Coronavirus - 8 February 2022

Summary for Tuesday, 8th February 2022

Good morning

Hello and welcome back to our live daily coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

Here’s a summary of the main stories around the world over the past 24 hours:

• Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam has said the Asian financial hub will stick to a “dynamic zero” Covid-19 strategy to contain the virus a day after the city saw a “shocking” new record of over 600 infections. “We should contain the spread of the virus as much and as fast as possible,” she said.
  
  
• Canada’s public safety minister has said US officials should stay out of his country’s domestic affairs, joining other Canadian leaders in pushing back against prominent Republicans who offered support for demonstrators protesting Covid-19 restrictions who have besieged central Ottawa for more than a week.
  
  
• In the UK, MPs from all sides have angrily rounded on Boris Johnson and accused him of whipping up political poison after the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, was set upon by protesters who accused him of protecting the paedophile Jimmy Savile. Johnson provoked widespread fury last week when he falsely suggested Starmer had protected Savile during his time as director of public prosecutions.
  
  
• Sweden will lift its travel restrictions for foreign nationals travelling to Sweden from Nordic countries and the rest of the European Union and European Economic Area from Wednesday, the government has announced.
  
  
• The German government is working on plans to relax coronavirus restrictions after the peak in new cases has passed, most likely by the end of February.
  
  
• Australia will open its border for fully vaccinated tourists and all visa holders on 21 February, almost two years after borders were first closed.
  
  
• Democratic leaders in the US Congress are holding a moment of silence on Monday to commemorate the 900,000 American lives lost to the Covid-19 pandemic.
  
  
• Turkish prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for former Olympic swimmer Derya Buyukuncu over tweets appearing to express relief that president Recep Tayyip Erdogan tested positive for Covid-19.
  
  
• The number of positive Covid-19 cases in the English Premier League, the most watched sports league in the world, has doubled in a week to 22 cases, but with a far higher number of tests being carried out.
  
  
• Hong Kong has reported a record 614 cases and many of its residents have begun to crowd supermarkets in an effort to stock up on food and other necessities. One vegetable vendor told Reuters supplies had dropped by 30%.
  
  
• Prof John Bell, an Oxford scientist who worked on the AstraZeneca vaccine, has accused scientists and politicians of having “probably killed hundreds of thousands of people” by damaging its reputation.
  

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam has said the Asian financial hub will stick to a “dynamic zero” Covid-19 strategy to contain the virus, Reuters reports, as authorities face their biggest test yet to control a record number of infections.
Lam who was speaking at a weekly news briefing said she would announce further Covid restrictions later in the day after the city saw a “shocking” new record of over 600 infections on Monday.
For now, Lam said, the best option was to adhere to the “dynamic zero” strategy employed by mainland China to suppress all coronavirus outbreaks as soon as possible.
“We should contain the spread of the virus as much and as fast as possible,” she said. “We need your support, we need your cooperation. You only need to stay at home.”
Hong Kong’s stringent coronavirus policies have turned the once top global travel and business hub into one of the world’s most isolated major cities.
The economic and psychological tolls from the hardline approach are rapidly rising, with measures becoming more draconian than those first implemented at the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Flights are down around 90%, schools, playgrounds, gyms as well as most other venues are shut. Restaurants close at 6 p.m. (1000 GMT), while most people, including the majority of civil servants, are working from home.
Government quarantine facilities are also nearing their maximum as authorities struggle to keep up with their rigid contact tracing scheme.
Many health experts have said the city’s current strategy of shutting itself off as the rest of the world shifts to living with coronavirus, is unsustainable.
Doctors say mental health is suffering, particularly in families where people are earning less, or children cannot go to school due to the restrictions.
The official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People’s Daily, said in an editorial on Monday that a “dynamic zero infection” strategy is the scientific option for Hong Kong.

