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| Coronavirus live: Germany sees highest ever seven-day Covid incidence rate; Auckland lockdown set to end | Coronavirus live: Germany sees highest ever seven-day Covid incidence rate; Auckland lockdown set to end |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Germany’s Robert Koch Institute records incidence rate of 201.1; Lockdown of New Zealand’s largest city likely to end this month | Germany’s Robert Koch Institute records incidence rate of 201.1; Lockdown of New Zealand’s largest city likely to end this month |
| Australia has pledged more than three million Covid vaccine doses to Cambodia, the prime minister Hun Sen said, which would help the country give booster shots to its people. | |
| The assurance came during a visit by the Australian foreign minister Marise Payne aimed at expanding bilateral ties, Reuters reports. | |
| Cambodia has vaccinated 87% of its more than 16 million people, one of Asia’s highest inoculation rates. | |
| “The Australian government has decided to provide Cambodia with 3,250,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, of which 1 million will be delivered to Cambodia before the end of this year,” Hun Sen said on his official Facebook page on Monday. | |
| The country has already given two million booster shots and begun inoculating children. Payne met Hun Sun and her counterpart Prak Sokhonn. | |
| Hun Sen declared Cambodia fully open last week and the government has said tourist locations for vaccinated travellers will also be reopened by the end of this month. | |
| Good morning from London. I’m Lucy Campbell, I’ll be bringing you all the latest global developments on the coronavirus pandemic for the next eight hours. Please feel free to get in touch with me as I work if you have a story or tips to share! Your thoughts are always welcome. | |
| Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.comTwitter: @lucy_campbell_ | |
| Germany’s Covid incidence rate – measuring the number of new coronavirus infections per 100,000 people over the last seven days – has risen to 201.1 today. This is the highest official figure recorded by the Robert Koch Institute. | |
| In the eastern state of Saxony, where the incidence rate is more than twice the national average at 491.3, unvaccinated people face new restrictions. Access to indoor dining and other indoor events will be limited to those who are fully vaccinated or can show proof of recovery. The new rules are the toughest state-wide restrictions in Germany against non-inoculated people. | |
| Flights carrying the first UK leisure travellers to the US since the pandemic began have taken off from Heathrow, after Joe Biden permitted a reopening of the US border. Setting aside a longstanding rivalry, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic planes took off simultaneously in what the bosses of the two airlines described as a “pivotal moment” for the battered industry. | |
| All Aer Lingus flights to the US from Dublin were full on Monday. Delta Airlines warned passengers to be patient as the airports re-open to international travel. | |
| Dozens of crossings at the Mexico-US border reopened to non-essential travel on Monday after a 20-month closure. At Tijuana, ahead of the reopening, hundreds of cars formed lines stretching back kilometres from the border, while queues at pedestrian crossings grew steadily. | |
| In the UK, Prof Peter Openshaw, chair of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said the need for boosters had become “very clear”. Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) advising ministers in the UK, has said “we are not out of the woods yet” but the UK was not facing a winter lockdown. | |
| NHS workers in England must be legally required to get Covid vaccinations before the winter, former UK health secretary Matt Hancock has said, in his first intervention since leaving government. | |
| Northern Ireland’s health minister is suing Van Morrison after the singer accused him of being “very dangerous” over his handling of Covid restrictions. | |
| Russia has ended the national week long paid holiday that it hoped would break the Covid transmission chain. Today the country reported 39,400 new Covid cases, including 4,982 in Moscow. There were 1,190 further official deaths. Several regions, including Smolensk, Kursk, Chelyabinsk, Novgorod, Tomsk and Bryansk are extending restrictions. | |
| Hungary’s pharmaceutical company Richter Gedeon has made Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for its over 12,ooo workers to ensure business continuity after a government decision allowing companies to do so. | |
| Singapore and Malaysia will allow quarantine-free travel between both countries for individuals vaccinated against Covid-19 from 29 November. | |
| Indonesia plans to give booster shots to the general public after 50% of its population has been fully vaccinated. | |
| Japan recorded no daily deaths from Covid-19 for the first time in 15 months on Sunday, according to national broadcaster NHK. | |
| In the US, first lady Dr Jill Biden and surgeon general Dr Vivek Murthy are set to visit the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, to launch a nationwide campaign to promote child vaccinations. The school was the first to administer the polio vaccine in 1954. The visit comes just days after federal regulators recommended the Covid-19 vaccine for those aged 5 to 11. | |
| Auckland’s near-three-month lockdown is likely to end later this month with some coronavirus restrictions eased from Tuesday, according to prime minister Jacinda Ardern. | |
| School students could undertake daily Covid tests rather than quarantine at home under a “test to stay” approach being considered by Australia’s state and territory leaders. | |
