Summary and goodbye
That’s all from the Guardian’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic for today. Please join us a little later for a new live feed where we will continue to cover the coronavirus crisis.
You can also keep up with the top headlines here.
I leave you with a summary of the latest developments from the past 24 hours:
- New Zealand has announced it will reopen its border to visitors in stages, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron. The country’s borders have been closed, apart from a short-lived travel bubble with Australia, for nearly two years.
-
Serbia’s state prosecutors on Wednesday rejected suggestions that Novak Djokovic used a fake positive test for Covid-19 to try to enter Australia and compete in the Australian Open.
- In the UK, Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson has sparked a backlash this morning after arguing on ITV that breaching Covid rules is equivalent to parking on a double-yellow line.
- Italy will soon announce a timetable to roll back its Covid curbs, prime minister Mario Draghi said today. It comes as the surge in cases fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant started to show signs of slowing.
- Germany has recorded over 10 million total Covid cases, after detecting 208,498 new infections in the past 24 hours. Ministers said they hope to lift restrictions in March.
- Police in Ottawa, Canada, have seen signs that guns have been brought into a
truckers’ protest against vaccine mandates that has paralysed the Canadian capital, the police chief said.
- The chairman of The Ivors Academy has called for “major reform” so musicians are treated with “dignity and respect” amid criticism of Spotify over Covid misinformation on the platform.
- The US Virgin Islands has lifted a requirement that visitors present a negative Covid test taken no more than 72 hours ahead of their trip.
- UK Covid infections have stopped falling, with levels holding steady or climbing, the ONS said. For England one in 20 people had Covid in the week ending 29 January.
- Russia broke its record Covid tally, with 141,883 new infections over the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
- In Japan, Tokyo detected a record-breaking 21,576 new cases, topping the previous record of 17,631, as the country battles Omicron.
- France will begin to lift some restrictions today, including mandatory outdoor mask-wearing.
- In the US, Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking approval to inoculate children under five, the last group of Americans still ineligible for vaccines against Covid.
- Lithuania will scrap its Covid certificate needed to enter public spaces from Saturday, saying they are ineffectual to stopping the spread of Omicron, despite a near-peak wave.
- Exposure to a single nasal droplet is sufficient to become infected with Covid-19, according to a landmark trial in which healthy volunteers were intentionally given a dose of the virus.
Czechs will no longer have to submit vaccination certificates at restaurants, cultural and sports events from next week despite record high coronavirus infections, the prime minister has said, according to AFP.
Since November 2021, only vaccinated Czechs and those who have had Covid-19 in the last six months have been allowed access to bars, restaurants, hotels and other services.
“The government will cancel the requirement to show a vaccination certificate or proof of recovery when entering restaurants, services, cultural, sports and similar events as of February 9,” prime minister Petr Fiala told reporters.
He added Czechs would still have to wear face masks indoors and the number of participants in mass events would be limited.
An EU member of 10.7 million people, the Czech Republic reported a record-high daily caseload of 57,195 infections on Tuesday as the highly contagious Omicron strain prevails in the country.
The increase brought the total tally of confirmed cases since the Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020 to 3.1 million with over 37,000 deaths.
But only 2,653 people were in hospital with the illness on Tuesday, far less than during a peak of more than 9,500 in March 2021.
The Czech Republic in early 2021 and again last autumn topped AFP’s global tally of Covid-19 infections and deaths per capita.
Long Covid can last anywhere from four weeks to months – although definitions vary – and, while it presents differently based on developmental stage, doctors say it can affect virtually any age, even infants.
In a piece for Guardian US, Hallie Golden explores what is happening to the increasing number of children who are reporting symptoms of long Covid across the country.
“There did not seem to be a pattern to her symptoms,” said Javanese Hailey, a middle and high school math teacher whose 9-year-old daughter Haley Bryson reported severe stomach pains among other symptoms.
“Some days were worse than others. Some days she couldn’t even get out of the bed because her stomach hurt so much.”
Read more here:
Hello, this is Helen Livingstone taking over from Tom Ambrose. To start with, the US army says it will immediately discharge soldiers who refuse to get a Covid-19 vaccine, maintaining the move is critical to maintain combat readiness.
The army’s order applies to regular army soldiers, active-duty army reservists and cadets unless they have approved or pending exemptions, it said in a statement.
The discharge order is the latest from a US military branch removing unvaccinated service members amid the pandemic after the Pentagon made the vaccine mandatory for all service members in August 2021.
Read more here:
Summary
Here is a round-up of the latest Covid headlines from the day:
- New Zealand has announced it will reopen its border to visitors in stages, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron. The country’s borders have been closed, apart from a short-lived travel bubble with Australia, for nearly two years.
