Coronavirus - 2nd June, 2021

Summary for Wednesday, 2nd June

• 115 of the 11,214 deaths registered in the UK in the week ending 21 May mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate
  
• The newly-released figure for virus-related deaths is the lowest since September and down by 49 on the week efore
  
• It comes after yesterday saw no UK Covid deaths announced for the first time since the pandemic began
  
• Tutoring sessions for pupils are part of a £1.4bn programme to help children in England catch up from the pandemic
  
• The UK is on the brink of reaching the milestone of three-quarters of adults receiving their first Covid vaccine
  
• In a speech later Health Secretary Matt Hancock is expected to praise the vaccine rollout and the NHS
  
• Debate continues over England's planned lockdown easing on 21 June amid rising Covid cases in some areas
  
• The state of Victoria, Australia, will extend its lockdown by another week as authorities battle a growing virus outbreak
  
• China's Sinovac Covid vaccine has been given approval for emergency use by the World Health organization
  

Hello and thanks for joining us for our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
We will be bringing you updates from around the world throughout the day.

Here's what's happening across the world

Here are the headlines from across the world the day after the UK recorded no Covid deaths for the first time since July last year.

• The UK is on the brink of having vaccinated three-quarters of the adult population, with 39.4 million having received an initial shot so far
  
• Health Secretary Matt Hancock is expected to praise the NHS and the vaccine rollout in a speech ahead of a meeting of the G7 health ministers later on Wednesday
  
• Tutoring sessions for pupils in England are part of a £1.4bn plan to help them catch up their pandemic-hit education
  
• But teachers and unions say the recovery plan is not enough, with a think tank estimating some £13.5bn was needed
  
• Scotland is at the beginning of a third wave of Covid, according to the country's national clinical director
  
• The state of Victoria in Australia will extend its lockdown by another week as authorities battle a growing virus outbreak
  
• China's Sinovac Covid vaccine has been given approval for emergency use by the World Health organization.
  
• The World Health Organization has approved the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use – the second Chinese vaccine to receive the WHO’s green light.
  
• The WHO said the emergency use listing gives countries, funders, procuring agencies and communities assurance that the vaccine has met international standards. Last month Sinopharm became the first Chinese vaccine to be approved by the WHO.
  
• The GAVI vaccine alliance is in talks with Sinovac to expand the Covax dose-sharing portfolio available to poor countries following the WHO approval.
  
• India has reported 132,788 new cases over the past 24 hours, and an additional 3,207 deaths.
  
• China has reported 24 new cases, including 10 domestic cases all in Guangdong province where authorities have imposed localised lockdown measures to control an outbreak.
  
• International flights to Vietnam’s two biggest cities are to resume, reversing a short-lived ban imposed over fears of a new coronavirus wave.
  
• AstraZeneca has said it would soon provide Thailand with 1.8m doses of locally manufactured Covid-19 vaccine, the first of multiple batches this month, just days out from the launch of its mass vaccination drive.
  
• Germany’s top diplomat in Taipei has said his government has been helping in talks between Taiwan and drugmaker BioNTech to supply Covid-19 vaccines, after Taiwan said a deal fell apart earlier this year due to Chinese “intervention”. Taiwan announced 372 new cases and 12 deaths in its latest daily update.
  
• Poland will raise the limit for the number of guests at large gatherings such as weddings to 150 from 50 from 6 June. People who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus will not be counted as part of this limit
  
• Russia’s single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine has been approved for use in Mauritius.
  
• Russia’s third vaccine, CoviVac, is more than 80% effective, according to preliminary data.
  
• Mexico has revised its death count, adding 4,272 fatalities. The clinical review of past deaths, by a team of doctors and nurses, is largely a record-keeping exercise.
  
• The Victorian government in Australia will now require people to check in at retail stores and supermarkets regardless of the length of time they spend in the store, as new data reveals a huge increase in check-ins to the Service Victoria app once the state forced businesses to begin using it.
  

What's the latest around Europe?

• Slovakia will start using Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine from next Monday despite the drug not yet getting approval from the EU’s medicines agency, EMA. It’ll be given to 18-60-year-olds initially. Hungary has already been using the Russian vaccine but in Slovakia it’s been at the centre of a political crisis. A secret Slovak deal with Russia to take 200,000 doses eventually led to the resignation of Prime Minister Igor Matovic.
  
