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Covid news live: Boris Johnson to face MPs over lockdown party claims; Germany sets new daily case record Covid news live: Germany and Austria set new daily case records
(33 minutes later)
Furious Tory MPs call on PM to confess he attended rule-breaking party in Downing Street; Germany reports more than 80,000 new cases Germany reports more than 80,000 new cases while Austria registers 18,427 new cases
Germany has reported more than 80,000 new daily Covid-19 infections, marking a new daily record.Germany has reported more than 80,000 new daily Covid-19 infections, marking a new daily record.
A total of 80,430 coronavirus cases and 384 deaths were recorded for Tuesday, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute.A total of 80,430 coronavirus cases and 384 deaths were recorded for Tuesday, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute.
In Norway, the country also set a new daily record with 9,622 new infections registered in the last 24 hours, This is 3,000 cases more than the average of the previous seven days (6,622), local media reports.In Norway, the country also set a new daily record with 9,622 new infections registered in the last 24 hours, This is 3,000 cases more than the average of the previous seven days (6,622), local media reports.
And a big thank you to very alert reader Francisco Javier Torres Tobar who brought these figures to my attention.And a big thank you to very alert reader Francisco Javier Torres Tobar who brought these figures to my attention.
Here is some more, this time from Associated Press, on events in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, which has ordered a second round of Covid testing on all 14 million residents following the discovery of 97 cases of the Omicron variant during initial screenings that began Sunday.
Residents were asked to remain where they are until the results of all the nucleic acid tests are received, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Xinhua said authorities have carried out almost 12m tests so far, with 7.8m samples returned. The city that about an hour from Beijing. High-speed rail service and other forms of transportation between the cities have been suspended, leading to some disruptions in supply chains, including for packaged food items sold in convenience stores.
Tianjin’s Covid prevention and control office said all who have tested positive in the initial testing round were found to have the Omicron variant, of which China has so far only reported a handful of cases. The source of the outbreak is still unknown and many who are spreading the strain may be doing so unwittingly because they show no symptoms.
Andrew Sparrow is live with his Covid and politics blog for what is going to be a very busy and turbulent day in Westminster. You can follow that here.
I’ll be continuing with international and global Covid news here.
Here is our political editor Heather Stewart with her take on what faces Boris Johnson today:
Boris Johnson faces a make-or-break session of prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, with furious Conservative MPs awaiting his explanation of the “bring your own booze” garden party in May 2020.
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: “He has an opportunity now to come clean to the British public, who are devastated by these allegations.”
More than 10 Conservative MPs have publicly criticised the gathering, details of which emerged in a leaked email from Johnson’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds.
The Amber Valley MP Nigel Mills said Johnson’s position would be “untenable” if he attended the party. “If the prime minister knowingly attended a party, I can’t see how he can survive having accepted resignations for far less,” he told BBC News.
“He accepted the resignation of his spokesperson [Allegra Stratton] for not attending a party but joking about it at a time of much lighter restrictions. I just think that’s untenable.”
Many more Tory MPs are expressing anger in private, though some are prepared to await the findings of an inquiry by the civil servant Sue Gray into a string of parties in Downing Street.
Read more of Heather Stewart’s report here: Johnson faces crunch PMQs as pressure mounts over No 10 party
China is battling coronavirus outbreaks in several cities, severely testing the country’s strict “zero-Covid” strategy just weeks before Beijing hosts the Winter Olympics.
In the northern port city of Tianjin, two confirmed cases of the highly transmissible variant were discovered over the weekend. Local virus prevention official Zhang Ying said Saturday that the strain of virus identified had been transmitting for “at least three generations” - indicating weeks of earlier spread - with the source unclear. “We are highly concerned about whether the virus has spilled over to areas outside Tianjin... especially Beijing,” Zhang said.
Xi’an is in its third week of a strict lockdown as it races to stamp out a 2,000-case outbreak, one of the largest in China for months. Residents may not leave their homes or travel out of the city, famed for its Terracotta Warriors.
Agence France-Presse also report that several cities in the central province of Henan - which lies near Xi’an - have strengthened virus controls in response to hundreds of new infections since late December. The province on Wednesday reported 87 new local cases. Provincial capital Zhengzhou has imposed a partial lockdown and ordered its nearly 13 million residents to get tested.
