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    Coronavirus - 12th May 2021

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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 12:09

    Summary for Wednesday, 12th May

    • Up to six people from different households will be able to meet indoors at pubs, cafes and restaurants in Wales from Monday
    • Monday was already due to be the reopening date for indoor hospitality in England and Scotland
    • UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to make a statement on the pandemic in the House of Commons later
    • You'll be able to watch the statement on this page
    • The UK economy shrank by 1.5% in the first quarter of 2021, amid a lengthy winter lockdown
    • Dua Lipa demands a pay rise for NHS workers as she wins at the Brits - the UK's first major in-person ceremony of the pandemic
    • Lockdown restrictions saw the sharpest fall in violent crime for at least 20 years, a report suggests
    • Online shopping scams surge during the pandemic
    • Confirmed Covid-19 deaths in India pass a quarter of a million


    Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the main stories in the UK and around the world:


    Today so far…


    • Coronavirus cases are exploding in Asia and the Pacific with over 5.9 million new confirmed infections in the past two weeks, more than in all other regions combined, the International Federation of the Red Cross has said.
    • India recorded 348,421 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, which is down on the 400,000-plus figures it was racking up earlier this month. However, India posted a record rise in deaths from Covid-19 in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning local time, pushing its total fatalities past the 250,000 mark.
    • The head of the main Indian health agency responding to the coronavirus has said districts reporting a high number of infections should remain locked down for another six to eight weeks to control the spread of the rampaging disease.
    • Taiwan’s health authorities have reported 16 new locally transmitted cases – the highest daily number in Taiwan during this pandemic.
    • French health minister Olivier Véran has warned his compatriots that they will have to adapt their summer holidays to fit around when they need their second vaccine.
    • France’s parliament, meanwhile, has overnight backed president Emmanuel Macron’s plan to introduce a Covid “health pass”, after deputies pushed back against the move, arguing it was discriminatory for those not yet vaccinated.
    • Spain’s Balearic and Canary islands and Greece are expected to be the preferred destinations for Europeans booking long-awaited summer holidays when the travel industry reopens, according to the travel group Tui.
    • President Nicolas Maduro has said the single-dose Russian Sputnik Light vaccine will soon arrive in Venezuela.
    • Pope Francis expressed his pleasure at being once again among his flock as he delivered his weekly general audience in public for the first time in six months at the Vatican.
    • A rapid rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine across the UK’s four nations lifted GDP by 2.1% in March, helping prevent a steep fall during the first three months of the year, according to official figures. However, the dramatic rise in UK cases of the variant first discovered in India could undermine the country’s roadmap for reopening, scientists are warning.
    • The UK should give 20% of its vaccines to other countries in urgent need of more doses as early as next month, according to Unicef.
    • Brazil is buying an additional 100m doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, doubling the number of shots from the company. They will be delivered between September and December.
    • An analysis of Indonesian healthcare workers inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech showed it was 98% effective at preventing death and 96% effective at preventing hospitalisation.


    Latest across Europe


    • Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo has set out a big summer reopening plan, with drinking and dining indoors from 9 June, along with indoor entertainment with audiences of up to 200. Cafes and restaurants began outdoor service last Saturday. The prime minister says the next phase relies on keeping intensive care numbers below 500 and broadening the vaccination campaign. The number of guests in your indoor social bubble will rise from two to four. Three further stages will take place in July and August.
    • Sweden will stop using the Oxford-AstraZeneca drug as a first dose in the next few weeks, the country’s vaccine coordinator Richard Bergstrom has told national radio. He says another 200,000 doses are needed, mainly for second doses for over-65s but then Sweden will focus on other drugs.
    • French MPs voted late last night to end the state of emergency and back a controversial health pass. However, the government has agreed to cut short a transition period to normality by a month - from 2 June to the end of September.
    • Spanish health experts say the number of melanomas diagnosed in 2020 was 21% down on previous years. But they’ve warned that does not mean there are fewer cases and they’ve urged people in Spain to check their skin for signs of anything unusual.
    • If hospital admissions decline in the Netherlands, then a further relaxation of rules will be allowed next Wednesday, in particular allowing gyms and swimming pools to reopen with a limit of 30 people and zoos and amusement parks to start up under limited conditions. Outdoor catering will be allowed until 20:00 and sex workers will be allowed to open their doors. But a group of experts that advises the government has warned that relaxing too fast could destroy the prospect of a better summer.
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 12:39