Canada's Trudeau says anti-vaccine trucker protest "has to stop"

AFP reports:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanded an end Monday to a protest by hundreds of truckers against Covid-19 restrictions that has paralyzed the capital, as Ottawa's mayor called on federal authorities for support.
"It has to stop," Trudeau said during an emergency debate in the House of Commons on his return to parliament after isolating for week due to a positive Covid-19 test.
"This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians," the premier said, visibly frustrated over the protests that have brought Ottawa to a standstill for more than week.
"But Canadians know the way to get through it is continuing to listen to science, continuing to lean on each other," he added.
He pledged federal government support "with whatever resources the province and city need," without elaborating what measures might be planned.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson earlier urged the federal government to send an additional 1,800 police officers and appoint a mediator to work with protesters to "end this siege" that has infuriated local residents with incessant honking and diesel fumes.
On Sunday, Watson declared a state of emergency in the capital, declaring the protests "out of control."
"They don't know what to do with us," said 59-year-old farmer and trucker John Lambert, who was taking part in the protest. 
"All they've got to do is come to their senses. It's up to them to resolve it."
The "Freedom Convoy" demonstrations began January 9 in western Canada as protests by truckers angry with vaccine requirements when crossing the US-Canadian border.
They have since morphed into broader protests against Covid-19 health restrictions and Trudeau's government.
Protest organizer Tamara Lich said activists were willing to engage with the government to find a way out of the crisis, but insisted that pandemic restrictions be eased.
"What we're trying to do right now is reaching out to all of the federal parties so that we can arrange a sit down," Lich said during a meeting streamed on YouTube. 
With the capital's center blocked and businesses forced to close, police have come under fire for the protracted crisis.
To up the pressure on protesters, Ottawa police Sunday announced new measures to tame the demonstrations by banning people from bringing fuel and other supplies to the rallies.
"Anyone attempting to bring material supports (gas, etc) to the demonstrators could be subject to arrest," the police said on Twitter.
Officers have since arrested several people, seized multiple vehicles and issued hundreds of traffic tickets.
Protesters had been raising funds to keep up the protests, but were cut off by fundraising site GoFundMe, which said they had violated its policy against content that "promotes behaviour in support of violence."
Organizers quickly launched a fundraising campaign on Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo that had raised more than $5 million as of Monday night.
Trudeau last week ruled out deploying the army to disperse the protesters "for now," saying that one must be "very, very cautious before deploying the military in situations against Canadians."
"Trudeau has nothing to gain by going to speak to the demonstrators," Genevieve Tellier, a political scientist at the University of Ottawa, told AFP.
But another political analyst, Frederic Boily of the University of Alberta, said the protests could escalate into a full-blown political crisis.
"Justin Trudeau reacted badly initially," Boily said. "He reacted too strongly and too abruptly at the start of the protests when he tried to paint them as a far-right protest."
Boily added that Trudeau "added fuel to the fire" by turning vaccination into a political issue, especially during last summer's election campaign.
But the opposition also finds itself in a bind politically.
The Conservatives, who will soon be voting to elect their new leader, are themselves divided on the issue of the protests.
"They are afraid that part of their supporters will be tempted by the extreme right, but it is a risky bet for them," said political analyst Daniel Beland.
While only about 10 percent of Canadian adults remain unvaccinated, as many as 32 percent of the population support the anti-mandate protests, according to a recent survey.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino voiced support for vaccines and hit out at the protests, saying, "We cannot allow an angry crowd to reverse a course that continues to save lives in this last stretch" of the pandemic.
"This should never be a precedent for how to make policy in Canada."

Canada’s public safety minister has said that US officials should stay out of his country’s domestic affairs,
joining other Canadian leaders in pushing back against prominent US Republicans who have offered support for demonstrators protesting Covid-19 restrictions and have besieged central Ottawa for more than a week.
Helen Livingstone - The Guardian:
Prominent Republicans including Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton complained after crowdfunding site GoFundMe said it would refund the vast majority of the millions of dollars raised by demonstrators, Associated Press reported.
The site said it cut off funding for protest organisers after determining that their efforts violated the site’s terms of service by engaging in unlawful activity. Ontario provincial premier Doug Ford has called the protest an occupation.
In response, Paxton tweeted: “Patriotic Texans donated to Canadian truckers’ worthy cause.” Texas senator Ted Cruz said on Fox News that “government doesn’t have the right to force you to comply to their arbitrary mandates.”