• Russia’s football authorities are crying foul because Denmark is barring Russian fans from attending a European Championship group stage match in Copenhagen later this month. Russia is classed as a banned country for tourists because of its level of Covid infections and Uefa 2020 is seen as a tourist event.
  
• Some good news for Spanish nightlife: public health officials say discos and clubs should be allowed to reopen in areas with low infection rates such as the Balearic islands, for the first time since August last year. Spanish media say there would be limits indoors such as 50% capacity and six people per table. What’s not clear is whether dancing would be allowed.
  
• The proportion of Dutch people with Covid antibodies in their blood went up last month from 32% to 54%, according to a blood bank survey of 2,000 people. That increase is largely down to vaccination levels in the over-50s.
  
• Children aged 12-15 can now apply for vaccinations in two of Austria’s states, Upper and Lower Austria. The Pfizer-Biontech vaccine was approved for over-12s last week by the EMA.
  
• German incidence rates have been falling for weeks across the country but in some states the numbers have begun to rise again. In half of Germany the seven-day rate is below 35 cases per 100,000 people, but in the state of Hesse, which includes Frankfurt, it’s up slightly to 46.1. The overall incidence rate across Germany is 36.8.
  

'We must keep our eyes on serious disease'

Today Programme - BBC Radio 4
There is continuing debate as to whether the government should continue with England's lockdown easing plans on 21 June amid rising cases of the Indian variant - now known as Delta.
Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at University of Oxford, says he is encouraged by what he sees and the numbers "don't look too intimidating", although he adds the government is right to be cautious ahead of making its decision.
He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I do think we need to keep our eye on hospitalisations, serious disease and deaths which is really what we are trying to manage.
"If we scamper down a rabbit hole every time we see a new variant we are going to spend a long time huddled away so we do need to keep a bit of balance to the discussion and keep our eyes on the serious disease we are trying to prevent."
But he also warns developed economies need to support the rest of the world with its vaccination programmes as otherwise the virus will continue to rage and new variants will come up.
"What we mustn’t do is say ‘this now is a terrible issue, we should help them out and see how they go’. This is still part of our fight and very relevant to what we are doing here onshore," he says.

Scotland 'at beginning of third wave'

Scotland is at the beginning of a third wave of Covid, the country's national clinical director says.
Prof Jason Leitch says more cases are inevitable as society gradually opens up after lockdown.
"The question is whether you control that to a level that doesn't cause enough severe disease to fill hospitals and enough severe disease to cause misery and death to families," he says.
"And that's the balance we are now trying to strike in the advice we are giving and the decisions the first minister and the cabinet have made today."
His comments come after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon paused lockdown easing for many when she gave an update yesterday on the nation's roadmap out of restrictions.

Covid deaths continue to fall in UK

Robert Cuffe - BBC head of statistics
The number of deaths registered in the UK in the week ending 21 May was 11,214, which is 3% below the five-year average.
Of those deaths 115 involved Covid-19, 49 fewer than the previous week and the fourth lowest announced in any week since the first lockdown.
The lowest is 83, for the week ending 4 September. The weeks before and after saw 110 and 111 Covid deaths announced respectively.

Scottish fans told not to travel to Wembley without tickets

Scotland fans without a ticket to their team's Euro 2020 match with England are being warned not to travel to London by the city's mayor.
There will be nowhere for large groups to gather in the capital for the match, at 20:00 BST on 18 June, with the traditional Trafalgar Square meeting place being used as a socially-distanced fan zone for key workers.
About 2,600 tickets are allocated for Scotland supporters in Wembley, with pubs and bars also expected to limit the number of football fans allowed in during the European Championship, which has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Sadiq Khan is joining the Scottish Government and Scottish Football Association in asking fans not to travel to the city unless they have a ticket, or a safe place to watch the match.
"I am so excited for Uefa Euro 2020 and one of the games that I am looking forward to the most is England's match with Scotland at Wembley," he says. "I have some amazing memories of England v Scotland games in the past and I love the atmosphere that Scottish fans always bring to major football tournaments.
"However, I am today urging all fans to only come to London if you have a ticket for the match or if you have arranged a safe place to watch it from, in compliance with Covid-19 guidelines."