    UK 'should consider regional approach' on foreign travel restrictions

    The UK should consider a regional approach to easing restrictions on foreign travel, Spain’s foreign minister says.
    Arancha González Laya tells BBC Breakfast there are many regions of Spain, such as the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and Valencia, with similar case numbers to the UK.
    “Maybe if the UK looks with a regional lens they will discover there are many safe places in Spain already today to travel to,” she says, adding the country is “getting ready to welcome British tourists”.
    Spain is currently on England and Scotland’s amber list, which means people should not be travelling there for leisure.
    Travellers must also take several Covid tests and self-isolate at home for 10 days on their return.
    You can read more here about the rules on foreign holidays when they are allowed again from 17 May - next Monday.

    Cases remain high in some areas of England

    England is now generally seeing very low levels of Covid infections - but in some areas cases remain relatively high.
    For example, Blackburn in Lancashire had 90 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week of figures, while the average area in England had 16.
    Lancashire's director of public health Dr Sakthi Karunanithi says some areas are seeing rising case numbers, particularly in younger, unvaccinated age groups.
    He says some cases are linked to international travel, for example from India before the travel ban was introduced.
    However, while experts are expecting a surge in cases when restrictions are eased, Dr Karunanithi says it is hoped this will not translate into hospitalisations and deaths because the most vulnerable have been vaccinated - unless a new variant emerges that evades vaccines.
    You can find out the number of cases in your area here.

    Summer holiday demand shifting to winter, says Tui

    The UK's largest travel operator Tui is reporting a sharp jump in demand for holidays this winter as more people defer their holidays.
    As of 2 May, bookings this year for winter 2021-22 breaks were up 17% on the same period in 2019.
    But total summer bookings were down 69% amid continued uncertainty over travel rules.
    Holidays abroad are allowed again from 17 May for people in England and Scotland - but only 12 countries are currently on the green list allowing quarantine-free travel.
    Read more.
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 12:46

    Euro 2020: Welsh football fans face month of uncertainty

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    Football fans hoping to travel to see Wales compete in the European Championship face an uncertain month.
    The team is due to play matches in Azerbaijan and Italy in June - but both are currently on the amber list, meaning they are countries to which the UK Government is not recommending leisure travel.
    As a result the 10-day enforced self-Isolation from travel could leave fans missing other games or having to extend trips.

    What’s the roadmap for lifting lockdown across the UK?

    As we’ve been hearing, up to six people will be able to meet indoors at pubs, restaurants and cafes in Wales from next Monday.
    Meanwhile, in most of Scotland up to six people from no more than three households can socialise indoors in a private home or indoor public place from the same date, and in England six people or two households can meet indoors.
    But people in Northern Ireland will have to wait until at least 24 May for indoor hospitality to reopen and socialising indoors with other households to be allowed.
    You can read more about how restrictions are being eased across the UK here.
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 12:58

    How Italy's healthcare staff survived the pandemic

    "I never thought I would get my life back," says Paolo Miranda, an intensive care nurse in Cremona who last year decided to document the bleak situation inside his unit by taking photographs.
    The portraits showed how his colleagues were coping after the first wave - as the pandemic became the "new normal" and people stopped celebrating them as heroes.
    "I never want to forget what happened to us. It will soon become history," he told the BBC at the time. "Although the emergency is slowing down, we feel surrounded by darkness.
    "It's like we are full of wounds. We carry everything we've seen inside us."
    The BBC's Sofia Bettiza has been speaking to healthcare workers in Italy to find out how they have been coping with the trauma of the last year - you can read more of their stories here.

