP stands for filtering face piece) and the thinner, paper masks often donned in operating theatres must now be worn in the workplace, on public transport and in shops, Angela Merkel announced yesterday evening, in response to experts’ advice that cloth face coverings do not offer sufficient protection from the more virulent mutations of the disease.
The decision follows the introduction of a medical mask rule in the southern state of Bavaria on Monday.The decision follows the introduction of a medical mask rule in the southern state of Bavaria on Monday.
The over sixties and those with chronic, pre-existing health conditions are to receive vouchers in the post from their health insurers, towards buying masks in pharmacies.The over sixties and those with chronic, pre-existing health conditions are to receive vouchers in the post from their health insurers, towards buying masks in pharmacies.
Employees who cannot keep a distance of 1.5 metres from colleagues must be provided with the masks by their employers, the government has said.Employees who cannot keep a distance of 1.5 metres from colleagues must be provided with the masks by their employers, the government has said.
Earlier this week the Robert Koch Institute, the government’s disease control agency, said that 16 cases of the so-called British variant, B117, had so far been detected in Germany.Earlier this week the Robert Koch Institute, the government’s disease control agency, said that 16 cases of the so-called British variant, B117, had so far been detected in Germany.
Most of the cases were of people who had arrived from Britain. But at least three cases have since been detected in Berliners suffering from coronavirus who had not travelled for months, all of whom are being treated in hospital.Most of the cases were of people who had arrived from Britain. But at least three cases have since been detected in Berliners suffering from coronavirus who had not travelled for months, all of whom are being treated in hospital.
These samples were tested on January 8 and lead virologists to believe that the mutation from Britain has been circulating in Berlin for some time and may be more widespread in Germany than previously thought.These samples were tested on January 8 and lead virologists to believe that the mutation from Britain has been circulating in Berlin for some time and may be more widespread in Germany than previously thought.
But due to the lack of gene sequencing that has so far been carried out in Germany, it was widely suspected that this mutation and others, such as the so-called South African variant, and one from Brazil, were likely more prevalent.But due to the lack of gene sequencing that has so far been carried out in Germany, it was widely suspected that this mutation and others, such as the so-called South African variant, and one from Brazil, were likely more prevalent.
Gene sequencing was being carried out in Germany on only around one in 900 samples of the virus derived from positive test results until very recently.Gene sequencing was being carried out in Germany on only around one in 900 samples of the virus derived from positive test results until very recently.
But Jens Spahn, the health minister, announced in the past week that sequencing was immediately being increased to be carried out on five per cent of positive test results in future, a figure he said might sound low but that if done in a targeted way, was efficient enough to track new mutations and their development.But Jens Spahn, the health minister, announced in the past week that sequencing was immediately being increased to be carried out on five per cent of positive test results in future, a figure he said might sound low but that if done in a targeted way, was efficient enough to track new mutations and their development.
Israel has included pregnant women among those getting priority access to Covid vaccines, seeing no risk to them or their foetuses, a senior public health official said on Wednesday.Israel has included pregnant women among those getting priority access to Covid vaccines, seeing no risk to them or their foetuses, a senior public health official said on Wednesday.
“Today we are recommending that pregnant women, mainly those with high morbidity risk factors, get the vaccine,” Nachman Ash, the national coordinator on the pandemic, told public broadcaster Kan radio. “We have put them on the priority list.”“Today we are recommending that pregnant women, mainly those with high morbidity risk factors, get the vaccine,” Nachman Ash, the national coordinator on the pandemic, told public broadcaster Kan radio. “We have put them on the priority list.”
It came after the hospitalisation this week of several pregnant women with Covid complications amid surging contagions, Reuters reports.It came after the hospitalisation this week of several pregnant women with Covid complications amid surging contagions, Reuters reports.
Read my colleague Peter Beaumont’s story on how a surge in infections has dampened optimism over country’s advanced immunisation programme.Read my colleague Peter Beaumont’s story on how a surge in infections has dampened optimism over country’s advanced immunisation programme.
The Netherlands will ban flights from non-Schengen countries, including Britain and South Africa, from Saturday to curb infections of the new, more infectious coronavirus variants, Dutch news agency ANP reported on Wednesday (see earlier posts).The Netherlands will ban flights from non-Schengen countries, including Britain and South Africa, from Saturday to curb infections of the new, more infectious coronavirus variants, Dutch news agency ANP reported on Wednesday (see earlier posts).
The flight ban, which the prime minister Mark Rutte said also will apply to all South American countries, will begin on Saturday.
“This is a very tough measure, but we are at a crossroads,” Rutte said in a televised news conference. “The British variant doesn’t leave us with an alternative.”
The UK’s medicine regulator will be ready and able to approve new versions of Covid vaccines designed to counter any future variants that may emerge, Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.The UK’s medicine regulator will be ready and able to approve new versions of Covid vaccines designed to counter any future variants that may emerge, Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.