Longer school days? There's a strong case for them, says Williamson

There had been reports the government's plan to help pupils catch up could include a longer school day.
But that hasn't been announced today. Any further catch-up proposals, such as a longer day, will depend on the government's next spending review in the autumn.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has been asked about the idea though on BBC Breakfast this morning.
"There's many schools that actually deliver a longer school day and children seem to benefit from it so I think there's a real strong case for doing it," he says.

China's Sinovac vaccine approved by WHO

China's coronavirus vaccine - Sinovac - has been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization.
The WHO says it prevents symptomatic disease in 51% of those vaccinated and prevented severe symptoms and hospitalisation in 100% of samples.
Some evidence and data gaps are still lacking though, WHO experts say.
It is the second Chinese vaccine to receive the green light from the WHO, after Sinopharm.
It is delivered in two doses, with a second dose two to four weeks after the first.
The approval opens the door for the jab to be used in the Covax programme, which aims to ensure fair access to vaccines.
One town in Brazil, Serrana, has already used the vaccine to immunise most of its population as part of an experiment. The town saw a 95% drop in Covid deaths.

Fans return for England matches

There is good news for England sports fans today as spectators will be allowed to return for international matches.
England's men's test cricket team will play in front of a home crowd for the first time since 2019, with captain Joe Root saying he wants his team to put on a show for fans at Lords.
Meanwhile, England's footballers will be in action at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium as they take on Austria in a warm up match ahead of Euro 2020.
A limited number of fans will be able to attend, 25% of the ground's capacity, although they are required to take a lateral flow test beforehand and wear a face covering while inside.

Analysis: Will the green list of countries for travel get any longer?

Adam Fleming - Chief political correspondent
The UK government will update the green list of safe countries for international travel tomorrow. So far there are only 12 places on it, and the list is not expected to get much longer.
Arrivals into the UK from green list countries have to be tested but don’t have to quarantine.
Returnees from amber countries have to isolate at home for at least five days, and British residents coming from red list countries are obliged to stay in a government-mandated hotel.
Some nations that rely on tourism from the UK – such as Malta – have been lobbying hard for a change in their status, pointing to their successful vaccination programmes.
The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has also encouraged speculation that islands could turn green even in countries that stay amber.
But government sources have played down reports of negotiations with the United States over a travel corridor for vaccinated people, saying the conversations are “not anywhere near” that.
And with the spread of the Indian variant - now named the Delta variant by the WHO - in the UK, the bigger issue may end up being that fewer countries are prepared to welcome British visitors going in the other direction.
Read more: The rules for green, amber and red countries.

Australia's Victoria state extends lockdown

Victoria residents have endured four lockdowns since the start of the pandemic

Officials in Victoria have extended its lockdown by another week as the Australian state battles a fresh Covid outbreak.
Authorities say residents have been catching the virus from "fleeting" encounters in a Melbourne outbreak of the B.1.617.1 strain - now named the Kappa variant by the World Health Organization.
Nearly seven million people have been in lockdown since 27 May, after the state recorded its first cases in the community in nearly three months.
The lockdown will now be extended until 10 June.
"I know this is not the news that everybody wants to hear but given the cases we have... the government had no choice," said Acting Premier James Merlino.
"If we don't do this [lockdown], this thing will get away. This variant of concern will become uncontrollable and people will die."
Read more here.

Scottish Tory leader self-isolates

The Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross is self-isolating after being in close contact with a person who has tested positive for coronavirus.
He was in the Scottish Parliament this morning when he was told someone he had been close to on Monday was infected with Covid-19.
Ross, who was present for Nicola Sturgeon's Covid statement yesterday, left Holyrood after speaking to parliament staff and is now self-isolating in an Edinburgh hotel.
He will be getting tested for coronavirus as soon as possible, a statement from his party says.
Four other Scottish Conservative MSPs and five members of staff will take coronavirus tests as a precaution, while two MSPs from another party have also been advised to do so.

