Coronavirus - 02 February 2022

Summary for Wednesday, 2nd February 2022

Good morning

Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

The main stories so far this morning:

• The UK government has written off £8.7bn it spent on protective equipment during the pandemic, accounts show. The Department for Health and Social Care documents show items costing £673m were unusable, while £750m of equipment was not used before its expiry date.
  
• - Items costing £673m were unusable, while £750m of equipment was not used before it expired
  
• - The largest write-off - £4.7bn - was because the government paid more for it than it is currently worth
  
• - But No 10 said the purchases were justified, with 97% of items suitable for use
  
• On Tuesday the UK recorded a further 112,458 coronavirus cases and 219 deaths
  

Here’s what else has been happening over the past 24 hours:

• In France, restrictions are being eased, with face masks no longer compulsory outdoors, and an end to limits on large crowds
  
• Boris Johnson is to meet MPs at Prime Minister's Questions after he promised to "publish everything that we can" about parties in Downing Street during lockdown
  
• Tonga will go into lockdown after several cases of Covid were recorded in the capital city Nuku'alofa. The South Pacific nation had previously managed to stay virus-free
  
• The World Health Organization has warned the world’s Covid response was generating masses of waste
  
• Denmark has become the first country in the EU to lift all of its domestic Covid restrictions, including face masks
  
• The WHO has said the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron, sometimes known as a “stealth” subvariant, is starting to outcompete BA.1. The BA.2 sub-variant has now been detected in 57 countries and accounted for more than half of all sequenced Omicron cases, the UN agency said.
  
• The UK prime minister Boris Johnson attended a leaving do for a No 10 aide during the strict post-Christmas lockdown, which is now under police investigation, the Guardian has learned. Prosecco is alleged to have been drunk by some staff, with Johnson understood to have given a speech thanking the official for their work and staying for around five minutes.
  
• In the US children under five, the last group of Americans still ineligible for vaccines against Covid-19, may soon receive emergency authorisation for the shots, but getting all children vaccinated remains a serious challenge.
  
• The Covid pandemic has “destroyed morale” among school leaders in England, who feel they have been scapegoated for government failures during the crisis instead of being hailed as heroes for their role on the frontline, MPs will be told in a briefing on Wednedsay.
  
• China reported 63 confirmed coronavirus cases for 1 February, down slightly from 66 a day earlier, the country’s health authority said on Wednesday.
  
• Meantime, at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, 32 new Covid infections were detected among Games-related personnel on 1 February. Seventeen were in the “closed loop” bubble that separates all event workers from the public.
  
• Health workers on the frontline of the Covid vaccination programme in India say people are being officially registered as double vaccinated without receiving both doses because of pressure to meet government targets.
  
• Australia recorded 69 Covid deaths as the country continued to battle the spread of the Omicron variant with worrying outbreaks in some remote communities.
  
• Two years into the pandemic in Japan, some residents in former tourist hotspot Kyoto admit that they have learned to embrace life without foreign visitors
  

What are the papers saying?

The UK government's decision to write off nearly £9bn of PPE bought during the pandemic features in some of the papers.

• "What a £13bn waste" is the Mail's headline, with the paper focusing on the money written off by the government on both PPE and Covid fraud.
  
• The Daily Express also leads with the "scandalous" £8.7bn pounds on PPE written off by the government.
  
• The Financial Times says the money "squandered" on PPE by the government is actually closer to £10bn, with an additional £1.2bn lost on orders which could not be cancelled.
  
• On a different topic, the Mirror says households will be £2,000 a year poorer as a result of the ongoing "prices crisis", which has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
  

You can read our round-up of the papers here.

£8.7bn of pandemic PPE written off by UK government

Countries were clamouring for personal protective equipment, sending prices soaring

More now on our top Covid story this morning that the UK government has written off £8.7bn it spent on protective equipment during the pandemic.
Items costing £673m were unusable, while £750m of equipment was not used before its expiry date.
The largest write-off - £4.7bn - was because the government paid more for it than it is currently worth, now that global supplies have recovered.
No 10 said the purchases were justified - with 97% of items suitable for use.
But Labour said: "These levels of waste destroy any claim the Conservatives have to be careful stewards of the public finances.”
Continue reading here.