Asked if the government would develop a new rapid pathway to allow approvals of new versions of vaccines to protect against such variants, the prime minister confirmed:Asked if the government would develop a new rapid pathway to allow approvals of new versions of vaccines to protect against such variants, the prime minister confirmed:
The threat of the B117 coronavirus mutation first discovered in Britain taking hold in Germany was a key factor behind the government decision to increase the length and scale of lockdown measures, Angela Merkel has said.The threat of the B117 coronavirus mutation first discovered in Britain taking hold in Germany was a key factor behind the government decision to increase the length and scale of lockdown measures, Angela Merkel has said.
Following marathon talks between the government and leaders of the 16 Länder yesterday afternoon, the German chancellor said it was imperative to take measures to prevent the spread of mutations that experts say are far more infectious than the previous strain.Following marathon talks between the government and leaders of the 16 Länder yesterday afternoon, the German chancellor said it was imperative to take measures to prevent the spread of mutations that experts say are far more infectious than the previous strain.
She warned that Germany faced “British conditions” if it failed to stop the spread of the B117 mutation in particular, which is known to have been in the country for several weeks.She warned that Germany faced “British conditions” if it failed to stop the spread of the B117 mutation in particular, which is known to have been in the country for several weeks.
“If we get British conditions,” she said “we would not be talking about whether schools should open or not, but about ambulances and overcrowded hospitals … but if all the rules are kept, we have a fair chance”, she said in response to a question as to when lockdown conditions might be relaxed.“If we get British conditions,” she said “we would not be talking about whether schools should open or not, but about ambulances and overcrowded hospitals … but if all the rules are kept, we have a fair chance”, she said in response to a question as to when lockdown conditions might be relaxed.
Despite a light fall in registered coronavirus cases – the figure stood at 16,000 on Wednesday, while 1148 deaths had been registered in the previous 24 hours – a current lockdown in place since before Christmas is to be extended.Despite a light fall in registered coronavirus cases – the figure stood at 16,000 on Wednesday, while 1148 deaths had been registered in the previous 24 hours – a current lockdown in place since before Christmas is to be extended.
Schools and nurseries as well as non-essential shops and hairdressers will remain closed until at least 14 February.Schools and nurseries as well as non-essential shops and hairdressers will remain closed until at least 14 February.
Employers will be obliged to allow their employees to work from home wherever possible, to reduce the number of people on public transport and in work places. Medical masks will be obligatory on public transport, in shops as well as places of worship.Employers will be obliged to allow their employees to work from home wherever possible, to reduce the number of people on public transport and in work places. Medical masks will be obligatory on public transport, in shops as well as places of worship.
Merkel said that the decision to maintain homeschooling had been the most difficult decision she and the other leaders had made, following 11 hours of consultation, including with eight prominent experts.Merkel said that the decision to maintain homeschooling had been the most difficult decision she and the other leaders had made, following 11 hours of consultation, including with eight prominent experts.
“We wrestled for a long time to decide what is necessary regarding children and schools,” Merkel said. “We all know that it is incredibly restrictive for the children and parents affected by this. But there are indications which must be taken very seriously that the mutation B117 spreads more intensely amongst children and young people than was the case with the previous virus and we need to take these indications seriously.”“We wrestled for a long time to decide what is necessary regarding children and schools,” Merkel said. “We all know that it is incredibly restrictive for the children and parents affected by this. But there are indications which must be taken very seriously that the mutation B117 spreads more intensely amongst children and young people than was the case with the previous virus and we need to take these indications seriously.”
Merkel has repeatedly said the seven-day incidence rate needs to be brought below 50 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants. Nationwide it currently stands at 124 per 100,000, but with huge regional differences.Merkel has repeatedly said the seven-day incidence rate needs to be brought below 50 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants. Nationwide it currently stands at 124 per 100,000, but with huge regional differences.
French health officials have advised people against wearing home-made fabric masks as they offer less protection against highly contagious new Covid-19 variants.French health officials have advised people against wearing home-made fabric masks as they offer less protection against highly contagious new Covid-19 variants.
The scientific committee, which reports back to the French government, says category 2 masks are unlikely to halt the spread of the “English variant” or new coronavirus strains from Brazil and South Africa.The scientific committee, which reports back to the French government, says category 2 masks are unlikely to halt the spread of the “English variant” or new coronavirus strains from Brazil and South Africa.
The experts’ advice, presented to ministers on Monday but not published, also suggested France double its social distancing rule from 1m to 2m.The experts’ advice, presented to ministers on Monday but not published, also suggested France double its social distancing rule from 1m to 2m.
