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Covid live: UK sending poor countries ‘to back of queue’ by ordering boosters; Iran calls for urgent pandemic action Covid live: UK sending poor countries ‘to back of queue’ by ordering boosters; Iran calls for urgent pandemic action
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UK accused of sending countries who are struggling to access vaccines ‘to back of queue’; pandemic ‘number-one’ problem in Iran, says supreme leaderUK accused of sending countries who are struggling to access vaccines ‘to back of queue’; pandemic ‘number-one’ problem in Iran, says supreme leader
The UN refugee agency has suggested a new US practice of transferring asylum-seekers and migrants expelled under public health orders by plane to southern Mexico contravenes international law. A fake check-in app is being used by Covid-19 conspiracy theorists and anti-lockdown groups to dupe business owners and keep location data out of the hands of contact tracers in at least three states, my colleagues Christopher Knaus and Nick Evershed report.
Guardian Australia can reveal that conspiratorial websites and Telegram groups with at least 15,000 followers are sharing links that allow users to generate fake check-in confirmations on their phones.
The user simply enters their name and a check-in location, and the app instantly generates a check-in confirmation screen that is near-identical to those displayed on government-run apps in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
The app passes no information to government, making it difficult for contact tracers to find people in the event of an outbreak.
Two US companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have raised the prices of their Covid-19 vaccines after data from clinical trials showed their mRNA formula was more effective than cheaper vaccines from Britain’s AstraZeneca and the American drugs maker Johnson & Johnson.
AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have pledged to provide their doses on a not-for-profit basis until the pandemic ends.
A new US practice of transferring asylum-seekers and migrants expelled under public health orders by plane to southern Mexico contravenes international law, the UN refugee agency has said.
Those being expelled may have urgent protection needs and risk being sent back to the very dangers they have fled in their countries of origin in central America without any opportunity to have those needs assessed and addressed, UNHCR said.Those being expelled may have urgent protection needs and risk being sent back to the very dangers they have fled in their countries of origin in central America without any opportunity to have those needs assessed and addressed, UNHCR said.
“These expulsion flights of non-Mexicans to the deep interior of Mexico constitute a troubling new dimension in enforcement of the Covid-related public health order known as Title 42,” Matthew Reynolds, the UNHCR representative to the US and the Caribbean, said.“These expulsion flights of non-Mexicans to the deep interior of Mexico constitute a troubling new dimension in enforcement of the Covid-related public health order known as Title 42,” Matthew Reynolds, the UNHCR representative to the US and the Caribbean, said.
“Removal from the US to southern Mexico, outside any official transfer agreement with appropriate legal safeguards, increases the risk of chain refoulement - pushbacks by successive countries - of vulnerable people in danger, in contravention of international law and the humanitarian principles of the 1951 Refugee Convention.”“Removal from the US to southern Mexico, outside any official transfer agreement with appropriate legal safeguards, increases the risk of chain refoulement - pushbacks by successive countries - of vulnerable people in danger, in contravention of international law and the humanitarian principles of the 1951 Refugee Convention.”
He said the expulsion flights would also further strain the humanitarian response capacity in southern Mexico and heighten the risk of Covid-19 transmission across national borders.He said the expulsion flights would also further strain the humanitarian response capacity in southern Mexico and heighten the risk of Covid-19 transmission across national borders.
Title 42 is a coronavirus policy dating from the presidency of Donald Trump, allowing the immediate deportation of undocumented migrants, including those who arrive seeking asylum, AFP reports.Title 42 is a coronavirus policy dating from the presidency of Donald Trump, allowing the immediate deportation of undocumented migrants, including those who arrive seeking asylum, AFP reports.
At the end of July, US authorities began deporting some migrant families on flights to central America as part of an expedited system to remove people who arrived without authorisation via Mexico.At the end of July, US authorities began deporting some migrant families on flights to central America as part of an expedited system to remove people who arrived without authorisation via Mexico.
The Department of Homeland Security said the families were sent back to their home countries, including Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, but did not provide a number of people.The Department of Homeland Security said the families were sent back to their home countries, including Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, but did not provide a number of people.
Cuba is bringing back hundreds of doctors working abroad and converting hotels into isolation centres and hospitals in order to battle a spike in cases that is overwhelming healthcare services in parts of the Caribbean island.Cuba is bringing back hundreds of doctors working abroad and converting hotels into isolation centres and hospitals in order to battle a spike in cases that is overwhelming healthcare services in parts of the Caribbean island.
