Summary for Tuesday, 4th May
Good morning and welcome to our coronavirus pandemic coverage.
We will be bringing you updates from around the world throughout the day on the latest Covid-19 news.
In other developments:
- European Union leaders are to discuss plans for allowing non-essential overseas travel
- Proposals include allowing anyone who has had their final coronavirus vaccine jab two weeks beforehand to travel
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says it is time to revive the EU's tourism industry
- Boris Johnson has said the approach to foreign travel this summer will be sensible to avoid "an influx of disease"
- In England care home residents can now leave their home for low-risk trips without having to self-isolate
- Hospitality bosses have lost a legal challenge for a faster reopening of indoor dining in England
- India officially passes 20 million Covid infections but government says cases are falling
Good morning and welcome to our coronavirus pandemic coverage.
We will be bringing you updates from around the world throughout the day on the latest Covid-19 news.
Here's what is happening around the UK
- Danish MPs have backed the next step in reopening society, as a result of low infection rates and hospital admissions. From Thursday all primary school students will return to school and concerts, cinemas and theatres will be able to readmit up to 2,000 people in seated sections of 500. But that means big summer outdoor events such as the Roskilde festival will not be able to go ahead as normal. Gyms and sport facilities will open up to over-18s who show a corona passport, which shows if you’ve been vaccinated, tested or have had Covid recently.
- Poland is reopening shopping centres, museums and DIY shops and allowing the youngest children back to school. Another 2,525 infections were reported yesterday, well down on the peak at the start of April. The government in Warsaw hopes all children can go back to school by the end of May.
- Six men from Spain have been arrested at Schiphol airport near Amsterdam after allegations of rowdy behaviour on a flight, according to Dutch reports. They’re said to have refused several requests to wear a mask.
- Germany’s RKI public health institute has reported a sharp fall in infections to 7,534 and seven-day incidence is down to 141.4 per 100,000 people.
- Football’s European governing body Uefa says 9,500 spectators will be allowed in to watch the Europa League final on 26 May in the Polish city of Gdansk. That’s 25% capacity. Meanwhile, Italy’s national football team is being vaccinated ahead of the Uefa European Championships which start next month. The Italian football federation said doses were being given in hospitals in Milan and Rome.
In other developments:
- In the US, the seven-day rolling average of new cases has fallen below 50,000 for the first time since October. The CDC recorded the average as of 2 May as 48,164.
- Air travel in the US has hit its highest mark in more than 13 months ago. Nearly 1.67 million people were screened at US airport checkpoints on Sunday, according to the Transportation Security Administration, the highest number since mid-March of last year.
- The EU will reopen to holidaymakers from countries with low Covid infection rates, such as the UK, and to anyone who has been fully vaccinated, by the start of June under a European Commission plan.
- The US Food and Drug Administration is preparing to authorise the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine for adolescents between ages 12 and 15 years by early next week, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing federal officials familiar with the agency’s plans.
- In Greece, restaurants and cafes reopened their terraces on Monday after six months of shutdown, with customers flocking to soak up the sunshine.
- In Italy, medical experts and politicians expressed concern about a possible spike in infections after tens of thousands of jubilant soccer fans converged on Milan’s main square Sunday to celebrate Inter Milan’s league title.