-
Serbia’s state prosecutors on Wednesday rejected suggestions that Novak Djokovic used a fake positive test for Covid-19 to try to enter Australia and compete in the Australian Open.
- Italy will soon announce a timetable to roll back its Covid curbs, prime minister Mario Draghi said today. It comes as the surge in cases fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant started to show signs of slowing.
- Germany has recorded over 10 million total Covid cases, after detecting 208,498 new infections in the past 24 hours. Ministers said they hope to lift restrictions in March.
- Police in Ottawa, Canada, have seen signs that guns have been brought into a truckers’ protest against vaccine mandates that has paralysed the Canadian capital, the police chief said.
- The chairman of The Ivors Academy has called for “major reform” so musicians are treated with “dignity and respect” amid criticism of Spotify over Covid misinformation on the platform.
- The US Virgin Islands has lifted a requirement that visitors present a negative Covid test taken no more than 72 hours ahead of their trip.
- UK Covid infections have stopped falling, with levels holding steady or climbing, the ONS said. For England one in 20 people had Covid in the week ending 29 January.
- Russia broke its record Covid tally, with 141,883 new infections over the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
- In Japan, Tokyo detected a record-breaking 21,576 new cases, topping the previous record of 17,631, as the country battles Omicron.
- France will begin to lift some restrictions today, including mandatory outdoor mask-wearing.
- In the US, Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking approval to inoculate children under five, the last group of Americans still ineligible for vaccines against Covid.
- Lithuania will scrap its Covid certificate needed to enter public spaces from Saturday, saying they are ineffectual to stopping the spread of Omicron, despite a near-peak wave.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, but my colleague Helen Livingstone will be along shortly to continue bringing you all the latest Covid news. Goodbye for now.
New Zealand has announced it will reopen its border to visitors in stages, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron.
The country’s borders have been closed, apart from a short-lived travel bubble with Australia, for nearly two years.
“With Omicron’s arrival, we pushed that change in border settings out – to give ourselves the chance to roll out boosters – a chance most other countries never had,” prime minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday.
“With our community better protected we must turn to the importance of reconnection. Families and friends need to reunite. Our businesses need skills to grow. Exporters need to travel to make new connections.”
Fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other eligible travellers from Australia will be able to enter New Zealand without staying in quarantine, known as MIQ, from Sunday 27 February. Two weeks later, they can come from all other countries.
From 12 April, 5,000 international students, and other eligible temporary visa holders will be allowed to enter. Sometime before July, the border opens to Australians and other travellers who do not require a visa to enter New Zealand.
All other international visitors will be allowed to enter New Zealand from October. Vaccinated travellers will be allowed to self-isolate for 10 days, while all non-vaccinated travellers will still be required to enter MIQ.
Updated
Police in Ottawa, Canada, have seen signs that guns have been brought into a truckers’ protest against vaccine mandates that has paralysed the Canadian capital, the police chief said.
“We have had an indication around firearms coming into this jurisdiction as part of this demonstration as much as a week and a half ago,” chief Peter Sloly told a briefing.
He said there was evidence of “a significant element from the United States in the funding and organising” of the protest.
Dozens of truck drivers protesting about Covid vaccine mandates have blocked central routes in the city for six days. Residents have been getting angrier at perceived inaction by the police, who have largely stood to one side.
The protesters say they have no intention of leaving until the government scraps the vaccine mandates.
Police have declined to end the protest, citing the risk of aggravating tensions. They say they are investigating reports of criminal offences, including hate crimes and desecration of public property, and have made three arrests so far.
“We’re looking at every single option, including military aid,” Sloly said. “Mixing them into a population in the downtown core in a highly volatile demonstration ... may mitigate some risks and may create and escalate a whole bunch of other risks.”
The chairman of The Ivors Academy has called for “major reform” so musicians are treated with “dignity and respect” amid criticism of Spotify over Covid misinformation on the platform.
Prominent musicians including Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have criticised the streaming giant over its decision to continue hosting the popular Joe Rogan podcast.
The presenter has sparked outrage for repeatedly spreading Covid conspiracy theories and for promoting the use of ivermectin to treat Covid symptoms - an anti-parasitic medicine which treats humans and, in some formulations, is used on horses and has not been proven to be effective for treating coronavirus.
Ivors Academy chairman Tom Gray, of the Mercury Prize-winning band Gomez, said companies should not assume musicians consent to their material appearing alongside misinformation.