Reuters reports that Cuba’s rolling seven-day average of confirmed Covid-19 cases has surged eightfold within two months to 5,639 per million inhabitants, ten times the world average.Reuters reports that Cuba’s rolling seven-day average of confirmed Covid-19 cases has surged eightfold within two months to 5,639 per million inhabitants, ten times the world average.
The case fatality rate was 0.93% in the first week of August, according to reports, with the 3,608 Covid deaths in Cuba since the start of the pandemic still well below the global average per capita, according to official data.The case fatality rate was 0.93% in the first week of August, according to reports, with the 3,608 Covid deaths in Cuba since the start of the pandemic still well below the global average per capita, according to official data.
The Covid-19 surge has come amid Cuba’s worst economic crisis in decades that had already resulted in medicine shortages – amid tightening US sanctions largely premised on ideology – and long queues for scarce goods that made implementing lockdowns problematic, Reuters reports.The Covid-19 surge has come amid Cuba’s worst economic crisis in decades that had already resulted in medicine shortages – amid tightening US sanctions largely premised on ideology – and long queues for scarce goods that made implementing lockdowns problematic, Reuters reports.
“I witnessed queues of more than 20 hours, people dying in the corridors (of the polyclinic),” wrote Ana Iris Diaz, a professor at the university of the central Cuban city of Santa Clara in a Facebook post that went viral this week.“I witnessed queues of more than 20 hours, people dying in the corridors (of the polyclinic),” wrote Ana Iris Diaz, a professor at the university of the central Cuban city of Santa Clara in a Facebook post that went viral this week.
“I saw an elderly woman die after several hours of waiting and four days without an antigen test or PCR. Simply put, I saw what I would have hoped to never see: the collapse of our health system.”“I saw an elderly woman die after several hours of waiting and four days without an antigen test or PCR. Simply put, I saw what I would have hoped to never see: the collapse of our health system.”
President Miguel Diaz-Canel told a government meeting on Monday: “We are at the limit of our capacity for infrastructure, resources, medicine and oxygen.”President Miguel Diaz-Canel told a government meeting on Monday: “We are at the limit of our capacity for infrastructure, resources, medicine and oxygen.”
A quarter of Cuba’s 11.2 million inhabitants have been inoculated with its two most advanced domestically-made vaccines that officials say have proven more than 90 % effective.A quarter of Cuba’s 11.2 million inhabitants have been inoculated with its two most advanced domestically-made vaccines that officials say have proven more than 90 % effective.
When it comes to the pandemic, plenty of films have had their turn in the spotlight. Contagion was one of them, for contextualising the scale of the virus and teaching everybody what an R number was. So was Jaws, with Amity Island’s safety-denying mayor, Larry Vaughn, serving as an analogue for any authority figure who was skeptical about the concept of lockdown.When it comes to the pandemic, plenty of films have had their turn in the spotlight. Contagion was one of them, for contextualising the scale of the virus and teaching everybody what an R number was. So was Jaws, with Amity Island’s safety-denying mayor, Larry Vaughn, serving as an analogue for any authority figure who was skeptical about the concept of lockdown.
To some extent, those films make sense. In times of great uncertainty, we reach for the familiar to guide us. But sometimes that’s a bad idea. Because sometimes what they reach for is the Will Smith movie I Am Legend.To some extent, those films make sense. In times of great uncertainty, we reach for the familiar to guide us. But sometimes that’s a bad idea. Because sometimes what they reach for is the Will Smith movie I Am Legend.
Thai police have fired water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in Bangkok for a second consecutive day as demonstrators rallied against the government and its handling of the coronavirus crisis.Thai police have fired water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in Bangkok for a second consecutive day as demonstrators rallied against the government and its handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Hundreds sought to rally near the residence of prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to demand his resignation for government corruption and mismanagement of the pandemic.Hundreds sought to rally near the residence of prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to demand his resignation for government corruption and mismanagement of the pandemic.
Reuters reports protesters threw paint at a line of riot police who confronted them as they tried to march on the PM’s home and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and charging to disperse them.Reuters reports protesters threw paint at a line of riot police who confronted them as they tried to march on the PM’s home and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and charging to disperse them.
