Summary
Here is a brief round-up of today’s top Covid news stories:
- The acute phase of the pandemic could end this year, if around 70% of the world gets vaccinated, the World Health Organization chief has said.
- The US Food and Drug Administration said it was postponing the advisory committee meeting to discuss request for authorisation of Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine for children 6 months through 4 years of age.
- In the UK, Boris Johnson has received his questionnaire from police investigating allegations of lockdown-breaching parties in No 10, Downing Street has said.
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Belgium announced further easing of Covid restrictions to allow nightclubs to reopen and drop the requirement for primary school pupils to wear masks, as Omicron cases fell from an end-of-January peak.
- Iceland will ease some Covid restrictions at the weekend, including limits on crowd numbers and restaurant opening hours, before lifting all measures at the end of the month, two weeks ahead of schedule.
- Spain announced it would loosen its border requirements, with children over 12 from non-EU countries no longer needing to be fully vaccinated.
- Brazil recorded 166,009 new coronavirus cases and 1,135 Covid deaths in the last 24 hours, its Health Ministry said on Friday.
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Canada’s Ontario province declared a state of emergency and the premier, Doug Ford, threatened fines and jail terms as authorities came under increasing pressure from the US to end anti-vaccine mandate protests that have drastically cut trade between the two nations.
- South Africa’s efforts to produce vaccines are key to helping the African continent become more self-sufficient in inoculations to combat Covid-19 and many other diseases, the chief of the World Health Organization said on Friday.
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The UK recorded a further 58,899 Covid cases and 193 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, according to the government’s coronavirus dashboard.
- France will no longer require people to wear masks indoors in public places where entry is subject to the Covid vaccine pass from 28 February, the health ministry said in a statement, citing an “improvement in the health situation”.
- The UK’s vaccines watchdog is set to announce new recommendations for vaccinating younger children next week, after a long and complex evaluation.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the global Covid live blog for today.
You can keep up-to-date with all the latest Covid news here. Goodbye for now.
Updated
In the US, California would mandate that all businesses require their employees and independent contractors to receive the Covid vaccine under legislation announced on Friday by Democratic state lawmakers.
Employees or contractors who qualify for medical or religious exemptions would have to be regularly tested under a planned amendment to the bill.
New employees would have to get at least one dose by the time they start work and the second dose within 45 days of being on the job.
Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks introduced her bill months after delaying an original proposal last fall. The previous version would have allowed workers to submit to weekly testing as an alternative to getting vaccinated, but that is not an option in her new proposal.
Vaccines mandates are highly controversial and there have been many rallies at the state Capitol in Sacramento opposing such requirements.
