Summary
Here’s a recap of all the international Covid developments:
- Brazil has registered 473 new Covid-19 deaths and 58,540 new cases, the health ministry said.
- Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau invokes emergency measures to tackle the ongoing protests.
- Plans to delay Covid jabs for UK children aged five to 11 have been criticised.
- Boris Johnson is expected to deny wrongdoing over No 10 lockdown parties.
- All remaining Covid-19 legal restrictions are to be lifted in Northern Ireland from 15 February and replaced with guidance.
- UK ministers press ahead with plan to wind down Covid testing.
- Israelis mount their own Covid-19 ‘Freedom Convoy’.
- Italy has reported a rise in daily Covid-19 related deaths with 281 registered, the health ministry said. This compares with 191, the previous day. A further 28,630 Covid-19 daily related cases were recorded.
- Kuwait’s cabinet has lifted many Covid-19 restrictions including a ban on foreign travel
- About 500 cars and campervans have arrived in Brussels, mainly from France, in a convoy to protest against Covid-19 restrictions. The vehicles were barred from the city. Police directed them to a parking place on the outskirts of Brussels, from where protesters continued on foot to a square in the city centre and the area housing European Union institutions.
- The UK recorded 41,648 new Covid cases on Monday, government figures showed, and a further 35 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. That is compared with 41,270 infections and 52 fatalities in the 24 hours prior
- More than 60 charities, campaigners and non-governmental organisations have accused Moderna of attempting to derail World Health Organization (WHO) plans to manufacture more Covid-19 vaccines in Africa. In an open letter, they urged Moderna to “act in the interests of people, not profits” by withdrawing patents and patent applications in South Africa.
- The Duchess of Cornwall, 74, is self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus. The announcement by Clarence House comes after it announced on Thursday that Prince Charles, 73, had tested positive for the virus.
- Covid restrictions in Germany are set to end as case numbers have dropped slightly, according to a draft official plan seen by Agence France-Presse. The plan is expected to be approved by the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the heads of the federal states on Wednesday.
- Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has said an “onslaught” of Covid-19 infections has dealt a heavy blow and overwhelmed capacity to deal with the virus. Daily infections have multiplied by a factor of 13 over the past two weeks, from about 100 cases at the start of February to a record 2,071 on 14 February.
- The busiest US-Canada border crossing has reopened after protests against Covid restrictions closed it for almost a week. The Sunday night reopening of the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan came as Canadian officials held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.
- A court in Bologna has temporarily stripped the parental rights of a couple after they refused blood from Covid-vaccinated donors for their son in need of an urgent blood transfusion before undergoing delicate heart surgery. The couple had reportedly requested non-vaccinated blood for “religious reasons”.
- Families bereaved by Covid in the UK want Boris Johnson to relinquish control over which issues will be investigated in the pandemic public inquiry, alleging he is compromised by allegations of lockdown-breaking at Downing Street.
- New Zealand’s prime minister has said protesters who oppose coronavirus mandates were using “intimidation and harassment”, as authorities appeared to take a harsher stance toward the convoy of demonstrators that has disrupted the capital of Wellington for nearly a week.
- Taiwan aims to ease its strict Covid quarantine policy from next month as it needs to gradually resume normal life and reopen to the world, the government said on Monday.
- South Korea will begin giving out fourth doses of Covid vaccines this month and supply millions of additional home test kits to ease shortages amid a surge in Omicron infections, authorities confirmed on Monday.
Here is some more information on the Emergencies Act invoked by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to tackle the “Freedom Convoy” protests.
The Emergencies Act was passed in 1988 and gives the government added powers for 30 days in times of national crisis.
Under the Act, the government could:
- bar travel to or from specific areas
- order the evacuation of people and personal property from certain areas
- direct individuals and companies to provide essential services
There is no indication Trudeau would seek military intervention.
On Friday he said: “We are a long way from having to call in the military.”
Reuters reports that Trudeau will activate the emergency measures which include cutting off the financing.
The Canadian Parliament would have to approve the use of the emergency measures within seven days. It also has the power to revoke them.
Updated
Some more reaction to the news that Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is to invoke emergency measures (see stories at 18.26, 19.38 and 21.52) to tackle the “Freedom Convoy” protests.
Reuters reports that Jack Lindsay, department chair for applied disaster and emergency studies at Brandon University in Manitoba said:
It seems that they’re mostly going to focus on orders and regulations relating to finance... and that’s a fairly effective tool.
They can certainly do things quicker, which is certainly the intention of these orders and regulations under the Emergencies Act...
I imagine this will start a week full of political discourse over whether the government overstepped or not.
Lori Williams, Politics professor at Mount Royal University, Calgary, warned invoking the act “could create more problems” adding:
That’s why this has to be done with the cooperation of premiers and if they don’t want help, then the federal government needs to hang back. It has to be very targeted, very strategic and very restrained, because these are enormous powers that are being implemented.
Meanwhile, Ontario premier Doug Ford said he would support the federal government and “any proposals they have to bring law and order back to our province”.
He added it was vital “to make sure we stabilise our businesses and trade around the world as the world is watching us right now, wondering if it’s a stable environment to open up businesses and expand businesses”.
He said:
These occupiers, they’re doing the total opposite what they say they’re there to do. They’re hurting hundreds of thousands of families, millions of jobs across the province.
Updated
Brazil has registered 473 new Covid-19 deaths and 58,540 new cases, the health ministry said.
Trudeau invokes emergency measures to tackle the ongoing protests
As trailed earlier, (see stories at 18.26 and 19.38) Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said the government had invoked special measures allowing him to tackle protests that have shut some border crossings and paralysed downtown Ottawa.
According to Reuters Trudeau told a news conference:
The blockades are harming our economy and endangering public safety. We cannot and will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue.
Updated
US biotech company Novavax Inc said it has received interim authorisation from the Singapore Health Sciences Authority for its Covid-19 vaccine in adults, reports Reuters.
Updated
Plans to delay Covid jabs for UK children aged five to 11 criticised
Nicola Davis and Rowena Mason write:
Plans to offer Covid vaccinations to all children aged five to 11 have been delayed by the government because the jabs have not been deemed urgent.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) decided more than a week ago to expand the Covid vaccination programme to all those aged five to 11 and handed its advice to ministers.
However, the government has not publicly declared whether it will go ahead with the offer and is still “reviewing” the evidence for another week, which is a break with its previous moves to accept JCVI advice straight away.
The decision is now expected to be announced on 21 February, when a long-term strategy for “living with Covid” is to be outlined by Boris Johnson. It is understood any vaccination programme for this age group would not start until Easter at the earliest.
JCVI members told the Guardian they were in the dark as to reasons for the delay. But the hold-up appears, at least in part, to be down to the JCVI advice that the jabs are non-urgent.