Barbed wire fences and shipping containers were used to block the road. The Associated Press reports that a group also gathered in the nearby Din Daeng area, firing slingshots and hurling firecrackers and small explosive devices called ping-pong bombs. They also set fire to a vehicle that burned fiercely beneath a nearby elevated roadway.Barbed wire fences and shipping containers were used to block the road. The Associated Press reports that a group also gathered in the nearby Din Daeng area, firing slingshots and hurling firecrackers and small explosive devices called ping-pong bombs. They also set fire to a vehicle that burned fiercely beneath a nearby elevated roadway.
Earlier protesters burnt an effigy of a Thai judge who had denied bail to leaders of past protests. “Police are not our enemies. Our true enemy is the government,” one protester told the rally.Earlier protesters burnt an effigy of a Thai judge who had denied bail to leaders of past protests. “Police are not our enemies. Our true enemy is the government,” one protester told the rally.
Police also used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to violently break up a similar protest yesterday, when thousands of demonstrators drove in a convoy of cars and motorcycles through Bangkok. Some core leaders of the movement controversially remain in detention, but the movement has resurged.Police also used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to violently break up a similar protest yesterday, when thousands of demonstrators drove in a convoy of cars and motorcycles through Bangkok. Some core leaders of the movement controversially remain in detention, but the movement has resurged.
“The protesters repeatedly attacked police by throwing firecrackers, ping pong bombs, and (using) slingshots,” royal Thai police deputy spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said.“The protesters repeatedly attacked police by throwing firecrackers, ping pong bombs, and (using) slingshots,” royal Thai police deputy spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said.
The PM, Prayuth, has been criticised for a slow vaccination campaign – using jabs produced by a company owned by the king that has no prior experience of making vaccines – and a failure to quell Thailand’s worst Covid-19 wave yet, which has accounted for the bulk of the country of 70m’s more than 788,000 cases and 6,700 deaths.The PM, Prayuth, has been criticised for a slow vaccination campaign – using jabs produced by a company owned by the king that has no prior experience of making vaccines – and a failure to quell Thailand’s worst Covid-19 wave yet, which has accounted for the bulk of the country of 70m’s more than 788,000 cases and 6,700 deaths.
Though the demonstrations have focused on Covid, they are part of a wider push for sweeping political change that includes Prayuth’s resignation, a new constitution and – most contentious of all – fundamental reform of the powerful but opaque monarchy, AP reports. Financial hardship from restrictions have fuelled public anger over these grievances.Though the demonstrations have focused on Covid, they are part of a wider push for sweeping political change that includes Prayuth’s resignation, a new constitution and – most contentious of all – fundamental reform of the powerful but opaque monarchy, AP reports. Financial hardship from restrictions have fuelled public anger over these grievances.
The Swiss government plans to halt most free Covid-19 testing for people who are not vaccinated now that nearly half the population has received their jabs.Reuters reports:The Swiss government plans to halt most free Covid-19 testing for people who are not vaccinated now that nearly half the population has received their jabs.Reuters reports:
France will strengthen lockdown rules in the overseas territory of Guadeloupe to rein in the spread of Covid-19 as rising infections in its Caribbean islands overwhelm hospitals. Restrictions have also been tightened in Martinique, as Reuters reports:France will strengthen lockdown rules in the overseas territory of Guadeloupe to rein in the spread of Covid-19 as rising infections in its Caribbean islands overwhelm hospitals. Restrictions have also been tightened in Martinique, as Reuters reports:
The UK recorded 29,612 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday and 104 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for the virus, Reuters reports.The UK recorded 29,612 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday and 104 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for the virus, Reuters reports.
That compares with 23,510 new cases and 146 deaths on Tuesday.That compares with 23,510 new cases and 146 deaths on Tuesday.
In Scotland, rail operator ScotRail has confirmed staff are not expected to enforce rules on wearing face coverings on trains.
The BBC reports the operations director, David Simpson, saying the firm did not want to put staff in “difficult positions”, particularly after customers have been drinking alcohol.
He said wearing face masks on trains was a legal requirement but it was up to passengers to take “personal responsibility”.
Passengers concerned if others are not wearing masks could contact the Transport Police or move to a different part of the train, he added.
Europe’s drugs regulator has said it is looking into three new conditions to assess whether they may be possible side-effects related to Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna following a small number of cases.
Erythema multiforme, a form of allergic skin reaction, and glomerulonephritis and nephrotic syndrome, disorders related to kidneys, are being studied by the safety committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), according to the regulator.
