Coronavirus - 20th January 2022

• The UK is entering a new chapter in its fight against Covid-19, as Plan B measures are dropped, Sajid Javid says
  
• The health secretary says it is the right time to lift restrictions as Omicron is in "retreat"
  
• From today, secondary pupils in England no longer have to wear face coverings in classrooms
  
• Advice to work from home has been dropped, while compulsory face masks in public places and Covid passports will end next Thursday
  
• UK daily infections remain high but are falling - on Wednesday, the UK recorded 108,069 new positive cases
  
• Hospital admissions are starting to fall but due to the lag between infection and serious illness, deaths continue to rise
  
• Meanwhile, Boris Johnson continues to be under pressure over lockdown parties held at No 10
  
• But a minister says Tory MPs are starting to think twice about a leadership challenge
  

Good morning

The main headlines so far this morning:

• From today, secondary pupils in England no longer have to wear face coverings in classrooms, with the government also set to also drop advice on their use in school communal areas
  
• The rule change was announced by Boris Johnson on Wednesday as he scrapped England’s Plan B measures
  
• Government advice for people to work from home has been immediately dropped, while mandatory face masks in public places and Covid passports for entry to large events will end next Thursday
  
• Meanwhile, the prime minister continues to be under pressure over gatherings held in government buildings when Covid restrictions were in place
  
• But a government minister says Tory MPs are reconsidering a leadership challenge against Johnson. It comes after backbench Tory MP Christian Wakeford defected to Labour yesterday
  

Here’s a round-up of all the latest international developments over the past 24 hours:

• England will soon scrap virtually all Covid measures, the health secretary confirmed.
  
• Denmark reported a record 38,759 infections, a 37% jump on two weeks ago.
  
• Austria recorded a record daily rise in Covid infections with 27,641 cases reported in the past 24 hours, according to data from the Austrian Agency for Health (AGES).
  
• Algeria announced it’s closing schools for ten days over rising cases.
  
• Germany reported a record 112,323 cases as Omicron continues to batter Europe.
  
• Bulgaria reported its highest Covid tally of the whole pandemic, with 11,181 new infections, a 65% jump on the 6,766 cases recorded on Wednesday two weeks ago.
  
• France detected over 400,000 new cases for the second day in a row.
  
• Northern Ireland will cut self-isolation from seven to five days from Friday, following suit from new isolation rules in England.
  
• St Petersburg in Russia detected record cases, as the country clocked over 33,000 infections.
  
• Hana Horka, a Czech folk singer, died on Sunday after deliberately exposing herself to Covid. Her son said she was a victim of the antivax movement.
  
• Authorities in Beijing, China announced another piece of infected international mail, local media reported, amid doubts from experts that such events are extremely rare.
  
• Portuguese voters with Covid or isolating will be allowed to vote in person on 30 January.
  

• Japan is is set to widen Covid restrictions to cover half its population as the Omicron variant drives record infections.
  
• Children aged 5-11 in Malaysia will be jabbed starting February with the Pfizer vaccine.
  

• The US government will make 400m non-surgical N95 masks free to the public from next week, the White House said.
  
• In the US, Starbucks has suspended the requirement for its 220,000 employees to be vaccinated or regularly tested after a Supreme Court ruling.
  
• US actor John Malkovich was turned away from a luxury hotel in Venice, Italy last week after failing to present a Covid vaccination pass.
  
• Brazil has reported 204,854 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, breaking the country’s previous record for the second day in a row, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
  

• Australia’s health body the Therapeutic Goods Administration has granted provisional approval to two oral Covid-19 treatments, Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir + ritonavir) and Lagevrio (molnupiravir).
  
• The TGA also gave provisional approval to the protein-based Novavax Covid-19 vaccine.
  
• The interval for a booster shot will be reduced to three months in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT amid unprecedented strain on hospitals as Omicron cases surge.
  
• New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said restrictions will be tightened if there is a community transmission of Omicron.
  
  
• Novak Djokovic is the controlling shareholder in a Danish biotech firm aiming to develop a treatment for Covid-19 that does not involve vaccination, it has emerged.
  

What Covid rules are changing in England

• People are no longer being asked to work from home
  
• From today, pupils won't need to wear face masks in secondary school classrooms
  
• Guidance on masks for communal areas of schools will also be removed shortly
  
• From 27 January, masks won't be compulsory in public spaces and Covid passes won't be mandatory for entry to large events
  
• Restrictions on visits to care homes will also be eased from that date
  

Back to the office in England?

Theatre groups and venues welcome end of restrictions

Covid passes could be scrapped for pubs in Northern Ireland

Is it too soon to lift plan B restrictions?

Welsh NHS waiting lists rise to another record high

'I spent four nights in A&E waiting for a bed'

The failure of travel restrictions introduced after the detection and reporting of Omicron variant to limit international spread of Omicron demonstrates the ineffectiveness of such measures over time.