Truckers and protesters gather near Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Public safety minister Marco Mendicino shot back: “It is certainly not the concern of the Texas attorney general as to how we in Canada go about our daily lives in accordance with the rule of law.”
“We need to be vigilant about potential foreign interference ... Whatever statements may have been made by some foreign official are neither here nor there. We’re Canadian. We have our own set of laws. We will follow them,” Mendicino said.
Many members of the GOP have made comments supporting the demonstrations, including former president Donald Trump, who called Trudeau a “far left lunatic” who has “destroyed Canada with insane Covid mandates.”
Ottawa declared a state of emergency on Sunday and on Monday the mayor pleaded for almost 2,000 extra police officers to help quell the raucous nightly demonstrations staged by the so-called Freedom Truck Convoy, which has used hundreds of parked trucks to paralyse the Canadian capital’s business district.
The protests have also infuriated people who live around downtown, including neighbourhoods near Parliament Hill, the seat of the federal government.
“Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens’ daily lives,” prime minister Justin Trudeau said in an emergency debate in parliament, while the protest continued outside. “It has to stop.”
Trudeau said everyone was tired of Covid-19 but this was not the way. He said the restrictions wouldn’t last forever and noted that Canada had one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. “Canadians trust science,” Trudeau said.
“A few people shouting and waving swastikas does not define who Canadians are.”

New Zealand Omicron wave likely to peak in March with up to 30,000 cases a day, says Ardern

Tess McClure - The Guardian
As New Zealand hits new records for daily case numbers, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said she expects Omicron infections to start peaking in late March.
The country reported 202 cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, following several days of numbers sitting around the 200 mark – including a record 243 cases on Saturday. The past seven days are among the highest weeks of case numbers since the pandemic began.
On Tuesday morning Ardern told RNZ, the national radio broadcaster, that she expected New Zealand’s cases to peak at between 10,000 and 30,000 cases a day.
“It’s widely variable and ultimately the defining feature of where we will peak will be booster uptake. The more people who take a booster, the lower the likelihood of our peak,” she said.
“While there’s uncertainty in case numbers, if you looked at low case profiles in a place like say South Australia and you applied that to New Zealand, you would have something like 10,000 cases a day at its peak.”
Read more here.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organising Committee has said that a total of six new Covid-19 cases were detected among games-related personnel on 7 February
Reuters reports:
No cases were found among new airport arrivals, according to a notice on the Beijing 2022 official website.
All six cases were among those already in the closed-loop bubble that separates all event personnel from the public, five of whom were classified as either an athlete or team official, the notice said.

Hong Kong to limit social gatherings to two and close churches and hair salons
Hong Kong is to limit social gatherings to maximum two people and close more public spaces including churches and hair salons amid record Covid infections.
Leader Carrie Lam announced today that the government will make HK$26bn available to support people, including small companies hit by the pandemic, reports Reuters.
She also said that existing social distancing measures – including a ban on dining in restaurants after 6pm and the closure of gyms and cinemas – will be extended until 24 February.
It comes after Lam said Hong Kong will stick to a “dynamic zero” Covid strategy to contain the virus, which she said on Monday hit a “shocking” new record of more than 600 infections.

In the US, a white-tailed deer on Staten Island, in New York, has been infected with Omicron.

It marks the first time that the variant has been reported in wild animals, reports the New York Times.
The newspaper reports that the discovery could fuel fears that the deer, which can be found across the US, could become a “reservoir for the virus and a potential source of new variants”.
The US department of agriculture has reportedly confirmed infections of earlier variants of the virus in 13 states including Arkansas, Maine, New Jersey and Oklahoma.

