UK reports more than 800 new coronavirus deaths – latest updates

Saturday, February 6, 2021

UK vaccine first doses near 11.5 million

Britain has recorded 825 new deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test, bringing the overall death toll to 112,092, government data showed.

The figures also showed 11.465 million people had received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, up from 10.971 million on Friday. 

Swiss march in lakeside tax haven to protest Covid-19 lockdown

Some 500 protesters marched through the Swiss tax haven of Zug, wearing white protective suits and chanting dystopian slogans to voice displeasure with rules aimed at limiting the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The demonstration was reminiscent of a rally a week ago in Vienna, where thousands opposed to that country's even-stricter lockdown faced off against police.

Though Switzerland's restrictions have been less severe than those in Germany, Austria, or Italy – restaurants and non-essential shops are closed but ski areas are open – there is still a steady buzz of opposition.

In Zug, police watched but did not intervene as a group of protesters filed from the train station to the centre of the lakeside city known for shell companies with letter-box addresses and attractive tax rates.

Portugal's Covid intensive care occupancy dips from record high

The number of patients with Covid-19 requiring intensive care in Portugal's struggling hospitals has dipped from the previous day's record high and the country reported fewer daily deaths and new infections.

Data from Portugal's health authority showed 891 people were in intensive care, 13 fewer than on Friday, while a total of 6,158 people were in hospital with coronavirus, down from 6,412 the previous day.

A recent surge in infections has left hospitals on the verge of collapse, with ambulances sometimes queuing for hours because of a lack of beds.

Turkey registers over 7,800 new cases

Turkey has registered 7,897 new coronavirus cases, including 618 symptomatic patients, according to the data released by the Health Ministry.

The country's case count topped 2.52 million, while nationwide fatalities reached 26,685, with 108 deaths over the past day.

With 8,089 more patients winning the battle against the virus, the total number of recoveries in the country rose to over 2.41 million.

Over 30.48 million coronavirus tests have been administered to date in Turkey, including 137,649 in the past 24 hours.

The latest figures also show that the number of Covid-19 patients in critical condition stands at 1,337.

Netherlands cases surpass a million

The Netherlands surpassed a million confirmed coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic, official data has shown.

The Institute for Public Health (RIVM) reported 4,075 new infections, taking the total number of cases to 1,001,826 in the 11 months since the virus was first found in the country on February 27 last year. There have been 14,355 deaths.

The actual number of infections in the country of 17 million is likely to be significantly higher, as in the first months of the epidemic only very seriously ill patients were tested.

In later months a lack of capacity meant many patients did not get a test.

Denmark to lift UAE flight ban from Sunday 

Denmark will lift a ban on flights coming from the United Arab Emirates from Sunday, the UAE embassy to Denmark has said.

Denmark said two weeks ago it would temporarily halt flights from the Gulf state for five days after concerns were raised about the coronavirus tests administered in the emirate of Dubai before departure.

Passengers travelling from the UAE to Denmark must present a negative Covid-19 no older than 24 hours before boarding. On arrival they must take another test and isolate for 10 days, the embassy said, adding that these rules apply until February 28.

Pfizer applies to register Covid-19 vaccine in Brazil

Pfizer Inc has applied for full regulatory approval in Brazil of its Covid-19 vaccine developed with BioNTech Se, Brazilian health regulator Anvisa has said.

It is the second vaccine submitted for registration in Brazil. AstraZeneca Plc applied on January 29 for full regulatory approval of the vaccine it developed with Oxford University, and will make it in Brazil in partnership with the federally funded Fiocruz biomedical centre.

Pfizer said it filed for registration on Friday for its vaccine called BNT162b2, backed up by late-stage trials on 44,000 volunteers in six countries - 2,900 of them in Brazil.

The vaccine has an overall efficacy of 95 percent, and efficacy of 94 percent in people aged over 65, the US drugmaker said in a statement.

President Jair Bolsonaro, who says he will not take any Covid-19 shot, is under pressure after a slow and patchy vaccine roll-out in Brazil, which now faces a second wave of infections.

