Spain once again grapples with Europe's worst virus infection rate
Jordan Kelly-Linden
·64-min read
A man walks past a tent for people queuing to be tested for Covid-19 outside a medical center in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, north of Barcelona, Spain - REUTERS
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter ..
09:56 PM
Today's key events...
That's all from me today, but you can read up on all the key events from around the world below:
A decision to revert more than 124,000 exam results in Scotland to the grades estimated by teachers 'puts pressure on UK to follow suit'.
Boris Johnson announced NHS trusts across England will receive £300m to upgrade facilities ahead of winter amid second wave fears.
The Prime Minister also warned of 'bumpy months ahead' after unemployment data showed that UK job losses hit a decade-high.
Thousands of recovering Covid patients risk further damage to their health if they follow new guidance on exercising, a charity warns.
Breast cancer treatment delays caused by the pandemic have led to increased depression and anxiety among patients.
More than 100,000 cases of Covid-19 are being reported every day in the Americas with at least half of them in the United States.
Mexico is to begin Phase III trials of US and Chinese vaccines, the country's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has said Actress Alyssa Milano reveals her hair is now falling out in clumps months after contracting Covid-19.
President Donald Trump has said that his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping has disintegrated in the wake of the pandemic.
The only crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened on Tuesday for 72 hours, allowing people to leave the Palestinian enclave for the first time since the novel coronavirus outbreak began.
Hope for those worried about up-coming exam results this week?
The BBC's Chris Mason has revealed that GCSE and A-level students in England could be able to use grades in mock exams to progress to university and college courses and employment:
NEW: GCSE and A-level students in England will be able to use grades in mock exams to progress to university and college courses and employment, the Education Secretary is set to announce.
Number of women giving birth in hospital fell by half in Nepal
The coronavirus pandemic has been “catastrophic” for maternal health services, an expert has warned, as a new study shows that the number of women giving birth in health facilities in Nepal has plummeted during lockdown.
Surveys and anecdotal reports have all pointed to the fact that fewer women in developing countries have been having babies in hospitals because of disruption to health services as a result of the pandemic.
But, in what the researchers believe is the first published data, evidence from Nepal shows that the numbers have reduced by half.
A paper in the Lancet Global Health published on Monday shows that in nine hospitals across Nepal the number of babies born in hospitals fell by 52.4 per cent over lockdown: dropping from 1,261 per week before lockdown began in mid March to 651 per week in mid May.
Pharmacies have an important role in this pandemic – but they need help
The pandemic has reminded us that pharmacies are the first port of call for many patients and a fundamental part of the NHS family, writes Jackie Doyle-Price:
Pharmacies have always played a crucial role in keeping our nation healthy. With around 95 per cent of the population living within 20 minutes of a local pharmacy, and 1.6 million visits every day, pharmacies are the most frequently visited healthcare setting in England – even before Covid-19 emerged.
This pandemic is a reminder they are the first port of call for many patients and a fundamental part of the NHS family.
If we are going to unleash the value of community pharmacies and use them more effectively as part of the NHS, we need to make sure we are giving them the right support.
French PM: Coronavirus spread may get harder to control
The renewed spread of coronavirus in France could become harder to control without a collective effort to stop a rise in the infection rate, its prime minister said on Tuesday.
The public was becoming careless, Jean Castex warned, speaking shortly before health authorities said new daily infections were up by 1,397 over 24 hours, almost twice as much as Monday, to reach 204,172.
“If we don’t act collectively, we expose ourselves to the heightened risk that the rebound in the epidemic becomes hard to control,” Castex said during a visit to a hospital intensive care ward in southern France.
A health ministry statement also reported 15 new deaths in hospital due the disease, compared to an increase of 16 over a three-day period between Monday and Saturday, with the total death toll standing at 30,354.
France’s 7-day moving average of new infections climbed to 1,691 on Tuesday from 1,056 on July 31. The 7-day measure reached a post lockdown low of 272 on May 27, a little over two weeks after France eased one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns.
But as in most neighbouring European countries, new clusters have mushroomed as people let their hair down on holiday, families hold reunions and workers return to offices and France is desperate to avoid another full-scale lockdown.
08:33 PM
Business chiefs warn of wave of redundancies across Scotland when furlough scheme ends
There is “no doubt” that there will be a huge wave of redundancies across Scotland once the furlough scheme ends, business leaders have warned.
Liz Cameron, the chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said on Tuesday that while data suggests that fewer than one in ten Scottish firms had let workers go so far, many more were planning to do so once the furlough scheme winds up in October.