UK shoppers hit by highest price rises in nearly a decade - report

Shoppers have been hit by the highest price rises in nearly 10 years after shop inflation almost doubled over the past month, new data suggests.
Shop price inflation jumped from 0.8% in December to 1.5% in January, the BRC-NielsenIQ price index indicated.
The pandemic, as well as Brexit, have made staff shortages a particular problem in the UK, prompting some employers to raise wages, which can contribute to inflation.
On top of that, rising global energy prices, supply problems and higher shipping costs are hitting retailers, with many costs being passed on to consumers.
Read more here.

Tonga to enter lockdown after tsunami aid delivered

Australian officials said there was "no evidence" the cases were linked to an aid ship they sent (pictured)

Tonga is to go into lockdown after a handful of Covid cases were recorded in the capital city Nuku'alofa.
Two cases were detected at the port, where humanitarian aid has been arriving following the recent volcanic eruption and tsunami, Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni said.
Another three cases were identified in family members.
Sovaleni said Tonga would enter lockdown from 18:00 local time (05:00 GMT) Wednesday, with the situation reviewed every 48 hours.
The South Pacific nation had previously managed to stay Covid free, having only recorded one case of the virus.
It closed its borders to the outside world in early 2020, but since the eruption it has since been heavily dependent on foreign aid.
At least 83% of Tonga's 106,000-strong population have had double doses of the Covid vaccine. However, the remoteness of some of these island communities, many with limited healthcare resources, makes them particularly vulnerable to an outbreak.
Read more here.

France starts easing Covid rules

Hugh Schofield - BBC News, Paris
France today becomes the latest European country to start relaxing Covid restrictions amid signs that the Omicron wave has peaked.
The number of Omicron infections in France is still very high - around a third of a million a day - but because the strain is proving less harmful than previous variants, the pressure on hospitals has been contained.
From today, on the street in big towns and cities you no longer have to wear a mask.
Limits on the numbers that can gather at venues are being lifted. And the three-day-a-week home-working requirement will now become a recommendation.
In two weeks there'll be a further relaxation, when nightclubs are allowed to re-open.

White House welcomes Spotify's new Covid disclaimers

The Joe Rogan Experience is Spotify's most popular podcast, and is reportedly downloaded almost 200 million times a month

The White House has welcomed Spotify's move to add advisory warnings to podcasts discussing Covid, with President Joe Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki calling it a "positive step".
It comes after several musicians asked to have their music pulled from the streaming service amid growing controversy over US broadcaster Joe Rogan's podcast.
Musicians including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have criticised Rogan and accused Spotify of helping spread misinformation.
On the podcast - which Spotify reportedly paid $100m (£75m) for the rights to in 2020 - Rogan hosts a wide variety of guests who discuss their views on a range of topics - but some episodes have featured false and misleading claims.
The BBC fact-checks four claims made in the podcast here.

Czech Republic's daily cases hit new high

Rob Cameron - BBC Prague Correspondent
The number of daily coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic has reached a new high.
Czech authorities registered almost 60,000 infections on Tuesday, with almost 10,000 suspected to be reinfections.
However, hospital numbers have not risen dramatically and authorities say the situation on wards is far from critical.
Instead, the biggest problem is staffing shortages due to preventative quarantine.
Health Minister Vlastimil Valek has said he expects the wave of Omicron cases to peak this week.

Cases reach new high in Germany

Coronavirus cases have reached a new all-time high in Germany, with 208,498 more reported within 24 hours.
This has taken it over the 10-million mark for total infections.
The seven-day incidence rate also hit an all-time high of 1,227.5 cases per 100,000 residents.
The death toll rose by 196 on Wednesday, bringing the total to 118,170, the Robert Koch Institute reports.

Analysis: Breaking down the government's £8.7bn PPE write off

Phil Kemp - BBC producer
The sums are staggering - a total of £8.7bn written off the value spent on personal protective equipment in 2020-21.
The bulk of that, £4.7bn, is a write-down on the inflated prices charged at the height of the pandemic.
But a lot of it is money that was wasted - £673m was spent on items not suitable for any use.
Some £2.6bn was spent on PPE that is not suitable for use in the NHS or social care but might be used elsewhere, while £750m has been written off for items that will expire before they can be used.
And the costs keep mounting. The government is currently spending around £1m every two days for storage.
The Department of Health and Social Care says the supply of such vital PPE kept the NHS open in a national crisis and they are seeking to recover costs wherever possible.
Labour says taxpayers’ money has been poured down the drain.