    'My city is under siege from Covid'

    The BBC's Vikas Pandey has called Delhi home for more than a decade - but life in India's capital has changed beyond recognition under a deadly second wave of Covid-19 infections.
    For more than a month now, people have been desperately trying to find help for their loved ones amid acute shortages of hospital beds, crucial drugs and oxygen. But thousands have died, many without receiving the treatment they needed.

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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 13:05

    Up to 30 cases of Indian variant in Scotland

    There are currently about 20 to 30 cases of the Indian variant in Scotland, the country's national clinical director says.
    Prof Jason Leitch tells BBC Good Morning Scotland people should be careful as restrictions are eased next week, warning "we're not completely out of the woods".
    Th B.1.617.2 variant first identified in India has been designated a "variant of concern" by Public Health England (PHE) because it is thought to be at least as transmissible as the variant first detected in Kent, which is now dominant in the UK.
    But PHE has said there is currently "insufficient evidence" to indicate the Indian variant causes more severe disease or makes vaccines less effective.
    The UK has seen a sharp increase in cases of the Indian variant and last week there were more than 500 cases, with most detected in London or north-west England.
    Prof Leitch says the cases in Scotland are in a few places and most are connected to people having traveled into the country.
    You can read more about the Indian variant here.

    Wheelchair users say they feel locked out by outdoor dining

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    While Covid restrictions mean we still can't go inside bars and restaurants in the UK, many of us are making the most of pavements and pedestrianised areas for outdoor dining and catch ups over drinks.
    But some disabled people, especially wheelchair users, have told BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat they have seen reduced access to certain streets and parts of their hometown.
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    Pippa Stacey says Covid-secure outdoor dining areas have made it harder to get around her hometown of York

    Pippa Stacey, 26, lives in York, and says its cobbled streets weren't very wheelchair friendly even before the post-lockdown hazards of people dining on pavements. But in recent weeks, it's got worse.
    "The other day I had no choice but [to] squeeze between two big public bins. That was the only way to get through to where I needed to go - it was embarrassing," she says.
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    "We shouldn't be worrying about how we're going to get around," says Holly Greader

    Holly Greader, 23, from Cardiff says it's not just the people at tables she's had problems with - it's the queues of people waiting to be seated who don't move.
    "We just want to get out, we want to see the world returned to a bit more normal. And we just need them to be a bit more understanding around how we're getting around," she says.
    You can read more on the issue and how you can help here.
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 13:11

    'Urgent changes needed' to avoid another catastrophic pandemic

    Without urgent changes the world will be at the mercy of another disease outbreak, according to a report.
    The report, from an independent panel appointed by the World Health Organization to assess the pandemic response, found serious failures from both the WHO and individual governments.
    It says the WHO waited a week too long to declare an international health emergency and was hindered by its own regulations that travel restrictions should be a last resort.
    The report recommends key reforms to prevent another catastrophic pandemic, including a global health threats council with the power to hold WHO members to account and a disease surveillance system that can publish information without the approval of the country concerned.
    It also says vaccines should be classed as public goods and wealthy nations should immediately commit $1bn to the WHO's Covax scheme, which provides vaccine support to low income countries.

    EasyJet and Tui to operate holidays to amber list destinations

    EasyJet and Tui have said they will operate holidays to countries on the UK's amber list, as long as the Foreign Office does not advise against non-essential travel.
    Only 12 countries are currently on the green list for England and Scotland - where travellers are not required to quarantine when they arrive back in the UK.
    The majority of countries are on the amber list, meaning arrivals must quarantine at home for 10 days as well as taking three Covid tests.
    Last week the Foreign Office changed its travel advice for several countries, including saying it no longer advised against non-essential travel to some destinations on the amber list - Malta and some Greek islands.
    Although holidays abroad from England and Scotland will no longer be illegal from 17 May, the government is still advising against travel to amber countries for leisure.
    EasyJet said it would not operate holidays to red list countries but would provide "flexibility and choice" for amber destination "where holidays can be enjoyed safely and legally".
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 15:02