Read the full story here.
Following the earlier story (see 18.27), Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is facing pushback on reports that he is to invoke rarely used emergency measures to tackle the ongoing so-called “Freedom Convoy”.
The premiers of Alberta, Quebed, Manitoba and Saskatchewan said they oppose Trudeau’s plan to invoke Canada’s Emergencies Act to deal with protests that have shut down some border crossings and paralysed the capital, Ottawa.
Jason Kenney, the premier of Alberta, told a news conference:
We would prefer that the Emergencies Act not be invoked, but if it is we would very much prefer that it not be applied to Alberta.
Quebec premier Francois Legault said that imposing the act risks “putting oil on the fire” and said:
I think we don’t need it. I think that at this moment it would not help the social climate.
Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson warned of “unintended negative consequences” of invoking the act, adding that its use would not be “constructive” in Manitoba. She said:
While the situation is very different in Ontario, this ultimate federal legislation should only be considered on a measured and proportional basis, in locations where it is truly needed.
Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe said that while the illegal blockades “must end”, police “already have sufficient tools to enforce the law and clear the blockades”.
Updated
Boris Johnson expected to deny wrongdoing over No 10 parties
Boris Johnson is expected to deny wrongdoing to the police by arguing that his presence at Downing Street gatherings in lockdown was part of his working day, though No 10 said his official response to the Met would remain private.
The prime minister has until Friday to answer a questionnaire sent by the Met police which may lead them to issue a fixed penalty notice or conclude there is no case to answer.
He is expected to reject the allegation that he broke any laws prohibiting gatherings, but No 10 said it would not make his defence public. His official spokesperson said: “We will respond as required. As you know, I think the Met made clear that that was in seven days, so we will comply with that requirement.”
Read the full story here.
Updated
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised against travel to six countries and territories including South Korea, Azerbaijan and Belarus because of Covid-19 cases.
The CDC also added Comoros, French Polynesia, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon to its risk list of “Level Four: Very High”, reports Reuters.
Updated
More reaction to the news that all remaining legal Covid restrictions in Northern Ireland are to be lifted and replaced by guidance from February 15 (see story at 18.33).
PA Media reports that in a video message posted on Twitter, Sinn Fein’s leader in Stormont Michelle O’Neill said:
I am really pleased to say that we are moving into a new phase in this pandemic where we can all look forward to a brighter and a more hopeful future.
I think we all know that this day has been a long time in coming, so tonight from me can I just say thank you.
Thank you for the effort and sacrifices that you have made. Thank you for looking after each other because that has shone through the whole way through the pandemic.
Paying tribute to frontline workers, she said:
We are finally seeing the light at the end of what has been an extremely long tunnel and this is certainly a very good day.”
Brighter days are ahead as all COVID regulations will be lifted from tomorrow
— Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) February 14, 2022
Thank you for your efforts and the sacrifices that you made
Thank you for looking after each other
And thank you to our healthcare and frontline workers
This day belongs to each and everyone of you pic.twitter.com/wqM3fENtKv
Nichola Mallon, Infrastructure Minister in the Executive, called it a “major milestone”, adding:
This decision should never have been placed in jeopardy by the DUP which has prioritised political stunts over the needs of the people we all represent.”
Meanwhile, two more people who had previously tested positive for Covid-19 have died in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said.
Another 2,465 confirmed cases of the virus have also been notified in the last 24-hour reporting period.
On Monday there were 437 Covid-19 in-patients, with 13 in intensive care.
The EU has stood by its refusal to lift patent protections on Covid-19 vaccines, just days ahead of a summit with African Union countries who see the issue as a priority.
Agence France-Presse reports that since October 2020, India and South Africa have led calls at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the temporary removal of intellectual property protections for vaccines, treatments and diagnostics in the fight against Covid-19.
Supporters of the lifting of patent protections argue this would boost production globally and help address the glaring inequity in access between rich and poor nations.
The members of the African Union have pushed to include the demand in the conclusions of the joint EU-AU summit that starts on Thursday in Brussels.
In the AU proposal seen by Agence France-Presse it states:
The African Union... urges the European Union to engage constructively towards the conclusion of a targeted and time-limited waiver.
But several wealthy countries hosting large pharmaceutical companies have opposed the move, saying patents are not the main roadblocks to scaling up production and are crucial to innovation.
Franck Riester, the trade minister from France, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency said:
We think that intellectual property should never be a brake [to vaccine production].
At the same time, we do not want to call into question a system of intellectual property that allows for innovation and that has made it possible, in particular, to have vaccines very quickly in the case of Covid-19.
UK ministers press ahead with plan to wind down Covid testing
Rowena Mason and Aubrey Allegretti have an exclusive story on Covid testing.
They write:
Ministers are pressing ahead with plans to start winding down Covid testing and payments for isolation from next week to save more than £10bn, despite health chiefs warning this could hamper crucial research into antiviral treatments.
No 10, the Treasury and the health department will decide this week on a “living with Covid strategy” due to be unveiled on Monday, which will involve phasing out free Covid testing and all but ending the tracing system.
Whitehall sources say the Treasury is driving efforts to reduce costs from an estimated annual £15bn, with an opening suggestion of cutting the budget by more than 90%, to £1.3bn. It is unclear whether the changes will be England-only or apply UK-wide.
Read the full report here.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau plans to invoke rarely used emergency measures to tackle ongoing so-called “Freedom Convoy” protests that have shut border crossings, and blocked the capital for more than two weeks, reports Reuters.
Separately, the prime minister’s office said Trudeau would speak to reporters at 4.30pm ET (9.30pm GMT) without specifying why.
One of the sources, who spoke to Reuters, said the aim of using the emergency powers was to provide federal police support to local and provincial forces, and not to use the military.
Updated
Remaining Covid-19 legal restrictions to be lifted in Northern Ireland
All remaining Covid-19 legal restrictions in Northern Ireland are to be lifted and replaced by guidance from 15 February, health minister Robin Swann said.
However, Swann urged the public to remain vigilant despite the move.
He said:
Today’s announcement follows consideration of legal advice from the Attorney General and consultation with all ministerial colleagues. It moves our response against Covid into a new phase.
With the reduced threat from the Omicron variant, we can move away from an emergency and legalistic framework to a new approach where making safer choices is embedded in our daily lives.
That means all of us continuing to do our best to cut down risks of infection and transmission.
It means looking after each other by following the public health guidance. It must always be remembered that taking unnecessary risks with Covid may affect people who are particularly vulnerable to the virus.
So please do not jump the gun and start behaving as if the pandemic is over. That is not the case.
As things stand in Northern Ireland, people are still required to wear face coverings in public places and Covid certificates are needed for nightclubs.
Updated
Tom Ambrose writes of the historic English pub that seemed destined for closure because of the pandemic but may now be in with a last-minute reprieve.