Sub-variant of Omicron detected in 57 countries - WHO

A sub-variant of Omicron, known as BA.2, has now been detected in 57 countries, the World Health Organization says.
The first versions of Omicron - BA.1 and BA.1.1 - still account for over 96% of all cases of Omicron that have been sequenced, the WHO says in its weekly epidemiological update.
But there has been an increase in cases involving the BA.2 subvariant, which has several different mutations from the original including in the spike protein.
In some countries, the subvariant now accounts for over half of all Omicron sequences gathered, the WHO says.
Several recent studies have suggested that BA.2 is more infectious than the original Omicron variant, but the WHO stresses that little is known about the sub-variant and more researched is needed to compare its characteristics.

Scaled-down Winter Olympics' torch relay begins

Beijing has kicked off the Winter Olympics torch relay, just two days before the games' opening ceremony.
It's a scaled-down event with very few spectators because of coronavirus restrictions in China.
Another 32 infections have been recorded from people arriving at the airport and athletes and officials already inside the huge Olympic isolation bubbles.

There have been more cases in the Winter Olympics ‘closed loop’ bubble as the torch relay begins.
Thirty new Covid-19 infections were detected among Olympic Games-related personnel on 1 February, the organising committee of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics said on Wednesday. Fifteen were among new airport arrivals, it said on the Games’ official website, with 17 in the “closed loop” bubble that separates all event personnel from the public.
It comes as a Covid-shortened Olympic torch relay began on Wednesday. Chinese basketball great and Olympian Yao Ming was among the first to carry the flame on a journey that will last just three days due to Covid-19 curbs, Reuters reported. 
The relay will be far more modest than the globe-spanning event ahead of Beijing’s 2008 Summer Games. Because of Covid, only selected members of the public will witness the torch relay.
Wednesday’s event began under clear blue skies in Beijing when Chinese vice premier Jan Zheng lit a torch from a cauldron in the shape of traditional ritual vessel known as a zun, then handed it to 80-year-old Luo Zhihuan, who as a speed skater was China’s first winter sports world champion.

Hospitalisation rate in Australia has fallen

The Covid hospitalisation rate in Australia fell to its lowest in nearly three weeks on Wednesday, Reuters reports, while a steady rate of daily infections raised hopes the worst of an outbreak fuelled by the Omicron variant may have passed.
Hospital cases fell to about 4,600 on Wednesday, with all states seeing a dip in admission numbers, after a peak of nearly 5,400 a week ago.
“We’ve seen the peaks of Omicron, I think, come through in (New South Wales and Victoria),” prime minister Scott Morrison, who is under pressure over his handling of the Omicron wave, told a media briefing.

Indian health workers allege widespread vaccine certificate fraud

Our reporters in India, Aakash Hassan and Hannah Ellis-Petersen, have investigated claims that people are being registered as double-vaccinated without receiving both doses of a Covid vaccine. Workers described how easy it was to falsely register second vaccine doses for people who did not attend appointments, by using personal records from their first dose and opting to bypass a code sent to their mobile phone.
“There is no technical glitch,” said Aditya, a health worker from Uttar Pradesh, who requested that only his first name was used owing to fear of reprisal. “The issue is the unprecedented pressure on us to increase the number of vaccinated people.”
Read the full story here.

A group of people wait to get vaccinated outside the government Covid vaccination centre in Ghaziabad. Photograph: Pradeep Gaur/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

The Czech Republic reported 57,195 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday
This is the country's highest daily tally since the coronavirus pandemic started, amid the spread of the Omicron variant, health ministry data showed.
The ministry also reported 9,775 cases of suspected reinfections in the country of 10.7 million. Hospital admissions were steady at 2,653, the ministry said on Wednesday, well below previous peaks.

A slight rise in Covid cases is reported yesterday in China
China has reported a slight rise in Covid cases: 63 confirmed coronavirus cases for 1 February, down slightly from 66 a day earlier, the country’s health authority said on Wednesday. There were no new fatalities, leaving the death toll unchanged at 4,636.

What is China's Covid plan for the Olympics?

The Beijing Winter Olympics starts this Friday, and there have already been some Covid cases reported among athletes and officials.
China is sticking to it's policy of trying to supress all cases. Here are some of the measures it has in place:

• Foreign spectators barred and tickets not on sale to the general public
  
• Local spectators "invited" to events have to observe strict Covid prevention measures
  
• People advised not to travel to Beijing from other parts of China
  
• Media, athletes and observers in distinct bubbles
  
• Covid testing carried out on a daily basis, and face masks are required at all times
  
• Overseas participants enter a bubble on arrival in China, and remain in it until they leave
  

Read more about the Games and China's "zero Covid" policy here.

