Coronavirus - 7th November 2021

Summary for Sunday, 7th November

A summary of recent Covid-19 headlines over the past 24 hours:

• The UK reported 155 deaths on Saturday of people who had tested positive for Covid-19 within the past 28 days, and 30,693 new infections. The government figures show a fall from the 193 deaths and 34,029 new cases reported on Friday.
  
• Brazil registered 328 Covid-19 deaths on Saturday and 11,866 additional cases, according to data released by the country’s health ministry. The South American country has now registered a total of 609,388 coronavirus deaths and 21,874,324 total confirmed cases, Reuters reports.
  
• Costa Rican children aged five and above must get Covid-19 vaccinations, according to a new health ministry mandate, making the Central American country one of the first to adopt such a requirement for kids.
  
• Mexicans who need to cross the US land border for work or school are scrambling to get approved Covid-19 vaccines ahead of new rules set to go into effect next week, 20 months after the United States shut crossings for non-essential trips.
  
• Queues formed outside shops in Athens on Saturday on the first day of new restrictions that require the unvaccinated to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test before entering a range of venues, Reuters reports.
  
• Booster jabs will be available to book a month earlier than expected in England for those who need them, in an effort to speed up the programme, the government has announced. Those eligible for the top-up vaccination will receive their booking invitation five months after their second dose instead of six, after a change to the system means boosters can be prebooked.
  
• Russia’s Covid-19 cases hit another one-day record as the country struggles to contain a wave of infections that has persisted for more than a month. The national coronavirus taskforce on Saturday reported 41,335 new cases since the previous day, exceeding the previous daily record of 40,993 on 31 October. The taskforce said 1,188 people with Covid-19 died, just seven fewer than the daily death record reported on Thursday.
  
• Eleven patients died on Saturday after a fire broke out in a hospital’s Covid-19 ward in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, police said. There were 17 patients in the ward in the city of Ahmednagar where the fire started, said police inspector Jyoti Karkade. The remaining six patients were in stable condition, she added.
  
• Austria said on Friday it was barring those not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 from cafes, restaurants, and hairdressers as the government struggles to convince people to get vaccinated. About 64% of Austria’s population is fully vaccinated against Covid, one of the lowest rates in western Europe. Many Austrians are sceptical about getting jabbed.
  
• Mexico reported 261 new confirmed coronavirus fatalities and 3,574 further cases on Saturday, bringing the country’s death toll from the pandemic to 289,674 and total infections to 3,825,404, according to health ministry data.
  
• New Zealand’s 206 new daily community infections on Saturday carried it past the double-hundred mark for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic, as the nation scrambles to vaccinate its population of 5 million.
  

A quick glance at some of this morning's newspaper headlines:

The Mail on Sunday reports the government is looking at reintroducing travel restrictions for people who do not get a booster Covid vaccine. Ministers are drawing up "controversial" plans for quarantine and testing requirements for those who don't get a third jab to protect the UK against the spread of new variants, the paper reports.


The Observer reports on the growing "row over Tory sleaze", focusing on government contracts during the pandemic. The paper says MPs have demanded details of any lobbying by Owen Paterson of ministers on behalf of a company that won almost £500m Covid contracts. The company insists Paterson "played no role" in securing any contracts, the paper adds.

'Get booster jab to save Christmas', British health minister urges

Three million more people in England will be invited to have their coronavirus booster jabs next week, with the British health minister Sajid Javid urging the elderly and vulnerable to take up the offer so they can “enjoy Christmas”.
NHS England will be inviting those who had their second dose more than five months ago, meaning they can receive their top-up as soon as it has been six months since their last vaccine, PA Media reports.
Government guidelines state that people who are 50 and over, or aged 16 and over with a health condition that puts them at high risk of contracting Covid-19, and had their second dose six months ago are eligible to get their booster.
So far almost 10 million people in the UK have received a top-up jab, but about 30% of over-80s and 40% of over-50s in England are yet to receive a booster shot of vaccine, the Department of Health and Social Care said.
The health secretary, Sajid Javid, said younger relatives should urge eligible parents and grandparents to take up the offer of a booster and the flu vaccine.
He said that if “we all come together and play our part” then the country can “avoid a return to restrictions and enjoy Christmas”.
He said:

Almost 10 million people in the UK have received their Covid-19 booster and third jabs, a phenomenal achievement in under two months.
As we approach this milestone, I want to thank those who have come forward and urge everybody across the nation to get vaccinated, get protected and get boosted.
We know immunity begins to wane after six months, especially for the elderly and the vulnerable, and booster vaccines will top-up their protection to keep people safe over the winter.
I strongly urge everybody who is eligible for a Covid-19 booster or flu vaccine to take up the offer as soon as you can.
For those not yet eligible, please help your parents, grandparents or vulnerable loved ones get their jabs, it could save their life.
And if you haven’t yet had your first and second vaccines, it is not too late, the NHS will always be there to welcome you with open arms.
This truly is a national mission.
If we all come together and play our part, we can get through this challenging winter, avoid a return to restrictions and enjoy Christmas.

NHS England said eight million people were vaccinated by Saturday out of 12 million people that have been invited. By next week, 16 million invitations for a booster will have been sent since the NHS booster programme began.
People who have not received their invitation can book an appointment on the NHS website or call 119.

Covid infections in Germany rise sharply

Covid infections in Germany have risen sharply again, with 23,543 new cases reported within one day.
The nationwide seven-day incidence also increased significantly, with the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) saying on Sunday the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants now stands at 191.5.
The previous day the incidence was 183.7, and a week ago it was 149.4. Last month it had been 62.6.
On Friday, the number of new infections reached 37,120, a record high since the pandemic began. A week ago, 16,887 new cases were recorded.
Thirty-seven new deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours. A week ago there were 33 deaths.
The number of patients admitted to clinics with Covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants over the past seven days – the most important parameter for a possible tightening of the country’s coronavirus restrictions – was 3.91 on Friday and has not been updated since. On Thursday, it had been 3.73.
The previous high was around 15.5 last Christmas.

Long waits at A&E becoming normal, warn doctors’ groups

Long waiting times in emergency departments in England are becoming normal, with some patients spending days in A&E wards before they can be moved into other hospital beds, emergency physicians have warned, my colleagues James Tapper and Toby Helm write.
Leaders of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) and the Society for Acute Medicine (SAM) said that some hospitals had effectively run out of space, meaning patients could not receive the right care until a bed became free.
NHS figures for September show that 5,025 patients waited for more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital in England. That is only 1% of the 506,916 admitted via A&Es, but it is more than 10 times as many as the 458 waiting more than 12 hours in September 2019 and nearly twice as many as the January peak of 2,847.
Read the full story here.

Russia reported 1,178 deaths from Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, as well as 39,165 fresh infections.
Infections have been climbing steadily since mid-September, when daily new confirmed infections per million people stood at 122.44 on 12 September. This value reached 269.71 on Saturday, according to Oxford University’s Our World in Data database.
On Saturday, the country recorded 41,335 new infections, its highest ever daily tally, despite president Vladimir Putin having declared a circuit breaker holiday period from 30 October to 7 November to curb infections.

Infections in Hungary increasing daily
Covid-19 infections are increasing in Hungary, and have been for weeks, with 4,106 new infections reported on average each day. That’s 44% of the peak, the highest daily average reported on 26 March, according to the Reuters Covid-19 Tracker.
Hungary’s employees at state institutions are now required to be vaccinated, while the government announced last week that private company employers will also be empowered to make Covid-19 jabs mandatory for employees if they believe that is necessary.
Mask wearing has been mandatory on public transport from 1 November.
Hungary has administered at least 12,744,317 doses of Covid vaccines so far. Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 65.2% of the country’s population.

