Restrictions have been relaxed in the Australian state of Victoria; WHO warns of « vaccine nationalism »; Israel to begin first clinical vaccine trials next month Follow latest updates
Hello everyone Welcome to the Guardian’s coronavirus live feed where I will keep you updated with all the news as it comes from around the world Hope everyone is doing well today, please email me if you would like to share any thoughts, tips or comments I also did a brief explanation on blogging live on my Instagram today for anyone interested
Thousands of free meals will be provided to children in England by businesses, local authorities and community groups on the first day of midterm as the government faces a damaging revolt on the issue
Dozens of people from various organizations stepped in to help, Health Secretary Matt Hancock hailing them as « absolutely wonderful » while insisting that millions of people have already been provided to the councils for help their communities
A petition from Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford, who has spearheaded calls to extend free meals in England during the school holidays, has passed 800,000 signatures, putting further pressure on the government to he acts
Hancock said he “very strongly” agreed with the “goal” of Rashford’s campaign, telling Sky News: “I think we are all inspired by the way he has conducted this campaign And the goal is that no child should go hungry, and it’s true «
He said universal credit has been increased by £ 20 per week while £ 63million has already been provided by central government to local authorities so they can support people
Wales’ Minister of Health has said supermarkets across the country may sell non-essential items during firewall lockdown under ‘exceptional circumstances’
The Welsh government is due to discuss the ban, which has come under heavy criticism over the weekend, with supermarkets on Monday
« We’re looking to have that clarity so that you don’t see cards, for example, sealed in one store but available in another, » Vaughan Gething told Sky News
« We want clarity on the principle that if there really are exceptional circumstances where someone needs what would otherwise be a non-essential item, this can also happen
« We want that clarity, because it potentially overshadows the much bigger problem of having a firewall to save people’s lives »
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the government ‘will not rule anything out’ over the prospect of a new fourth tier of measures, two weeks after putting in place a three tier system of restrictions against coronaviruses
He told BBC Breakfast: « We have always said we are not taking anything off the table Having said that, we have seen that the increase in the number of cases has slowed down a bit
« The problem is that it keeps going up, and as long as it is still going up, we have to act to bring it under control. We’re not ruling out anything, but for now the three-way system levels is what we’re working on and it’s effective in slowing the growth of this virus, but it hasn’t stopped that curve »
The daily number of new coronavirus cases in Russia reached a record high of 17,347 on Monday, including 5,224 in Moscow, bringing the national total to 1,531,224
Authorities said 219 people had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 26,269
UK drugstore chain Boots is set to unveil a new asymptomatic coronavirus testing service that it says can return swab test results in just 12 minutes
Boots said LumiraDx devices, capable of quickly processing swab tests to give customers same-day results, will be rolled out to select stores in the coming weeks.
It has also launched a 48-hour test service available in 10 stores in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, with the intention of expanding the program to more than 50 outlets across the country
The service is available as a private pre-flight test for customers who need it before traveling overseas, or as a solution for those who prefer peace of mind before seeing friends and family In-store service will cost £ 120 per test
Seb James, Managing Director of Boots UK and ROI, said the program was being implemented to help ease pressure on the country’s healthcare services
“Boots has supported the government’s Covid-19 testing program from the very beginning and offering this new in-store service is the next step in our efforts to fight the pandemic,” he said
« We hope that by offering this testing option at local community stores, Boots can help ease the pressure on the NHS and the government by providing additional access to crucial testing and insurance for people across the country. UK
Customers who have no symptoms of Covid-19 can book an in-store test through the company’s website
France could experience 100,000 new cases of coronavirus per day – twice as many as the latest figures – Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council which advises the government on the pandemic, told RTL radio on Monday
« There are probably over 50,000 cases per day We estimate, at the scientific committee, that we are more in the neighborhood of 100,000 cases per day, » said Delfraissy
France recorded a record 52,010 new confirmed coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said in a statement on Sunday, as a second wave of cases swept across Europe
The new cases brought the French total to 1,138,507, with France ahead of Argentina and Spain recording the fifth highest number of cases in the world after the United States, India, Brazil and Russia
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca produces a robust immune response in the elderly, the group most at risk, the Financial Times reported