He said in a statement to the PA news agency:
The balance of power in music is shifting to where it should be - to fans, artists, songwriters and composers.
No company, no matter how big, can ignore that or assume that musicians will be OK with their music appearing alongside misinformation.
If Spotify and the major labels haven’t already noticed, lots of artists are very unhappy.
There needs to be major reform so that songwriters and musicians get properly paid for their work and are treated with dignity and respect.
The government are listening and committed to reform, I hope the industry is too.
Updated
The US Virgin Islands has lifted a requirement that visitors present a negative Covid test taken no more than 72 hours ahead of their trip.
Lieutenant governor Tregenza Roach said travellers can now show either proof of vaccination or a negative test taken within five days of their date of travel.
He also said the government will award $250 to children ages 5 to 17 who live in the US territory if they get their second vaccine dose by mid-March, the Associated Press reported.
Roach noted that only 23% of youth in the US Virgin Islands is vaccinated.
“It is a healthy start, but nowhere near where we need to be,” he said.
The three-island territory of more than 106,000 people has reported more than 14,900 confirmed cases and more than 100 deaths.
Updated
Serbia’s state prosecutors on Wednesday rejected suggestions that Novak Djokovic used a fake positive test for Covid-19 to try to enter Australia and compete in the Australian Open.
The prosecution office said in a statement that it had received a request for criminal proceedings against unnamed individuals who allegedly forged two PCR certificates, which were later used by Djokovic to apply for a medical exemption from vaccination when entering Australia.
“The prosecution acted according to the regulations, checks were performed, and it was determined that Novak Djokovic was tested several times and that the certificates on the test results from 16 December 2021 and 22 December 2021 are valid,” the statement said.
Outlets including Der Spiegel and the BBC have reported discrepancies in the serial numbers of the tests Serbian authorities administered to Djokovic ahead of his trip to Australia, suggesting possible irregularities in the way they were issued.
Updated
Hello. Tom Ambrose here. I’ll be bringing you all the latest Covid news from around the world over the next couple of hours.
Let’s begin with the news that Italy will soon announce a timetable to roll back its Covid curbs, prime minister Mario Draghi said today.
It comes as the surge in cases fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant started to show signs of slowing, Reuters reported.
Italy has recorded more than 147,000 deaths linked to coronavirus and 11.23 million cases since the pandemic set in two years ago.
Many restrictions, including those on transport, bars and restaurants, have already been eased for the vaccinated, while tough curbs remain in place for those who are not inoculated. Mask wearing is mandatory outdoors.
“In the coming weeks, we will continue on this path of reopening. Based on scientific evidence... we will announce a timetable for lifting the current restrictions,” Draghi was quoted as saying by his office at a cabinet meeting.
The government’s vaccination campaign has been broadly successful, with more than 80% of people having received two jabs, while more than 57% have received a third booster dose.
Summary
Here’s a round-up of today’s Covid headlines from the UK and around the world.
- Germany has recorded over 10 million total Covid cases, after detecting 208,498 new infections in the past 24 hours. Ministers said they hope to lift restrictions in March.
- Russia broke its record Covid tally, with 141,883 new infections over the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
-
UK Covid infections have stopped falling, with levels holding steady or climbing, the ONS said. For England one in 20 people had Covid in the week ending 29 January.
- Also the UK, Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson sparked a backlash after arguing breaching Covid rules is equivalent to parking on a double-yellow line.
-
UK prime minister Boris Johnson was criticised by Labour’s Keir Starmer over £8.7bn wasted on unusable PPE, which official figures revealed on Monday.
- In Japan, Tokyo detected a record-breaking 21,576 new cases, topping the previous record of 17,631, as the country battles Omicron.
- France will begin to lift some restrictions today, including mandatory outdoor mask-wearing.
- In the US, Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking approval to inoculate children under five, the last group of Americans still ineligible for vaccines against Covid.
- Tonga has gone into lockdown after recording two Covid cases among port workers helping distribute international aid in the wake of the volcanic eruption and tsunami that devastated the Pacific country last month.
- Lithuania will scrap its Covid certificate needed to enter public spaces from Saturday, saying they are ineffectual to stopping the spread of Omicron, despite a near-peak wave.
- Exposure to a single nasal droplet is sufficient to become infected with Covid, according to a landmark Imperial College London trial.
- Poland reported near-peak Covid infections of 56,051 as the Omicron wave sweeps the country.
- Likewise, Bulgaria detected near-peak cases of 11,143 as the European Union’s least-vaccinated country sees infections climb.
-
China reported 63 new Covid cases, down slightly from 66 a day earlier, and no new fatalities.