She told MSPs on Holyrood’s economy committee that as yet unpublished data obtained through a survey of businesses found that between 35 and 40 per cent said they would struggle to bring all furloughed workers back and were currently planning redundancy offers.
Her comments came as new unemployment figures, published on Tuesday, showed the number of people in work in Scotland fell by 15,000 between April and June as the impact of lockdown hit.
Businesses should not expect parents to be back full time by autumn, headteachers warn
Businesses should not expect parents to work full time at the office during the autumn, headteachers have said as they warn that schools may not run a full timetable.
Employers must be “flexible” in their demands for mothers and fathers to return to the workplace and should not assume that their children will be at school full-time, they said.
Our education editor Camilla Turner has more on this here.
Children return to school at the Harris Primary Academy, Chafford Hundred, Grays - Geoff Pugh
07:43 PM
Experts aren't so convinced by Russia's vaccine
Commenting on the news that Russia has become the first country to approve a vaccine against Covid-19, Prof Jonathan Ball, Professor of Molecular Virology, University of Nottingham, said:
“Vaccine candidates go through a series of trials to ensure that they are safe and also that they work. A major challenge for any Covid vaccine will be the need to protect the most vulnerable groups – for example the elderly with other health conditions such as diabetes – from disease.
"If that isn’t achievable then any useful vaccine will need to reduce the chances of other people infecting vulnerable people, either by providing sterilising immunity – meaning that less vulnerable people don’t get infected, or failing that ensuring that when they do become infected that they are unable to transmit the virus to others. The only sensible way to get this information is through very large well-designed phase 3 trials”.
“I think there is enough general background data on recombinant Adenovirus based vaccines to assume the vaccine itself will be safe at the usual doses. The bigger risk, however, is that the immunity generated is not sufficient to give protection, leading to continued virus spread even among immunised individuals.
"And although only a possibility, less than complete protection could provide a selection pressure that drives the virus to evade what antibody there is, creating strains that then evade all vaccine responses.
"In that sense, a poor vaccine is worse than no vaccine. Careful virus tracking will therefore need to accompany any early release.”
an employee shows a new vaccine at the Nikolai Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Russia - Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr / Russian Direct Investment Fund
07:26 PM
Germany issues travel warning for Madrid due to coronavirus
Germany has extended a partial travel warning for Spain to the capital of Madrid and the Basque region due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the foreign ministry said today.
The foreign ministry said it was warning against any unnecessary tourist trips to both regions because of a rising number of new infections and local restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
The German government had already issued travel warnings for the Spanish regions of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarra.
07:09 PM
UK fatalities rise by 102, according to PHE
Public Health England said 102 new deaths have been reported across the UK, with the total number of people who had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK rising to 46,628, as of 5pm on Monday.
Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies show there have now been 56,800 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
06:59 PM
WHO recommends delaying routine dental work due to virus risk
The World Health Organization has said that routine, non-essential dental work should be delayed until COVID-19 transmission rates drop sufficiently, cautioning against procedures that produce aerosol spray from patients' mouths.
The WHO said check-ups, dental cleanings and preventive care could be postponed, as it released guidance for dentists on how to minimise the risk of transmission during the coronavirus pandemic.
The United Nations health agency said now that dental services had begun to resume in many countries, several procedures could be done in a way that minimised aerosol, or micro-droplets that hang in the air.
"WHO advises that routine non-essential oral health care - which usually includes oral health check-ups, dental cleanings and preventive care - be delayed until there has been sufficient reduction in COVID-19 transmission rates from community transmission to cluster cases," the guidance says.
"The same applies to aesthetic dental treatments. However, urgent or emergency oral health care interventions that are vital for preserving a person's oral functioning, managing severe pain or securing quality of life should be provided."
Colombian dentist Juan Carlos Valderrama attends a patient through the facial cabin he designed as a preventive measure against the spread of the novel coronavirus - LUIS ROBAYO / AFP
06:50 PM
More than 10 million meals bought under 'Eat Out To Help Out' scheme last week
Over 10 million meals were eaten under Rishi Sunak's discount dining scheme for restaurants and pubs last week, official figures showed.
Data released by HM Revenue and Customs on Tuesday revealed that 10.5 million "covers", or individual meals, were claimed for under the Eat Out To Help Out scheme by August 9.
While restaurants have reported some of their busiest days of trading, with some saying they have been forced to turn people away.
Restaurants have reported some of their busiest days of trading since the scheme began - JASON CAIRNDUFF / REUTERS
06:40 PM
Councils may not have enough contact tracers to knock on doors, health chief warns
Local authorities might not have enough contact tracers to knock on doors, a public health chief warned as more failings in the test and trace operation came to light.