The mRNA technology used by the two vaccines has been a turning point in the pandemic and for the scientific community, but some rare side-effects of the shots are being studied as more people are inoculated globally, Reuters reports.
Last month, the EMA found a possible link between very rare heart inflammation and the mRNA vaccines. However, the European regulator and the World Health Organization have stressed that benefits from these vaccines outweighed any risks posed by them.
The EMA did not give details on how many cases of the new conditions were recorded following vaccination with the Pfizer and Moderna shots, but said it has requested more data from the companies to study any potential relation between them.
French Covid-19 vaccination centres have been hit by vandalism and daubed with Nazi-themed tags as the government controversially steps up its vaccination drive.
Reuters reports that vaccination centres and outdoor testing facilities at pharmacies across the country have been tagged with swastikas and graffiti such as “collaborator”, “Nazi” and “genocide” in recent weeks.
In Neuillé-Pont-Pierre, in the Loire valley, late last month Stars of David – similar to those Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis – were painted on a vaccination centre.
“We are cleaning off these horrors, this is odious. Other centres have also been hit by these racist and cowardly attacks. On the vaccination centre poster, a target was painted, as if for a weapon,” the Neuillé-Pont-Pierre mayor, Michel Jollivet, said on BFM television.
BFM reported about one attack per day on average has taken place in recent weeks, often in small towns with little police presence or security cameras. The attacks have increased ahead of the introduction this week of a mandatory health pass to enter a wide variety of buildings.
In Lans-en-Vercors, south-east France, anti-vaccine graffiti were painted on a community hall that housed a vaccine centre and fire hoses were opened intentionally, flooding the facility, local newspaper Le Dauphine reported.In Urrugne, in the Pyrenees, the tent of a temporary vaccination centre was set on fire, while in Audincourt, eastern France, the power supply to a vaccination centre was cut off, endangering vaccine doses in fridges.
Survey data from a pool of schools in England suggests that despite the emergence of the highly infectious Delta variant, infection rates during the summer term of 2021 were lower versus the autumn term of 2020.
Researchers used data from staff and pupils who tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19 in school on the day of testing. Analysed by the Office for National Statistics, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Public Health England, the results encompassed the period from 14 June to 6 July 2021.
Gleaned from data collected from 141 schools, the analysis showed 108 schools returned no positive cases among participants tested. But 23% of primary schools and 24% of secondary schools returned at least one positive case. These numbers were higher than the previous round (encompassing 5 May to 21 May 2021), but much lower than the autumn 2020 period when 54% of primary schools and 62% of secondary schools returned at least one positive case.
Last autumn, the Alpha variant was dominant, but in recent months the Delta variant has monopolised cases in England and across the UK. The great majority of adults have now been vaccinated, so the relative contribution of school-aged children to transmission will have therefore increased.
The Delta variant is also significantly more transmissible than its predecessors in all age groups, meaning the absolute contribution of school-aged children to transmission will have increased, explained Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at University of Edinburgh.
“One reassuring result from the survey is that – despite the advent of the Delta variant – infection rates during the summer term of 2021 were actually lower than during the autumn term of 2020.”
Infection rates in pupils in this latest round of testing was also lower than prevalence of infection among children in the wider community, and has been across all previous time periods.
The findings suggest measures including the bubble system, asymptomatic testing that led to a higher proportion of infected pupils kept out of school in the summer term, alongside enhanced cleaning and social distancing, may have reduced the risk of infection within schools, the researchers suggested.
But Kevin McConway, am emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University, said the results should be interpreted with caution, highlighting that the survey runs in a limited set of local authorities in England and that only pupils and staff who were present in the school building on the day when testing took place have contributed data.
“People absent for any reason, including absences because they were ill with Covid-19 or self-isolating, aren’t taken into account,” he noted. “These results … could be very easy to overinterpret.”
A UK government scientific adviser has said Covid is unlikely to be eradicated entirely because there is no vaccine that is 95% protective against infection.
Prof Andrew Hayward, of University College London’s institute of epidemiology and health care, and the new and emerging respiratory virus threats advisory group (Nervtag), also told BBC Radio 4’s Today that Covid would likely continue to mutate, meaning true herd immunity was unlikely.
It comes after Prof Andrew Pollard told MPs yesterday that the fact vaccines did not stop the spread of Covid meant reaching the threshold for overall immunity in the population was “mythical”.
