Coronavirus - 10th January 2022

Summary for Monday, 10th January 2022

• Some 100,000 critical staff in sectors including food processing, transport and the border force will start to receive lateral flow tests from today
  
• The government scheme aims to reduce the spread of Covid between colleagues and alleviate staffing shortages
  
• Cabinet minister Michael Gove denies the government plans to stop supplying free lateral flow tests, as the Sunday Times had reported
  
• Tennis star Novak Djokovic has won a court battle challenging the cancellation of his Australian visa on Covid vaccination grounds
  
• The judge ruled the world number one's visa cancellation order is "quashed" immediately and he can compete in the Australian Open
  
• But a government lawyer said the immigration minister is considering using his powers to re-cancel Djokovic's visa
  
• Pregnant women in the UK are being urged not to delay getting their Covid vaccinations or booster as part of a government campaign
  

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK and around the world.
Here is a recap of some of the main developments so far today.

Europe:

• Greece sets 1 February deadline for booster jabs. Those who have not received their coronavirus booster jabs will be barred from most indoor venues.
  
• France should not impose mandatory vaccination and would not be the most efficient way to encourage people to get vaccinated, a government spokesperson said. More than 105,000 people took to the streets on Saturday in protest.
  
• Downing Street is facing calls to ensure that Boris Johnson will be personally interviewed by the Sue Gray inquiry about alleged No 10 gatherings during the first lockdown, after it emerged he may have been present at a “bring your own booze” party that month.
  
• Boris Johnson has been warned by a Conservative rebel ringleader he faces a massive revolt from his own MPs if he does not end all coronavirus restrictions this month.
  
• Germany will study how reliable rapid antigen tests are in detecting the fast-spreading Omicron variant, the health minister, Karl Lauterbach, said on Sunday.
  
• More than 150,000 people have died in the UK from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
  
• Covid should be treated as an endemic virus similar to flu, and ministers should end mass vaccination after the booster campaign, the former chairman of the UK’s vaccine taskforce has said.
  
• Lateral flow tests in the UK will remain free, education secretary Nadhim Zahawi insisted amid reports they could be scaled back despite soaring Covid cases.
  
• London’s public health chief said the Omicron variant “may have passed its peak” in the UK capital.
  
• The boss of one of London’s busiest hospitals has said he is worried about losing staff when new rules come in requiring them to be vaccinated, BBC News reports.
  

Asia:

• The US and Japan have reached an agreement to keep American troops within their bases amid concerns over a surge in Covid cases that has been linked to US military bases.
  
• Three people were arrested for breaking India’s Covid measures after police raided a dog’s lavish birthday party in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad city.
  
• The Philippines reported a record number of daily infections with 28,707 new cases, up from 26,458 cases the previous day.
  
• Tianjin, a major Chinese port city near the capital Beijing, has begun mass-testing its 14 million residents after a cluster of 20 children and adults tested positive for Covid-19, including at least two with the Omicron variant.
  

Africa:

• Africa has registered a total of more than 10m cases since the start of the pandemic, according to figures from the Africa Centres for Disease Control.
  
• South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Libya are among the countries with the highest number of cases on the continent.
  

Middle East:

• The dissident Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin, 48, died after contracting Covid-19 in a hospital in Tehran after being released on a furlough from prison. Abtin was serving a six-year sentence for “anti-government propaganda” and “actions against national security”.
  
• Kuwait and Qatar reported record daily Covid cases over the weekend. Kuwait reported 2,999 new cases on Sunday and Qatar on Saturday reported 3,487 new cases.
  

Americas:

• Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa asked president Jair Bolsonaro to retract statements he made criticising the Covid vaccination for children.
  