Earlier this week, it emerged that local authorities will be encouraged to send out their own workers to chase up the contacts of infected coronavirus cases who fail to respond after research showed that call centre staff were reaching just one case a month.
Virus hotspots such as Blackburn with Darwen (see video below) and Leicester have already taken matters into their own hands amid test and trace failings.
But the president of the Association of Directors of Public Health warned that more resources were needed to deliver that local approach nationally.
Spain again grapples with Europe's worst virus infection rate
Just seven weeks after bringing its first coronavirus wave under control, experts say Spain is once again in a "critical" situation with the worst infection rate in Western Europe.
The country reported an average of 4,923 new daily cases of the respiratory disease during the last seven days, a higher amount than that of Britain, France, Germany and Italy combined, according to a tally compiled by AFP based on official figures.
Spain counts 95 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people, compared to 24 in France, 17 in Britain, 13 in Germany and just eight in Italy, the first country outside of China to be hit hard by the pandemic.
The spike has led a growing list of countries to impose restrictions on travel to Spain, which has nearly 323,000 confirmed cases of the disease, the highest number in Western Europe and 11th highest in the world.
"It's a critical moment, we are right at a point where things can get better or worse," said Salvador Macip, an expert in health sciences at Catalonia's Open University who has written a book called "The Great Modern Plagues".
"This means we have to pull out all the stops to curb outbreaks before they become more serious," he told AFP.
There are currently more than 500 outbreak clusters in Spain, according to the health ministry. The ministry's emergencies coordinator Fernando Simon acknowledged Monday that there are cases of community transmission in some places that are "not perfectly controlled" but he said they had "gradually subsided" in recent days.
06:20 PM
Welsh less likely to wear face coverings, survey finds
People in Wales are less likely to wear a face covering during the coronavirus pandemic than people in England and Scotland, according to a new survey.
Just 43 per cent of Welsh respondents said they had worn a covering or mask in the last two weeks, compared to 65 per cent in England and 75 per cent in Scotland.
Wales is the only country in Britain where face coverings are not required to be worn in shops to help prevent Covid-19 transmissions, but like in the rest of the UK they are mandatory on public transport.
First Minister Mark Drakeford has said he would not mandate the use of three-layered face coverings in public places like shops because the country had the two-metre social distance requirement written into its regulations.
But he said that could change depending on the state of the virus in Wales in future, while claiming businesses could request customers wear the coverings anyway.
In response to the poll, Andrew RT Davies, the Welsh Conservatives' shadow minister for health, urged requiring more people to use face coverings to avoid a resurgence of the virus. He said:
"Welsh Conservatives have always believed in being ahead of the curve when it comes to the Covid virus.
"That's why instead of waiting for an increase in cases as the Labour First Minister seems to want to, we believe that greater use of face masks should be mandated by the Welsh Labour Government to help avoid an uplift in the number of cases of Covid in Wales.
"Act today to save lives tomorrow."
06:09 PM
UN says pandemic could inflict severe damage on youth
The United Nations has warned that the coronavirus crisis could have a severe and lasting impact on the life prospects of young adults without swift remedial action.
The UN's International Labour Organization said the career prospects of people aged 18 to 29 were taking a hit from the Covid-19 pandemic, while students faced a "gloomy outlook" for its effects on their education.
The ILO report entitled "Youth and Covid-19: impacts on jobs, education, rights and mental well-being" said young adults had been disproportionately affected by the crisis.
The report was based on the Global Survey on Youth and Covid-19, a study of more than 12,000 young people aged 18 to 29, conducted online in 23 languages across 112 countries between April 21 and May 21.
The respondents were largely educated young adults with internet access, representing students and working young people with a tertiary education.
"The study finds the impact of the pandemic on young people to be systematic, deep and disproportionate. It has been particularly hard on young women, younger youth and youth in lower-income countries," the report said.
"Unless urgent action is taken, young people are likely to suffer severe and long-lasting impacts from the pandemic."
A young girl holds her mother's hand while waiting to be tested at a makeshift rapid testing centre in Hanoi, Vietnam - MANAN VATSYAYANA / AFP
05:56 PM
WHO lacks info to evaluate Russian COVID-19 vaccine, says PAHO
The World Health Organization has not received enough information on the Russian Covid-19 vaccine to evaluate it, the assistant director of its regional branch, the Pan American Health Organization, Jarbas Barbosa, said on Tuesday.
Asked about plans to produce the potential vaccine in Brazil, Barbosa said that should not be done until Phase 2 and 3 trials are completed to guarantee its safety and effectiveness.