After logging a handful of cases in recent days, the southern tech hub Shenzhen just across the border from Hong Kong locked down some housing compounds, launched mass testing of residents and truckers, and shuttered some long-distance bus stations and ferry routes.
Beijing last week sealed off its Winter Olympics “closed loop”, which will cocoon thousands of athletes and Games staff for weeks without direct physical access to the outside world.
Anyone entering the bubble must be fully vaccinated or face a 21-day quarantine when they arrive. Everyone inside will be tested daily and must wear face masks at all times.
Another little update from Russia here, where Reuters report that Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said that the government will prepare new measures to combat the rise in Covid cases by the end of the week.
Cases in Russia have generally been declining from a peak of 41,335 registered in early November, although the government today confirmed there are 698 Omicron cases.
The line of questioning for Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme has touched on the technicalities of whether the 20 May party that is at the centre of the UK politics news today really counted as a party.The line of questioning for Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme has touched on the technicalities of whether the 20 May party that is at the centre of the UK politics news today really counted as a party.
Rayner said she did not accept that Downing Street staff should have been able to meet up outside during the first lockdown because they were key workers or that the alleged gatherings could have been for work reasons. PA Media quote her saying:Rayner said she did not accept that Downing Street staff should have been able to meet up outside during the first lockdown because they were key workers or that the alleged gatherings could have been for work reasons. PA Media quote her saying:
Asked whether she thought the garden of No 10 constituted a workplace, added:Asked whether she thought the garden of No 10 constituted a workplace, added:
A couple of quick snaps from Reuters here. Austria appears to have set a new record of 18,427 daily Covid cases – according to newspaper Kronen Zeitung. Russia, meanwhile, has confirmed that it has 698 cases of the Omicron virus. The country recorded 17,946 new daily Covid cases, up slightly from the day before.A couple of quick snaps from Reuters here. Austria appears to have set a new record of 18,427 daily Covid cases – according to newspaper Kronen Zeitung. Russia, meanwhile, has confirmed that it has 698 cases of the Omicron virus. The country recorded 17,946 new daily Covid cases, up slightly from the day before.
PA Media have confirmed that Keir Starmer will attend PMQs today at noon. There’s been a little bit of stirring up by some conservative voices that NHS guidelines suggest you should work from home if possible on the seventh day after coming out of isolation, suggesting that Starmer might be breaking those rules if he attended Westminster today. However, that has been very quickly slapped down by people pointing out that Jacob Rees-Mogg ended remote attendance of parliament, so it isn’t possible for MPs to attend PMQs remotely anymore.PA Media have confirmed that Keir Starmer will attend PMQs today at noon. There’s been a little bit of stirring up by some conservative voices that NHS guidelines suggest you should work from home if possible on the seventh day after coming out of isolation, suggesting that Starmer might be breaking those rules if he attended Westminster today. However, that has been very quickly slapped down by people pointing out that Jacob Rees-Mogg ended remote attendance of parliament, so it isn’t possible for MPs to attend PMQs remotely anymore.
There’s a flurry of tweets from political journalists that Labour leader Keir Starmer has tested negative again for Covid this morning and so will be in parliament to face Boris Johnson at PMQs.There’s a flurry of tweets from political journalists that Labour leader Keir Starmer has tested negative again for Covid this morning and so will be in parliament to face Boris Johnson at PMQs.
Assuming Boris Johnson also attends, of course …Assuming Boris Johnson also attends, of course …
As I mentioned earlier, this morning’s Covid UK news has been rather more about the politics of the pandemic than the actual disease itself, although PA Media have highlighted today a recent blog post by Dr Richard Cree, an intensive care consultant at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, which has an optimistic outlook that he country can “ride out the Omicron wave”. He writes:As I mentioned earlier, this morning’s Covid UK news has been rather more about the politics of the pandemic than the actual disease itself, although PA Media have highlighted today a recent blog post by Dr Richard Cree, an intensive care consultant at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, which has an optimistic outlook that he country can “ride out the Omicron wave”. He writes:
While stressing that people would still die from Covid during this phase of the pandemic, he also said:While stressing that people would still die from Covid during this phase of the pandemic, he also said:
Here’s a little bit more from Angela Rayner, the Labour deputy leader in the UK, being interviewed on Sky News. She said:Here’s a little bit more from Angela Rayner, the Labour deputy leader in the UK, being interviewed on Sky News. She said:
Hungary’s daily tally of new Covid-19 cases has risen to 7,883, up from 5,270 reported a week earlier, but the number of patients treated in hospital declined over the week, the government has said.