With its beer garden overlooking the ruins of the Roman city of Verulamium, the historic Ye Olde Fighting Cocks pub in St Albans has been pushed to the brink by Covid.
Two years of on-off lockdown closures, as well as the wider challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, have taken its toll on the pub which once held a Guinness World Record for the oldest pub in England.
It was announced earlier this month that the pub, which has foundations dating back to the year 793 and hosted Oliver Cromwell for dinner in the 1600s, had served its last pint.
But now its landlord, Christo Tofalli, believes the Ye Olde Fighting Cocks could be given a reprieve, urging regulars and its global fanbase to “watch this space”.
You can read the full report here
Israelis mount their own Covid-19 'Freedom Convoy'
Hundreds of vehicles drove along the main highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday to converge on parliament in protest against Covid-19 curbs in a convoy inspired by demonstrations in Canada.
Reuters reports that other protesters assembled as the so-called “Freedom Convoy” passed by, with banners and Israeli and Canadian flags flying from the vehicles.
One sign read: “Freedom doesn’t look like this” showing a picture of a girl in a mask.
Outside parliament, protesters sounded horns and beat drums, and called for pandemic restrictions to be lifted.
Protester Jonathan Deporto, 39, said: “We are all gathered here for freedom. Because for two years already, all this world is going mad because of all the mandates and all the things that don’t let us live as free as we are born.”
In recent weeks, Israel has eased Covid-19 restrictions including the requirement to show proof of vaccination at restaurants, cinemas, gyms.
However, masks are still mandatory in public indoor spaces, including schools, shops and medical institutions.
Last month the “Freedom Convoy” protests started in the Canadian capital Ottawa led by truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers.
Similar protests took place in France over the weekend.
People with children and renters are more likely to have seen their spending on utility bills increase while working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, official figures suggest.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that almost half of people who worked from home had spent less than they would have normally, with reduced costs for travel and food offset by an increase in spending on gas, electricity and internet access.
However, it said the change in spending patterns was more pronounced for some people in the survey of more than 3,000 adults in Great Britain undertaken by government statisticians last month.
Boris Johnson must confirm that funding for free Covid-19 testing will continue in devolved nations, the SNP has said.
It comes as there are rumours free testing could come to an end.
PA Media quotes SNP health spokesman, Martyn Day who said Boris Johnson must not introduce changes to “appease Tory backbenchers” and any decisions should be backed by medical advice.
Day said:
The UK Government must confirm that it will continue to fund Covid-19 testing for devolved nations - after the confusion caused by Boris Johnson and his Tory ministers,” he said.
Any changes to Covid testing must be guided by expert public health advice through the chief medical officers.
It would be typically reckless for the Westminster Government to simply impose changes in a bid to appease Tory backbenchers and save the Prime Minister’s skin.
Scotland’s more safe and cautious approach to the pandemic has seen better outcomes.
We must continue to be guided by the scientific evidence, and not by Downing Street’s concerns over the number of letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson from Tory MPs.
During a visit to Scotland on Monday, Johnson said: “On testing, which is important, we’ll make sure we continue to work with our colleagues in Scotland.”
When challenged further, he added: “We’ll continue to work with our colleagues in Scotland but I believe the similarities in our approach vastly outweigh the differences.”
Sage, the independent group of advisers who have been counselling the Government throughout the pandemic, have cautioned against removing free testing.
It said getting rid of free testing would make it harder for people to take precautions and “may also increase anxiety among those who have found testing reassuring after possible exposure, particularly those who are, or live with, someone who is clinically vulnerable”.
Italy has reported a rise in daily Covid-19 related deaths with 281 registered, the health ministry said.
This compares with 191, the previous day.
A further 28,630 Covid-19 daily related cases were logged compared with 51,959 the day before, reports Reuters.
Italy has registered 151,296 deaths linked to Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic - the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world.
The country has reported 12.1 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with Covid-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 16,050 on Monday, down from 16,060 a day earlier.
There were 63 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 66 on Sunday. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 1,173 from a previous 1,190.
Around 283,891 tests for Covid-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 462,881, the health ministry said.
Kuwait’s cabinet has lifted many Covid-19 restrictions including a ban on foreign travel, a move that will also apply to those who are not vaccinated, reports Reuters.
The prime minister, Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah, said unvaccinated people will still have to get a PCR test 72 hours before boarding a flight to the Gulf Arab state and quarantine for seven days after arrival, while those who are vaccinated would not be required to do so.
Some of the restrictions lifted from next week would include allowing the unvaccinated to enter the likes of shopping centres, and attend cinemas, theatres if they present a negative PCR test.
Updated
Summary
That’s all from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, on the global coronavirus blog for today. I’ll be covering the Ukraine blog for the next couple of hours, please do join me there. Here’s a quick recap of all the international Covid developments:
- About 500 cars and campervans have arrived in Brussels, mainly from France, in a convoy to protest against Covid-19 restrictions. The vehicles were barred from the city. Police directed them to a parking place on the outskirts of Brussels, from where protesters continued on foot to a square in the city centre and the area housing European Union institutions.
- The UK recorded 41,648 new Covid cases on Monday, government figures showed, and a further 35 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. That is compared with 41,270 infections and 52 fatalities in the 24 hours prior.
-
More than 60 charities, campaigners and non-governmental organisations have accused Moderna of attempting to derail World Health Organization (WHO) plans to manufacture more Covid-19 vaccines in Africa. In an open letter, they urged Moderna to “act in the interests of people, not profits” by withdrawing patents and patent applications in South Africa.
-
The Duchess of Cornwall, 74, is self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus. The announcement by Clarence House follows that made on Thursday disclosing Prince Charles, 73, had tested positive for the virus.
-
Covid restrictions in Germany are set to end as case numbers have dropped slightly, according to a draft official plan seen by Agence France-Presse. The plan is expected to be approved by the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the heads of the federal states on Wednesday.
- Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has said an “onslaught” of Covid-19 infections has dealt a heavy blow and overwhelmed capacity to deal with the virus. Daily infections have multiplied by a factor of 13 over the past two weeks, from about 100 cases at the start of February to a record 2,071 on 14 February
- The busiest US-Canada border crossing has reopened after protests against Covid restrictions closed it for almost a week. The Sunday night reopening of the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan came as Canadian officials held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.A court in Bologna has temporarily stripped the parental rights of a couple after they refused blood from Covid-vaccinated donors for their son in need of an urgent blood transfusion before undergoing delicate heart surgery. The couple had reportedly requested non-vaccinated blood for “religious reasons”.
-
Families bereaved by Covid in the UK want Boris Johnson to relinquish control over which issues will be investigated in the pandemic public inquiry, alleging he is compromised by allegations of lockdown-breaking at Downing Street.
