Covid live news: Denmark lifts all restrictions despite record cases; Russia reports record daily Covid cases
|
Version 11 of 32. Denmark scraps face masks, vaccine passes and limited opening hours; Russia records over 125k new cases and 663 deaths Denmark will on Tuesday becomes the first European Union country to lift all of its Covid restrictions despite record numbers of cases, relying on its high vaccination rate to cope with the milder Omicron variant. After a first attempt at lifting all its restrictions between September and November, the Scandinavian country is once again ditching its facemasks, Covid passes and limited opening hours for bars and restaurants, AFP reports. “I’m so happy that this is all going to be over tomorrow. It’s good for life in the city, for nightlife, just to be able to be out longer”, 17-year-old student Thea Skovgaard told AFP the day before the lifting. Nightclubs reopen on Tuesday, when limits on the number of people allowed at indoor gatherings also come to an end. Only a few restrictions remain in place at the country’s borders, for unvaccinated travellers arriving from non-Schengen countries. The easing comes as Denmark registers around 40,000-50,000 new Covid cases a day, or almost one% of the country’s 5.8 million inhabitants. “We have an extremely high coverage of adults vaccinated with three doses,” epidemiologist Lone Simonsen of the University of Roskilde told AFP. More than 60% of Danes have received a third dose - one month ahead of health authorities’ schedule - compared to an EU average of just under 45%. Including those who have recently had Covid, health authorities estimate that 80% of the population are protected against severe forms of the disease. “With Omicron not being a severe disease for the vaccinated, we believe it is reasonable to lift restrictions”, Simonsen said. The broad spread of the Omicron variant is also expected to lead to a “more robust and long-lasting immunity”, helping the country fend off future waves, she said. Two years after the outbreak of Covid-19, the Danish strategy enjoys broad support at home. In a poll published Monday by daily Politiken, 64% of Danes surveyed said they had faith in the government’s Covid policy. The UK’s Covid-19 death toll has passed 180,000, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics. A total of 1,264 deaths occurred in England and Wales in the week ending 21 January which mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, taking the UK-wide total to 180,622. A total of 1,484 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the week ending 21 January that mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate. The latest figures, from the Office for National Statistics, mark a 7% rise on the previous week and is the highest number since the week to 12 March 2021 when there were 1,501 deaths. Romania recorded its highest daily Covid infections to date today as hospitalisations rose. A total of 40,018 new people have been infected, according to government data, as the country’s vaccination campaign struggles. Russia today reported record daily Covid cases as Omicron spreads across the country. The country recorded 125,836 cases, a rise from 124,070 the previous day, reports Reuters. Labour leader Keir Starmer has said that everybody is “paying the price” for the British prime minister’s actions and that the public “feel they have been taken for mugs” by the Downing Street party allegations. He told Sky News that people have been forced to relive “dark moments” from their lives over the last two years as a result of allegations against Boris Johnson and feel guilt over following the rules. Dominic Raab, Britain’s deputy prime minister, insisted the public would have to “wait and see” what a police investigation into alleged Downing Street parties find but that he “gets the argument about double standards” in an interview with Sky News. Tens of thousands of tonnes of medical waste created by the Covid pandemic are threatening human health and the environment, a World Health Organization report has found. The material – including discarded syringes, used test kits and old vaccine bottles – could expose health workers to burns, needle-stick injuries and germs, the report found, and some of it could still be infectious. That’s it from me for today. Passing on to Rachel Hall now. Thanks for reading. The World Health Organization is among the nominees for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize following two years of the coronavirus pandemic. The body, which was also nominated last year, is joined by British nature broadcaster David Attenborough, Belarusian dissident Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, reports Reuters. Henrik Urdal, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said: “I think the WHO is likely to be discussed in the Committee for this year’s prize.” The Associated Press reports on Lunar New Year celebrations in China amid pandemic restrictions, which has led to fewer people returning to their hometowns for the annual holiday: By Niamh McIntyre and Georgina Quach The UK’s Covid-19 death toll has passed 180,000, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics. A total of 1,264 deaths occurred in England and Wales in the week ending 21 January which mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, taking the UK-wide total to 180,622. The number of deaths in the most recent weeks was above the five-year average in private homes, but below the average in hospitals and care homes. The figures also show that there have now been just under 45,000 deaths in care homes in England and Wales since the start of the pandemic. Around one in nine or 11.6% of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to January 21 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate. Italy’s national Catholic military chaplain has accused a vaccine-denying archbishop of inciting subordination among the armed forces and police. Archbishop Santo Marciano issued a statement to all military and law enforcement last night in which condemned Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano for “his conspiracy theory outbursts”, reports Reuters. It came after Vigano, a former Vatican ambassador in Washington who has been in hiding for more than three years since demanding Pope Francis resign, urged them to disobey orders and not be “automatons”. A total of 1,484 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the week ending 21 January that mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate. The latest figures, from the Office for National Statistics, mark a 7% rise on the previous week and is the highest number since the week to 12 March 2021 when there were 1,501 deaths. Around one in nine (11.6%) of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to 21 January mentioned Covid on the death certificate. Andrew Sparrow’s live blog is now up and running, covering UK politics news: This blog will continue covering global Covid news. Romania recorded its highest daily Covid infections to date today as hospitalisations rose. A total of 40,018 new people have been infected, according to government data, as the country’s vaccination campaign struggles, reports Reuters. Romania has the second least vaccinated population in the EU, at around 41%. Yesterday there were 903 Covid patients in intensive care units – 84% of whom are unvaccinated. Growing numbers of children across the US are living with long Covid. Dr Carlos Oliveira, paediatric infectious diseases doctor at Yale Medicine, said: Hallie Golden reports: Masks on flights will be one of the last remaining Covid restrictions globally and could stay in place for years, reports the Times. Varying rules between countries will make it “nigh-on-impossible” for airlines to act individually on masks, experts told the newspaper. “Until there is a harmonised lifting of mask mandates on flights by governments worldwide it is simpler for airlines to keep the rules in place,” a senior aviation source told the Times. Russia today reported record daily Covid cases as Omicron spreads across the country. The country recorded 125,836 cases, a rise from 124,070 the previous day, reports Reuters. In the last 24 hours, 663 people died with the virus, according to government figures. More than half of hospital beds set aside for Covid patients in Tokyo were occupied today after a sharp rise in admissions. The city has set aside nearly 7,000 hospital beds for coronavirus patients, reports Reuters. New infections yesterday reached 14,445. Governor Yuriko Koike previously said that 50% bed occupancy would trigger a request for an emergency declaration from central government. Tokyo and most of Japan are under restrictions in a bid to contain record cases following the emergence of Omicron. Labour leader Keir Starmer has said that everybody is “paying the price” for the British prime minister’s actions and that the public “feel they have been taken for mugs” by the Downing Street party allegations. He told Sky News that people have been forced to relive “dark moments” from their lives over the last two years as a result of allegations against Boris Johnson and feel guilt over following the rules. Starmer said they should feel “pride” that they saved the lives of people they will never meet through their actions. He said it is “as damning as it could be” for police to be investigating 12 gatherings during lockdown at Downing Street and Whitehall. Dominic Raab, Britain’s deputy prime minister, insisted the public would have to “wait and see” what a police investigation into alleged Downing Street parties find but that he “gets the argument about double standards”. Responding to former prime minister Theresa May’s claim yesterday that the Sue Gray report shows that Number 10 “was not observing the regulations they imposed on members of the public,” he told Sky News: “I don’t think that’s actually quite right.” It comes after it was revealed that detectives are investigating 300 photos and 12 events in Downing Street, including a party in Boris Johnson’s private flat. |