The US actor Sharon Stone said Joe Rogan is “risking people’s lives with his idiocy”, as the row over the podcast host’s platforming of Covid misinformation grows.
“Covid is not an opinion-based situation and Mr Rogan thinking that his opinion or disclaimer for the lives he personally has affected and caused losses of – it’s not an opinion,” Stone told TMZ.
Her comments come after the musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell criticised Rogan – and pulled their music from the streaming giant Spotify – following Rogan’s interviews with guests promoting Covid misinformation.
Spotify, which pays Rogan a reported $100m for his flagship podcast, was drawn into the row and criticised for failing to moderate potentially dangerous misinformation. (Spotify added content warnings in response to criticism.)
“Infectious diseases are science and they are fact-based situations so the pretence that these are opinions is dangerous,” Stone added. “He should put a disclaimer that he’s an asshole and that his behaviour is dangerous and affecting people’s lives and deaths.”

Russia breaks daily Covid record with over 140,000 infections

Russia detected 141,883 new infections over the past 24 hours, Reuters reports, a 323% increase on the 33,571 Covid cases recorded on Wednesday two weeks ago.
That’s Russia’s highest tally of the pandemic so far, as Russia has repeatedly broken its daily record every day for the past week.
Russian cases are surging to unprecedented levels amid the highlyinfectious Omicron variant. Yesterday saw a record-breaking 125,836 infections detected.
The country’s labour ministry recommended work-from-home if possible, and a growing number of regions are imposing restrictions despite the Kremlin’s avoidance of a national lockdown so far.
A further 678 people died form Covid-related causes in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports, down slightly from 684 deaths recorded two weeks ago today.
This is Jem Bartholomew in London taking charge of the global blog for the next few hours. Do get in touch via email or Twitter with tips from around the world.
[*]Russia has the world’s second-highest death toll, behind the US, according to a Reuters tally, with more than 700,000 people dying. Excess deaths are close to 1 million, Moscow Times’s analysis shows.


Ukraine recorded 35,014 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours
Local media Ukrinform reports, a jump of 166% on the 13,143 infections detected on Wednesday two weeks ago.
A further 204 people died from Covid-related causes, 15% up on the 177 deaths two weeks ago.
Ukraine, alongside tensions with Russia and troop build-ups on its borders, is experiencing near-peak cases driven by the Omicron variant.
The country’s death toll is 100,599, the 16th highest in the world. (Ukraine has the 35th largest population worldwide.)
Ukraine broke its daily Covid tally for the pandemic on Saturday, with 38,171 infections, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Germany's total Covid cases top 10 million

Germany recorded 208,498 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, a 50% jump on the 139,000 infections on Wednesday two weeks ago – taking the country’s total tally to over 10 million.
Germany’s Omicron wave, which saw the country lodge a record 228,608 cases last Wednesday, shows no signs of stopping. Health minister Karl Lauterbach said he expects cases to peak in mid-February around 400,000 a day.
A further 196 people died from Covid-related causes in the past 24 hours, 17% down on 236 two weeks ago. Germany’s death toll is over 118,000, the world’s 14th highest. (Germany has the 19th highest population.)

Japan capital Tokyo breaks daily Covid record with over 21,000 infections

In Japan, capital city Tokyo detected a record-breaking 21,576 new cases in the past 24 hours, national broadcaster NHK reports, topping the previous record of 17,631.
Omicron is surging across Japan. A total of 81,677 infections were detected in the past 24 hours, the Japan Times reports, a 97% jump on the 41,370 cases lodged on Wednesday two weeks ago.
Chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Wednesday the government is not planning to declare a state of emergency but remains vigilant – despite the hospital beds reserved for Covid patients topping 50%, which officials formerly said would prompt the state-of-emergency declaration.
A further 70 people died from Covid-related causes in the past 24 hours, the Japan Times reports, almost four times the 15 deaths recorded two weeks ago.