- New Zealand’s prime minister has said protesters who oppose coronavirus mandates were using “intimidation and harassment”, as authorities appeared to take a harsher stance toward the convoy of demonstrators that has disrupted the capital of Wellington for nearly a week.
- Taiwan aims to ease its strict Covid quarantine policy from next month as it needs to gradually resume normal life and reopen to the world, the government said on Monday.
- South Korea will begin giving out fourth doses of Covid vaccines this month and supply millions of additional home test kits to ease shortages amid a surge in Omicron infections, authorities confirmed on Monday.
Updated
More than 60 charities, campaigners and non-governmental organisations have accused Moderna of attempting to derail World Health Organization (WHO) plans to manufacture more Covid-19 vaccines in Africa.
Moderna has previously said it would not enforce the patents on its vaccine but in an open letter to the company, organisations claimed Moderna has “filed several patents with broad claims in South Africa, prompting fears it will begin enforcing patents while Covid-19 is still endemic in Africa, effectively derailing the WHO’s plans to build African vaccine production”.
The letter, signed by organisations including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) along with People’s Health Movement (PHM), calls on Moderna to “act in the interests of people, not profits” by withdrawing patents and patent applications in South Africa.
The letter warns that the patents “pose long term barriers to scaling up the supply of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines and to diversifying local production in the continent ... and may potentially undermine the [WHO] Hub’s current and future functioning and research, at the expense of all LMICs [low and middle-income countries].”
UK records 41,648 new cases and 35 Covid-linked deaths
The UK recorded 41,648 new Covid cases on Monday, government figures showed, and a further 35 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. That is compared to 41,270 infections and 52 fatalities in the 24 hours prior.
Cases over the last seven days are down 30% on the previous week, with weekly deaths down 27.2% compared to the previous seven days.
Updated
A leading public health expert who has advised the Scottish government says that a pledge by the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, to scrap legally enforced isolation for people in England with Covid-19 “flies in the face” of basic infectious disease management, which involves avoids infecting other people when one is infectious.
Prof Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, says in a piece she has written for the Guardian:
We all want our pre-Covid-19 lives back: the question is what the cost of this is. That’s the debate we should be having as a society, without avoiding the difficult realities of the situation.
The UK has faced an average of 200 deaths a day now for weeks, while the US is heading towards the million death mark.
The media no longer report these deaths widely, as they did at the start of the pandemic: there seems to be a certain acceptance of this as the cost of somewhat normal life to continue. The morality of that is questionable.
Updated
A Turkish man who is still trying to shake off a Covid-19 infection after 14 months and 78 straight positive tests continues to be in high spirits, joking about his predicament.
When Muzaffer Kayasan first caught the virus he thought he was destined to die since he was already suffering from leukemia, but he is still alive despite being in and out of hospital since November 2020
The AFP news agency reports that Kayasan, 56, has Turkey’s longest recorded continuous Covid-19 infection, doctors say, possibly due to a weakened immune system from the cancer.
“I guess this is the female version of Covid – she has been obsessed with me,” Kayasan joked last week as he found out that his latest PCR test was, yet again, positive.
Nine months in hospital and five months mostly alone in his flat have separated him from much of the outside world, including his granddaughter, Azra, who stays in the garden while visiting, talking through the glass back door.
“I will play with you when I get well,” he told her through a mask after giving her a plastic toy telephone.
Coronavirus patients with immunosuppression are at risk of prolonged infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome, according to a study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine. Another by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society shows one in four blood cancer patients do not produce detectable antibodies even after receiving two vaccine shots.
Updated
Activists and others have been assembling in the centre of Brussels as the first vehicles from the European “Freedom Convoy” trickle into the outskirts of the Belgian capital. Riot police are present in considerable numbers, with water cannon in reserve.
Updated
Covid-pass protest arrives in Brussels
About 500 cars and campervans have arrived in Brussels, mainly from France, in a convoy to protest against Covid-19 restrictions.
The vehicles were barred from the city. Police directed them to a parking place on the outskirts of Brussels, from where protesters continued on foot to a square in the city centre and the area housing European Union institutions.
Reuters reporters saw around 150-200 protesters in the city centre and a similar number in the European quarter.
LIVE: European Freedom Convoy 2022 arrives in Brussels https://t.co/HNy4qzsu2A
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 14, 2022
Brussels mayor Philippe Close said.told Belgian LN24 television the protest, inspired by “Freedom Convoy” demonstrators who have gridlocked the Canadian capital with trucks, had no permit from the Brussels authorities, no leader and had made no demands.
Philippe, a French protester from the city of Valenciennes who had earlier protested in Paris, told reporters pandemic restrictions were only part of his problems.
“I came particularly for our children’s future. I don’t see how my children can live in the world as it is now. Freedom is swept aside, there’s more and more poverty. Even when you work, when the 15th of the month comes round, you haven’t got enough to live on,” he said.
He said he was also protesting against the rise in energy prices and the cost of living.
A protest convoy breached police defences and drove into central Paris on Saturday, snarling traffic around the Arc de Triomphe and on the Champs Elysees.
Updated
A UK diplomat found dead in a forest vanished from his home after suffering extreme stress while working for the British government’s Covid taskforce at the height the pandemic, an inquest has heard.
The former ambassador to Nepal, Richard Morris, worked long hours under high pressure, helping co-ordinate briefings to ministers at a time when the UK was battling the fierce first wave of coronavirus.
On Monday, his widow fought back tears as she told an inquest he had been “totally unprotected” from the demands of the Covid taskforce.
Alison Morris said her husband feared there was not enough time to process information in the fast-moving period and if any information error got past him the Government “would be torn apart in the press”. The inquest continues
Updated
Afternoon summary
Here’s a quick roundup of what’s been happening so far:
-
The Duchess of Cornwall, 74, is self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus. The announcement by Clarence House follows that made on Thursday disclosing Prince Charles, 73, had tested positive for the virus.
-
Covid restrictions in Germany are set to end as case numbers have dropped slightly, according to a draft official plan seen by Agence France-Presse. The plan is expected to be approved by the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the heads of the federal states on Wednesday.
- Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has said an “onslaught” of Covid-19 infections has dealt a heavy blow and overwhelmed capacity to deal with the virus. Daily infections have multiplied by a factor of 13 over the past two weeks, from about 100 cases at the start of February to a record 2,071 on 14 February
- The busiest US-Canada border crossing has reopened after protests against Covid restrictions closed it for almost a week. The Sunday night reopening of the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan came as Canadian officials held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.
-
A court in Bologna has temporarily stripped the parental rights of a couple after they refused blood from Covid-vaccinated donors for their son in need of an urgent blood transfusion before undergoing delicate heart surgery. The couple had reportedly requested non-vaccinated blood for “religious reasons”.