France’s Haut Conseil de Santé Publique (high council for public health – HCSP) decided over the weekend that many cloth masks, often preferred because they can be washed and reused, did not guarantee protection against the new variants.France’s Haut Conseil de Santé Publique (high council for public health – HCSP) decided over the weekend that many cloth masks, often preferred because they can be washed and reused, did not guarantee protection against the new variants.
“Category 2 or material masks only filter 70%, while category 1 masks, like surgical masks, can go as high as 95% if worn properly. As the variant is more easily transmitted, it is logical to use masks with the highest filtering power,” Daniel Camus, of the Pasteur Institute in Lille and a HCSP member told France Info.“Category 2 or material masks only filter 70%, while category 1 masks, like surgical masks, can go as high as 95% if worn properly. As the variant is more easily transmitted, it is logical to use masks with the highest filtering power,” Daniel Camus, of the Pasteur Institute in Lille and a HCSP member told France Info.
“We are not questioning the masks used up to now … but as we have no new weapons against them (new strains) the only thing we can do is to improve the weapons we already have,” Camus added.“We are not questioning the masks used up to now … but as we have no new weapons against them (new strains) the only thing we can do is to improve the weapons we already have,” Camus added.
Home-made barrier masks made under Europe-wide established specifications are consider category 1. However, even though they are subject to minimum requirements making them more efficient filters, the HSPC said they may not guarantee the correct level of protection.Home-made barrier masks made under Europe-wide established specifications are consider category 1. However, even though they are subject to minimum requirements making them more efficient filters, the HSPC said they may not guarantee the correct level of protection.
Didier Lepelletier, the co-president of the committee’s Covid-19 working group, said everyone should now choose category 1 masks adding that home-made masks “have not been tested in terms of their performance”.Didier Lepelletier, the co-president of the committee’s Covid-19 working group, said everyone should now choose category 1 masks adding that home-made masks “have not been tested in terms of their performance”.
A Covid vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect against a coronavirus variant spreading rapidly across the UK.A Covid vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect against a coronavirus variant spreading rapidly across the UK.
PA Media reports:PA Media reports:
Dublin’s annual St Patrick’s Day parade has been cancelled in light of the pandemic for the second year in a row, as organisers confirm virtual events will be held instead.
Russia’s sovereign wealth fund RDIF has filed for registration of Sputnik V in the EU and expects it to be reviewed in February, moving it closer to wider adoption across the world.
See the latest Covid death and case numbers from earlier.
The Vatican began offering free vaccinations against coronavirus to Rome’s homeless on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Reuters reports:
Turkey has vaccinated more than 1 million people in the first week of its nationwide inoculation programme, health ministry data shows.
The programme was launched last Thursday, with health workers the first to receive the Covid jabs developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
More than 600,000 people were vaccinated in the first two days, though the pace has slowed to about 100,000 per day since then, Reuters reported.
Morning everyone, this is Yohannes Lowe. I’ll be running the live blog until the evening. Please feel free to drop me a message on Twitter if you have any coverage suggestions.
The Dutch government is set to add the first nationwide curfew since the second world war to its already broad lockdown on Wednesday in a bid to limit the spread of new coronavirus mutations in the Netherlands, broadcaster RTL said.
The curfew would allow only people with pressing needs to leave their homes between 8.30pm and 4.30am as of Friday night, RTL said, citing government sources.
Schools and non-essential shops have already been closed since mid-December, following the shutdown of bars and restaurants two months earlier. This lockdown will remain in place until at least 9 February, the prime minister Mark Rutte said last week.
The introduction of the first night curfew since that imposed on the Dutch by German occupiers in the second world war is highly contentious, and various political parties have already said they will never back it.
The government is discussing the curfew and other possible measures on Wednesday morning, and has said it will announce its decisions early in the afternoon.
It will then seek the backing of parliament for its measures in a debate. The curfew however can be imposed without the backing of opposition parties.
The government is also considering whether to ban travel to and from the UK and South Africa, RTL said, to limit the spread of the highly contagious variants of the virus which were first discovered there.
Infections in the Netherlands have decreased steadily in the past three weeks, but health authorities say the new variants will lead to a new surge by next month if social distancing measures are not tightened.
The Dutch government currently has a caretaker status, as Rutte last Friday handed his resignation to King Willem-Alexander following a damning report on his cabinet’s handling of childcare subsidies.
Rutte has said he will remain able to take decisions on Covid-19 policies until a new government is formed after 17 March elections, seeking broad support for measures from both coalition and opposition parties.
Jeanne Becart, the mayor of the Paris suburb of Garches, said public health officials told her to get ready to administer 1,200 Covid-19 vaccines a week. But for this week, the vaccination centre she set up has only been allocated 420 doses.
“I am a bit angry,” Bécart said inside the vaccination hub off the town square, where over the course of Monday the 15 volunteers, nurses and doctors on duty between them vaccinated 90 patients.
She had a plea for the French president, Emmanuel Macron: “Please Mr President, buy vaccines whatever the cost.”