That’s all from me, Jem Bartholomew, here in London for today. I’ll be back tomorrow. Drop me a message via email or on Twitter with tips for then. Bye for now.
Updated
Exposure to a single nasal droplet is sufficient to become infected with Covid-19, according to a landmark trial in which healthy volunteers were intentionally given a dose of the virus.
The trial, the first to have monitored people during the entire course of infection, also found that people typically develop symptoms very quickly – on average, within two days of encountering the virus – and are most infectious five days into the infection. The study was carried out using a strain of the virus before the Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants emerged.
The trial’s chief investigator, Prof Christopher Chiu, of Imperial College London, said: “Our study reveals some very interesting clinical insights, particularly around the short incubation period of the virus, extremely high viral shedding from the nose, as well as the utility of lateral flow tests, with potential implications for public health.”
The findings, published on Springer Nature’s pre-print server, and which have not yet been peer-reviewed, detail the outcomes in 36 healthy, young participants with no immunity to the virus. The volunteers were monitored at a specialist unit at the Royal Free hospital in London, and experienced no severe symptoms.
Read the full story here.
Covid level stops falling in the UK
Covid infections have stopped falling in the UK, with levels holding steady or climbing, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
About 2.6 million people or one in 20 in England had Covid in the week ending 29 January, the ONS said, unchanged for a third straight week.
In Wales, around one in 20 people had Covid last week, climbing from one in 30.
Northern Ireland has seen a week-on-week rise, from one in 20 people to one in 15.
In Scotland, the ONS describes the trend as “uncertain” with around one in 30 people estimated to have had Covid last week, unchanged from the previous week.
Updated
Pfizer-BioNTech seeks US approval for under-5s Covid inoculation
In the US, Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking approval to inoculate children under 5, the last group of Americans still ineligible for vaccines against Covid.
They will need approval from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The FDA’s independent advisers will meet on 15 February to discuss the application and the shots, containing just one-tenth of the dose given to adults, could be available to this population of 19 million in the US by the end of the month.
My colleague Melody Schreiber has this report.
The Biden administration has been trying to speed the authorization of Covid-19 shots for children, contending vaccinations are critical for opening schools and daycare centers and keeping them open, and for freeing parents from childcare duties so they can go back to work.
Many parents have been pushing for an expansion of shots to toddlers and preschoolers.
While children are much less likely to be hospitalized and die from Covid than adults, children’s hospitals have seen record-high admissions during the surge of the Omicron variant, especially in children who are not yet vaccinated.
Infants under a year old are most vulnerable of all children to severe illness.
Families, and even children themselves, say they have been eagerly awaiting this news. So do caregivers, teachers and others who work with young kids – as well as those who employ parents, who have struggled to find steady childcare.
“As a mom of two kids under five, I’m extremely excited. But as an epidemiologist and public health member, I have a ton of questions,” said Katelyn Jetelina, an infectious disease epidemiologist with UTHealth School of Public Health in Dallas.
Read the full story here.
Updated
Lithuania to scrap Covid pass on Saturday
Lithuania will scrap its Covid certificate needed to enter indoor public spaces from Saturday.
The certificates were in effect at shops, in-person services, restaurants and entertainment venues, but Lithuania concluded their effectiveness is limited under Omicron. Instead, venues will face capacity limits.
“With the spread of the much more contagious Omicron variant, both the unvaccinated and vaccinated or recovered people are at risk of infection,” according to a document proposed by the Health Ministry, reported by public broadcaster LRT.
“As a result, the effectiveness of Covid certificates as a means of limiting Covid spread is significantly diminished.”
The health ministry did not ruling out the certificates in future waves. “It would be really good if we never have to return to this measure,” prime minister Ingrida Simonyte said.
Lithuania is experiencing surging cases, clocking its highest ever daily confirmed tally on Saturday at 12,517 cases. A further 12,278 infections were reported on Wednesday.
Lithuania has the world’s 67th highest death toll from Covid-related causes, at almost 8,000 deaths, compared with only the 124nd highest population globally, at about 2.8 million people.
Updated
Malaysia logged 5,736 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, the New Straits Times reports, a 78% climb on the 3,229 infections detected on Wednesday two weeks ago.
Malaysia’s last wave peaked in late-summer, but Omicron is seeing new cases rise.
Yet health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Monday there’s “no need to panic” as the country is now better prepared to deal with a new wave, due to its booster vaccine programme.
“More than a month ago, I said that we expect Omicron to become dominant here as it has elsewhere and that when it did, cases would rise. That’s why we sped up our booster programme,” he said.