Quick glance at worldwide developments & updates over the past 24 hours:

• Tennis star Novak Djokovic has won a court battle challenging the cancellation of his Australian visa on Covid vaccination grounds. Judge Anthony Kelly ruled the visa cancellation order is "quashed" immediately and Djokovic must be released from detention
  
• Some 100,000 critical staff in England working in sectors including food processing, transport and the border force will start to receive lateral flow tests from today under a government scheme to reduce the spread of Covid-19 between colleagues and alleviate staff shortages
  
• Pregnant women are being urged not to delay getting their Covid-19 vaccinations or booster jab as part of a government campaign (UK). Ministers have said the vaccine is safe and effective and has no impact on fertility
  
• India has started giving booster jabs to priority groups as it battles a spike in infections driven by the Omicron Covid variant.
  
• China has detected more Omicron cases as cities tighten restrictions.
  
  
• Some of Thailand’s tourism hotspots will reopen to fully vaccinated international tourists from Tuesday, as the country tries to balance the risks posed by the Omicron variant with the need to boost the travel sector.
  
• Two of New Zealand’s most prominent Covid-19 experts have warned that the country is unprepared to prevent the health system from being overloaded by an Omicron outbreak.
  
• US Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has announced she tested positive for Covid-19.
  
• Germany will study how reliable rapid antigen tests are in detecting the Omicron variant of Covid-19, health minister Karl Lauterbach said on Sunday.
  
• Israel could have up to nearly 40% of its population infected by Covid during the current wave, prime minister Naftali Bennett has said.
  
• Downing Street is facing calls to ensure that Boris Johnson will be personally interviewed by the Sue Gray inquiry about alleged No 10 gatherings during the first lockdown, after it emerged he may have been present at a “bring your own booze” party.
  

Daily testing of 100k critical staff starts in England

Some 100,000 critical workers from sectors including food processing, transport and the border force will start to receive lateral flow tests from today, under a government scheme to reduce the spread of Covid in the workforce.
The government says people covered by the initiative include those working in national infrastructure, national security, transport, food distribution and processing.
Police and Fire and Rescue Services control rooms, electricity generation, test kit warehouses and test surge laboratories are also included.
Staff absences have surged in recent weeks, as workers have tested positive for Covid and had to isolate. This has created big problems for bosses, who are hopeful the scheme will alleviate the staffing shortage crisis gripping Britain.
Network Rail says it’s received hundreds of tests for those working in big signalling centres and control rooms - viewed as critical to keep services moving safely – while industry body Energy UK says its members are also part of the scheme.
But the union for Border Force staff says it understands the tests are to be given to maritime workers only at this stage, with no plans to extend it more widely yet.
The food supply chain is among the sectors the government views as critical, but one major representative said they didn’t fully understand what the process was, and it seemed "very rushed", but some of its members had started to receive tests.
The government has said the testing scheme for critical workers will be separate from the allocation for public sector workers such as adult social care or education and those delivered to pharmacies and homes.

Djokovic wins court battle over cancelled visa to stay in Australia

Men’s tennis star Novak Djokovic has won a court battle challenging the cancellation of his Australian visa on Covid vaccination grounds in a case that has drawn global attention.
Judge Anthony Kelly has ruled the cancellation of the world number one’s visa be “immediately” overturned and that the 34-year-old Serbian player should be released from hotel detention right away.
Djokovic flew into Melbourne last week, hoping to defend his Australian Open title, but was dramatically denied entry upon landing, before being detained in a quarantine hotel.
But the saga may not be over just yet, as a government lawyer indicated Australia’s immigration Minister Alex Hawke could use exceptional powers to cancel Djokovic’s visa on new grounds.

India begins booster shots as Covid-19 cases surge

India has started giving booster doses of Covid vaccines to priority groups amid a surge in infections fuelled by the Omicron variant.
Health and frontline workers and people over 60 years old with two or more medical conditions are currently eligible for the jab.
The booster shot - dubbed a "precaution dose" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi - will be the same vaccine that was given to a person for their first and second doses.
On Sunday, India reported more than 179,000 new infections for the past 24 hours, driven by a steep rise in cases in big cities such as the national capital Delhi and financial centre Mumbai.
Read more here.