    All restrictions on travel between Ireland and UK to be lifted in coming weeks

    Leo Varadkar says he wants all travel restrictions between Ireland and the UK to be lifted before the end of the summer, and that he hopes this could even be achieved in the coming weeks.
    Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, the Tánaiste insisted that society will begin to open up over the next month or so, so long as the vaccination programme keeps up its current pace.
    Mr Varadkar vowed to fully restore the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK in the coming weeks, arguing that such a move would be do wonders for areas of the country which highly depend on tourism.
    "One thing I would like to see, and this would be very good for places like Kerry, is a return to travel between Ireland and the United Kingdom," Varadkar said.
    "A return of the Common Travel Area as it is supposed to be - travel between Britain and Ireland with no restrictions and I think I can make the case for that."
    Following what was described as "very positive" Covid vaccine impact data, the Government says that Ireland is making great progress in the fight against the virus and that the public can look forward to more major restrictions being lifted soon.
    During the press conference, Varadkar also said that he would "put money on" outdoor dining returning next month, and indoor dining returning in July.
    In a statement released following a Cabinet meeting on the vaccine rollout, the Government said: "Thanks to the efforts of the Irish people, we are keeping the virus under control, the vaccine programme is gaining momentum and we are in a position to progress with the gradual and safe reopening of our economy and society.
    "This week sees a number of restrictions lifted, with an emphasis on outdoor activities and a moderate increase in social contact. Our aim is to keep moving forward, with the full reopening of retail from next Monday, May 17, and further restrictions lifted in early June."
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 15:10

    Heathrow could divert flights to stop overcrowding at border

    Caroline Davies - Transport correspondent
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    Heathrow Airport has seen queues of up to six hours

    Heathrow Airport is considering contingency plans to divert passenger planes to other UK airports or EU hubs if queues at the border become too long.
    The airport has seen queues of up to six hours at the border over the past few months as the number of checks and paperwork for UK arrivals has increased because of Covid measures.
    The airport’s chief operating officer has previously warned passengers could be held on planes to prevent further crowding at the border.
    This would take measures a step further as a potential last resort.
    The airport wants to see more staff processing passengers at the border and for the passenger locator form that everyone must now show on arrival to be automated so e-gates can be used.
    A Heathrow spokesperson says: “Instead of telling passengers to brace themselves for a long wait in immigration queues, Border Force should step up its efforts to automate checks for green list countries, and put in place additional resource for passengers where manual checks might be needed.
    "Accepting delays is a further demonstration of complacency from them on the matter.
    “There are protocols in place to hold passengers on planes or divert them to other airports, to prevent excessive, unnecessary and completely avoidable queues in immigration halls.”
    A Home Office spokesperson says it will maintain 100% health checks at the border to protect the wider public and our vaccine rollout.
    “While we do this, wait times are likely to be longer and we will do all we can to smooth the process."
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 19:45

    Scores more bodies of suspected Covid victims found in Indian rivers

    Hannah Ellis-Petersen - The Guardian
    At least 90 more bodies of suspected Covid-19 victims have washed up in rivers in India, as the virus continues to spread into poor rural areas and the country recorded its highest daily death toll so far.
    More than 70 corpses were discovered floating in the Ganges River in the Buxar district of the state of Bihar and dozens more bodies were found upstream in the Ghazipur and Ballia districts in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh.
    It came as India recorded another surge in deaths nationwide, with 4,205 recorded yesterday, the highest of the pandemic so far.
    Read more