Do not require proof of vaccination against Covid-19 for international travel as the only pathway or condition permitting international travel given limited global access and inequitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
State parties should consider a risk-based approach to the facilitation of international travel by lifting or modifying measures, such as testing and/or quarantine requirements, when appropriate, in accordance with the WHO guidance.”

New Zealand to tighten restrictions pending Omicron spread

We’re also confirming today that when we have evidence of Omicron transmitting in the community we won’t use lockdowns, instead the whole country will move into Red within 24 to 48 hours.”

Biden admits more Covid testing could have been done

Look, we’re also increasing testing. Should we have done more testing earlier? Yes. But we’re doing more now.
We’ve gone from zero at-home tests a year ago to 375 million tests on the market in just this month.”

I know there’s a lot of frustration and fatigue in this country. And we know why, Covid-19. Omicron has now been challenging us in a way that it’s the new enemy.

But while it’s caused for concern, it’s not cause for panic. We’ve been doing everything we can, learning and adapting as fast as we can and preparing for future beyond the pandemic.

We’re in a very different place now, though. We have the tools. Vaccines. boosters, masks, tests, pills to save lives and keep businesses and schools open. 75% of adults are fully vaccinated. We’ve gone from 90 million adults with no shots in arms last summer and down to 35 million with no shots as of today. And we’re adding about 9 million more vaccinations each week.”

Beijing raises Covid alert

Germany reports record rise of 133,536 new cases

Covid driving record numbers in England to become nurses

Japan's daily Covid cases surpass 40,000 in new record

Thailand to resume quarantine waiver for vaccinated arrivals

As Omicron rages around the world, Ardern deploys an old tactic - delay

Another deadly day of the pandemic in Australia

Australian Federal Court's report on Novak Djokovic's cancelled visa

It is not the fact of Mr Djokovic being a risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community; rather it is whether the minister was satisfied that his presence is or may be or would or might be such a risk.

Mr Djokovic was not, by January 2022, vaccinated. It was plainly open to the Minister to infer that Mr Djokovic had for over a year chosen not been vaccinated since vaccines became available ... It was plainly open to the Minister to infer that Mr Djokovic had chosen not to be vaccinated because he was opposed to vaccination or did not wish to be vaccinated.”

Taiwan to introduce vaccine passes for entertainment venues from Friday

Underfire Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley refuses to resign over Djokovic visa saga

NHS England confirms nearly 30,000 staff absent due to Covid reasons

France to announce timetable for easing Covid restrictions at 7pm tonight

Scotland's First Minister raises doubts about decision to lift all plan B restrictions in England

Austria extends lockdown by 10 days

The Main Committee of the National Council today extended the Covid-19 Protective Measures Ordinance by a further ten days. In contrast to the compulsory vaccination and the incentive and reward package to increase the vaccination rate, where the SPÖ supports the government, the Social Democrats now rejected the extension of the regulation. The SPÖ has always supported the regulations in this regard, but this time the largest opposition party did not agree.
The SPÖ’s Jörg Leichtfried justified this by saying that the lockdown for the unvaccinated was “apparently ineffective and also obsolete due to the coming vaccination requirement”. [The right-wing populist] FPÖ MP Petra Steger sees the lockdown for the unvaccinated as “the most serious encroachment on fundamental rights for healthy people.”
Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens), on the other hand, defended the measures. He [said he] is aware that the lockdown for the unvaccinated is a drastic measure and has lasted for a long time, [and] therefore does not extend the lockdown lightly.

People shielding in England: how do you feel about the lifting of Plan B restrictions?

Boris Johnson has announced the end of all Plan B Covid restrictions in England from 26 January. We would like to know how people who are shielding feel about the rule change. How has your experience of shielding been? Do you have any concerns?

Don't delay cancer check-ups, public told

We have space to reverse some restrictions - NI's deputy FM

• From 21 January, the requirement for table service in the hospitality sector and the “rule of six” on table numbers would be removed.
  
• Guidance to keep domestic indoor gatherings limited to three households would also be lifted - though gatherings should still be limited to 30 people in total.
  
• In regard to face coverings, the requirement to provide proof of exemption would be removed and the reasonable excuse of “severe distress” would be reintroduced.
  
• From 26 January nightclubs can reopen and indoor standing events can resume. The prohibition on dancing would be lifted.
  
• The legal requirement for Covid certification for nightclubs and indoor unseated and partially-seated events with 500 or more attendees would remain in place. For all other settings where certification is now required, the legal requirement would be replaced with guidance to “strongly encourage” their continued use.
  
• In workplaces, the requirement for office-based workplaces to take reasonable measures to have two-metre social distancing would be removed - with guidance remaining that risk assessments should still be carried out.
  

‘Dangerous’ to lift self-isolation rules for UK care home staff

'Scrapping restrictions makes me feel like second-class citizen'

Sweden to relax isolation rules

Today so far …

• France will unveil a timetable for easing Covid restrictions at 7pm in Paris tonight, a government spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, said, though he cautioned the wave of Omicron infections tearing through the country had not reached its peak. Attal said France’s new vaccine pass rules would help allow a softening of rules even as the incidence rate of infections continues to increase.
  