People wearing face masks walk on a street in Tokyo on 2 February. Photograph: Koji Sasahara/AP

Slovakia reported a 20,224 rise in Covid cases in the past 24 hours, a 23% jump on the 16,402 new cases on Wednesday last week.
According to Reuters that makes it Slovakia’s highest ever daily tally. (The country reported 23,702 cases on 1 February but only 7,192 cases on 31 January, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, meaning Tuesday’s spike is likely to include Monday’s figures.)
Like other countries across Europe, the country of 5.5 million people is being battered by the highly infectious Omicron variant. The health ministry said about 61% of cases were from unvaccinated people.

Bulgaria reported 11,143 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours
State broadcaster BNT reports, a 10% rise on the 10,160 reported on Wednesday two weeks ago.
That’s near the country’s peak of over 12,000 confirmed cases last week, as Bulgaria is in the grips of the Omicron wave.
A further 87 people died from Covid-related causes, BNT reports, with the 7-day average at 77 deaths a day.
The country’s death toll is 33,405, the 28th highest globally. (Bulgaria has only the world’s 107th largest population.) Bulgaria has the lowest vaccination rate in the European Union.

Poland detected 56,051 fresh Covid infections in the past 24 hours
Polskie Radio reports, an 83% surge on the 30,588 cases confirmed on Wednesday two weeks ago.
That’s near Poland’s peak of over 57,000 daily cases – recorded on Thursday last week – as Omicron surges across the country. Health minister Adam Niedzielski warned cases could exceed 60,000, and even approach 140,000, by mid-February.
A further 318 people died from virus-related causes, a 15% climb on the 276 deaths reported on Wednesday last week.
Public sector employees are working from home until at least the end of February, and prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki authorities are working to expand hospital beds available to Covid patients.
Poland’s Covid death toll is now more than 105,000, the 15th highest in the world. (Poland has the 38th highest population globally.)

In the UK, Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson has sparked a backlash this morning after arguing on ITV breaching Covid rules is equivalent to parking on a double yellow line.
Dr Zubaida Haque, executive director of the Equality Trust and an Independent Sage member, said on Twitter: “over 176,000 covid deaths - many without loved ones present. 3.7million vulnerable people STILL shielding. And >1.3million with #LongCovid. How is that equivalent to parking on a double yellow line?”

‘I don’t want to die’ — Report on the shielders who fear the end of Covid restrictions
The Guardian's Lucy Webster spoke to three people affected:

The worst part has been the unending fear. Some friends think I’m overly cautious, but my doctor told me that, with my lungs, Covid would almost certainly kill me. I don’t want to die. So every time I do see someone, even though they’re tested and wearing masks, I spend the next week anxious and scared. I can’t see how I will ever be able to stop shielding. I’m 60 now, and I’ve just accepted that this is how life is going to be.
— Heather Cawte, 60, York

The official lockdown was easier, because there was so much online. Some things are still online – I’ve been doing virtual cheese tastings! – which makes them much more accessible, but lots of things have gone back to in-person. I’m lucky that a lot of my friends are also shielding, so there’s that camaraderie, and I’ve made new friends on social media. But there’s still people who try to persuade me to go to the pub. They don’t understand that we’re still scared.
— Alan Benson, 53, Richmond-upon-Thames, London

The more society opens up, the more my world shrinks. When people were wearing masks, socially distancing, and reducing their contacts, I could take the calculated risk of going swimming to help manage my chronic pain. Now, with Omicron being allowed to rage through the population, I’ve been advised not to do even that. Seeing as I want to stay alive to see my niece grow up, I’m having to sacrifice my long-term health because some don’t want to wear a mask.
— Jess Thom, 41, Peckham, south London

Read the full story here.

In the UK, almost one in five disabled people fear they will never return to normal life following the Covid pandemic, an Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey suggests.
From 4,700 responses across 15 December to 3 January, 18% of disabled people said they do not think life will ever get back to normal – compared to 11% for non-disabled people.
It comes after clinically vulnerable people fear the ending of restrictions as government messaging shifts to “living with the virus.”
The survey also found 40% of disabled people reported feeling lonely often, always or some of the time, compared with 18% of non-disabled people.

Sub-variant of Omicron detected in 57 countries - WHO

A sub-variant of Omicron, known as BA.2, has now been detected in 57 countries, the World Health Organization says.
The first versions of Omicron - BA.1 and BA.1.1 - still account for over 96% of all cases of Omicron that have been sequenced, the WHO says in its weekly epidemiological update.
But there has been an increase in cases involving the BA.2 subvariant, which has several different mutations from the original including in the spike protein.
In some countries, the subvariant now accounts for over half of all Omicron sequences gathered, the WHO says.
Several recent studies have suggested that BA.2 is more infectious than the original Omicron variant, but the WHO stresses that little is known about the sub-variant and more researched is needed to compare its characteristics.