The latest local outbreaks of Covid across the UK

We've heard a lot recently about the small rise in cases across the UK, especially linked to the more transmissible variant first identified in India, now known as Delta.
Up to three quarters of new UK Covid cases could be that variant, the government said last week.
Here's some of the latest local outbreaks that we've reported on today:

• In Leek in the West Midlands, nearly 1,000 pupils and staff are self-isolating after an outbreak which experts believe is the Delta variant. People who visited two pubs on certain days near the end of May are also being urged to get tested
  
• In Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, health chiefs say there's a "significant outbreak" with many cases linked to pub visits on 22 May. Extra mobile testing has been set up
  
• A cluster of the Delta variant has also been identified in Conwy in North Wales. The Welsh health minister says it's "very serious" and could affect the planned easing of restrictions.
  

We've got more about cases in the UK here, or specifically for the Indian/Delta variant we've got a map showing where cases have been recorded.

The patients battling deadly black fungus

The rising number of mucormycosis or black fungus cases has alarmed experts in India. This has happened even as the country fights a deadly wave of the Covid pandemic.
Many states have declared the disease an epidemic. They are also reporting a severe shortage of drugs used to treat black fungus.
The infection affects the sinuses, the brain and the lungs and can be life-threatening in diabetic or severely immunocompromised individuals, such as cancer patients or those with HIV/AIDS.

Hotels reopen in Ireland as lockdown eases

Lockdown is being further eased in the Republic of Ireland today, with hotels, guesthouses and bed-and-breakfasts now allowed to open.
But services such as hotel leisure facilities, bars and restaurants are still restricted to hotel guests only.
David Cahill, manager of the Redcastle Hotel on County Donegal's Inishowen peninsula, tells BBC Radio Foyle that staff have been preparing to welcome 100 guests this morning.
Cinemas and gyms are due to reopen on 7 June and on 5 July bars and restaurants will be able to serve customers indoors again.
International travel is set to resume on 19 July.
Ireland spent months under a strict lockdown which was imposed at Christmas.
More here.

More than 1,000 ‘seriously ill’ in Taiwan

Kerry Allen - BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst
Over the past 18 days, Taiwan has consecutively recorded more than 100 cases of Covid-19. It is currently experiencing its worst outbreak of the entire pandemic, and in the past two weeks, more than 7,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed.
Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) says more than 1,000 of these new cases, approximately 16.3%, are categorised as “severe”.
Most of these cases are in the north of the country, in Taipei City and New Taipei. However, the entire island has been undergoing Level 3 Covid-19 restrictions since 20 May. This is where all but essential businesses are closed, and mask-wearing is mandatory.
On Monday, the CECC said that the virus had reached a “critical threshold” but the hope is that cases will begin to subside over the next couple of weeks. More vaccines are on the way; the island is expected to receive two million doses of AstraZeneca and Moderna by the end of the month.
Many students who were hoping to graduate this month will attend online ceremonies as a result of this latest outbreak, the Taiwan News website reports.
And on Friday it will be the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The Taipei Times says that memorial events will be online, “but a large LED screen in Liberty Square in Taipei… will display a message” about the event.

Shut county's schools to stop cases spreading, says union

Lancashire is one of the places in England currently facing a spike in cases, and it had 10 areas in the top 20 worst-affected in the week to 28 May, including hotspot Blackburn and Darwen.
Now, a teachers' union is calling for schools to be shut for a week next week, after half term ends.
Ian Watkinson, from the National Education Union (NEU), says schools were driving transmission and a circuit-breaker with a week of home learning would "seem to be the right call".
He says the move would cause less disruption to education than having multiple bubbles of children being forced to self-isolate after possible contact with Covid cases.
Lancashire has seen a rise in cases involving the so-called Indian variant, now named the Delta variant by the World Health Organization.
We've got more here.

Sputnik vaccines make headway in Mauritius and Vietnam

The island state of Mauritius has approve the use of Russia's single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
The RDIF, which markets Russian Covid vaccines internationally, said in a news release that Sputnik Light demonstrated 79.4% efficacy, according to data from 28 days after the injection was administered.
Mauritius has already approved the use of Russia's two-dose Sputnik V vaccine, in March this year.
Elsewhere, Vietnam's health minister has said today his country's in talks to buy 20 million doses of Sputnik V this year. Vietnam has had relative success in controlling the virus but cases have been rising over the past weeks.