No end to free lateral flow tests (UK) - Gove

Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, speaking to the BBC today, denies the government plans to stop supplying free lateral flow tests, as reported by the Sunday Times.
Asked if he would support the scrapping of the tests, Gove tells BBC Breakfast "no", adding the "key thing" is the tests are "available to those who need them for as long as they need them".
"I don't think anyone is talking at the moment - when we're facing the significant pressures the NHS are facing - about this vital line of defence going," he insists.
Challenged on whether or not the government considers the pandemic is over, Gove argues there is still "significant pressure on the NHS" but says thanks to the booster campaign, the UK is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world.
He adds while we can see "better times ahead", thanks to high vaccination rates, there will also be "difficult weeks ahead" for the NHS.
Asked if he supports a move to cut the Covid isolation period from seven days to five, Gove insists he is always guided by those with an understanding of the science, and if it was safe to do so then it should be reduced.
But he points out the government has already reduced the isolation time from 10 days to seven, and it is a matter of balancing the desire to enable frontline workers to do their jobs against stopping further spread of the virus and staff absences.

NHS in deal to use spare capacity in private sector

Hospitals will be able to use spare capacity in the private sector under a new deal with the NHS.
The three-month agreement will see private healthcare staff and facilities put on standby to support the NHS should hospital admissions or staff absences due to Covid threaten the provision of urgent care.
Patients that can be referred include some of those waiting for cancer surgery.
The NHS has also been asked to look at using spare capacity in gyms and education centres to create "super surge" wards on top of their usual surge capacity.
Nightingale hubs are already being created in the grounds of some hospitals as part of a move to create up to 4,000 extra beds.

Transcript confirms Djokovic unvaccinated - and tested positive twice

Tennis star Novak Djokovic has won a court battle challenging the cancellation of his Australian visa on Covid vaccination grounds - meaning it looks like he will be able to defend his Australian open title later this month.
A number of documents related to the case have been released including part of the tennis star's interview with border force.
In this interview, Djokovic announces he has not been vaccinated.
Interviewer: "What are your reasons for travelling to Australia today?"
Djokovic: "I'm a professional tennis player and the main reason for me coming to Australia is participating in the Australian Open in Melbourne."
Interviewer: "Now question regarding your vaccination - are you vaccinated?"
Djokovic: "I am not vaccinated."
He then tells the interviewer that he has tested positive for Covid twice - in June 2020 and on 16 December 2021.

Uganda schools reopen after almost two years

Schools in Uganda have fully reopened this morning, almost two years after the coronavirus pandemic started.
This has been one of the world's longest closures since the virus forced governments to close learning institutions back in March 2020.
Here are some photos of the first day in school taken by the BBC's Patience Atuhaire in Kampala:








Read more:

• Covid in Uganda: The man whose children may never return to school
  

Talks continue over Chester FC's Welsh Covid 'rule break'

Chester FC fans celebrating - but will they be stopped from watching matches at the Deva Stadium?

Talks between Chester FC and the Welsh government are due to continue today amid claims the club broke Covid rules by staging two home games over Christmas.
Chester FC’s home ground straddles the border between England and Wales.
The Welsh government says it is subject to Wales' Covid rules, which effectively ban crowds from matches.
Club bosses say Chester FC is an English club, playing in an English league, and so would expect that English rules would apply.
They say the club could go bust if fans are barred from the stadium - but the Welsh government says "as a club based in Wales", Chester FC would be eligible for support because of crowd restrictions.

40% of Israel could be infected in current wave, PM says

Israel could see up to nearly 40% of its population infected by Covid during the current wave, prime minister Naftali Bennett has said.
Bennett described the Omicron variant as a “storm that is sweeping the world” in a series of tweets on Sunday:

Information presented at the cabinet meeting indicates that here, in Israel, between two to four million citizens in total will be infected during this current wave.
When standing in line it is difficult to see the successes and evaluation steps we have made, extremely important steps that will save lives. I understand the frustration, but ask you to be aware of that as well.