| For live coverage across the Guardian at the moment, Andrew Sparrow has our UK politics live, and Patrick Greenfield is bringing you the latest from Cop26 from Glasgow. Lucy Campbell will be here shortly to continue with our UK and global Covid coverage, and I will see you again tomorrow. | |
| Hungarian drugmaker Richter Gedeon has made Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for its over 12,ooo workers to ensure business continuity after a government decision allowing companies to do so, chief executive Gabor Orban said on today. | Hungarian drugmaker Richter Gedeon has made Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for its over 12,ooo workers to ensure business continuity after a government decision allowing companies to do so, chief executive Gabor Orban said on today. |
| “We have made the decision to make (vaccinations) mandatory,” Orban told a news conference. | “We have made the decision to make (vaccinations) mandatory,” Orban told a news conference. |
| “The only question is the time frame over which we will be able to carry this out the most efficiently,” he said, adding that the company was conducting a survey on the number of employees already inoculated against COVID-19. | “The only question is the time frame over which we will be able to carry this out the most efficiently,” he said, adding that the company was conducting a survey on the number of employees already inoculated against COVID-19. |
| Reuters report the company said nearly 80% of its total workforce had been given a shot already. Those refusing the shot would be sent on unpaid leave. | Reuters report the company said nearly 80% of its total workforce had been given a shot already. Those refusing the shot would be sent on unpaid leave. |
| “The vaccine is not mandatory, but then, neither is working at Richter,” Orban said. “It is extremely important that we retain our ability to keep the company running, to protect our workers’ health and their jobs.” | “The vaccine is not mandatory, but then, neither is working at Richter,” Orban said. “It is extremely important that we retain our ability to keep the company running, to protect our workers’ health and their jobs.” |
| In the US, the Biden administration is encouraging local school districts to host clinics to provide Covid-19 vaccinations to kids — and information to parents on the benefits of the shots — as the White House looks to speedily provide vaccines to those ages 5 to 11. | In the US, the Biden administration is encouraging local school districts to host clinics to provide Covid-19 vaccinations to kids — and information to parents on the benefits of the shots — as the White House looks to speedily provide vaccines to those ages 5 to 11. |
| Zeke Miller reports for the Associated Press that today first lady Dr Jill Biden and surgeon general Dr Vivek Murthy are set to visit the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, to launch a nationwide campaign to promote child vaccinations. The school was the first to administer the polio vaccine in 1954. | Zeke Miller reports for the Associated Press that today first lady Dr Jill Biden and surgeon general Dr Vivek Murthy are set to visit the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, to launch a nationwide campaign to promote child vaccinations. The school was the first to administer the polio vaccine in 1954. |
| The visit comes just days after federal regulators recommended the Covid-19 vaccine for the age group. The White House says Biden will visit paediatric vaccination clinics across the country over the coming weeks to encourage the shots. | The visit comes just days after federal regulators recommended the Covid-19 vaccine for the age group. The White House says Biden will visit paediatric vaccination clinics across the country over the coming weeks to encourage the shots. |
| At the same time, health and human services secretary Xavier Becerra and education secretary Miguel Cardona are sending a letter to school districts across the country calling on them to organise vaccine clinics for their newly eligible students. The officials are reminding school districts that they can tap into billions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief money to support paediatric vaccination efforts. | At the same time, health and human services secretary Xavier Becerra and education secretary Miguel Cardona are sending a letter to school districts across the country calling on them to organise vaccine clinics for their newly eligible students. The officials are reminding school districts that they can tap into billions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief money to support paediatric vaccination efforts. |
| According to research by Aviva, British households spent an eye-watering £6.6 billion on purchases they no longer use during the pandemic. Our community team would like to hear from you if you a hasty purchase during the pandemic that you regret. | According to research by Aviva, British households spent an eye-watering £6.6 billion on purchases they no longer use during the pandemic. Our community team would like to hear from you if you a hasty purchase during the pandemic that you regret. |
| All Aer Lingus flights to the US were full on Monday after Covid travel restrictions were finally lifted, the chief executive of the airline Lynne Embleton has said. | All Aer Lingus flights to the US were full on Monday after Covid travel restrictions were finally lifted, the chief executive of the airline Lynne Embleton has said. |
| Dublin is one of the key hubs for travel to the US because of a facility to clear immigration at the airport and avoid queues stateside. | Dublin is one of the key hubs for travel to the US because of a facility to clear immigration at the airport and avoid queues stateside. |