Germany could relax restrictions in March

Philip Oltermann - The Guardian
Germany could relax Covid-19 restrictions in the spring, the government’s justice minister has said. “I hope that we can phase out many protective measures in March”, Marco Buschmann told Rheinische Post newspaper.
However, the liberal politician said, a lack of new variants and a drop in infection rates was a prerequisite for such a step.
Mask-wearing is still mandatory on public transport, at schools and many indoor public spaces in Germany. Access to restaurants, cafes or bars is restricted to those who have been vaccinated or recently recovered from the virus and can show a recent negative test, or those with a booster shot. Nightclubs remain closed.
Virologist Christian Drosten, a leading coronavirus expert who advises the government, has warned of rushing towards an exit from restrictions. Germany had a disadvantage compared to countries like Denmark, Drosten said on his podcast for broadcaster NDR, as it has a relatively high percentage of older people who remain unvaccinated.
Germany has recorded 208,498 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, a 50% jump on the 139,000 infections on Wednesday two weeks ago – taking the country’s total tally to over 10 million.

Uganda’s nightlife kicked back into gear this week after the government shut down bars and nightclubs almost two years ago.
Reuters has this dispatch from Kampala after nightlife roared back to life on Monday:

]i] “Of course Uganda is the life of a party, if you do not party you are not a Ugandan,” said Vera Muryengye, a consultant, as she sipped a drink. “It’s the end of the month, you get your money, get your salary, put the money into circulation. That’s it, that’s Uganda.”
The East African country has one of the world’s youngest populations and Kampala had a reputation regionally - pre-pandemic - for a good night out.
President Yoweri Museveni cited rising vaccination rates when he announced in December that bars and nightclubs would be allowed to reopen in late January.
The government argued the tough rules stemmed the spread of the virus and helped keep the number of Covid-19 deaths low. The country has so far recorded around 162,000 cases of Covid-19 and about 3,500 deaths.
Raymond Karemera, head of marketing at Nomad Bar and Grill in a neighbourhood of Kampala that is often likened to Las Vegas, said many bars struggled to avoid bankruptcy as they continued to pay security and electricity expenses while closed. “It was a very horrible time for us,” he said. [/i]

Malaysia logged 5,736 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, the New Straits Times reports, a 78% climb on the 3,229 infections detected on Wednesday two weeks ago.
Malaysia’s last wave peaked in late-summer, but Omicron is seeing new cases rise.
Yet health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Monday there’s “no need to panic” as the country is now better prepared to deal with a new wave, due to its booster vaccine programme.
“More than a month ago, I said that we expect Omicron to become dominant here as it has elsewhere and that when it did, cases would rise. That’s why we sped up our booster programme,” he said.
“We are now seeing the predicted quick rise in cases. However, there is no need to panic. There is a strong indication of decoupling between severe outcomes and cases.”

Lithuania to scrap Covid pass on Saturday

Lithuania will scrap its Covid certificate needed to enter indoor public spaces from Saturday.
The certificates were in effect at shops, in-person services, restaurants and entertainment venues, but Lithuania concluded their effectiveness is limited under Omicron. Instead, venues will face capacity limits.
“With the spread of the much more contagious Omicron variant, both the unvaccinated and vaccinated or recovered people are at risk of infection,” according to a document proposed by the Health Ministry, reported by public broadcaster LRT.
“As a result, the effectiveness of Covid certificates as a means of limiting Covid spread is significantly diminished.”
The health ministry did not ruling out the certificates in future waves. “It would be really good if we never have to return to this measure,” prime minister Ingrida Simonyte said.
Lithuania is experiencing surging cases, clocking its highest ever daily confirmed tally on Saturday at 12,517 cases. A further 12,278 infections were reported on Wednesday.
Lithuania has the world’s 67th highest death toll from Covid-related causes, at almost 8,000 deaths, compared with only the 124nd highest population globally, at about 2.8 million people.