Country music singer apologises for Covid breaches at family barbecue

Nathan Carter, who was born in Liverpool, has released several albums

Country music singer Nathan Carter has apologised after police attended a party at his house following reports of people breaking Covid rules.
Carter - who is also a presenter on BBC Radio Ulster - says it was a barbecue organised by family who were visiting from his hometown of Liverpool.
"They believed that this gathering was within the current Covid-19 restrictions in the north, however it transpires that it was not," Carter says, in a statement.
He says one person, who organised the event at his house in the Lisbellaw area of County Fermanagh, has paid a fine issued by police for breaking Covid restrictions.
Current rules say a maximum of six people from two households can meet inside a private property. Children under 12 do not count towards the total. Fifteen people from three households can meet in a private garden.
"Given the restrictions, I realise how irresponsible these actions were and I fully apologise," adds Carter.

Singapore gives go-ahead to Chinese Sinovac jab

Singapore's health ministry says it has approved the use of China's Sinovac vaccines through a special government access route.
Earlier this week, the city-state said it would allow private healthcare providers to access Covid vaccines on the emergency use list of the World Health Organisation (WHO) - even if they hadn't yet been approved by Singaporean authorities.
With the WHO adding Sinovac's jab to its list on Tuesday, this has paved the way for its use in the south-east Asian nation.
Singapore has already received 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine, but it has only given the green light to vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna - both of which are based on mRNA technology. Sinovac's jab, meanwhile, employs a different method - using an inactivated form of coronavirus to trigger an immune response in recipients.
Singapore's health ministry says it is studying how private healthcare providers will be able to access its Sinovac stock, and will work out details about pricing, safety and informed consent procedures.

What's been happening today?

• The government has announced its £1.4bn plan to help schoolchildren catch up on the learning they've missed. The money will mostly be spent on tutoring sessions. But headteachers say the plan is "hugely disappointing" and doesn't go far enough
  
• A scientist advising the government has said the current data looks encouraging. It comes after concern about the variant first identified in India - now known as Delta - and whether a rise in cases could mean a delay to the 21 June lockdown easing in England
  
• Boris Johnson has said this lunchtime there is "nothing in the data at the moment that means we cannot go ahead with step four" of lockdown easing - but the data does remain "ambiguous""But we've got to be so cautious," he says, with infection rates rising
  
• There's some good news from statistics released toda.  New figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of Covid deaths continued to fall, in the week up to 21 May - 3% below the five-year average
  
• China's two-dose Sinovac Covid vaccine has been given approval for emergency use by the World Health Organization. One of the advantages of the jab is that it can be stored in a normal fridge
  
• In Australia, the state of Victoria is extending its lockdown for another week following an outbreak in Melbourne of the B.1.617.1 strain - now named the Kappa variant.
  

Germany helps Taiwan with BioNTech vaccine talks

A top German diplomat says his government has been helping with talks to supply BioNTech's Covid vaccine to Taiwan, after a deal fell through earlier this year due to Chinese "intervention".
In a Facebook post Thomas Prinz, Germany’s de facto ambassador to Taiwan, says "great efforts" have been made in the talks, and that Germany would be happy to see a deal between the two parties if a contract is signed.
“I hope that there will be enough vaccines from different brands, including BioNTech, imported into Taiwan as soon as possible,” he adds.
China has denied accusations it has exerted any pressure on Taiwan's quest for vaccines. But a war of words has escalated after the Chinese-claimed island rejected Beijing's offer to supply it with vaccines made by China's Fosun Pharma.
Taiwan has been negotiating with BioNTech since last December. But talks came to an abrupt end in January after the German pharmaceutical firm insisted the phrase "our country" be scrubbed from the agreement, according to Taiwan's health minister.
Like most countries, Germany has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan and only recognises the government in Beijing.

Woman dragged off Ryanair flight after attacking passenger who challenged her for not wearing mask

A woman has been filmed attacking another female passenger onboard a Ryanair flight after being challenged over her refusal to wear a face mask.
The incident took place during a flight from Ibiza, Spain to Milan in Italy.
In the video, which was first uploaded to YouTube, the woman can be seen attacking another traveller before being forcibly removed from the plane.
Under rules designed to stop the spread of coronavirus, all passengers are required to wear face masks.
In this instance, however, the woman, who is thought to be Italian, refused to wear any kind of face covering and reacted with anger and violence to anyone who challenged her.
During the video, she can be seen attacking others on the plane before being dragged off by the flight crew who then attempted to detain her.
The incident is thought to have occurred on a flight on Wednesday, May 26.
Local media reports indicate the problems began when the woman was asked by other passengers to wear a face mask.
She reacted badly to the request, spitting and issuing verbal insults.
At one point in the clip, she can be seen leaning over the seats in front to yank at another woman’s hair.