A white-tailed deer pictured in Morristown, New Jersey in November. Photograph: Bob Karp/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

England and Wales record first weekly fall in deaths this year

Niamh McIntyre and Georgina Quach - The Guardian
Deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales have fallen for the first time this year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
There were 1,385 deaths registered in the week ending 28 January mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, down 7% on the previous week.
About one in nine (11.2%) deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to 28 January mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate. This brings the overall death toll across the UK since the start of the pandemic to over 180,000.
Care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales have also fallen slightly. There were 333 deaths in the week to 28 January, compared with 363 a week earlier. This takes the total number of care home resident deaths to almost 45,000.

Here’s more on the latest Covid announcement in Hong Kong from the Associated Press:

 Hong Kong’s leader announced on Tuesday the city’s toughest social-distancing restrictions yet, including unprecedented limits on private gatherings, as new daily cases surge above 600.
Chief executive Carrie Lam said gatherings in private premises of more than two families will be banned starting on Thursday.
Public gatherings will be restricted to two people, and hair salons and places of worship will be closed until 24 February, when the city launches a “vaccine pass” that will require people to show proof of vaccination to enter shopping malls, markets and eateries.
The tightened measures come as the city grapples with a new wave of the coronavirus driven by the omicron variant. Over 600 local cases were reported on Tuesday.
“I appeal to the public to join us in the fight against the virus,” Lam said at a news conference. “Please try to avoid going out as far as possible.”
Hong Kong has aligned itself with China’s “zero-Covid” policy, which aims to totally stamp out outbreaks, as many other countries shift their approach to living with the virus.
Authorities impose lockdowns on residential buildings wherever clusters of infections are identified, and have banned public dining after 6pm.
Lam said that approach would remain in effect until vaccination rates rise. “We will continue to adhere to the current strategy of trying to contain the spread of the virus, or what we call maintaining this dynamic zero regime,” Lam said.
“But when vaccination rates increase, when omicron disappears and other things happen, then of course we will continue to revisit our strategy. But nothing will change our commitment to safeguard the life and the safety of the people of Hong Kong.”

Lam also announced a new round of subsidies worth 26bn Hong Kong dollars ($3.3bn) for businesses and individuals impacted by the pandemic.
Those who are temporarily unemployed due to Covid will receive a one-time payment of $1,300. Frontline workers including cleaners and security guards will receive about $250 a month for five months.

Hundreds block streets outside New Zealand parliament, inspired by Ottawa

Hundreds of people blocked streets outside New Zealand’s parliament today to protest against vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions, inspired by demonstrations in Ottawa, Canada.
The “convoy for freedom” – formed of trucks and campervans – gathered outside the Beehive in Wellington ahead of prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s first speech of the year, reports Reuters.
Mostly not wearing masks and holding placards calling for “freedom”, the protesters said they would camp outside parliament until the coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
Ardern said the protesters did not represent the views of the majority. “I think it would be wrong to in any way characterise what we’ve seen outside as a representation of the majority,” she said in a press conference.
“The majority of New Zealanders have done everything they can to keep one another safe.”
In her parliamentary speech earlier in the day, Ardern said the pandemic would not end with Omicron and that the country needed to prepare for more virus variants this year.

The ‘convoy for freedom’ protest in Wellington, New Zealand. Photograph: Dave Lintott/REX/Shutterstock


The ‘convoy for freedom’ protest in Wellington, New Zealand. Photograph: Dave Lintott/REX/Shutterstock

The three-month election campaign for the Philippines’ presidential election started today with a raft of Covid restrictions.
Candidates for president, vice-president and half of the 24-seat Senate are banned from shaking hands, kissing, hugging and tightly packed crowds, reports the Associated Press.
Social media has become a key battleground for the elections on 9 May, amid fears that disinformation could intensify the race.
More than 67 million people have registered to vote.