The government said 29% of the new infections were caused by the Omicron variant, although Krisztina Than reports for Reuters that some private labs have reported much higher figures.
Away from UK political shenanigans for a moment, Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has left isolation just over a week after testing positive for Covid without symptoms, the government has said.
“His medical team has assessed his health status and subsequently cleared him because he continues to have no Covid associated symptoms,” government spokesman John-Thomas Dipowe said.
Reuters report that new coronavirus infections have risen in the southern African country since the detection of the Omicron variant late last year, from fewer than 300 every three days before Omicron to an average of more than 2,500.
But health officials say there has not been a feared surge in hospitalisations. Botswana has fully vaccinated nearly three quarters of its eligible population of around 1.3 million people.
The suggestion doing the rounds from journalists on Twitter is that we should have been enjoying the company of transport secretary Grant Shapps this morning. The government has instead opted not to put a minister forward.
Here’s more from Angela Rayner on Sky News. Labour’s deputy leader said:
Some speculation from political journalist Paul Waugh here about how Boris Johnson might attempt to defuse the situation today.
Here are some of the early quotes from Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner on Sky News. She said:
She said that Keir Starmer, Labour’s leader, had tested negative for Covid yesterday, and so, provided he tested negative again this morning, would be taking PMQs against Boris Johnson rather than her.
There’s been a rather weird interlude on Sky News in the UK where they were trying to interview a part-time GP Fui Mee Queck who wanted to explain why she didn’t want to take the vaccine, but she appeared to cut the interview abruptly short over the line of questioning that Kay Burley was taking. So they then immediately went to an improvised sofa chat with Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, who started talking about the British prime minister’s failure to come clean over 10 Downing Street parties as “shameful”. I’ll have some quotes from that in due course.
In the UK, the opposition Labour deputy leader has said Boris Johnson’s position would be “untenable” if it is proved that he had attended parties in contravention to lockdown rules.
Angela Rayner told BBC Breakfast: “It is very simple for me, I’ve been asking the prime minister for the last couple of days, you just have to say, were you at this party or not on 20 May?”
“He can clear this up very quickly and he has refused to do so, so far, and he has really undermined the office of prime minister by letting this carry on and continue because he refuses to tell the British public what they deserve to hear, and that’s whether or not he broke the lockdown rules and whether he was at this party or not.”
Asked whether Labour would call for Johnson to resign, Rayner said: “Boris Johnson has to account for his actions and the ministerial code is very clear that if he has misled Parliament and he has not abided by that code, then he should go.”
She added that if it proved he had “lied to the British public, lied to parliament and he has attended parties during lockdown, then his position is untenable”.
In Australia, state and territory leaders will consider relaxing isolation requirements for the trucking and logistics sector, as the prime minister, Scott Morrison, calls for patience over the country’s disrupted supply chains.
With estimates from industry that between 20% and 50% of the transport and logistics workforce is currently out of action as a result of Covid exposure, the government is also pushing for national cabinet to agree to scrap testing requirements for border crossings.
The federal government is also set to allow international students to work more than 40 hours a fortnight in affected sectors, in an attempt to ease workforce pressures in critical industries.
After urgent talks with industry groups and unions on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Morrison convened a meeting of the national coordinating mechanism on Wednesday, which was also attended by senior ministers and the heads of the infrastructure, treasury and health departments.
Morrison said that the challenge being posed by escalating case numbers linked to the Omicron outbreak was “keeping things moving”.
“That’s what riding this wave of Covid means, and of course … with so many cases appearing every day and that expected to continue until its peak, this will have an obvious impact right across our supply chains,” he said.
Read more of Sarah Martin’s report: Isolation rules may be relaxed for transport workers as Scott Morrison asks for patience on shortages
A very quick snap from Reuters here, that Kyrgyzstan’s healthcare ministry has said it had confirmed the Central Asian nation’s first cases of the Omicron variant.