- Hundreds of vehicles taking part in France’s so-called freedom convoy were heading for Brussels. The protest against Covid restrictions and high energy prices shifted its focus to the symbolic heart of the EU after police prevented most of the estimated 3,000 vehicles from entering Paris at the weekend.
-
Families bereaved by Covid in the UK want Boris Johnson to relinquish control over which issues will be investigated in the pandemic public inquiry, alleging he is compromised by allegations of lockdown-breaking at Downing Street.
- New Zealand’s prime minister has said protesters who oppose coronavirus mandates were using “intimidation and harassment”, as authorities appeared to take a harsher stance toward the convoy of demonstrators that has disrupted the capital of Wellington for nearly a week.
- Taiwan aims to ease its strict Covid quarantine policy from next month as it needs to gradually resume normal life and reopen to the world, the government said on Monday.
- South Korea will begin giving out fourth doses of Covid vaccines this month and supply millions of additional home test kits to ease shortages amid a surge in Omicron infections, authorities confirmed on Monday.
Here’s the full story on the Duchess of Cornwall testing positive for coronavirus by my colleague Caroline Davies.
The announcement by Clarence House follows that made on Thursday disclosing Prince Charles, 73, had tested positive for the virus. The duchess, 74, carried out a string of engagements on the same day.
Concern for the Queen’s health mounted after it emerged the monarch had been in direct contact with Charles two days before he tested positive. Buckingham Palace said on Thursday that the Queen was not displaying any symptoms, but refused to confirm whether she had tested positive or negative, citing medical privacy.
The 95-year-old spent time with Charles last Tuesday, when the prince was carrying out an investiture on her behalf at her Windsor Castle home.
The evening before his positive test result, Charles and Camilla had met the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and others at a reception at the British Museum.
Our Berlin bureau chief, Philip Oltermann, looks at Germany’s faltering plans to introduce a general vaccination mandate this spring:
Germany’s Bundestag was originally due to debate motions in favour and against mandatory vaccinations this week, after the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, indicated he considers such a step necessary to cope with a possible resurgence of the virus in the next few months.
But the timetable that was meant to see a mandate would be passed in March has already begun to slip, as a Free Democratic party (FDP) politician said his third-way motion proposing mandatory vaccinations for those aged 50 and over would be submitted with a delay.
The three motions may not get their second and third reading until the end of March, when Germany’s high infection rates are forecast to be on a downward curve and the government is preparing to loosen restrictions on social gatherings and access to nonessential shops, according to reports in German media on Monday.
National and state leaders are set to discuss the opening-up plan on Wednesday, as Germany’s disease control agency reported 6,465 new cases in the last 24 hours, the second consecutive day of declining incidence rates.
A low-cost and rapidly scalable ventilator developed by UK scientists has been approved for widescale production, Sky News reports.
The OxVent machine costs £1,850 to produce, compared with an average of £22,000 for a model used in the NHS. It was developed by doctors and engineers at Oxford University and King’s College London and has now been certified as compliant with medical regulations.
The designs and manufacturing systems will be transferred to low and middle-income countries that cannot afford current ventilators.
Prof Sebastien Ourselin, head of school of biomedical engineering and imaging sciences at King’s College London and non-executive director at OxVent Ltd, said:
The OxVent ventilator is now a highly evolved medical device which has the technical capability to provide much-needed support in areas of the world where access to life-saving medical technologies is limited.
By design the ventilator allows for simple set-up, overcoming challenges posed by a lack of resources.
Updated
A court in Bologna has temporarily stripped the parental rights of a couple after they refused blood from Covid-vaccinated donors for their son in need of an urgent blood transfusion before undergoing delicate heart surgery.
Last week, the couple had informed Bologna’s Sant’Orsola hospital that they were “adamant that our child will only get unvaccinated blood.”
The hospital replied to the request with a note, saying “the surgery cannot be postponed” and that it was “necessary to proceed urgently given the severity of the boy’s pathology.”
A judge eventually turned down the parents’ appeal, citing that there were “guarantees of absolute safety in using blood from vaccinated donors.”
The parents’ lawyer told Italy’s news agency ANSA that the couple had requested non-vaccinated blood for “religious reasons.”
Over the weekend a court in Bologna stripped the couple of their parenting rights and the local social services were appointed legal guardians of the child.
Updated
Our Paris correspondent, Kim Willsher, reports on the so-called freedom convoy headed to the symbolic heart of the EU:
Hundreds of vehicles taking part in France’s so-called freedom convoy were heading for Brussels on Monday, despite warnings they would be prevented from entering the Belgian capital.
The protest against Covid restrictions and high energy prices shifted its focus to the symbolic heart of the EU after police prevented most of the estimated 3,000 vehicles from entering Paris at the weekend.
About 100 managed to get past the police and converged on the Champs Élysées, where they were eventually dispersed with teargas on Saturday evening.
Belgian police said they had deployed forces along several motorways and stopped about 30 vehicles heading for the capital.
The mayor of the city of Brussels, Philippe Close, said police were directing vehicles to a parking and rest area just outside the city, capable of accepting up to 10,000 vehicles, and warned demonstrators this was the only place they would be allowed to converge and protest.
He said protesters might be allowed to enter Brussels on foot, but they would not be allowed to “take the capital hostage”. The Brussels authorities have banned any demonstrations in the city on Monday.
Factories in Vietnam are expected to continue production despite record Covid infections, marking a change in the government’s earlier policies of sweeping lockdowns.
One of the world’s major garment makers, Vietnam reported more than 26,000 infections on Sunday – about double the peak last year, when factories supplying brands such as Nike, Zara, Apple and Samsung were closed for months.
This time, however, millions of factory workers have been vaccinated against the virus. More than 76% of Vietnam’s population has received at least two vaccine doses, up from 3.3% early in September last year, according to figures by the health ministry.
“The risk of widespread lockdowns is very low this year as Vietnam has successfully carried out its Covid-19 vaccination campaign,” Dang Duc Anh, director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, told Reuters.
On Sunday, the government announced it will remove its Covid-19 restrictions on international passenger flights from 15 February with no limitation on the number of flights.
Updated
The UK’s prime minister has said it is “clear” that Omicron is less dangerous than previous Covid-19 variants. On a visit to Scotland today, Boris Johnson was asked if there was evidence to back up plans to relax all Covid restrictions in England.
Johnson told reporters:
I think the situation with Covid is that numbers remain high, but it’s clear that Omicron is much less dangerous than the Delta.
You can see the numbers going down in hospitals, numbers in ICU have been nothing like what we saw with Delta.
I think we’re on the right lines and together we’ve been taking roughly the same strategy.
I know people make a lot of small differences. I understand that completely. But, overall, the UK has really been working very, very effectively together on testing, which is important.