Here's an update on the global pandemic situation from AFP:

On Saturday, 6,306 new deaths and 411,296 new cases were recorded worldwide.

• Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were Russia with 1,179 new deaths, followed by India with 506 and Ukraine with 449.
  
  
• The US is the worst-affected country, with 754,279 deaths from 46,461,779 cases.
  
  
• After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 609,388 deaths from 21,874,324 cases, India with 460,791 deaths from 34,355,536 cases, Mexico with 289,674 deaths from 3,825,404 cases, and Russia with 246,814 deaths from 8,795,095 cases.
  
  
• The country with the highest number of deaths compared with its population is Peru, with 608 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Bulgaria with 359, Bosnia-Herzegovina with 357, Republic of North Macedonia with 346, Montenegro with 342, and Hungary with 323.
  
  
• Latin America and the Caribbean overall has 1,525,388 deaths from 46,084,819 cases, Europe 1,424,434 deaths from 76,202,176 infections, and Asia 876,875 deaths from 56,130,911 cases.
  
  
• The US and Canada has reported 783,411 deaths from 48,189,463 cases, Africa 219,336 deaths from 8,531,449 cases, the Middle East 209,980 deaths from 14,024,411 cases, and Oceania 2,906 deaths from 267,951 cases.
  
  

'Plan B' style return to lockdown restrictions still on the cards, Sage member says

A member of Sage, the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has said the British government’s “Plan B” to control the spread of coronavirus is still “very much in consideration”.
Professor Dame Anne Johnson, president of Academy of Medical Sciences, was asked if the government was right to not go to Plan B this winter.
She told LBC:

I think Plan B is still very much, as I understand it, Plan B is still in consideration.
We’re only at the beginning of winter and I think if we want to avoid any restrictions in the future, or indeed reduce the damage, we need to think about all the things that we can do, which include not just vaccinating, which is very important, but also going to isolate when we’re sick, get tested.
A lot of people get infected in their homes, trying to reduce transmission. So, all these things we can continue to do, and all those things are going to reduce the risk of having to go to Plan B.

Treasury documents that were leaked to Politico have suggested that a return to home working, a key element of Boris Johnson’s “Plan B”, would cause up to £18bn of damage to the UK economy over five months.

Hospitals in England already at peak winter occupancy levels
Hospitals in England are already at peak winter levels for bed occupancy, according to NHS bosses who fear the health service will come under severe pressure in the months ahead, my colleague Ian Sample writes.
The chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents England’s 240 NHS trusts, said the situation was unprecedented and “very worrying” as exhausted hospital staff prepare for higher levels of Covid and other respiratory infections such as influenza, while dealing with a backlog of care for patients.
“What’s very, very striking in talking to our trust chief executives is how worried some of the very long term leaders, who’ve been around a long time, are at this point. What they are saying to us is they’ve never been so worried,” Chris Hopson told Times Radio on Sunday.
Full story here.

A record 371,339 of booster jabs were administered on Saturday, NHS England
The figure is 12.4% higher than the 330,445 recorded on October 31, which was the previous highest day.
Dr Nikki Kanani, NHS deputy vaccination programme lead and GP, said:

The NHS Covid vaccination programme, the biggest and fastest in health service history, continues to go from strength to strength with another record day for boosters.
More than 371,000 people were recorded as receiving a top-up yesterday, meaning almost 8.5 million have received one in the seven weeks since the latest phase of the programme launched.
With winter fast approaching I would urge anyone who has not yet had a booster - or indeed a first or second dose - to not delay but take up the offer to protect themselves, their family and their friends.
People can now walk-in without an appointment to get their top-up vaccination and from tomorrow can book in an appointment a month in advance of becoming eligible - so there is no excuse to not get the lifesaving vaccine and people should do so as soon as they can.