A country of just 9.4 million, Israel has seen infections nearly quadruple over the past week compared to the previous week. The health ministry reported 17,518 new infections on Saturday.

China has reported 157 new confirmed coronavirus cases for 9 January, down slightly from 165 a day earlier, its health authority said on Monday.
Of the new infections, 97 were locally transmitted, according to a statement by the National Health Commission, compared with 92 a day earlier. Most of the new local cases were in Henan, Tianjin and Shaanxi.
According to Bloomberg, China saw its first community spread of the Omicron variant after two cases were detected in the port city of Tianjin and later confirmed by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDCP).

Residents line up to undergo a Covid-19 test in Tianjin, China, on 9 January. Photograph: GT/EPA

The news publication said the cases were known after a local branch of the CCDCP completed genome sequencing, citing a CCTV report.
The infections were reported to be from the same transmission chain but officials have yet to establish if the strain is the same as imported Omicron cases reported earlier in Tianjin, according to the report.
China also reported 42 new asymptomatic cases, which it classifies separately from confirmed cases, down from 46 a day earlier.
There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll at 4,636. Mainland China had 103,776 confirmed cases as of 9 January.

New Zealand not prepared for Omicron outbreak, experts warn

Pete McKenzie - The Guardian
Two of New Zealand’s most prominent Covid-19 experts have warned that the country is unprepared to prevent the health system from being overloaded by an Omicron outbreak, with likely fatal consequences.
Otago University’s Dr Nick Wilson and Dr Michael Baker also said it was only a “matter of weeks” before the highly transmissible variant seeped into the community due to border failures.
Wilson said that despite New Zealand’s high vaccination rates, the number of adults who had received a booster dose of the vaccine – essential for minimising the effects of Omicron – remains dangerously low, and noted that the vaccine rollout for children between five and 11 still had not begun.
Read the full story here.

South Korea is reporting a daily rise of 3,007 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 34 deaths, according to data recently published by the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
A total of 86.4 % of the population have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and 83.9 % have received at least two doses.
An alert reader has also shared their experience of living in South Korea throughout the pandemic.
“We’ve had minimal disruption to our daily lives (bar wanting to travel abroad during vacation) the last two years, and still have low numbers,” English teacher Dominic Evans told the Guardian. “Everybody wears masks in public. Showing proof of vaccination is compulsory now for most places and vaccine uptake is shooting along.
“The Korean situation shows you can diligently ‘live with Covid’, control the numbers, still have a normal daily life, and still have public services and day to day services running smoothly.”

Some of Thailand’s tourism hotspots will reopen to fully vaccinated international tourists from Tuesday
Rebecca Root - The Guardian
Tourists will be able to enter Krabi, Phang-Nga, Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan and Ko Tao, provided they stay at an approved hotel for at least seven days. Phuket reopened in July last year under a similar arrangement, which also requires tourists to be tested prior to and during their stay.

From Tuesday, tourists in Thailand will be able to enter Krabi, Phang-Nga, Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan and Ko Tao (pictured) provided they stay at an approved hotel for at least seven days. Photograph: Cavan Images/Alamy

Thailand’s tourism industry has been devastated by the pandemic. Almost 40 million foreigners arrived in Thailand in 2019, but visitor numbers fell to just 6.7 million in 2020 as Covid-19 halted international travel. The government previously eased entry requirements across the country last year in an attempt to boost the economy, but then suspended arrivals late in December in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.
To reduce infections, the government has also encouraged people to work from home, and has banned the consumption of alcohol in restaurants after 9pm in high risk areas, including the capital Bangkok.
Thailand has vaccinated roughly 70% of the population. On Monday, 7,926 new cases and 13 deaths were reported.