Here’s more on the Duchess of Cornwall testing positive for Covid-19 just days after her husband Prince Charles. Charles tested positive last Thursday as part of a routine test, having experienced no symptoms previously.
Camilla had continued with her programme of engagements at the end of the week as she continued to test negative for the virus. She described herself as “luckily” negative on Thursday and said she had been tested “so many times”.
It is the first time the duchess has caught Covid-19, while Prince Charles has the virus for a second time.
Updated
Duchess of Cornwall tests positive for Covid-19, Clarence House announces
Clarence House has confirmed that Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating.
A Clarence House spokesperson said: “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating. We continue to follow government guidelines.”
Camilla, 74, is triple vaccinated, sources said. She carried out a string of engagements last Thursday – the day the Prince of Wales tested positive for Covid-19 for a second time.
Updated
In the UK, about one in 25 people working in social care, teaching and education were likely to have been self-isolating because of coronavirus last month, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics.
On 29 January, 4.0% of social care workers were self-isolating, up from 2.3% two weeks earlier. Some 3.9% of teaching and education staff were self-isolating because of Covid-19, up from 2.0% two weeks earlier. Levels of self-isolation among health care workers rose from 2.1% to 3.6%.
The figures, reported by PA news agency, are the first of their kind to estimate the proportion of people self-isolating in different types of employment. They also show that at the peak of the Omicron wave on 3 January, nearly one in 20 – 4.7% – of the entire working-age population in England were likely to be in self-isolation.
Updated
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here, taking over the live blog from Tom Ambrose to bring you all the latest global developments on the coronavirus pandemic.
We start in Germany, where the government’s Covid restrictions are set to end as case numbers have dropped slightly, according to a draft official plan seen by Agence France-Presse.
As a first step, contact restrictions will ease to allow people to meet privately. Currently private gatherings are limited to 10 people, or two households if an unvaccinated person is present. Access to shops will no longer be dependent on vaccination status.
From 4 March, access to restaurants will no longer be restricted to people who have received a booster jab as long as an unvaccinated person shows a negative test.
Finally, “broad restrictions of social, cultural and economic life should be gradually lifted by the start of spring on March 20, 2022,” the plan states.
Rules requiring employers to allow staff to work from home if possible will also be lifted at that date. Germany will then rely on “basic protection measures” including “in particular the wearing of medical masks” in public.
The plan is expected to be approved by the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the heads of the federal states on Wednesday.
Germany reported 76,465 new daily coronavirus cases on Monday, down 20% from the same day last week.
Updated
Summary
Here is a brief round-up of today’s top Covid news stories:
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South Korea will begin giving out fourth doses of Covid vaccines this month and supply millions of additional home test kits to ease shortages amid a surge in Omicron infections, authorities confirmed on Monday.
- The busiest US-Canada border crossing has reopened after protests against Covid restrictions closed it for almost a week. The Sunday night reopening of the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan came as Canadian officials held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.
- Anti-vaxxers in France are buying fake vaccine passes online to get around the country’s Covid restrictions. These are often promoted on mainstream social media platforms, research has revealed. Many buying the forgeries, which can be used across the European Union (EU), are being redirected from websites such as Instagram and Facebook to the Telegram encrypted messenger where they can be bought discreetly, according to a study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).
- In the UK, families bereaved by Covid want Boris Johnson to relinquish control over which issues will be investigated in the pandemic public inquiry, alleging he is compromised by allegations of lockdown-breaking at Downing Street.
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Coronavirus case numbers have dropped slightly in Germany, as the government’s Covid expert panel called for a gradual easing of restrictions in Europe’s biggest economy.
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Moderna is reportedly in late stage talks with the UK government about investing in research and manufacturing and collaborating with the NHS on clinical trials, the Financial Times reports.
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New Zealand’s prime minister has said protesters who oppose coronavirus mandates were using “intimidation and harassment”, as authorities appeared to take a harsher stance toward the convoy of demonstrators that has disrupted the capital of Wellington for nearly a week.
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Sweden’s health agency recommended on Monday that people aged 80 or above should receive a second booster shot of Covid vaccine, the fourth jab in total, to ward off waning immunity amid the rampant spread of the Omicron variant.
- Hundreds of cars, campervans and trucks are on their way to a protest against Covid regulations in Brussels today where Belgian officials have already banned a demonstration following a weekend attempt in Paris.
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Hong Kong will extend the suspension of face-to-face classes by two weeks until 7 March, local broadcaster RTHK said on Monday.
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Taiwan aims to ease its strict Covid quarantine policy from next month as it needs to gradually resume normal life and reopen to the world, the government said on Monday.
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Japan’s government said on Monday it has agreed to buy an additional 10m doses of Covid vaccine from Pfizer to be delivered in March.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Léonie Chao-Fong will be along shortly to continue bringing you all the latest coronavirus headlines throughout the rest of the day.
Updated
South Korea’s parliament on Monday approved plans to provide a special time for Covid patients to vote during the 9 March presidential election as the country grapples with a record-breaking Omicron surge.
The proposed revision of an election-related law will take effect if it is endorsed by the Cabinet Council and signed by the president — steps widely considered a formality since the governing and opposition parties have already agreed on the measure.
Voters diagnosed with highly infectious diseases such as Covid and others placed in quarantine would be allowed to visit polling stations and cast ballots after regular voting closes at 6pm, according to a copy of the legislation on the website of the National Assembly. The special voting time would close at 7.30pm.
Virus patients who have already applied for postal ballots in a now-ended registration period can still vote by mail, according to the National Election Commission.
Commission officials said they will work out details such as whether to install separate polling booths for sick voters and what protective gear polling officers would wear.
Alexis Danielsen sat down and rolled up her sleeve. When the shot went into her arm, one thought flooded her mind: “Finally!”
It was May 2021, and she was receiving her first Covid shot – in fact, her first immunization of any kind. She was 39.
Danielsen grew up in an anti-vaccine household, views she held well into adulthood. When her son was born, she declined all vaccines for him. Then she hit a personal crisis, and started rethinking all of her beliefs – including on vaccinations. It was like pulling on a thread and watching an entire sweater unravel, she said.
“The Covid vaccine was the only logical choice after really re-evaluating what I believe in, what I actually believe is true,” Danielsen said.
Danielsen partly credits her about-face to Lydia Greene and Heather Simpson, the Canada-based founders of Back to the Vax, a support group for people like themselves: one-time vaccine skeptics who’d had a change of heart.
Updated
How serious is the presence of the Covid virus in deer for humans?
Scientists think surveillance is urgent as deer could act as large reservoirs for the virus, and serve as a source for new variants.
See the full article below.
Hong Kong will extend the suspension of face-to-face classes by two weeks until 7 March, local broadcaster RTHK said on Monday.