Covid level stops falling in the UK

Covid infections have stopped falling in the UK, with levels holding steady or climbing, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
About 2.6 million people or one in 20 in England had Covid in the week ending 29 January, the ONS said, unchanged for a third straight week.
In Wales, around one in 20 people had Covid last week, climbing from one in 30.
Northern Ireland has seen a week-on-week rise, from one in 20 people to one in 15.
In Scotland, the ONS describes the trend as “uncertain” with around one in 30 people estimated to have had Covid last week, unchanged from the previous week.

Exposure to a single nasal droplet is sufficient to become infected with Covid-19, according to a landmark trial in which healthy volunteers were intentionally given a dose of the virus.
Hannah Devlin - The Guardian
The trial, the first to have monitored people during the entire course of infection, also found that people typically develop symptoms very quickly – on average, within two days of encountering the virus – and are most infectious five days into the infection. The study was carried out using a strain of the virus before the Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants emerged.
The trial’s chief investigator, Prof Christopher Chiu, of Imperial College London, said: “Our study reveals some very interesting clinical insights, particularly around the short incubation period of the virus, extremely high viral shedding from the nose, as well as the utility of lateral flow tests, with potential implications for public health.”
The findings, published on Springer Nature’s pre-print server, and which have not yet been peer-reviewed, detail the outcomes in 36 healthy, young participants with no immunity to the virus. The volunteers were monitored at a specialist unit at the Royal Free hospital in London, and experienced no severe symptoms.
Read the full story here.

What is China's Covid plan for the Olympics?

The Beijing Winter Olympics starts this Friday, and there have already been some Covid cases reported among athletes and officials.
China is sticking to it's policy of trying to supress all cases. Here are some of the measures it has in place:

• Foreign spectators barred and tickets not on sale to the general public
  
• Local spectators "invited" to events have to observe strict Covid prevention measures
  
• People advised not to travel to Beijing from other parts of China
  
• Media, athletes and observers in distinct bubbles
  
• Covid testing carried out on a daily basis, and face masks are required at all times
  
• Overseas participants enter a bubble on arrival in China, and remain in it until they leave
  

Read more about the Games and China's "zero Covid" policy here.

UK Covid infections back over 3 million last week - ONS

Just under 3.1 million people in the UK would have tested positive for coronavirus last week, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics.
The figures, for the week ending 29 January, show an estimated 4.8% of the population had the virus, compared with just under 3 million people - or 4.6% of the population - the previous week.
The ONS says this equates to roughly one in 20 people in the latest week and the rise is driven by increases in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Covid cases rising in Wales and Northern Ireland - ONS

More now on the latest infection estimates from the ONS, which cover the week ending 29 January.
The ONS say the rates for people testing positive were high but flat in England and rose in Wales and Northern Ireland. The trend was less certain in Scotland.
For that time period, these were estimated numbers with Covid:

• 1 in 20 people in England
  
• 1 in 30 people in Scotland
  
• 1 in 20 people in Wales
  
• 1 in 15 people in Northern Ireland
  

Analysis: UK Covid cases - a mixed picture

Robert Cuffe - BBC head of statistics
Across the UK the picture is broadly flat: A very slight rise in the estimated number of Covid infections that could well be a random blip.
Overall, it suggests that the rapid falls of recent weeks are over for the moment. In Wales and across England, every region is seeing about one in 20 people testing positive.
In London, that's not great since it looks like recent falls have stalled.
In the North, it's much better since they were, until recently, the UK's Covid hotspot with rates closer to double that.
And in Wales and the South, where rates had been lower, things are moving in the wrong direction.
Northern Ireland has now taken the dubious honour of the highest rates in the UK. About one in 15 people there were estimated to test positive last week, sharply up on last week’s figures.
Scotland is seeing lower rates of infection: Roughly one in 30.
Parents of young children will probably already know that rates among primary schools have been at record highs for a while.
Last week, more than one in eight children surveyed were testing positive, only slightly up on last week.

How aid deliveries try to avoid bringing in Covid to Tonga

Aid has been reaching Tonga after last month's volcanic eruption and tsunami — but the Pacific island nation is now in lockdown after several Covid cases.
Tonga had previously managed to stay effectively Covid-free.
It's not yet known where the new cases might have come from.
After the volcanic eruption, Tonga stressed the need for outside aid to be delivered in a "contactless" way to keep the virus out.
"In Tonga, emergency provisions are being sent in - but personnel are not - and strict Covid protocols are followed on delivery," says Aaron Davy, of the Council for International Development, in New Zealand.
Aid agencies also provide assistance remotely - such as co-ordination expertise - but local authorities and community groups run the response on the ground.