| In the US Delta said it has seen a 450% increase in bookings since the travel ban was lifted by Joe Biden, while United Airlines said it was expecting 30,000 passengers to arrive on Monday, a 50% hike on last Monday’s experience. | In the US Delta said it has seen a 450% increase in bookings since the travel ban was lifted by Joe Biden, while United Airlines said it was expecting 30,000 passengers to arrive on Monday, a 50% hike on last Monday’s experience. |
| Delta Airlines warned passengers to be patient as the airports re-open to international travel. | Delta Airlines warned passengers to be patient as the airports re-open to international travel. |
| “It’s going to be a bit sloppy at first. I can assure you, there will be lines unfortunately,” Ed Bastian chief executive said. | “It’s going to be a bit sloppy at first. I can assure you, there will be lines unfortunately,” Ed Bastian chief executive said. |
| Russia has ended the national week long paid holiday that it hoped would break the Covid transmission chain and lead to reduced case numbers. It will take a couple of weeks to see any impact in the figures – today Russia reported 39,400 new Covid cases, including 4,982 in Moscow. There were 1,190 further official deaths. | Russia has ended the national week long paid holiday that it hoped would break the Covid transmission chain and lead to reduced case numbers. It will take a couple of weeks to see any impact in the figures – today Russia reported 39,400 new Covid cases, including 4,982 in Moscow. There were 1,190 further official deaths. |
| Not all restrictions have ended though, as the Moscow Times reports this morning: | Not all restrictions have ended though, as the Moscow Times reports this morning: |
| Angela Monaghan reports for our business desk on the resumption of transatlantic flights: | Angela Monaghan reports for our business desk on the resumption of transatlantic flights: |
| Flights carrying the first UK leisure travellers to the US since the pandemic began have taken off from Heathrow, after Joe Biden permitted a reopening of the US border. | Flights carrying the first UK leisure travellers to the US since the pandemic began have taken off from Heathrow, after Joe Biden permitted a reopening of the US border. |
| Setting aside a longstanding rivalry, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic planes took off simultaneously in what the bosses of the two airlines described as a “pivotal moment” for the battered industry. Both airlines have reported huge losses and laid off thousands of staff during 20 months of restricted travel. | Setting aside a longstanding rivalry, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic planes took off simultaneously in what the bosses of the two airlines described as a “pivotal moment” for the battered industry. Both airlines have reported huge losses and laid off thousands of staff during 20 months of restricted travel. |
| British Airways flight BA001 – a number previously reserved for Concorde – and Virgin flight VS3 took off from London Heathrow on parallel runways for New York’s JFK airport at about 8.30am, more than 600 days since the US travel ban was introduced. | British Airways flight BA001 – a number previously reserved for Concorde – and Virgin flight VS3 took off from London Heathrow on parallel runways for New York’s JFK airport at about 8.30am, more than 600 days since the US travel ban was introduced. |
| Read more of Angela Monaghan’s report here: UK flights to US take off from Heathrow as border reopens | Read more of Angela Monaghan’s report here: UK flights to US take off from Heathrow as border reopens |
| A quick snap from Reuters here that Singapore and Malaysia will allow quarantine-free travel between both countries for individuals vaccinated against Covid-19, they said in a joint statement on Monday. | A quick snap from Reuters here that Singapore and Malaysia will allow quarantine-free travel between both countries for individuals vaccinated against Covid-19, they said in a joint statement on Monday. |
| The two neighbours will launch a vaccinated travel corridor between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport from 29 November, it said. | The two neighbours will launch a vaccinated travel corridor between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport from 29 November, it said. |
| Prof Peter Openshaw, chair of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said the need for boosters had become “very clear”. | Prof Peter Openshaw, chair of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said the need for boosters had become “very clear”. |
| PA Media quotes the professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London telling Times Radio: “We don’t know how long a vaccine is going to last until we’ve had sufficient time to watch the immunity drifting downwards and I think that’s something which has become very clear recently is that these vaccines don’t appear to be forever – they do provide a lot of protection, but they have to be boosted.” | PA Media quotes the professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London telling Times Radio: “We don’t know how long a vaccine is going to last until we’ve had sufficient time to watch the immunity drifting downwards and I think that’s something which has become very clear recently is that these vaccines don’t appear to be forever – they do provide a lot of protection, but they have to be boosted.” |
| Asked if it is just the elderly at risk of not getting their booster, he added: “Well if we look at the people who are sadly still dying of Covid, it’s predominantly in those over 50. | Asked if it is just the elderly at risk of not getting their booster, he added: “Well if we look at the people who are sadly still dying of Covid, it’s predominantly in those over 50. |
| “And it’s that group that really does need to have the boosters in order to stop them from dying - particularly those over 60 and especially in those over 70.” | “And it’s that group that really does need to have the boosters in order to stop them from dying - particularly those over 60 and especially in those over 70.” |