It comes as as the global financial hub grapples to contain a surge in Covid infections, Reuters reported.
Hong Kong reported 2,071 new daily Covid infections on Monday, a new record, with 4,500 preliminary positive cases, authorities said.
Japan’s government said on Monday it has agreed to buy an additional 10m doses of Covid vaccine from Pfizer to be delivered in March.
Japan is already contracted to purchase 120m doses from Pfizer this year.
Including the extra shots and acceleration of shipments, Japan will import 46m Pfizer doses in March to aid in its booster shot program, health minister Shigeyuki Goto told reporters.
Updated
South Korea to begin giving out fourth jabs
South Korea will begin giving out fourth doses of Covid vaccines this month and supply millions of additional home test kits to ease shortages amid a surge in Omicron infections, authorities confirmed on Monday.
The surge has pushed daily cases to records, but widespread vaccination, with first booster shots received by more than 57% of the population of 52 million, has helped limit deaths and serious infections, Reuters reported.
High-risk groups will be the first to get the fourth dose, in effect a second booster shot, health minister Kwon Deok-cheol told a Covid response meeting.
“We’re planning to provide fourth shots to those who live in nursing homes and care facilities and others with declined immunisation, in light of a recent increase of infections among people aged 60 or older,” he said.
At least 44.22 million people, or 86.2% of the population, are considered fully vaccinated. Sunday’s 54,619 new cases took the tally of infections to 1,405,246, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The country’s death toll rose by 21 to 7,102.
Updated
Sweden’s Health Agency recommended on Monday that people aged 80 or above should receive a second booster shot of Covid vaccine, the fourth jab in total, to ward off waning immunity amid the rampant spread of the Omicron variant.
The recommendation also covered all people living in nursing homes or who receive assisted living services at home. The second booster shot should be administered at least four months after the first booster jab, the agency said in a statement.
Sweden hit record levels of infections earlier this year as Omicron spread rapidly across the country.
But authorities are banking on booster shots and the milder symptoms of the variant to ease the pressure on healthcare and removed restrictions and scaled back testing this month.
The busiest US-Canada border crossing has reopened after protests against Covid restrictions closed it for almost a week.
The Sunday night reopening of the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan came as Canadian officials held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.
The Detroit International Bridge company said “the Ambassador Bridge is now fully open allowing the free flow of commerce between the Canada and US economies once again”.
The crossing normally carries 25% of all trade between the two countries, and the blockade on the Canadian side had disrupted business on both sides, with carmakers forced to shut down several factories.
Police in Windsor said earlier in the day that more than two dozen people had been peacefully arrested, seven vehicles towed and five seized as officers cleared the last demonstrators from near the bridge, which links the city – and numerous Canadian car factories – with Detroit.
Updated
New Zealand’s prime minister has said protesters who oppose coronavirus mandates were using “intimidation and harassment”, as authorities appeared to take a harsher stance toward the convoy of demonstrators that has disrupted the capital of Wellington for nearly a week.
Police initially let the protesters set up tents and camp on the grounds of New Zealand’s parliament before arresting 122 people on Thursday and then backing off again. The size of the protest dropped to a few hundred last week but increased again to about 3,000 over the weekend.
Speaking with reporters, prime minister Jacinda Ardern signalled the thinning patience of authorities, the Associated Press reported.
“I very clearly have a view on the protesters and the way that they’ve conducted their protest because it has moved beyond sharing a view to intimidation and harassment of the people around central Wellington,” she said. “That cannot be tolerated.”
Parliament speaker Trevor Mallard tried to make the protesters uncomfortable last week by turning on lawn sprinklers and blasting out decades-old Barry Manilow songs and the 1990s hit Macarena on a repeat loop.
Police on Monday told protesters to move their illegally parked vehicles, offering them alternative parking at a nearby stadium.
Updated
Coronavirus case numbers have dropped slightly in Germany, as the government’s Covid expert panel called for a gradual easing of restrictions in Europe’s biggest economy.
Germany reported 76,465 new daily coronavirus cases on Monday, down 20% from the same day last week. The seven-day infection incidence per 100,000 people also fell to 1,460 from 1,467 on Sunday, Reuters reported.
Germany’s expert panel said on Sunday the government needed to put plans in place for easing curbs, given the current wave of infections was expected to flatten in the coming weeks, but it warned against loosening restrictions too soon.
“Thanks to the milder course of the disease, we are entering a new phase of the pandemic, which allows prospects for gradual opening,” Hendrik Wuest, the prime minister of Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, told Welt newspaper.
The German chancellor Olaf Scholz and the heads of the federal states are due to meet on Wednesday to discuss possible easing.
Updated
In the UK, families bereaved by Covid want Boris Johnson to relinquish control over which issues will be investigated in the pandemic public inquiry, alleging he is compromised by allegations of lockdown-breaking at Downing Street.
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group fears the current arrangement, where Johnson has a final say over inquiry topics, could allow him to water down examination of how his own conduct and that of senior officials may have undermined public trust in infection control measures that the bereaved say cost lives.
The group, which represents more than 6,000 families, is calling on the prime minister to commit to accepting terms of reference presented by the chair to the inquiry, Lady Hallett, after a public consultation. Under the Inquiries Act it is for the minister in formal charge to set the terms of reference, in this case the prime minister.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that it’s not good enough for him to just take the chair’s recommendations for the terms of reference as advice and he needs to commit to implementing them in full,” said Hannah Brady, a member of the bereaved group.
“The fact his office is under police investigation for breaching the rules shows he is compromised and cannot be allowed to have a final say on what the inquiry looks into.”
Taiwan aims to ease its strict Covid quarantine policy from next month as it needs to gradually resume normal life and reopen to the world, the government said on Monday.
Since the pandemic began two years ago, Taiwan has succeeded in keeping reported cases of Covid below 20,000, having enforced a blanket two-week quarantine for everyone arriving on the island even as large parts of the rest of the world have ditched theirs, Reuters reported.
Speaking at a meeting with senior health officials, Premier Su Tseng-chang said that even though there could be further domestic infections the government was “quite confident” in its anti-pandemic measures.
“The government must also take into account livelihoods and economic development, gradually return to normal life, and step out to the world,” his office cited him as saying.
Updated
Hello. Tom Ambrose here to bring you all the latest Covid news from around the world over the next few hours.
First, let me share with you a story I have been working on about how anti-vaxxers in France are buying fake vaccine passes online to get around the country’s Covid restrictions.
These are often promoted on mainstream social media platforms, research has revealed.
Many buying the forgeries, which can be used across the European Union (EU), are being redirected from websites such as Instagram and Facebook to the Telegram encrypted messenger where they can be bought discreetly, according to a study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).
The report also raised concerns that social media algorithms are automatically directing people disillusioned with the French government’s handling of the pandemic towards far-right online spaces.