    Red Cross warns that Covid cases are 'exploding' in Asia and the Pacific

    Coronavirus cases are exploding in Asia and the Pacific with over 5.9 million new confirmed infections in the past two weeks, more than in all other regions combined, the International Federation of the Red Cross has said. It warned that the surge is pushing hospitals and health systems to the brink of collapse.
    Seven out of 10 countries globally that are doubling their infection numbers the fastest are in Asia and the Pacific, it said. Laos took just 12 days to see its cases double, and the number of confirmed infections in India has doubled in under two months to more than 23 million, the Red Cross said in a statement.
    It said Oxford University’s Our World in Data reported more than 5.9 million new Covid-19 infections in Asia and the Pacific during the two weeks. Official figures for much of the region are widely believed to be undercounts.
    “Covid-19 is exploding across much of Asia, overwhelming hospitals and healthcare. More people have been diagnosed with the disease in Asia over the past two weeks than in the Americas, Europe, and Africa combined,” Red Cross Asia Pacific director Alexander Matheou said.
    “Right now, we need global solidarity for regional support with more medical equipment, support for prevention and urgent access to vaccines,” he said.
    While vaccination campaigns are underway in the region, the Red Cross said they are hampered by shortages, hesitancy and the costly logistics of reaching many areas across the region, report Reuters.
    “To bring this pandemic under control, we need greater global cooperation so that lifesaving resources, medical equipment, vaccines and money get where they are needed to help people most at risk. We’re only safe when everyone is safe,” it said.
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 20:13

    Covid report: All countries agree 'never again'

    Naomi Grimley - BBC News
    The most eye-catching lines of the report by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response are that the pandemic was the 21st Century's "Chernobyl moment" and its assertion that the world wasted time in February 2020 while the virus took hold.
    The panel calls for better processes and structures to spot the next highly infectious pathogen. As well as better funding for the World Health Organization to make it stronger and give it more teeth.
    After the worst shock to the global economy since World War Two, all countries will agree that it's a case of "never again". But will meaningful reform be possible when so much of the current response is still about putting national interests first? The panel has called for rich countries to share one billion doses of vaccine by September, for example. Yet still many nations with large stockpiles remain reluctant to declare their hand.
    There are some issues the panel didn't have time to consider in depth. The most fundamental one remains our relationship with the animal world to stop viruses jumping to humans in the first place.

    Record cases as Taiwan heads for near lockdown

    Kerry Allen - BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst
    Taiwan could be heading for a near lockdown, as a result of numerous outbreaks on the island over the last couple of weeks.
    There have been a spate of cases in Yilan County and the city of Taipei, linked to an arcade and an airport hotel respectively.
    Yesterday, Taiwan increased its alert level from Level 1 to 2, meaning that large-scale indoor and outdoor activities are now banned.
    President Tsai Ing-wen called on citizens to follow the rules in a tweet.
    However, according to Focus Taiwan, Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre “appears ready to further raise the alert level to Level 3”, in light of Taiwan confirming 16 cases in a single day, “the highest number reported… since the outbreak began”.
    Taiwan has four Covid-19 response levels, and a Level 3 alert would “stop short of a lockdown”. Masks would become mandatory, and all but essential businesses would close. Gatherings would also be restricted.
    This would be unprecedented, as Taiwan has not had to resort to a Level 3 lockdown throughout the pandemic. It has been something of a success story, having only recorded 1,210 Covid-19 cases throughout. It has a population of 23.8 million.
    The majority of these cases were reported very early on in the pandemic, peaking in April 2020. However, swift travel bans and strict quarantine measures led to Taiwan subsequently being able to go 253 days without reporting a single case of Covid-19 in 2020.
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 20:19

    Spain confident of tourism revival

    Spain is expecting as many as 45 million foreign visitors this year, more than half pre-pandemic levels, its tourism minister says.
    "International tourists can start planning their Spanish vacations now," Reyes Maroto said at the launch of Spain's summer promotional campaign, describing the forecast as "cautious but realistic".
    The European Union is expected to update its restrictions on non-essential visits from outside the bloc on 20 May, just three days after the UK - Spain's biggest source of tourists - allows international travel to resume.
    But Spain will remain on England and Scotland's amber list of countries, meaning people should not be travelling there for leisure and should quarantine on their return home.
    Spain is making a major push to boost tourism after last year's numbers collapsed by nearly 80% compared with 2019. French and German visitors are also being targeted.
    Earlier we reported that Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya was urging the UK to consider a regional approach to easing restrictions, as many Spanish regions had similar case numbers to Britain.