• NHS England staff absences due to Covid have fallen by 22% on the previous week, figures show, with signs the staffing crisis in the health service may be easing off. Ambulance handover delays at A&E departments in England improved slightly last week, though hospital pressures “remain high”. Of the 14,588 patients reported as having the virus in hospital on 18 January, 6,983 (48%) were not being treated principally for Covid-19.
  
• Care homes in England have said that staff with Covid-19 must not be allowed to return to work despite this week’s announcement by the health secretary, Sajid Javid, that legal self-isolation requirements are to be lifted.
  
• Return to work instructions in England has seen the usage of major rail stations up 10% compared with the same period last week. In London, tube journeys were up by 8%.
  
• Nicola Sturgeon has raised doubts in Scotland about Boris Johnson’s decision to scrap all plan B Covid rules in England, as Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross attacked her for imposing “unnecessary restrictions” on the Scottish public over the festive period.
  
• Downing Street is to hold talks with the artist Tracey Emin after she said one of her works should no longer hang inside No 10 because of her concerns about alleged parties inside the building.
  
• In Northern Ireland, Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said while the pandemic was not over, she believed the country had passed the peak of Omicron. The Stormont executive meets today to discuss plans to relax restrictions from 21 January.
  
• Austria’s government has agreed to extend Covid lockdown measures for another 10 days – however for the first time the Social Democrat party refused to support the move. Austria has also announced it will introduce a national vaccine lottery to encourage holdouts to get vaccinated. For each shot someone has had, they will be offered one lottery ticket, and one in 10 tickets will deliver a €500 voucher prize.
  
• Sweden will loosen Covid-19 quarantine rules and make it easier for employees with key jobs in sectors like healthcare and the police to go to work, the health agency said. It also asked people who can work from home not to get tested ,to allow those who need to be at their jobs to take tests and continue to work, as the national test capacity has hit its ceiling.
  
• Russia’s official figure for daily new Covid cases is 38,850 today. That is up by nearly 5,000 from the level the day before, and approaching the peak of just over 40,000 seen in November last year.
  
• Germany reported another record rise of 133,536 daily new cases. It is the second consecutive day the European country has broken a pandemic record.
  
• Japan’s western prefecture of Osaka and two neighbouring regions are expected to join in a widening declaration of Covid-19 prevention measures, Osaka’s governor has said. Japan added more than 41,000 new Covid infections on Wednesday and prime minister Fumio Kishida expanded quasi-emergency measures to cover the capital Tokyo and a dozen other regions.
  
• In her first press conference of the year, New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, told reporters: “Omicron is knocking at our door. We won’t stop Omicron, but we can try and slow it down.” At least three cases of the new variant have been confirmed among border workers and their contacts in Auckland, and there are fears it made have already spread into the wider community.
  
• The reopening of Australia’s most isolated state – Western Australia – has been suspended indefinitely to allow the population to get booster shots, as the more transmissible Omicron variant rips through the nation.
  

330 more Covid deaths reported in the UK

Covid infections at record high among schoolchildren in England

Italy reports a further 188,707 cases on Thursday

Recap: What happened today?

• People in England are being urged to return to offices, as advice to work from home is lifted
  
  
• From today, secondary pupils in England no longer have to wear face coverings in classrooms
  
  
• Compulsory face masks in public places and Covid passport rules will also end in England next Thursday
  
  
• In Northern Ireland, restrictions including Covid passes for pubs are being dropped from Wednesday
  
  
• The UK has reported 107,364 new Covid cases and 330 deaths within 28 days of a positive test
  
  
• Covid-19 restrictions will be loosened in France from February onwards, the prime minister has said, shortly after country’s Covid vaccination pass comes into effect. Jean Castex said on Thursday the pass will come into effect on 24 January, provided it is approved by the Constitutional Council.
  
  
• MPs in Austria have voted to approach Europe’s first universal adult Covid-19 vaccine mandate, despite waves of protest against the plan.The mandate, which will apply to all residents of Austria aged 18 and over, was passed in Austria’s parliament by 137 votes to 33.
  
  
• The rate of new cases of Covid-19 among young schoolchildren in England has jumped sharply to a record high, figures show. In the seven days to 16 January, there were 1,935.7 cases per 100,000 five- to nine-year-olds, up from 1,372.7 a week earlier.
  
  
• People from black Caribbean and black African backgrounds were estimated to have the highest rates of non-vaccination in the UK, at 40.9% and 27.0% respectively, according to an official analysis. The equivalent rate for people identifying as white British was 9.1%.
  
  
• More than 1 million adults in France got their first dose of Covid vaccine in the past month, after the government announced a plan to exclude unvaccinated people from all restaurants, sports arenas and other venues, the government’s spokesman has said.