In the UK, a member of the committee advising on vaccines has said the rollout was extended to 16- and 17-year-olds after a small number became “seriously ill” with Covid.
Prof Adam Finn, who sits on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and is a professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol, said there had been “a couple” of 17-year-olds in that area who needed intensive care in hospital in recent weeks.
He said while most young people will only have the virus in a mild form, the vaccines will be effective at preventing serious cases.
He told BBC Breakfast:
Yesterday, a paediatric critical care consultant, Dr Ruchi Sinha, said children’s intensive care doctors had seen “a lot” of children with obesity with Covid-19. But, curiously, there has been no government action to improve children’s metabolic health.
UK government plans to restrict junk food advertising on television and online at the end of next year have been criticised by campaigners who say they contain too many exemptions to affect rising levels of obesity in the UK.
Iran’s supreme leader has said the pandemic is the country’s “number-one problem” and must urgently be curbed, calling for greater efforts to import and produce vaccines.
“The pandemic is Iran’s number-one problem today ... The number of infected people and the fatalities are truly tragic. ... It is an urgent matter that must be curbed,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.
“Part of the problem is lack of observance of health protocols by the people,” Khamenei said, describing overburdened health centres as of “truly great concern”.
Iran’s health ministry today reported 42,541 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 4,281,217. Deaths rose by 536 to 95,647, which the ministry blamed on the more infectious Delta variant, Reuters reports.
Khamenei, who in January banned imports of “untrustworthy” French, US and British made vaccines, said the government should “increase efforts to both import and to produce homegrown vaccines”. Iran has blamed US sanctions for hampering purchases and deliveries of vaccines from other nations.
The authorities have approved the emergency use of two locally produced vaccines, with the only mass-produced one, COVIran Barekat, still in short supply. The other vaccines used in Iran include Russia’s Sputnik V, China’s Sinopharm, India’s Bharat and AstraZeneca/Oxford, according to the health ministry.
More than 13.8 million people in the country of 83 million have been given a first vaccine dose, but only 3.7 million have received the necessary two jabs, the ministry said.
Iranian state media carried pictures of hospitals in several cities that have run out of beds for new patients.
Iran has avoided imposing a full lockdown on the population, and instead resorted to piecemeal measures such as temporary travel bans and business closures, AFP reports.
The Australian Olympic Committee has condemned the South Australian government over its “cruel and uncaring” decision to force athletes who have already quarantined in Sydney to complete an additional 14-day home quarantine on return to the state.
Sixteen athletes are due to return home to SA after returning from the Tokyo Olympics and finishing their hotel quarantine in Sydney. The SA government has rejected AOC appeals to grant exemptions for the returning Olympians, who will isolate at their homes rather than at quarantine hotels.
In a strongly worded statement, the AOC chief executive, Matt Carroll, said the move was contrary to expert medical advice and posed a significant mental health risk.
Authorities in northern Germany have appealed to thousands of people to get another shot of Covid vaccine after a police investigation found a Red Cross nurse may have injected them with a saline solution.
The nurse is suspected of injecting salt solution into people’s arms instead of genuine doses at a vaccination centre in Friesland – a rural district near the North Sea coast – in the early spring, Reuters reports. Local authorities have issued a call to about 8,600 residents who may have been affected.
While saline solution is harmless, most people who got vaccinated in Germany in March and April when the suspected switch took place are elderly and at high risk of catching Covid.
The motive of the nurse, who was not named, was not clear but she had aired sceptical views about vaccines in social media posts, police investigators said.
Spain’s medicines agency has authorised the first round of clinical trials for the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Spanish company Hipra, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said.
The early stage clinical trial will recruit dozens of participants from Spanish hospitals to test the drug’s safety and tolerability, as well as its immunogenicity and efficacy, the medicines agency said.
Hipra, which has manufacturing bases in Spain and Brazil, said it could produce up to 400m doses in 2022 and 1.2bn in 2023, Reuters reports.
“Spain’s medicines and health products agency has just authorised clinical tests of the Spanish Covid vaccine on humans,” Sánchez said in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.
Hipra, a pharmaceutical lab that mainly researches and manufactures veterinary vaccines, has been working on two Covid shots. One is based on the same RNA messenger technology used in Pfizer and Moderna’s shots, while the second, which has just received approval for trial, uses a recombinant protein like US-based drugmaker Novavax.