The Philippines’ vice-president and opposition presidential candidate, Leni Robredo, at a campaign rally in Libmanan, Camarines Sur province, south of Manila. Photograph: Charism Sayat/AFP/Getty Images

Quarter of UK employers cite long Covid as main cause of long-term absence

A quarter of British employers cite long Covid as the main reason behind long-term sickness absences, a survey has found.
Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that 26% of employers include long Covid as a main cause of long-term sickness absence, reports Reuters.
The study analysed 804 organisations representing more than 4.3 million employees. The CIPD said 46% of the organisations had employees that had experienced long Covid and called for employers to do more to help workers with the condition.
“Long Covid remains a growing issue that employers need to be aware of, and they should take appropriate steps to support employees with the condition,” said Rachel Suff, the CIPD’s senior policy adviser for employment relations.
The UK has reported nearly 18 million Covid cases in total. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that at the start of the year, 1.3 million people were living with self-reported symptoms of long Covid.

Poland indefinitely pushes back vaccination deadline for all but medical staff

Poland has pushed back indefinitely a deadline for teachers, police, armed forces and firefighters to be vaccinated because it cannot be met.
Last year, the government said those workers and medics must be vaccinated by 1 March to continue in their jobs.
But today health ministry spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz said the pace of vaccination means the deadline cannot be met, reports the Associated Press. The requirement remains only in force for medical staff.
Poland is undergoing its fifth pandemic wave, with 36,000 new cases and nearly 290 Covid-related deaths reported today. 57% of the population of 38 million is fully vaccinated.

Japan reports record 155 daily Covid deaths

Japan reported 155 daily deaths today - a new daily record.
The country also recorded more than 100,000 new infections, a level it last hit on Saturday, reported Reuters.

England's chief medical officer tells NHS staff it's their 'professional responsibility' to get vaccinated

England’s chief medical officer has written to NHS staff telling them it is their “professional responsibility” to get vaccinated.
Prof Chris Whitty tweeted a copy of the letter today, saying:

I have written to NHS colleagues about the professional responsibility to protect patients from Covid-19. This includes getting vaccinated, as the great majority have.

The letter was also signed by chief midwifery officer Prof Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, chief nursing officer Ruth May, and NHS medical director Prof Stephen Powis.

It comes after health secretary Sajid Javid told the Commons last month that ministers plan to scrap the legal requirement for frontline NHS staff in England to be vaccinated.

Summary of the latest developments so far today...

• England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, has written to NHS staff telling them it is their “professional responsibility” to get vaccinated. He tweeted a copy of the letter.
  
• Japan reported 155 daily deaths today - a new daily record. The country also recorded more than 100,000 new infections, a level it last hit on Saturday.
  
• Poland has pushed back indefinitely a deadline for teachers, police, armed forces and firefighters to be vaccinated because it cannot be met. Last year, the government said those workers and medics must be vaccinated by 1 March to continue in their jobs.
  
• A quarter of British employers cite long Covid as the main reason behind long-term sickness absences, a survey has found. Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that 26% of employers include long Covid as a main cause of long-term sickness absence.
  
• Hundreds of people blocked streets outside New Zealand’s parliament today to protest against vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions, inspired by demonstrations in Ottawa, Canada. The “convoy for freedom” – formed of trucks and campervans – gathered outside the Beehive in Wellington ahead of prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s first speech of the year.
  
• Deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales have fallen for the first time this year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. There were 1,385 deaths registered in the week ending 28 January mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, down 7% on the previous week.
  
• The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has defended his government’s pandemic response over the last two years, citing high economic growth and middling inflation. Growth is estimated at 9.2% for the fiscal year ending in March, reports Reuters, and at 8% to 8.5% for the next, following a contraction of 6.6% in 2019/20. Retail inflation is around 5.5%, within the central bank’s target of 2-6%.
  
• Scientists in China say they have developed a new coronavirus test as accurate as a PCR that gives results within four minutes. Researchers at Fudan university in Shanghai say they have a solution, in the form of a sensor that uses microelectronics to analyse genetic material from swabs.