“We are now seeing the predicted quick rise in cases. However, there is no need to panic. There is a strong indication of decoupling between severe outcomes and cases.”
Updated
Uganda’s nightlife kicked back into gear this week after the government shut down bars and nightclubs almost two years ago.
Reuters has this dispatch from Kampala after nightlife roared back to life on Monday:
“Of course Uganda is the life of a party, if you do not party you are not a Ugandan,” said Vera Muryengye, a consultant, as she sipped a drink. “It’s the end of the month, you get your money, get your salary, put the money into circulation. That’s it, that’s Uganda.”
The East African country has one of the world’s youngest populations and Kampala had a reputation regionally - pre-pandemic - for a good night out.
President Yoweri Museveni cited rising vaccination rates when he announced in December that bars and nightclubs would be allowed to reopen in late January.The government argued the tough rules stemmed the spread of the virus and helped keep the number of Covid-19 deaths low. The country has so far recorded around 162,000 cases of Covid-19 and about 3,500 deaths.
Raymond Karemera, head of marketing at Nomad Bar and Grill in a neighbourhood of Kampala that is often likened to Las Vegas, said many bars struggled to avoid bankruptcy as they continued to pay security and electricity expenses while closed. “It was a very horrible time for us,” he said.
At the UK’s prime minister’s questions, Labour leader Keir Starmer attacked Boris Johnson over the £8.7 billion spent on written off, unusable PPE, which was revealed by official figures on Monday.
“I am proud of what this government and this country did in securing record quantities of PPE in record time,” Johnson replied.
Starmer said the Conservatives were the party of “eye-watering waste,” and said that Johnson would have to improve his answering when he’s probed by police in party investigations.
Updated
Germany could relax restrictions in March
Germany could relax Covid-19 restrictions in the spring, the government’s justice minister has said. “I hope that we can phase out many protective measures in March”, Marco Buschmann told Rheinische Post newspaper.
However, the liberal politician said, a lack of new variants and a drop in infection rates was a prerequisite for such a step.
Mask-wearing is still mandatory on public transport, at schools and many indoor public spaces in Germany. Access to restaurants, cafes or bars is restricted to those who have been vaccinated or recently recovered from the virus and can show a recent negative test, or those with a booster shot. Nightclubs remain closed.
Virologist Christian Drosten, a leading coronavirus expert who advises the government, has warned of rushing towards an exit from restrictions. Germany had a disadvantage compared to countries like Denmark, Drosten said on his podcast for broadcaster NDR, as it has a relatively high percentage of older people who remain unvaccinated.
Germany has recorded 208,498 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, a 50% jump on the 139,000 infections on Wednesday two weeks ago – taking the country’s total tally to over 10 million.
In the UK, almost one in five disabled people fear they will never return to normal life following the Covid pandemic, an Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey suggests.
From 4,700 responses across 15 December to 3 January, 18% of disabled people said they do not think life will ever get back to normal – compared with 11% for non-disabled people.
It comes after clinically vulnerable people fear the ending of restrictions as government messaging shifts to “living with the virus”.
The survey also found 40% of disabled people reported feeling lonely often, always or some of the time, compared with 18% of non-disabled people.
Updated
‘I don’t want to die’ — really powerful UK report here from my colleague Lucy Webster on the shielders who fear the end of Covid restrictions. She spoke to three people affected.
Heather Cawte, 60, York:
The worst part has been the unending fear. Some friends think I’m overly cautious, but my doctor told me that, with my lungs, Covid would almost certainly kill me. I don’t want to die. So every time I do see someone, even though they’re tested and wearing masks, I spend the next week anxious and scared. I can’t see how I will ever be able to stop shielding. I’m 60 now, and I’ve just accepted that this is how life is going to be.
Alan Benson, 53, Richmond-upon-Thames, London:
The official lockdown was easier, because there was so much online. Some things are still online – I’ve been doing virtual cheese tastings! – which makes them much more accessible, but lots of things have gone back to in-person. I’m lucky that a lot of my friends are also shielding, so there’s that camaraderie, and I’ve made new friends on social media. But there’s still people who try to persuade me to go to the pub. They don’t understand that we’re still scared.
Jess Thom, 41, Peckham, south London:
The more society opens up, the more my world shrinks. When people were wearing masks, socially distancing, and reducing their contacts, I could take the calculated risk of going swimming to help manage my chronic pain. Now, with Omicron being allowed to rage through the population, I’ve been advised not to do even that. Seeing as I want to stay alive to see my niece grow up, I’m having to sacrifice my long-term health because some don’t want to wear a mask.
Read the full story here.