The vaccine triggers protective antibodies and T cells in older age groups, the FT said, citing two people familiar with the discovery, encouraging researchers as they seek evidence that it will spare them people later in life with serious illness or death from the virus
Details of the discovery are expected to be published soon in a clinical journal, the FT said, without naming the publication
The findings echo data released in July that showed the vaccine generated « robust immune responses » in a group of healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 55, the journal reported, citing people at current with the results of so-called immunogenicity blood tests
But he warned that positive immunogenicity tests do not guarantee that the vaccine will ultimately prove to be safe and effective in older people
AstraZeneca, which is developing the vaccine with researchers at the University of Oxford, is seen as a pioneer in the race to produce a vaccine to protect against Covid-19
One of the world’s leading candidate coronavirus vaccines, called AZD1222 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, was developed by scientists at the University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca in April, which handled the scaling up testing and production
In the UK, the main opposition Labor Party has criticized the government’s decision to allow the temporary suspension of VAT on personal protective equipment (PPE) to expire, calling the move unbelievable
The Treasury reduced VAT on PPE to 0% in May, with the reduction applying to items such as face masks and aprons purchased by nursing homes, businesses, charities and individuals to protect against the virus
It was originally scheduled to return to 20% in August, but was extended until October 31 at an estimated cost of around £ 255million for the six-month period
The Labor Party said the Treasury has confirmed the suspension will not be extended, with shadow Treasury Secretary James Murray calling the move « the last thing » families need
It’s unbelievable that the government wants to introduce a mask tax amid a pandemic
« With the rise in Covid cases across the country, the government should do all it can to help people follow its own guidelines for wearing a mask, without increasing the cost of purchase of a mask
« Families across the country are already struggling financially as a result of the crisis The last thing they need is to be penalized for doing the right thing »
This is me for today Thanks for following – Amy Walker will be with you for the next few hours of pandemic news
The news was greeted with tears, cheers and, upon pick-up from the afternoon school, a spontaneous concert of car-honking parents to celebrate
In Australia, as Victoria Prime Minister Daniel Andrews announced at 3:30 a.m. Monday that the Melbourne lockdown, which has been going on for several months, would (largely) end, the inhabitants rejoiced
Starting at midnight Tuesday, cafes, restaurants, bars and beauty services will reopen, subject to guest limits, and people will be able to leave their homes for any reason
With the US election just over a week away, millions of Americans have gone to the polls this fall with health care and drug prices the main topic of voting
The massive, largely private and expensive health industry in the United States has been a top voter concern for years and helped lead Democrats to victory in the 2018 midterm election , when the party took control of the House of Representatives
While in the past six months of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 220,000 Americans, Covid-19 has eclipsed health care as the main election issue, many voters in the health claim that the two are inseparable:
Social distancing and lockdowns in Australia not only slowed the spread of Cpvid-19, but saved the lives of around 400 people who should have died in June from respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia, an article showed. research published MondayReuters: Looking at the most recent official data on deaths in Australia, the Actuaries Institute said there was a shortfall between verified deaths and the number expected in the middle of the winter month, which according to him, was due to a decrease in respiratory diseases »It is clear that lockdowns and other measures to control Covid-19 have created great hardship for many people in Australia, » said Jennifer Lang, head of the Covid-19 working group at the Actuaries Institute
« These measures have not only saved scores of Australians from Covid-19 disease and death, but they have also reduced the number of deaths from a number of other causes »
South Korea urged citizens to get flu shots and reduce chances of an outbreak that coincides with the battle against coronavirus, as it launched free vaccinations for the last eligible group , Reuters reports Public anxiety over the safety of influenza vaccines has increased after at least 48 people died this month following vaccinations Authorities said they found no direct link between the deaths and the flu shots and sought to reassure South Koreans about the safety of vaccines against the flu, a disease that kills at least 3,000 each yearHowever, last month around 5 million doses had to be discarded after not being stored at recommended temperatures Singapore temporarily suspended the use of two influenza vaccines as a precautionary measure after the deaths, becoming one of the first countries to publicly announce the cessation of vaccine use Singapore has not reported any deaths from flu shots
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News from around the world – GB – Coronavirus live: China confirms 137 local cases as Spain enters state of emergency