Later, several members of the flight crew are seen attempting to remove her from the plane, which had yet to take off.
The woman can be seen repeatedly kicking members of the crew and shouting insults at them. It is not known as to whether she later faced any criminal charges.
According Ryanair’s official guidance for travellers, face masks or coverings are mandatory at all times in the airport and on board all flights.
Refusal to wear a face covering is deemed a health and safety risk.
Only children under six and those with a pre-existing medical condition are exempt.

Cyprus to reopen internal crossing checkpoints for first time since December

The Guardian
Checkpoints between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides of Cyprus are to reopen on Friday, the United Nations has said, marking the first time restrictions have been eased since December 2020 because of the pandemic.
Cyprus is split between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations, with a number of designated checkpoints controlling movements between the north and south of the island.
“The reopening of all crossing points will facilitate free movement, promote people to people contacts, build trust and have an overall positive socio-economic impact across the island for the benefit of all Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,” the United Nations mission on Cyprus, UNFICYP, said in a statement.
Reuters report that a committee of health experts from both sides would be assessing the situation on a bi-weekly basis.
Vehicle and pedestrian crossings have been subject to on-and-off closures since February 2020, when the Greek Cypriot side shut the checkpoints for the first time in decades as a precaution to quell the spread of the virus.
Under present circumstances, people who cross will require a seven-day negative antigen test or PCR test, the peacekeeping mission said.

Six Scotland players to miss match after positive case

A further six Scotland footballers will miss Wednesday's friendly against the Netherlands due to Covid-19 fears following John Fleck's positive test.
David Marshall, Stephen O'Donnell, Nathan Patterson, Grant Hanley, John McGinn and Che Adams are not travelling with the squad to Portugal.
They have all tested negative but have been kept back as a precaution.
Sheffield United midfielder Fleck is self-isolating at Scotland's training camp in Alicante having tested positive on Tuesday.

‘Waiting to happen’: the California region where masks are taboo – and cases are rising

Erin McCormick - The Guardian
Rural northern California is seeing a troubling rise in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, an alarming trend that comes as residents and businesses continue to protest against safety measures and vaccinations – with one Mendocino cafe threatening to charge customers $5 for wearing a mask.
While the region makes up a small proportion of the state’s population, the growth in its caseload has been considerable, and comes at a time when the state overall is enjoying some of the lowest rates of Covid in the country. After largely avoiding the worst of the pandemic, a block of far northern California counties now leads the state with nearly 40 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, according to statistics maintained by the Los Angeles Times. Tehama county ranked the highest in the LA Times case ratings with 139 cases per 100,000 residents. Meanwhile 10 of the 21 total Covid deaths in nearby Siskiyou county have occurred since the beginning of May.
The region has long been one of the most forceful in its pushback against measures such as masks, business restrictions and vaccine mandates – and the protests have only continued to gain steam. A cafe in the town of Mendocino made headlines after announcing it will charge customers a $5 fee if they order while wearing a mask. It also threatened to charge $5 to anyone “caught bragging about your vaccine”.
“It’s about time the proponents of these ineffective government measures start paying for the collateral damage they have collectively caused,” the cafe owner Chris Castleman told NBC News. He also offered a 50% discount to customers who threw their masks in the trash.
George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco, said the current situation feels inevitable. “I was waiting for this to happen,” he said, adding that the outbreaks mirror trends occurring in southern and eastern Oregon, just north of California’s border. “It shows you where vaccination is lagging and transmission is taking place.”
Read more here

What's the latest with vaccine passports?