Slovenia eases anti-coronavirus restrictions after criticism

Slovenia will reopen ski resorts and some shops and has eased restrictions on people entering the country imposed to help reduce the rate of Covid-19 infections, after coming under pressure over its handling of the pandemic.

From Saturday, daily migrant workers and academics entering Slovenia from European Union countries that have lower 14-day incidences of Covid-19 will not have to present negative coronavirus tests, or be quarantined, the government said.

Also, ski resorts as well as shops and service businesses not larger that 400 square meters will be allowed to reopen next week, with weekly mandatory testing of employees, Economy Minister Zdravko Pocivalsek said.

The Alpine country of 2 million people, which imposed strict lockdown rules in October to tackle rising Covid-19 infections, recorded 990 new cases and 18 deaths on Friday.

African leaders tackle Covid in virtual summit

African leaders have opened a two-day virtual summit to discuss the continent's Covid-19 response as well as security issues that have been overlooked during the pandemic.

The African Union summit comes almost exactly one year after Egypt recorded the first coronavirus case in Africa, prompting widespread fears that member states' weak health systems would quickly be overwhelmed.

But despite early doomsday predictions, the continent has been hit less hard than other regions so far, recording 3.5 percent of virus cases and four percent of deaths worldwide, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Today, though, many African countries are battling damaging second waves while straining to procure sufficient vaccine doses.

"This disease has caused great suffering and hardship across our continent," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the outgoing AU chairman, said in opening remarks on Saturday.

"It is not only a severe health emergency. It is also a grave economic and social crisis."

African leaders have been speaking out against vaccine hoarding by rich countries at the expense of poorer ones.

Iran to start vaccinations with Sputnik V jabs

Iran will kick off its coronavirus vaccination campaign within a week, President Hassan Rouhani has said after the country received its first batch of Sputnik V jab.

The Islamic republic is fighting the Middle East's deadliest outbreak of the coronavirus, with over 58,000 lives lost out of more than 1.4 million cases of infection.

Iran has bought two million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told AFP.

The first batch arrived in the country on Thursday, and the country is scheduled to receive two more batches by February 28.

"Vaccinations will start this very week; this is a real cause for celebration," Rouhani told a televised meeting of Iran's Covid-19 task force.

Italy clears emergency use of Covid-19 antibody therapies

Italy's Health Minister Roberto Speranza has signed a decree authorising the emergency use of monoclonal antibodies to treat the coronavirus.

Italy's medicines regulator AIFA on Friday had given its green light for emergency use of Covid-19 antibody therapies developed by US drugmakers Eli Lilly and Regeneron.

Malaysia reports 3,847 new cases with 12 new deaths

Malaysia has reported 3,847 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 238,721.

The Health Ministry also reported 12 new deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 857.

Russia reports 16,627 new cases, 497 deaths

Russia has reported 16,627 new coronavirus cases, which took the overall national number of confirmed infections to 3,951,233.

Russia's coronavirus crisis centre said 497 more coronavirus patients had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the Russian official death toll to 76,229. 

US federal executions likely a Covid superspreader

As the Trump administration was nearing the end of an unprecedented string of executions, 70 percent of death row inmates were sick with Covid-19. Guards were ill. 

Travelling prisons staff on the execution team had the virus. So did media witnesses, who may have unknowingly infected others when they returned home because they were never told about the spreading cases.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show employees at the Indiana prison complex where the 13 executions were carried out over six months had contact with inmates and other people infected with the coronavirus, but were able to refuse to test and declined to participate in contact tracing efforts and were still permitted to return to their work assignments.

Other staff members, including those brought in to help with executions, also spread tips to their colleagues about how they could avoid quarantines and skirt public health guidance from the federal government and Indiana health officials.

The executions at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, completed in a short window over a few weeks, likely acted as a superspreader event, according to the records reviewed by AP. It was something health experts warned could happen when the Justice Department insisted on resuming executions during a pandemic.

Covid-19 whistleblower remembered a year after his death

A year after his death from the virus, residents in the Chinese city of Wuhan say they remain grateful to the whistleblower doctor who first sounded the alarm about the outbreak before it received official recognition.

Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at a hospital in the city, became one of the most visible figures in the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan when he tried to sound the alarm about its appearance, but was reprimanded by police for spreading rumours.

The 34-year-old's death from the virus on February 7 led to an outpouring of public mourning and rare expressions of anger online.

Several days later Zhong Nanshan, a renowned epidemiologist, shed tears for Li in an interview with Reuters, calling him a "hero of China."

But when President Xi Jinping honoured the "heroes" of the "people's war" against the virus in September, there was no mention of Li's contribution.

While people on the streets around Li's hospital say life in the city has mostly returned to its usual rhythm, they still revere Li for his actions.

Sinovac's vaccine approved for general public use in China

Sinovac Biotech said on Saturday that its vaccine has been formally approved for use by the general public by China's medical products regulator.

It marks the second vaccine green-lighted for public use in China, after a shot developed by a Beijing institute affiliated to state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) was approved in December.

Prior to the approvals, both vaccines have already been used in China's vaccination program mainly targeting key groups deemed to be at higher risk of exposure to the virus.

Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Laos have granted emergency authorisations for the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac Life Sciences, Sinovac said in a news release.

Lockdown still needed in Denmark to combat new variant

One in five new cases in Denmark was infected with the more contagious British variant in the last week of January, preliminary data showed on Friday, prompting experts to say lockdown restrictions were still necessary to curb the epidemic.

Denmark instituted hard lockdown measures in December after seeing infections rise exponentially and in particular to curb the spread of the new B.1.1.7. variant, first identified in Britain.

The variant, which Danish authorities say could be up to 50% more infectious, is expected to be the dominant one by mid-February.

Denmark has registered just over 200,000 infections in total, with 2,200 corona-related deaths. But general infections numbers are one the decline. From thousands of daily infections in December, only 438 cases has been registered in the last 24 hours.

NZ investigates new case linked to quarantine facility

New Zealand health authorities said they were investigating a new community infection, the fourth in two weeks among people who completed mandatory isolation at an Auckland quarantine facility for returned overseas travellers.

The new case was diagnosed in a person self-isolating at home in Hamilton, a city in the North Island of New Zealand, who was released from a two-week hotel quarantine on January 30 after testing negative twice for the virus.

"We consider the public health risk to be low and people in and around Hamilton should not be alarmed," Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay said.

"We are acting out of an abundance of caution. We are not advising any restrictions or cancellations of events."

The ministry has recently required all travellers who completed the 14-day quarantine at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland to self-isolate for five more days at home.

Genome sequencing has been carried out to determine if the case has the South African variant, which was reported in three other cases linked to the hotel. Those were New Zealand's first cases in the community in months.

Germany's confirmed cases rise by 10,485 

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 10,485 to 2,275,394, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday. 

The reported death toll rose by 689 to 61,286, the tally showed.

Sinovac says its vaccine is effective in preventing hospitalisation and death

Sinovac Biotech said late-stage trial data of its vaccine from Brazil and Turkey showed it prevented hospitalisation and death, but had a much lower efficacy rate in blocking infections.

The 12,396-person trial found the CoronaVac vaccine was 100% effective in preventing virus sufferers from being hospitalized or dying and 83.7% effective in avoiding cases that required any medical treatment, but only 50.65% effective at keeping people from getting infected, according to a statement.

The trials evaluated the efficacy of the two-shot vaccine candidate 14 days after inoculation of participants, including healthcare workers who treat virus patients.

In Turkey, the vaccine was tested in two stages among health care workers and the general population, and found to have a 91.25% efficacy rate in preventing the virus based on an analysis of 29 cases, the company said.

Lebanon to gradually ease virus restrictions

Lebanon on Friday announced a gradual easing of restrictions, after three weeks of draconian measures imposed to stem a surge in cases and ease the burden on overwhelmed hospitals.

The country of more than 6 million has officially recorded 315,340 coronavirus cases, including 3,495 deaths -- including a record daily toll of 98 fatalities on Friday.