    Breaking News 

    UK records 11 coronavirus deaths

    A further 11 people have died with coronavirus in the UK, the government's daily figures show.
    The total number of people to die within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test is now 127,640.
    There were also 2,284 new infections recorded today.

    India death toll passes quarter of a million

    ndia has seen its deadliest 24 hours of the pandemic yet, as the country's total number of Covid fatalities passed 250,000.
    Deaths increased by a record 4,205 while infections rose 348,421 to more than 23 million. Experts believe the death toll could actually be much higher.
    A second wave of the virus is ravaging parts of the country, with deaths rising significantly in recent weeks. There are shortages of medicines, hospital beds and oxygen, and most of the country's crematoriums have run out of spaces.
    Watch the BBC's Vikas Pandey's journey through the capital Delhi in the throes of the pandemic:
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 20:22

    Trafalgar Square to host key workers for Uefa matches

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    England play Scotland at Wembley Stadium on 18 June

    Key workers have been offered exclusive access to watch the Uefa Euro 2020 matches in London's Trafalgar Square.
    The capital will be one of 12 cities hosting the European Championship, which has been delayed by a year because of the pandemic.
    Police, transport workers, NHS and ambulance staff will be given the chance to watch the first two England games in the square's fan park.
    Wembley Stadium will stage eight games during the tournament, which runs from 11 June to 11 July, all of them to be shown on giant TV screens in London.
    Mayor Sadiq Khan said it was hoped up to 9,500 people could be hosted in the Fan Zone
    Under the Prime Minister's roadmap out of lockdown, social distancing measures and limits of people gathering outdoors will still be in place for England's first two games.
    Read more.

    Nepal faces its own Covid crisis

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    More than 4,000 people have died so far in Nepal with cases rising

    While much of the world's attention in recent weeks has been focused on India's Covid plight, its small northern neighbour Nepal has been facing its own crisis.
    The Himalayan nation of about 30 million people is one of the least developed countries in the world, and it relies on India for supplies of medical equipment and oxygen.
    And as India stops exports, Nepal is struggling to find alternatives. Meanwhile nearly one in two of its citizens are testing positive for the virus.
    More than 4,000 people have died and many more deaths are expected.
    Read more here from the BBC's Ambarasan Ethirajan on the tragedy of Nepal's second wave.
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    Post by Kitkat Wed 12 May 2021, 20:25

    What's been happening in the UK?

    We are going to be bringing our live coronavirus coverage to a close soon so here's a recap of the day's events in the UK:


    Today's headlines around the world

    And here's a recap of the main stories around the world today:

    • A report from an independent panel appointed by the World Health Organization criticises the slow response to the pandemic by both the WHO and individual governments
    • India's death toll passes 250,000, and hits another 24-hour record high as large areas of the country continue to struggle with shortages of beds, oxygen and medical supplies
    • France is opening up vaccinations for all over-18s, as it tries to boost vaccination rates. Meanwhile MPs have approved a controversial "health pass"
    • Spain launches its summer promotional campaign for tourism, predicting 45 million visitors this year - more than half the pre-pandemic number
    • Japan widens its state of emergency to cover one-third of the country's population as hospitals continue to deal with a rise in severe Covid cases, with just over 10 weeks to go to the Tokyo Olympics.


    Thank you and bye for now

    Thanks for joining us, that's all from the live team today - but we will be back again tomorrow.

    Bye for now from Becky Morton, Claire Heald, James Clarke, Jennifer Meierhans, Katie Wright and Robert Greenall, who've brought you today's updates.
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