Travellers who refuse booster shots could have to quarantine again
Brits travelling abroad could face restrictions again if they do not get a Covid booster shot, according to a new report. 
Ministers are planning to implement testing and quarantine rules for those who don’t get a third jab, the Mail on Sunday reported. 
It’s hoped the change will help drive up the take-up of booster jabs, which have only been received by 60% of eligible people. 
But the newspaper reported officials are divided on how soon to implement the measures.
The report said they are discussing a grace period to allow people to continue to travel without quarantine if they have sought a booster six months after their second jab but have not yet been offered an appointment.
A Government source told the Mail on Sunday: ‘This is not going to happen immediately – but happen it will.’
Official guidance was updated earlier this month to say the Government ‘is reviewing the implications and requirements of boosters for international travel certification’ and ‘looking at whether and how booster vaccinations could be included in the NHS Covid Pass for travel’.
The report added a person would only be ‘fully vaccinated’ if they had the third jab rather than the current two, and they would not be able to produce a negative coronavirus test in place of the booster vaccine.


Meanwhile, Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said younger relatives should urge eligible parents and grandparents to take up the offer of a booster and the flu vaccine to help avoid a return to coronavirus restrictions over Christmas.
So far almost 10 million people in the UK have received a top-up jab, but around 30% of over-80s and 40% of over-50s in England are yet to receive a booster shot of vaccine, the Department of Health and Social Care said.
Mr Javid said if ‘we all come together and play our part’ then the country can ‘avoid a return to restrictions and enjoy Christmas’.
He said: ‘This truly is a national mission.
‘If we all come together and play our part, we can get through this challenging winter, avoid a return to restrictions and enjoy Christmas.’
NHS England will begin inviting those who had their second dose more than five months ago, meaning they can receive their top-up as soon as it has been six months since their last vaccine.
Government guidelines state that people who are 50 and over, or aged 16 and over with a health condition that puts them at high risk of contracting Covid-19, and had their second dose six months ago are eligible to get their booster.
NHS England revealed eight million people were vaccinated by Saturday out of 12 million people that have been invited.
By next week, 16 million invitations for a booster will have been sent since the NHS booster programme began.

Northern Ireland health minister sues singer Van Morrison
Northern Ireland's Health Minister has launched legal action against Sir Van Morrison after the singer called him 'very dangerous' over his handling of Covid-19 restrictions. 
Robin Swann's libel lawyer Paul Tweed said defamation proceedings were 'at an advanced stage',  with a hearing date set for early 2022, after the singer criticised the minister at a high-profile incident at the Europa Hotel in Belfast this summer.    
The proceedings also cite two subsequent incidents when the singer elaborated on his views on Mr Swann.
In the first, when he was challenged by a Sunday Life reporter about his initial comments, Sir Van was reported to have described the minister as a 'fraud'.
The second relates to content the songwriter uploaded on YouTube in which he addressed the Europa Hotel controversy. 
In that video, he again criticises the minister and calls him 'dangerous'. 
The development was first reported by the Sunday Life on Sunday.
It is understood Mr Swann's legal team sent a writ to the singer in June and followed that up with a detailed statement of claim in September.
It is understood Sir Van's lawyers responded to the claim last month.
The Europa Hotel incident in June unfolded when a concert Sir Van was supposed to perform at was cancelled at late notice due to Covid-19 restrictions.
At one point while criticising Mr Swann on stage, Sir Van called up DUP MP Ian Paisley from the audience to join him. Mr Paisley joined in with the singer in chanting that the Stormont minister was 'very dangerous'. 
Mr Swann said Mr Paisley subsequently apologised for the incident. It is understood the Health Minister is not taking legal action against the North Antrim MP.