China detects more Omicron cases as cities tighten restrictions

China has reported more cases of the Omicron variant on Monday, with authorities on high alert over flare-ups in major cities just weeks ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Authorities are battling several outbreaks - including in Xi’an where 13 million city residents are currently in their third week of lockdown.
Fears have also grown about a cluster of infections in the northern city of Tianjin, which was linked to two Omicron cases reported on Monday in the city of Anyang around 400 kilometres (250 miles) away, Agence France-Press reports.
“The general public should not leave Tianjin unless essential to do so,” city officials said in a statement Sunday.
Those who need to leave must obtain official permission and test negative for the virus within 48 hours of their departure, it added.

People line up for Covid tests after local cases of the Omicron variant were detected in Tianjin, China. Photograph: Reuters

Schools and university campuses have been closed, and trains into Beijing from Tianjin have been cancelled.
Road checkpoints have been set up for vehicles entering the capital.
Tianjin - just 150 kilometres from Beijing - has already ordered the testing of all 14 million residents.
Another 21 cases were reported in the city Monday, although the variant of the virus wasn’t confirmed.
Authorities in the city of Anyang in central Henan province also announced the testing of all residents - more than five million people - over the weekend. The city on Monday reported two Omicron cases linked to the Tianjin cluster.
Henan reported 60 new cases Monday but did not break down the tally by variant. The provincial capital Zhengzhou has closed schools and kindergartens, and stopped restaurants from accepting dine-in customers.

Hungary’s government is considering the option of a fourth Covid-19 vaccine booster shot
Reuters reports:
The country’s daily tally of new Covid-19 infections could exceed 13,000 in the new wave of the pandemic, the minister for human resources reportedly told Inforadio on Monday morning.

Nick Kyrgios in doubt for Australian Open after contracting Covid-19
While all the focus in Australia has been on whether defending champion Novak Djokovic will compete at the Australian Open next week, another major name in the men’s draw is now in doubt.

Nick Kyrgios has tested positive for Covid-19 and his participation in his home grand slam is in doubt. Photograph: Jeremy Ng/AFP/Getty Images

Nick Kyrgios is a huge doubt after contracting Covid just a week out from the season-opening major.
Kyrgios pulled out of the Sydney Tennis Classic on Monday hours before his match against the Italian firebrand Fabio Fognini. The 26-year-old withdrew from the Melbourne Summer Set last week with a mystery illness that sparked his asthma.
The world No 114 was cleared of Covid at the time, but on Monday confirmed he had contracted the virus. The Australian Open begins on 17 January, giving him a week to recover and be cleared to return.

Schools in Nepal to close for approximately three weeks
As schools reopen in one part of the world, they are closing in another. Schools across Nepal will close for nearly three weeks after a spike in coronavirus cases, a government spokesman said on Monday.
Nepal reported 841 new cases on Sunday, the biggest single-day jump since September last year, taking its total to 832,589 since the pandemic began. Its death toll from the coronavirus is 11,604.
Deepak Sharma, spokesperson for the education ministry, said schools would remain closed until 29 January, although a campaign to vaccinate children aged 12 to 17 at their schools would go ahead.
“Schools must notify students about the time and date when they need to go to schools and receive the shots,” Sharma told Reuters.
Nepal has provided two shots of Covid-19 vaccines to 36.7% of its population of 30 million since an inoculation drive began a year ago.

Novak Djokovic is arrested hours after winning visa battle in Australia

Conor O'Donoghue - Irish Post
Tennis star Novak Djokovic has reportedly been arrested by the Australian government despite winning his battle over the contentious visa debate.
The Serbian received an exemption from the country's strict Covid rules, but had his visa revoked by Australian Border forces last week. The tennis star had spent four nights in an immigration detention hotel before Monday's hearing.

But now Judge Anthony Kelly said that the decision to cancel Djokovic’s temporary visa should be quashed and the minister for home affairs must pay his costs and take “all necessary steps to release the applicant immediately”.