Updated
Tory MP says Covid breach 'like parking fine'
In the UK, Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson has sparked a backlash this morning after arguing on ITV that breaching Covid rules is equivalent to parking on a double-yellow line.
Dr Zubaida Haque, the executive director of the Equality Trust and an Independent Sage member, said on Twitter that “over 176,000 covid deaths - many without loved ones present. 3.7million vulnerable people STILL shielding. And >1.3million with #LongCovid. How is that equivalent to parking on a double yellow line?”
'Breaching covid rules is equivalent to parking on a double yellow line': over 176,000 covid deaths - many without loved ones present. 3.7million vulnerable people STILL shielding. And >1.3million with #LongCovid. How is that equivalent to parking on a double yellow line? https://t.co/MdGqPUKVZe
— Dr Zubaida Haque (@Zubhaque) February 2, 2022
Updated
Poland detected 56,051 fresh Covid infections in the past 24 hours, Polskie Radio reports, an 83% surge on the 30,588 cases confirmed on Wednesday two weeks ago.
That’s near Poland’s peak of over 57,000 daily cases – recorded on Thursday last week – as Omicron surges across the country. Health minister Adam Niedzielski warned cases could exceed 60,000, and even approach 140,000 by mid-February.
A further 318 people died from virus-related causes, a 15% climb on the 276 deaths reported on Wednesday last week.
Public sector employees are working from home until at least the end of February, and prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki says authorities are working to expand hospital beds available to Covid patients.
Poland’s Covid death toll is now more than 105,000, the 15th highest in the world. (Poland has the 38th highest population globally.)
Updated
Bulgaria reported 11,143 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, state broadcaster BNT reports, a 10% rise on the 10,160 reported on Wednesday two weeks ago.
That’s near the country’s peak of over 12,000 confirmed cases last week, as Bulgaria remains in the grips of the Omicron wave.
A further 87 people died from Covid-related causes, BNT reports, with the seven-day average at 77 deaths a day.
The country’s death toll is 33,405, the 28th highest globally. (Bulgaria has the world’s 107th largest population.) It has the lowest vaccination rate in the European Union.
Updated
Slovakia reported a 20,224 rise in Covid cases in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports, a 23% jump on the 16,402 new cases on Wednesday last week.
According to Reuters, that makes it Slovakia’s highest ever daily tally. (The country reported 23,702 cases on 1 February but only 7,192 cases on 31 January, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, meaning Tuesday’s spike is likely to include Monday’s figures.)
Like other countries across Europe, the country of 5.5 million people is being battered by the highly infectious Omicron variant. The health ministry said about 61% of cases were from unvaccinated people.
Updated
Japan capital Tokyo breaks daily Covid record with over 21,000 infections
In Japan, the capital city Tokyo detected a record-breaking 21,576 new cases in the past 24 hours, national broadcaster NHK reports, topping the previous record of 17,631.
Omicron is surging across Japan. A total of 81,677 infections were detected in the past 24 hours, the Japan Times reports, a 97% jump on the 41,370 cases lodged on Wednesday two weeks ago.
Chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Wednesday the government is not planning to declare a state of emergency but remains vigilant – despite the hospital beds reserved for Covid patients topping 50%, which officials formerly said would prompt the state-of-emergency declaration.
A further 70 people died from Covid-related causes in the past 24 hours, the Japan Times reports, almost four times the 15 deaths recorded two weeks ago.
Updated
Germany's total Covid cases top 10 million
Germany recorded 208,498 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, a 50% jump on the 139,000 infections on Wednesday two weeks ago – taking the country’s total tally to over 10 million.
Germany’s Omicron wave, which saw the country lodge a record 228,608 cases last Wednesday, shows no signs of stopping. Health minister Karl Lauterbach said he expects cases to peak in mid-February around 400,000 a day.
A further 196 people died from Covid-related causes in the past 24 hours, 17% down on 236 two weeks ago. Germany’s death toll is over 118,000, the world’s 14th highest. (Germany has the 19th highest population.)
Ukraine recorded 35,014 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, local media Ukrinform reports, a jump of 166% on the 13,143 infections detected on Wednesday two weeks ago.
A further 204 people died from Covid-related causes, 15% up on the 177 deaths two weeks ago.
Ukraine, alongside tensions with Russia and troop build-ups on its borders, is experiencing near-peak cases driven by the Omicron variant.
The country’s death toll is 100,599, the 16th highest in the world. (Ukraine has the 35th largest population worldwide.)
Ukraine broke its daily Covid tally for the pandemic on Saturday, with 38,171 infections, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
A trial that deliberately infected people with Covid was found to be safe in healthy young adults, one of the companies running the study said.