NHS vaccination cards remind people to have their second jab - but do not act as a passport

Earlier, Health Secretary Matt Hancock was asked about vaccine passports, and the government's latest thinking on whether they could be used for mass gatherings such as concerts.
The government is currently trialling different ways to run large events, to see how social distancing, ventilation and mass testing can be used. Using vaccine passports hasn't yet been trialled but the government hasn't ruled it out.
Currently, the NHS app (different to the NHS Covid app) offers people proof of their NHS vaccine status, which could be useful for travel.
Hancock says: "One of the parts of step four is to set out four reviews, one of those is into certification.
"Being able to certify that you've had a vaccine is going to be necessary for international travel because some countries have already set out that they require proof that you've been vaccinated. And that means being able to prove with authority that you've had one of the jabs, and confidence in which jab, accepted for that proof - which is a matter for each individual country.
"We've provided the ability to show that through the NHS app, so we're putting that certification in place where we know it will be needed.
"When it comes to using certification for domestic purposes, that is the review that Michael Gove is leading, and we'll come forward with the conclusions of it soon."
You can read more about vaccine passports here.

Poor leadership hampers Latin America's Covid recovery, says PAHO

The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) has said a lack of effective political leadership has hampered efforts to stop the spread of Covid in Latin America, reports Reuters news agency.
The international health body says despite an overall reduction in cases across the US, Canada and Mexico, infections are still on the rise in the rest of the Americas.
"Sadly across our region we've seen misinformation about Covid-19 sow doubt on proven health measures, often in the context of political disputes," says PAHO head Carissa Etienne, according to Reuters.
"By stoking controversy where there is none, our leaders are sending mixed messages to the public and standing in the way of effective measures to control the virus."
The highest rate of infections has been flagged in Colombia, where new cases have tripled in some regions. Brazil is also seeing a fresh wave of infections and hospitalisations.
Etienne warns Haiti is now of greatest concern in the continent. She says measures to stop the transmission are also being largely ignored by the population in Haiti, despite a sharp rise in cases and deaths. But Etienne says it is encouraging that Haiti's government has accepted the AstraZeneca vaccine.

What's the latest around the world?

Thanks for joining our rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. We'll be bringing things to a close soon but in case you're just joining us, here are some of the biggest developments of the day around the world:

• More than 171 million infections and 3.5 million Covid-related deaths have been reported globally, according to data from US-based Johns Hopkins University
  
• The US, India and Brazil are continuing to report the highest numbers of cases and deaths
  
• The International Labor Organisation (ILO) predicts global job losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic will not be recovered until 2023. The UN body says the global recovery will be uneven, partly because of unequal vaccine access
  
• Singapore's health ministry says it has approved the use of China's Sinovac vaccine through a special government access route, a day after the World Health Organisation approved it for emergency use. The jab can be stored in a normal fridge, unlike some of its competitors
  
• Over in Australia, the state of Victoria is extending its lockdown for another week due to an outbreak in Melbourne of the B.1.617.1 strain - now named the Kappa variant
  
• Japan has pledged $800m (£564m) towards the global Covax scheme, on top of the $200m it has already given. During a Japan-hosted summit, Mexico and Poland also joined as new donors to the scheme, which aims to equitably distribute vaccines around the world. The commitments made by various countries today are expected to fill a funding shortfall of $1.7bn.
  

What's been happening in the UK today?

And before we go here's a reminder of today's main coronavirus headlines in the UK.

• After yesterday's milestone - announcing no new Covid deaths for the first time since the pandemic began - there's been some more good news with vaccination figures. More than three quarters of all adults have now received a first vaccine dose, and nearly half are fully vaccinated with two
  
• The anticipation continues about whether lockdown in England can be fully lifted on 21 June, but today a government scientific adviser says the current data looks "encouraging". Prime Minister Boris Johnson also reiterates there's nothing in the data to suggest lifting lockdown can't go ahead
  
• The government has set out its £1.4bn plan to help school children catch up on the learning they missed during lockdowns. Most of the money will be spent on tutoring pupils who need it most. But there's been backlash to the plan from headteachers who say it doesn't go far enough to make up for the lost learning - and the money breaks down to £50 extra per pupil per year
  
• Scotland's national clinical director has warned the country is at the beginning of a third wave of Covid and more cases are inevitable as society gradually opens up. "The question is how big that third wave is," he says
  
• Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been speaking at an international summit the UK is hosting to discuss and compare countries' vaccine programmes. Giving tips of why he thinks the UK's uptake has been so high, Hancock says encouragement from celebrities - such as David Attenborough and the Queen - has helped.
  

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Today's updates have been brought to you by Doug Faulkner, Francesca Gillett, Joshua Cheetham, John Hand and James Clarke.

We'll be back with more coronavirus news tomorrow