Djokovic's passport and all personal effects are to be returned to him imminently. The government must also pay his legal costs, the judge ordered.
His legal team claimed he only agreed to the cancellation because he was disorientated by lack of sleep, and left reeling by the official's "procedurally unfair" treatment.
Shortly after winning his legal case with the Australian government unconfirmed reports started to surface that the tennis star had been arrested as ministers reportedly mulled using a "personal power" to cancel his visa just hours after it was reinstated.
Srdjan Djokovic, his father, spoke to Pavlovic Today and claimed that his son had been arrested by the Aussie government. It's been reported that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has a four-hour window to use "personal discretion" to move ahead with another cancellation.


The Australian Open begins on 17 January, with the Serbian star bidding to become the most successful men's player ever. The 34-year-old is hoping to break the record of 20 Grand slams at the Australian Open by breaking the record. 
Srdjan Djokovic's father is due to hold a press conference later today

Stricter pandemic measures are to be introduced in Sweden in response to a rising number of Covid cases and pressure on hospitals, the prime minister has said.
“The situation has deteriorated, without doubt. The level of infections in Sweden is at a historically high level,” Magdalena Andersson told a news conference, according to Reuters.
The new measures include a work from home mandate where possible and a cap on the number of people allowed at public events. Restaurants will have to close at 11pm and guests will have to be seated and in groups no bigger than eight people. Adults are also being asked to limit social contacts indoors.
The measures will be evaluated after two weeks, but are expected to be in place for at least four weeks.

A Covid spike has disrupted businesses in the Philippines, with banks, malls and airlines reducing operations and some schools suspending online classes due to staff sickness.
The Philippines reported a record 33,169 new coronavirus infections on Monday, bringing its overall tally close to three million as the Omicron variant takes its toll, with the overpopulated capital Manila and surrounding provinces worst hit.
Commercial airlines have cancelled more than a hundred domestic and international flights as cases surge, with airlines reporting infections among staff and lower demand due to uncertainty among travellers.
The Southeast Asian nation was gradually easing restrictions late last year as vaccination rates rose and infection rates fell, but authorities were last week forced to tighten mobility curbs to contain a rapid spread.

The prime minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has called for European officials to consider ditching detailed pandemic tracking for Covid in favour of a flu-like monitoring system.
The change would mean treating Covid-19 as an “endemic illness” rather than a pandemic, Sánchez said on Monday. He pointed out that deaths as a proportion of recorded cases has fallen since the initial onset of the pandemic.
The Associated Press quoted Sánchez telling Spanish radio: “I believe that we have the conditions for, with precaution, slowly, opening the debate at the technical level and at the level of health professionals, but also at the European level, to start evaluating the evolution of this disease with different parameters than we have until now.”
Sánchez also announced that Spain is purchasing this month 344,000 pills of a Covid-19 antiviral drug developed by the US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer.
Despite one of Europe’s most successful vaccination rollouts, with 81% of the country having received a full course of Covid vaccinations, Spain is grappling with an unprecedented surge of coronavirus infections.

Protesters on French island pelt MP with seaweed over Covid pass
Kim Willsher - The Guardian
Protesters opposed to Covid regulations pelted a French MP with seaweed and stones outside his home on the overseas territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon at the weekend, Willsher writes.
Stéphane Claireaux, a member of the governing La République en Marche (LREM) said he had made an official police complaint after the attack, which fellow MPs described as a “lynching”.
Claireaux said he had gone outside to speak to the protesters who were angry about the decision by local authorities to impose the “health pass”. When his wife joined him she was also attacked, he said.