A full lockdown in place since January 14 includes a round-the-clock curfew, with grocery shopping allowed just by deliveries.

Only limited exceptions are permitted, such as to go to hospital or change money, and individuals must carry authorisations.

African leaders to tackle virus at virtual summit

African leaders will open a two-day virtual summit Saturday to discuss the continent's pandemic response as well as security issues that have been overlooked during the pandemic.

The African Union summit comes almost exactly one year after Egypt recorded the first case of Covid-19 in Africa, prompting widespread fears that member states' weak health systems would quickly be overwhelmed.

But despite early doomsday predictions, the continent has so far been hit less hard than other regions, recording 3.5 percent of global virus cases and 4 percent of global deaths, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Today, though, many African countries are battling damaging second waves while straining to procure sufficient vaccine doses.

African leaders are speaking out against hoarding by rich countries at the expense of poorer ones.

Yankees stadium becomes vaccination site for New York's poor

Defying the cold and rain, hundreds of people bundled up in thick coats came to get vaccinated at the famous Yankees baseball stadium in the Bronx, a New York borough that has been particularly badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The positivity rate in the Bronx is the highest in all of New York's five boroughs: it was at 6.67 percent Friday, double the rate in the wealthier area of Manhattan, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said.

That is why the authorities in this traditionally Democratic bastion of the city decided to reserve the vaccinations on offer at the stadium exclusively for residents of the Bronx.

Since the start of the pandemic last March, the death rate in New York's Black and Latino communities has been double that of their white counterparts.

That same racial disparity has played out across the United States, where more than 453,000 people have died of the disease.

Yet these same minorities have until now received fewer vaccinations than other communities.

Brazil's deaths rise above 230,000

Brazil has registered 1,239 deaths and 50,872 additional cases, according to data released by the nation's Health Ministry.

The South American country has now registered 9,447,165 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 230,034 deaths.

It was the fourth consecutive day that Brazil registered over 1,200 coronavirus deaths.

Mexico's death toll rises to 164,290

Mexico's health ministry has reported 1,368 new confirmed deaths from Covid-19, bringing the total in the country to 164,290.

China ready to increase cooperation with Indonesia on vaccines

China is ready to deepen cooperation with Indonesia on vaccines, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing comments by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Wang's comments came in a phone conversation with Indonesia's coordinator for cooperation with China and Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the news agency said.

Australian Open concerns ease as Victoria records no new cases

Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria has reported no local cases for the second straight day, boding well for the Australian Open tennis tournament due to start in Melbourne on Monday.

More than 500 staff and players in the Grand Slam event tested negative for the coronavirus virus on Friday in re-testing required after a worker at their quarantine hotel caught the virus.

Positive cases could have spurred a lockdown, and qualifying matches were cancelled on Thursday while test results were pending.

The Victorian government ruled that except for players, masks will be mandatory at Australian Open games, which will be played under a closed roof. Following the most recent case, masks are required in all indoor spaces in Victoria.

Public health officials said on Saturday that all immediate close contacts of the hotel worker have so far tested negative for the virus but urged people to get tested even with mildest symptoms.

Australia has been more successful than most advanced economies in managing the pandemic, with total infections at under 29,000 and 909 deaths so far. 

Number of jabs exceeds infection – WHO

Globally, the number of vaccinations has now overtaken the number of reported infections, but more than three-quarters of vaccinations are in just 10 countries, the World Health Organization chief said.

“In one sense, that’s good news and a remarkable achievement in such a short timeframe,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus at a twice-weekly webinar from the health body’s headquarters in Geneva.

The more 75 percent of those vaccinations in just 10 countries account for almost 60 percent of global GDP.

He said that around 130 countries, with 2.5 billion people, have not administered a single dose.

Tedros did not spell out any figures for numbers of jabs, but the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine said more than 105 million Covid-19 cases worldwide have been confirmed with nearly 2.29 million deaths.

The WHO chief said all governments must protect their people and that some countries had already vaccinated large proportions of their population who are at lower risk of severe disease or death.