US army to discharge soldiers who refuse Covid vaccine

US soldiers who refuse to get a Covid vaccine will be immediately discharged, unless they have approved or pending exemptions, the US army has said.
The order applies to regular army soldiers, army reservists on a certain type of active duty and cadets, it said in a statement.

Army readiness depends on soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars. Unvaccinated soldiers present a risk to the force and jeopardise readiness. from Christine Wormuth US Secretary of the Army
Army readiness depends on soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars. Unvaccinated soldiers present a risk to the force and jeopardise readiness.
Christine WormuthUS Secretary of the Army

In December, more than 100 US Marines were booted from the ranks for refusing Covid jabs.
While the vast majority of US military personnel have been vaccinated, thousands have been reprimanded.
Up to 20,000 troops have sought exemptions or refused to be vaccinated.

Switzerland to lift Covid restrictions

Imogen Foulkes - BBC News, Geneva
Switzerland will begin lifting its Covid-19 restrictions from Thursday, when the mandatory work-from-home rule and the quarantine requirement for those coming into contact with someone who has Covid will be lifted.
A proposal to lift all further restrictions - including the Covid certificate, limits on public and private gatherings, and the wearing of masks - has been submitted to the cantons (provinces) and could take place as early as 16 February, depending, the government says, on whether case numbers indicate the Omicron wave has peaked.
Swiss health officials believe the country is moving out of the pandemic and towards a situation where Covid-19 is endemic.
They say the lifting of restrictions is justified because the feared pressure on hospitals due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant did not materialise.
Switzerland has recorded more than 12,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, and continues to have one of the lowest vaccination rates (around 66%) in western Europe.

What's happened today?

Here's a reminder of the main stories today:

• A sub-variant of Omicron, which studies suggest may be more transmissible, has now been detected in 57 countries, the World Health Organization says
  
• Estimated UK Covid infections rose to more than three million last week, according to the Office for National Statistics
  
• The government has written off £8.7bn it spent on protective equipment during the pandemic, accounts show
  
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing further calls from some of his own MPs to resign over lockdown parties at Downing Street
  
• In France, restrictions are being eased, with face masks no longer compulsory outdoors, and an end to limits on large crowds
  
• Switzerland is also lifting some restrictions from Thursday, when the mandatory work-from-home rule and quarantine requirement for Covid contacts will be lifted
  
• Tonga - which had previously managed to stay virus-free - will go into lockdown after several cases of Covid were recorded in the capital city Nuku'alofa
  
• Germany has recorded over 10 million total Covid cases, after detecting 208,498 new infections in the past 24 hours. Ministers said they hope to lift restrictions in March.
  
• Russia broke its record Covid tally, with 141,883 new infections over the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
  
• UK Covid infections have stopped falling, with levels holding steady or climbing, the ONS said. For England one in 20 people had Covid in the week ending 29 January.
  
• Also the UK, Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson sparked a backlash after arguing breaching Covid rules is equivalent to parking on a double-yellow line.
  
• UK prime minister Boris Johnson was criticised by Labour’s Keir Starmer over £8.7bn wasted on unusable PPE, which official figures revealed on Monday.
  
• In Japan, Tokyo detected a record-breaking 21,576 new cases, topping the previous record of 17,631, as the country battles Omicron.
  
• France will begin to lift some restrictions today, including mandatory outdoor mask-wearing.
  
• In the US, Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking approval to inoculate children under five, the last group of Americans still ineligible for vaccines against Covid.
  
• Tonga has gone into lockdown after recording two Covid cases among port workers helping distribute international aid in the wake of the volcanic eruption and tsunami that devastated the Pacific country last month.
  
• Lithuania will scrap its Covid certificate needed to enter public spaces from Saturday, saying they are ineffectual to stopping the spread of Omicron, despite a near-peak wave.
  
• Exposure to a single nasal droplet is sufficient to become infected with Covid, according to a landmark Imperial College London trial.
  
• Poland reported near-peak Covid infections of 56,051 as the Omicron wave sweeps the country.
  
• Likewise, Bulgaria detected near-peak cases of 11,143 as the European Union’s least-vaccinated country sees infections climb.
  
• China reported 63 new Covid cases, down slightly from 66 a day earlier, and no new fatalities.