UKHSA will look at evidence around reducing self-isolation - No 10

Staff absence caused by Covid has forced some establishments to temporarily close

Downing Street has given a bit more detail on how any reduction to the self-isolation period could happen.
Earlier Boris Johnson confirmed he was looking at whether the period of self-isolation could be safely cut from seven to five days.
Now the PM's official spokesman has announced the UKHSA (UK Health Security Agency) will take the lead in investigating "what is the right period of isolation", in conjunction with the government's Covid taskforce.
"If it is possible to go further, we'd want to act quickly but it needs to be based on the latest evidence and that work is still ongoing," says the spokesman.
"We certainly haven't received any further updated advice."

Beijing ‘on high alert’ ahead of Winter Olympics

Kerry Allen - BBC Monitoring, China Media Analyst

The National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, will hold the opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Over the weekend, there was an outbreak of the Omicron variant in the eastern Chinese city of Tianjin.
As a result, Chinese media are reporting that China’s nearby capital city Beijing is “on high alert”.
It is now 25 days until the Beijing Winter Olympics, and there are fears that cases could spill over from Tianjin, given that “many people commute from there to work in Beijing”.
Train tickets from Tianjin to Beijing have today been suspended, and people are being urged not to travel between the two cities.
In recent months, the media have sought to reassure people that the Olympic Games will go ahead without a hitch, stressing heightened Covid-19 preventative measures are in place.
Tickets will not be made available to overseas spectators at this year’s event and visitors to the Games will be part of a “closed loop”, meaning they are kept separate from locals.
China Daily notes that as part of this, designated transport is being arranged for Olympic-related personnel.
The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau has factored in that there could be circumstances where people might come into contact. It says should a traffic accident occur in the city, “citizens should keep their distance and avoid contact with the vehicle or its occupants”.

PM's private secretary staying put, despite claims of Covid rule breach

Downing Street has denied the Prime Minister's principal private secretary - Martin Reynolds - is to be moved to another position, following claims he invited staff to drinks in the garden of No 10 in May 2020 - in apparent breach of Covid rules.
"The Prime Minister has full confidence in his team. There is no change in that post," the PM's official spokesman says.
He refused to respond to reports Boris Johnson had attended the same event.
"There is an independent process going on to look into this, led by Sue Gray, and I can't comment further while that is taking place," the spokesman says.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says Johnson would have "serious questions to answer" if found to have attended a lockdown-breaking party but adds: "We need to let the inquiry take its course, see what the findings are."

More than 300m confirmed Covid cases globally

As Covid-19 continues to spread around the world, there have been more than 300 million confirmed cases and more than five million deaths reported across almost 200 countries.
The US, India and Brazil have seen the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by the UK, France and Russia.


Meanwhile, nearly every nation in the world is now administering Covid vaccines and publishing rollout data, while at least 89 countries and territories have moved on to booster jabs.
Some countries have secured more vaccine doses than their populations need, while other lower-income countries are relying on a global plan known as Covax, which is seeking to ensure everyone in the world has access to a vaccine.
Of those countries that have moved on to booster campaigns, Chile, Denmark, the UK and Bahrain have currently vaccinated the highest proportion of people.

Jakarta imposes micro lockdown amid Omicron spread
Antara News
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta provincial government has imposed micro-scale lockdown in several areas following an increase in the number of cases of the Omicron variant.
"In several areas, the micro lockdown is managed by the local government and the community there," Head of the Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Jakarta Health Office Dwi Oktavia noted here on Monday.
However, Oktavia did not furnish detailed information on how many areas in the capital had implemented micro lockdown. Areas, with a high number of COVID-19 positive cases occurring simultaneously, will implement the policy.
Earlier, as many as 36 residents in Krukut Village, Taman Sari Sub-district, West Jakarta, had tested positive for COVID-19.
“Of the 36 people, one person, with the initial R, contracted the Omicron variant,” she added.
According to Oktavia, R is estimated to have contracted the virus through local transmission, as she did not have a recent history of having travelled abroad.
She noted that the 36 Krukut residents are currently undergoing treatment at the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Emergency Hospital in Kemayoran, Jakarta.
As of January 9, 2022, the provincial government of Jakarta had recorded some 1,885 active COVID-19 cases out of which 75.1 percent, or 1,415 people, are those who had travelled abroad.
From the total count of active cases, 407 had contracted the Omicron variant. As many as 350 out of the 407 patients are people that had recently travelled abroad, while the rest 57 had contracted the virus through local transmission.
The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of January 9, 2022, at least 4,266,195 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,115,958 people have recovered, and 144,129 people have succumbed to the virus.