| He also urged people who are still yet to take up any offer of the vaccine to get jabbed “as soon as possible”. | He also urged people who are still yet to take up any offer of the vaccine to get jabbed “as soon as possible”. |
| He also said the NHS was in a “serious situation” and that Covid “is not over”. | He also said the NHS was in a “serious situation” and that Covid “is not over”. |
| “There’s an awful lot of Covid still around,” he said. “At the moment we’re seeing admission rates running at something like 1,000 people per day and there’s currently over 1,000 people on mechanical ventilators in our hospitals. | “There’s an awful lot of Covid still around,” he said. “At the moment we’re seeing admission rates running at something like 1,000 people per day and there’s currently over 1,000 people on mechanical ventilators in our hospitals. |
| “And I just don’t think people realise the serious situation that there is out there in the National Health Service hospitals, with so many people on ventilators and over 9,000 people actually in the hospital currently with Covid-19. Covid isn’t done. It’s not over.” | “And I just don’t think people realise the serious situation that there is out there in the National Health Service hospitals, with so many people on ventilators and over 9,000 people actually in the hospital currently with Covid-19. Covid isn’t done. It’s not over.” |
| Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) advising ministers in the UK, has said “we are not out of the woods yet” but the UK was not facing a winter lockdown. | Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) advising ministers in the UK, has said “we are not out of the woods yet” but the UK was not facing a winter lockdown. |
| Asked about the prospect of a winter lockdown, PA Media quotes him telling Sky News: | Asked about the prospect of a winter lockdown, PA Media quotes him telling Sky News: |
| Asked about the future of booster jabs, he said “I remember having these sorts of discussions about nine months ago when the vaccinations were starting to roll out, that it’s possible that this virus could become endemic, so circulate in the population every year in the way that flu does. | Asked about the future of booster jabs, he said “I remember having these sorts of discussions about nine months ago when the vaccinations were starting to roll out, that it’s possible that this virus could become endemic, so circulate in the population every year in the way that flu does. |
| “It’s possible that every year … we’re having to go out and get our Covid jabs in the same way a lot of people are currently getting their flu jabs.” | “It’s possible that every year … we’re having to go out and get our Covid jabs in the same way a lot of people are currently getting their flu jabs.” |
| Dr Tildesley said the booster programme was “going in the right direction but there clearly is work to do for the people over 50, for vulnerable adults”. | Dr Tildesley said the booster programme was “going in the right direction but there clearly is work to do for the people over 50, for vulnerable adults”. |
| He added: “Immunity will be starting to wane from the second jab so it is really important that that acceleration continues and hopefully we get as many people protected as possible as we move into the colder months.” | He added: “Immunity will be starting to wane from the second jab so it is really important that that acceleration continues and hopefully we get as many people protected as possible as we move into the colder months.” |
| NHS workers in England must be legally required to get Covid vaccinations before the winter, former UK health secretary Matt Hancock has said, in his first intervention since leaving government. | NHS workers in England must be legally required to get Covid vaccinations before the winter, former UK health secretary Matt Hancock has said, in his first intervention since leaving government. |
| Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Hancock, who resigned as health secretary in June after it emerged he had breached Covid-19 social distancing restrictions with Gina Coladangelo, an adviser with whom he was having an affair, warned ministers against delaying mandatory jabs for nurses and doctors. | Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Hancock, who resigned as health secretary in June after it emerged he had breached Covid-19 social distancing restrictions with Gina Coladangelo, an adviser with whom he was having an affair, warned ministers against delaying mandatory jabs for nurses and doctors. |
| Hancock’s comments come as the chief executive of NHS England said the country faced “a difficult winter”, with hospital Covid admissions 14 times higher than they were this time last year. | Hancock’s comments come as the chief executive of NHS England said the country faced “a difficult winter”, with hospital Covid admissions 14 times higher than they were this time last year. |
| It has been reported that the government is expected to say the law will not be changed to require Covid jabs for the NHS’s 1.45 million staff in England until spring 2022. | It has been reported that the government is expected to say the law will not be changed to require Covid jabs for the NHS’s 1.45 million staff in England until spring 2022. |
| The law has already been changed to make Covid jabs mandatory for care workers in England, with the requirement to come into effect on Thursday. | The law has already been changed to make Covid jabs mandatory for care workers in England, with the requirement to come into effect on Thursday. |
| Read more of Jamie Grierson’s report here: NHS England staff should have Covid vaccine before winter, Hancock says | Read more of Jamie Grierson’s report here: NHS England staff should have Covid vaccine before winter, Hancock says |