France is not experiencing problems with the supply of vaccines, according to government officials. They say that, apart from minor fluctuations, the country is getting the doses from the manufacturers that were allocated to it.
The problem for France is that demand has exploded and is far outstripping the number of jabs available.
Many French people were initially sceptical, but as they have seen acquaintances get vaccinated with no adverse effects, large numbers decided the benefits outweigh the risks, say health officials.
“People have understood now that the vaccination is the solution,” said Barbara Thery, head of a vaccination centre in Le Cannet, just outside Cannes.
“So the relationship between the number of people who come forward and want to be vaccinated, and the speed at which we can do it, is not what we need,” she said.
Her centre has enough doses for 50 vaccinations per day but could easily dispense 200 a day if it had the doses, she said. France has approved both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for use.
The government ditched a plan to initially give the vaccine only to those in elderly people’s homes, meaning everyone 75 and over – a total of more than 6 million people in France – became eligible for the jab, but without the doses in place to vaccinate them straight away.
The health minister, Olivier Véran, said as fast as they were being produced, the vaccines were being shipped to vaccination centres.
A health ministry official said the supply was speeding up and the government was on track to meet its target of vaccinating 2.4 million people by the end of February.
In Saint-Denis, on the northern edge of Paris, the local mayor’s office set up a vaccination centre in a municipal building. For this week, it has been allocated 132 doses.
“Unfortunately that does not match the need,” said Katy Bontinck, the deputy mayor in charge of health. Because of the limited doses, the centre only opens on weekday afternoons.
The Portuguese economy minister, Pedro Siza Vieira, has tested positive for Covid-19 and is in self-isolation, his office reported late on Tuesday, the third cabinet member to be diagnosed with the virus in a week.
He had already been in quarantine at home since Saturday as a precautionary measure after the fnance minister, João Leão, tested positive following a meeting with top EU officials.
Siza Vieira and the prime minister, Antonio Costa, were also at that meeting.
Siza Vieira was the third minister to be diagnosed with the coronavirus in the past week, following Leão and the labour minister Ana Mendes Godinho.
Portugal, currently reporting the highest average of new cases per capita worldwide according to the ourworldindata.org website supported by Oxford University, has had 566,958 confirmed coronavirus cases and 9,246 deaths so far and went back into lockdown on Friday.
The spread of coronavirus in France could accelerate sharply in the coming months due to the emergence of a more contagious variant, two Paris hospital executives said on Wednesday, raising fears of a third lockdown in the country.
Karine Lacombe, head of infectious diseases at Paris’s Saint Antoine hospital, and Martin Hirsch, the director general of the Paris hospitals system, both warned of the extra strain this could put on healthcare infrastructure.
The two previous lockdowns enforced by the government last year were aimed at preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed by patients with Covid-19.
“We know this variant spreads much more quickly and, above all, it is more infectious. So, yes, we think that it will change the dynamic of the pandemic in the weeks to come,” Lacombe told BFM TV.
The spread of this variant, first detected in England, has prompted the UK, Germany and Ireland to reimpose strict lockdowns. France has stopped short such a measure for now – opting instead for a national 6pm curfew – but members of the government have warned it is not off the table.
“All the models reckon that some time between mid-February, early February, so in about 15 days or three weeks time and by mid-March, we will have an increase that could risk, if we cannot do otherwise, resembling what the English, the Irish and the Germans have been witnessing recently,” Hirsh said on France Info radio.
Tuesday’s figures show the seven-day moving average of new infections, which averages out daily data reporting irregularities, increased to 18,820, the highest since 23 November. The number of patients in intensive care units for the disease has now gone up for 10 consecutive days, to 2,839, a sequence unseen since early November, when France had just entered its second lockdown.
“We fear it will be extremely tough, especially in March. On a local level … when the number of admissions in ICU units will ramp up, we probably will need more restrictive measures than the curfew,” Lacombe said. “We must remain alert and act as soon as we spot a deterioration of the indicators.”
Zimbabwe’s foreign minister, Sibusiso Moyo, has died after contracting Covid-19, presidential spokesman George Charamba said on Wednesday.
Moyo, a former army general who rose to national fame when he announced the military coup that led to the removal of the late long-serving leader Robert Mugabe in November 2017, died at a local hospital early on Wednesday, Charamba said.
“The nation will be kept apprised of further developments regarding this untimely demise of the late minister, himself a decorated soldier and freedom fighter,” Charamba said.
Moyo was one of several generals who, after helping plot the coup, were rewarded with senior positions in the president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s cabinet and the ruling Zanu-PF party.
Another cabinet minister, the retired general and agriculture minister Perrance Shiri, died of the virus last July.
Zimbabwe has suffered a surge in Covid-19 infections, with more than half of the 28,675 total cases and 825 deaths being recorded since New Year’s Day.