The project – run by Open Orphan with Imperial College London, the UK government vaccine taskforce and hVIVO – was the world’s first human challenge trial in which volunteers were deliberately exposed to Covid.
Reuters reports the details:
The data supports the safety of this model which could theoretically provide a “plug and play” platform for testing therapies and vaccines using the original Covid-19 strain as well as variants of the virus, Open Orphan, which carried out the study, said in a statement.
The trial infected 36 healthy male and female volunteers aged 18- to 29 years with the original Sars-CoV-2 strain of the virus and closely monitored them in a controlled quarantined setting. They will be followed up for 12 months after discharge from the quarantine facility.
No serious adverse events occurred, and the human challenge study model was shown to be safe and well tolerated in healthy young adults, the company said.
Updated
Russia breaks daily Covid record with over 140,000 infections
Russia detected 141,883 new infections over the past 24 hours, Reuters reports, a 323% increase on the 33,571 Covid cases recorded on Wednesday two weeks ago.
That’s Russia’s highest tally of the pandemic so far, as Russia has repeatedly broken its daily record every day for the past week.
Russian cases are surging to unprecedented levels amid the highlyinfectious Omicron variant. Yesterday saw a record-breaking 125,836 infections detected.
The country’s labour ministry recommended work-from-home if possible, and a growing number of regions are imposing restrictions despite the Kremlin’s avoidance of a national lockdown so far.
A further 678 people died form Covid-related causes in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports, down slightly from 684 deaths recorded two weeks ago today.
This is Jem Bartholomew in London taking charge of the global blog for the next few hours. Do get in touch via email or Twitter with tips from around the world.
Updated
The US actor Sharon Stone said Joe Rogan is “risking people’s lives with his idiocy”, as the row over the podcast host’s platforming of Covid misinformation grows.
“Covid is not an opinion-based situation and Mr Rogan thinking that his opinion or disclaimer for the lives he personally has affected and caused losses of – it’s not an opinion,” Stone told TMZ.
Her comments come after the musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell criticised Rogan – and pulled their music from the streaming giant Spotify – following Rogan’s interviews with guests promoting Covid misinformation.
Spotify, which pays Rogan a reported $100m for his flagship podcast, was drawn into the row and criticised for failing to moderate potentially dangerous misinformation. (Spotify added content warnings in response to criticism.)
“Infectious diseases are science and they are fact-based situations so the pretence that these are opinions is dangerous,” Stone added. “He should put a disclaimer that he’s an asshole and that his behaviour is dangerous and affecting people’s lives and deaths.”
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An update on the Covid situation at the Beijing Winter Games: 11 Olympics-related personnel have been hospitalised since 23 January, out of a total 232 positive cases, Brian McCloskey, chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel, said on Wednesday.
None of the hospitalised individuals were in serious condition and the overall daily figure would start to drop once the number of participants arriving begins to decrease, McCloskey said.
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The Czech Republic reported 57,195 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, its highest daily tally since the coronavirus pandemic started, amid the spread of the Omicron variant, health ministry data showed.
The ministry also reported 9,775 cases of suspected reinfections in the country of 10.7 million. Hospital admissions were steady at 2,653, the ministry said on Wednesday, well below previous peaks.
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Indian health workers allege widespread vaccine certificate fraud
Our reporters in India, Aakash Hassan and Hannah Ellis-Petersen, have investigated claims that people are being registered as double-vaccinated without receiving both doses of a Covid vaccine. Workers described how easy it was to falsely register second vaccine doses for people who did not attend appointments, by using personal records from their first dose and opting to bypass a code sent to their mobile phone.
“There is no technical glitch,” said Aditya, a health worker from Uttar Pradesh, who requested that only his first name was used owing to fear of reprisal. “The issue is the unprecedented pressure on us to increase the number of vaccinated people.”
Read the full story here.
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The Covid hospitalisation rate in Australia fell to its lowest in nearly three weeks on Wednesday, Reuters reports, while a steady rate of daily infections raised hopes the worst of an outbreak fuelled by the Omicron variant may have passed.
Hospital cases fell to about 4,600 on Wednesday, with all states seeing a dip in admission numbers, after a peak of nearly 5,400 a week ago.
“We’ve seen the peaks of Omicron, I think, come through in (New South Wales and Victoria),” prime minister Scott Morrison, who is under pressure over his handling of the Omicron wave, told a media briefing.
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There have been more cases in the Winter Olympics ‘closed loop’ bubble as the torch relay begins.