ISD’s research coordinator, Zoé Fourel, who led the study, said that while some Facebook groups dedicated to the sale of fake Covid passes had about 1,000 members, there were Instagram accounts with as many as 17,000 followers.
For the full story, see the link below.
Covid-pass protesters en route for Brussels rally
Hundreds of cars, campervans and trucks are on their way to a protest against Covid regulations in Brussels today where Belgian officials have already banned a demonstration following a weekend attempt in Paris.
Around 1,300 vehicles from across France had arrived near the French border town of Lille by late Sunday, according to police and as reported by Agence France-Presse.
Some protesters brandished French flags and chanted “We won’t give up” and “Freedom, freedom.”
Ninety-seven people were arrested at the weekend in Paris where thousands of demonstrators defied a ban on attempting to blockade the French capital. The demonstrators took aim at the “vaccine pass” required to enter restaurants, cafes and many other public venues across the country.
Belgian authorities have banned all demonstrations in the capital with “motorised vehicles” and said they had taken measures to prevent the blocking of the Brussels region.
Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo advised the demonstrators to abandon their plans to come to Brussels.
I say to those who come from abroad: look at the rules in Belgium. We never had rules that were too hard and we don’t have so many anymore. So complain at home.”
Checks are planned at the border and vehicles coming to the capital despite the ban will be diverted, Belgian authorities warned.
Brussels airport also advised travellers to take precautions on Monday and come by train for fear of blocking access routes.
The self-proclaimed “freedom convoy” is one of several worldwide inspired by a truckers’ standoff with authorities in Canada over vaccine mandates.
Updated
Moderna in talks to set up UK research and manufacturing, reports say
Moderna Inc is reportedly in late stage talks with the UK government about investing in research and manufacturing and collaborating with the NHS on clinical trials, the Financial Times reports.
The US biotech company is close to agreeing a significant investment and, if concluded, the deal would be a “key element” of the UK’s post-Brexit strategy to become a global hub for the life sciences, according to a person familiar with the matter, the publication added.
UK health secretary Sajid Javid met with Stéphane Bancel, Moderna’s chief executive, for talks in Boston late last week.
“The UK is ideally placed to become a life sciences superpower, and collaboration with world leading companies is crucial to this,” Javid tweeted on Friday, alongside a photo of him and Bancel.
Moderna is considering sites in London, Oxford and Cambridge, to put it in prime position to collaborate on research into new vaccines and therapeutics with top scientists, one of the people told the publication.
Fantastic to meet with the team at @Moderna_tx, including Stéphane Bancel, in Boston.
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) February 10, 2022
The UK is ideally placed to become a life sciences superpower, and collaboration with world leading companies is crucial to this.
🇬🇧🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/hVRQayqaxJ
Updated
Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you on the blog to bring you all the latest Covid developments from across the world.
Let’s jump in with the news that England has delayed the announcement of a plan to expand Covid vaccinations to all children aged five to 11 amid an apparent impasse between the government and its vaccinations watchdog.
While the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) made its decision more than a week ago, Downing Street is continuing to review the verdict. A decision is now expected to be announced on 21 February, when Boris Johnson unveils the government’s long-term Covid plan.
On the other side of the world, Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam has said an “onslaught” of Covid-19 infections has dealt a heavy blow and overwhelmed capacity to deal with the virus as daily cases surge to record highs.
“The onslaught of the fifth wave of the epidemic has dealt a heavy blow to Hong Kong and overwhelmed the city’s capacity of handling,” she said.
Daily infections have multiplied 13 times over the past two weeks, from about 100 cases at the start of February to more than 1,300 on 13 February, with authorities scrambling to control the deepening outbreak.
Here’s a more detailed snap of how Covid is unfolding across regions around the world.
Europe:
- The announcement of a plan to expand England’s Covid vaccinations to all children aged five to 11 has been delayed amid an apparent impasse between the government and its vaccinations watchdog. While the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) made its decision more than a week ago, Downing Street is reviewing the verdict. A decision is now expected to be announced on 21 February, when Boris Johnson unveils the government’s long-term Covid plan.
- A future variant of Covid-19 could be much more dangerous and cause far higher numbers of deaths and cases of serious illness than Omicron, leading UK scientists have warned. As a result, many of them say that caution needs to be taken in lifting the last Covid restrictions in England, as Boris Johnson plans to do next week.
- France has dropped its Covid testing requirement for vaccinated travellers arriving from the UK. The French interior ministry said that from 12 February, travellers will not need to test as long as they are vaccinated according to European regulations.
- Anti-vaxxers in France are reportedly buying fake vaccine passes online to get around the country’s Covid restrictions, which are often promoted on mainstream social media platforms, research has revealed.
- Demonstrators against Covid-19 restrictions in France and the Netherlands staged protests on Saturday inspired by the “freedom convoy” demonstrations in Canada. In France police fired teargas at demonstrators on the Champs Élysées in Paris shortly after a convoy protesting against restrictions made it into the capital. A convoy of vehicles from across the Netherlands also brought The Hague’s city centre to a standstill earlier in the day.
- Germany hopes the arrival of 34m Nuvaxovid (Novavax) doses in 2022 will convince many to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Around 4m doses should be delivered in the first quarter, a spokesperson for the health ministry said.
Asia:
- Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam has said an “onslaught” of Covid-19 infections has dealt a heavy blow and overwhelmed capacity to deal with the virus as daily cases surge to record highs. Daily infections have multiplied 13 times over the past two weeks, from about 100 cases at the start of February to more than 1,300 on 13 February, with authorities scrambling to control the deepening outbreak.
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Hong Kong authorities also said supplies of vegetables and chilled poultry to the global financial hub may be temporarily disrupted after some mainland goods vehicle drivers preliminarily tested positive for Covid-19. Hong Kong imports 90% of its food, with the mainland its most important source, especially for fresh food.
- Vietnam will remove its Covid-19 restrictions on international passenger flights with all markets starting 15 February with no limitation on the number of flights.
- South Korea will begin giving out fourth doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of the month and supply millions of additional home test kits to ease shortages amid a surge in Omicron infections, authorities confirmed on Monday.
- Singapore has granted interim approval for Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine with the first batch of the Nuvaxovid vaccine expected to arrive in the next few months, Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said on Monday.
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China’s medical products regulator has given conditional approval for Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug Paxlovid to treat adults who have mild to moderate Covid and high risk of progressing to a severe condition, making it the first oral pill specifically developed to treat the disease cleared in the country.
Americas:
- The busiest US-Canada border crossing has reopened after protests against Covid-19 restrictions cumulated in a six-day blockade. Canadian police cleared protesters from the Ambassador bridge linking the country to the United States on Sunday allowing North America’s busiest trade route to reopen.
Updated