The musician criticised the minister at a high-profile incident at the Europa Hotel in Belfast this summer


Sir Van called up DUP MP Ian Paisley from the audience to join him in chanting that the Stormont minister was 'very dangerous'

The Belfast-born singer has been an ardent critic of coronavirus restrictions, particularly those that prevented live music performances.
He recorded a number of anti-lockdown songs last year that he said were aimed at the UK Government.
The lyrics included claims that scientists were 'making up crooked facts' to justify restrictions that 'enslave' the population.
Mr Swann subsequently responded to those songs in a piece written for Rolling Stone Magazine.
In that op-ed, the Health Minister described the singer's claims as 'bizarre and irresponsible'.
He said some of what he was claiming was 'actually dangerous' and would provide 'great comfort to the conspiracy theorists'.

Hospitals in Bosnia are bracing for a new wave of Covid in the Balkan nation that was already among the hardest hit European countries earlier in the pandemic.
In the north-western town of Banja Luka, staff at the Covid-19 ward of the city’s main hospital warned that hospitalisations had increased in the past days and could explode soon, AP reported.
Out of the hospital’s 300-bed capacity for Covid-19 patients, 223 were already filled on Friday, including 32 in intensive care.
On Saturday, reports emerged that Bosnia’s only certified medicinal oxygen filling plant has been forced to close due to severe flash flooding, which caused power outages in most of the capital of Sarajevo.
The oxygen plant is crucial for the treatment of the country’s seriously ill Covid-19 patients, CGTN reported.
The country of 3.5 million has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe, struggling to reach 20%. On Friday, it reported 1,100 new daily infections and 32 deaths.

A further four deaths of people who had previously tested positive for Covid-19 have been reported in Northern Ireland.
The Department of Health said there had also been another 1,035 positive cases of the virus confirmed in the last 24-hour reporting period.

UK confirms 62 more Covid deaths, 30,305 new cases
Good afternoon, I’m Tom Ambrose and will be seeing you through the rest of today’s Covid news from home and abroad.
We start with the news that in the UK, a further 62 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid as of Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 141,805.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have been 166,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate.
As of 9am on Sunday, there had been a further 30,305 lab-confirmed Covid cases in the UK, the government said.

Italy reported 26 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday compared with 31 the day before
The Italian health ministry reported 5,822 new infections, down from 6,764 a day earlier.
With 4.81 million cases to date, Italy has registered 132,391 deaths linked to Covid since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain, and the ninth-highest in the world.
The number of patients in hospital with Covid – not including those in intensive care – stood at 3,215 on Sunday, up from 3,173 a day earlier.
There were 26 new admissions to intensive care units, compared with 23 on Saturday. The total number of intensive care patients rose slightly to 398 from a previous 392.
A total of 434,771 tests for Covid were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 491,962, the health ministry said.

Here is a round-up of all the day’s top Covid stories so far:

• In the UK, a further 62 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid as of Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 141,805. As of 9am on Sunday, there had been a further 30,305 lab-confirmed Covid cases in the UK, the government said.
  
• A record 371,339 of booster jabs were administered on Saturday, NHS England said. The figure is 12.4% higher than the 330,445 recorded on 31 October, the previous highest day.
  
• A member of Sage, the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has said the British government’s “plan B” to control the spread of coronavirus is still “very much in consideration”.
  
• The UK will start to roll out Merck’s molnupiravir Covid-19 antiviral pill through a drug trial later this month, Dr Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency said on Sunday.
  
• Three million more people in England will be invited to have their coronavirus booster jabs next week, with the British health minister Sajid Javid urging the elderly and vulnerable to take up the offer so they can “enjoy Christmas”.
  
• US president Joe Biden is pushing forward with an ambitious plan to require millions of private sector employees to get vaccinated by early next year, while simultaneously battling to convince workers in his own federal government to get the shot.
  
• Italy reported 26 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday compared with 31 the day before, the health ministry said.
  
• Covid-19 infections are increasing in Hungary, and have been for weeks, with 4,106 new infections reported on average each day. That’s 44% of the peak, the highest daily average reported on 26 March, according to the Reuters Covid-19 tracker.
  
• Russia reported 1,178 deaths from Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, as well as 39,165 fresh infections.
  
• Covid infections in Germany have risen sharply again, with 23,543 new cases reported within one day.