Thirty new Covid-19 infections were detected among Olympic Games-related personnel on 1 February, the organising committee of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics said on Wednesday. Fifteen were among new airport arrivals, it said on the Games’ official website, with 17 in the “closed loop” bubble that separates all event personnel from the public.
It comes as a Covid-shortened Olympic torch relay began on Wednesday. Chinese basketball great and Olympian Yao Ming was among the first to carry the flame on a journey that will last just three days due to Covid-19 curbs, Reuters reported.
The relay will be far more modest than the globe-spanning event ahead of Beijing’s 2008 Summer Games. Because of Covid, only selected members of the public will witness the torch relay.
Wednesday’s event began under clear blue skies in Beijing when Chinese vice premier Jan Zheng lit a torch from a cauldron in the shape of traditional ritual vessel known as a zun, then handed it to 80-year-old Luo Zhihuan, who as a speed skater was China’s first winter sports world champion.
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China has reported a slight rise in Covid cases: 63 confirmed coronavirus cases for 1 February, down slightly from 66 a day earlier, the country’s health authority said on Wednesday. There were no new fatalities, leaving the death toll unchanged at 4,636.
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Tsunami-hit Tonga goes into lockdown
Tonga has gone into lockdown after recording two Covid-19 cases among port workers helping distribute international aid in the wake of the volcanic eruption and tsunami that devastated the Pacific country last month.
The cases seem to confirm fears among Tongan officials that the arrival of aid could bring an outbreak of the virus, which could represent a bigger danger to Tonga than the tsunami.
The prime minister, Siaosi Sovaleni, said the lockdown, which began at 6pm on Wednesday, will be open-ended, but will last for at least 48 hours, at which point it will be reviewed.
Tonga is still reeling from the eruption of the undersea Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on 15 January, which sent gas 20km into the air, prompted a tsunami, with waves reaching 15 metres (49ft), and blanketed the country in ash.
Read the full story from our Pacific editor Kate Lyons here.
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France eases Covid curbs, including outdoor mask-wearing
France will begin to lift some Covid-19 restrictions on Wednesday, including mandatory outdoor mask-wearing, Agence France-Presse reports.
Audience capacity limits for concert halls, sporting matches and other events will also be removed, and although homeworking will no longer be mandated it will still be recommended.
The move begins a two-part relaxation of curbs announced at the end of January - despite the country hitting record levels of daily cases last month - and comes as England and Denmark also eased their restrictions.
France “will be able to lift most of the restrictions taken to curb the epidemic in February” thanks to the new vaccination pass, which replaced the health pass, prime minister Jean Castex said in January.
The second stage of the curb-lifting will see nightclubs, shut since December, reopen on 16 February and standing areas will again be allowed at concerts, sporting events and bars.
Paris has not made the easing of restrictions conditional on the progress of the health situation. Authorities view the threat of the Omicron variant as limited and less dangerous than previous strains of the virus, even though it is more contagious.
An average of 322,256 cases were recorded over the previous seven days, according to latest figures, compared with 366,179 a week ago.
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Welcome and summary of key developments
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Virginia Harrison.
France will begin lifting coronavirus restrictions including mandatory outdoor mask-wearing on Wednesday in a bid to ease citizens’ daily lives, dividing opinion as the country only last month reported record Covid-19 infections.
Tonga has entered a lockdown after recording two Covid-19 cases among port workers helping distribute international aid in the wake of the volcanic eruption and tsunami that devastated the Pacific country last month.
Here’s what else has been happening over the past 24 hours:
- The WHO has 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.
- 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.
- In the US children under five, the last group of Americans still ineligible for vaccines against Covid-19, may soon receive emergency authorisation for the shots, but getting all children vaccinated remains a serious challenge.
- The Covid pandemic has “destroyed morale” among school leaders in England, who feel they have been scapegoated for government failures during the crisis instead of being hailed as heroes for their role on the frontline, MPs will be told in a briefing on Wednedsay.
- China reported 63 confirmed coronavirus cases for 1 February, down slightly from 66 a day earlier, the country’s health authority said on Wednesday.
- Meantime, at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, 32 new Covid infections were detected among Games-related personnel on 1 February. Seventeen were in the “closed loop” bubble that separates all event workers from the public.
- Health workers on the frontline of the Covid vaccination programme in India say people are being officially registered as double vaccinated without receiving both doses because of pressure to meet government targets.
- Australia recorded 69 Covid deaths as the country continued to battle the spread of the Omicron variant with worrying outbreaks in some remote communities.
- Two years into the pandemic in Japan, some residents in former tourist hotspot Kyoto admit that they have learned to embrace life without foreign visitors