Djokovic back on the tennis court, says brother

We had been expecting Novak Djokovic to join the news conference just now, but his brother revealed he has already returned to the tennis court.
"Novak is free. A few minutes ago, he trained on a tennis court. He came to Australia to play tennis, to try and win another Australian Open", said Djordje Djokovic.
Meanwhile Novak himself has broken his silence with a tweet.

Chinese man charged £1,000 for rental car thanks to lockdown

Kerry Allen - BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

The man can see the car from his new home but cannot use or return it

A man has racked up more than £1,000 in arrears on a rental car in China, after a swift lockdown meant he was unable to return it.
Mr Liu lives in the northern city of Xi’an, and rented a car on 17 December to move house.
However, while moving his luggage, his community went into swift lockdown, meaning he was not allowed out of his building to return the car.
Mr Liu told Houlang Video he wasn’t told of the developments mid-move, and epidemic-related personnel wouldn’t even let him go to his car. A lot of his luggage was still in it, and so he had to ask a neighbour if he could borrow a duvet.
Mr Liu is still in lockdown, and is being charged by the minute for his vehicle. He has so far spent 10,279 yuan ($1,612; £1,188) on his car. His woes have generated significant attention on social media, and many Chinese are commenting online that they hope he can get the charge quashed.
There have now been more than 2,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the city of Xi’an. An outbreak began in early December, and some 13 million residents have been in strict lockdown for over two weeks.
The Global Times newspaper says the figures in this outbreak make it the“largest domestically-transmitted epidemic since [the] Wuhan outbreak”.
SEE ALSO: Xi’an residents in lockdown trade goods for food amid shortage.



 

More than 142,000 new cases in the UK

The latest goverment data has revealed a further 142,224 positive Covid cases have been registered in the UK in the past 24 hours.
In addition there were 77 deaths of people who tested positive for Covid in the previous 28 days.

Council staff asked to help in care homes amid shortages

A UK council is appealing for volunteers among its 30,000-strong workforce to help out in its 23 care homes amid staff shortages due to Covid.
Derbyshire County Council is looking for employees, who've had two Covid vaccines and their booster jab, to take on duties such as catering and laundry.
Helen Jones, the council's executive director of adult social care and health, says “it is a real opportunity to make a huge difference and to help some of Derbyshire's most vulnerable people at this extraordinary time".

Rotherham council leader urges return to remote meetings

The leader of Rotherham council has called for a return to remote meetings amid spiralling numbers of Covid-19 cases.
Labour's Chris Read says it is "perverse" that meetings are taking place in person despite government guidance urging people to work from home due to the rapid spread of the Omicron Covid variant.
Legislation allowing council meetings to be held virtually from April 2020 expired in May 2021.
Speaking ahead of the next full council meeting on Wednesday, which will see 59 councillors plus staff, public and press meet at the town's Magna centre, Read says there's a "cost and complication" to in-person meetings.
"It seems wrong to me that the government are telling people to work from home where you can, but specifically saying you councillors can put your health at risk by going and all sitting together in one big room," he tells the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
In the seven days to 3 January, Rotherham recorded 2,479 new infections per 100,000 people, above the England average of 1,758 cases.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities says councils should follow government guidance and that it will be "responding shortly" to evidence submitted regarding "a longer-term decision about whether to make express provision for councils to meet remotely on a permanent basis".
You can read more here.