Summary of today's developments
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, and from the global Covid blog for this evening. Here are the key events from today:
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The World Health Organization has warned that it is too early for countries to either declare victory over Covid-19 or give up attempts to halt transmission. “It is premature for any country to either surrender or to declare victory,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. “This virus is dangerous, and it continues to evolve before our very eyes.”
- In its weekly epidemiological update, the WHO said the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron, sometimes known as a “stealth” subvariant, is starting to outcompete BA.1. The BA.2 sub-variant has now been detected in 57 countries and accounted for more than half of all sequenced Omicron cases, the UN agency said.
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The UK prime minister Boris Johnson attended a leaving do for a No 10 aide during the strict post-Christmas lockdown, which is now under police investigation, the Guardian has learned. Prosecco is alleged to have been drunk by some staff, with Johnson understood to have given a speech thanking the official for their work and staying for around five minutes.
- The Pacific island nation of Tonga will go into a nationwide lockdown from Wednesday after two people tested positive for Covid-19 this week. Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni said the two positive cases had been port workers helping distribute international aid following last month’s devastating volcanic eruption.
- Pfizer and BioNTech have begun submitting data to US regulators as part of a process to gain authorisation for a lower dose of their Covid-19 vaccine for children aged under 5 years. In a joint statement, the two companies confirmed they are seeking an emergency authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration.
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Portugal’s prime minister António Costa has tested positive for coronavirus, his office said. The infection was discovered through a routine self-test and was later confirmed by another antigen test. Costa, 60, is currently asymptomatic and will go into isolation for seven days.
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Norway will scrap most of its remaining Covid-19 lockdown measures with immediate effect as an ongoing spike in coronavirus cases is unlikely to jeopardise health services, the prime minister said. Restaurants will again be allowed to serve alcohol beyond 11 o’clock at night, working from home will no longer be mandatory and the current limit of 10 visitors in private homes is removed.
- Pakistan has launched a nationwide door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination drive starting today amid the continued rise in daily cases driven by the Omicron variant. About 55,000 mobile teams will provide the doses, including booster shots, to 35 million people across the country, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said.
Thank you for following along today and happy Lunar New Year to all those who are celebrating. Goodbye!
Updated
The UK’s chancellor Rishi Sunak sat in a packed House of Commons despite a close family member testing positive for Covid, according to reports.
The Daily Mirror writes that Sunak sat between Boris Johnson and the home secretary, Priti Patel, on Monday as the prime minister delivered a statement regarding the string of No.10 lockdown parties.
Sunak appeared in the Commons despite official guidance “strongly advising” people to limit close contact with others if somebody in their household tested positive, it claims.
The paper quotes a spokesperson for the chancellor as saying in response to the report: “The Chancellor has followed the legal requirements to the letter.
“He has taken daily lateral flow tests and has limited his social contact where possible, whilst also ensuring that he is able to continue to conduct important government and parliamentary business as the public would expect.”
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