"Any vaccine producer has to follow this procedure that guarantees it is safe and has the WHO's recommendation,"he said in a virtual briefing from Washington.
05:46 PM
UK records 1,148 new cases
A total of 1,148 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the United Kingdom as of 9am on Tuesday, compared with a figure of 816 on Monday, government data showed.
This continues the upward trend first seen with Sunday's latest figures, as new daily counts begin to rise above 1,000 for the first time since late June.
The cumulative total of UK cases stands at 311,641.
05:29 PM
Virus leaves more than half of German pubs and restaurants at risk
More than half of Germany’s pubs and restaurants are at risk of closure because of the coronavirus crisis, according to a new poll released on Tuesday.
A survey for the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) found 59.6 per cent of pubs and restaurants fear they may be forced out of business.
Sales in the industry fell by 60.1 per cent in the first seven months of the year, largely as a result of lockdown, according to Dehoga.
Pubs say limits on how many customers they can serve have left them struggling - Craig Stennett
05:23 PM
Coronavirus risk five times higher for young vapers, study finds
Vapers are putting themselves at increased risk from coronavirus, scientists have said after finding that those who use e-cigarettes are five times more likely to be diagnosed with the disease.
Stanford University scientists believe damage to the lungs caused by vaping may allow the virus to take hold more easily.
A team of paediatric specialists surveyed 4,351 young people between the ages of 13 and 24, asking them about their vaping habits and whether they used regular cigarettes. They also carried out swab testing on those who reported symptoms of coronavirus.
The research found that those who vaped were five to seven times more likely to be infected than those who did not use e-cigarettes.
a woman using a vaping device exhales a puff of smoke - Tony Dejak / AP
05:09 PM
Hair loss emerges as latest long-term Covid-19 symptom
An American actress has called on the public to take the Covid-19 pandemic more seriously after revealing her hair is now falling out in clumps months after contracting the disease.
Alyssa Milano posted a video to social media demonstrating her hair loss five months after she first experienced symptoms in March.
Lasting effects of the coronavirus such as fatigue, breathlessness and muscle degeneration have already been documented, but health experts are now warning that hair loss could be the latest long-term effect for patients.
Alyssa Milano posted a video to social media demonstrating her hair loss five months after she first experienced symptoms in March - Twitter / Alyssa Milano
04:53 PM
'They've really toughened up Track and Trace'
Matt
04:41 PM
Niger's girl brides
Karima fights back tears and twists her headscarf between her fingers as she remembers the day last year when she learned she was to become the second wife of a much older cousin.
The “marriage” took place in the 11-year-old’s absence and she was shocked when her parents told her that she would be moving to another village to live with her cousin.
“When I heard that I’m getting married I was crying and I was very angry about it,” she says, as her eyes fill with tears. “I could not get married to that man.”
Karima spoke from her home in Torodi – a small town about an hour’s drive from Niamey, the capital of Niger – before the world went into coronavirus lockdown.
The Telegraph had to travel to Torodi under an armed military escort as the town is near the border with Burkina Faso, a hotbed of jihadi activity.
Child marriage may be rooted in tradition but it is a practice that, before the pandemic, government was keen to overturn, with the president, Mahamadou Issoufo, last year denouncing it as paedophilia.
It is prevalent throughout this part of west Africa, but Niger has the highest rate in the world – around three quarters of girls are married before the age of 18 and almost a third marry before they are 15.
Now the coronavirus pandemic threatens to derail efforts to tackle the practice.
The world hit yet another grim coronavirus milestone on Monday evening, when known coronavirus infections topped 20 million worldwide, including more than 736,000 fatalities.
It’s a toll that appeared unbelievable when, as the world celebrated New Years Eve, news came that a “pneumonia of unknown origin” had been detected in Wuhan, China.
But the pandemic has grown exponentially - it took almost six months to hit 10 million cases, but just 43 days for that figure to double to 20 million.
So how did we get to this point? Anne Gulland and Sarah Newey tell the story of how the virus shifted across the globe.
A man wearing a face mask to protect against the coronavirus sits in front of a mural at a shopping and office complex in Beijing - Mark Schiefelbein / AP
04:10 PM
'Not important which country is first to approve vaccine', says professor
While we're on Twitter, take a look at this really important take from Lawrence Gostin, director of global health research centre the O'Neill Institute.
As news breaks about various countries approving or moving into the final stages of potential coronavirus vaccine tials, Prof Gostin warns against pitting pride against safety:
It's not important which country is FIRST approving #COVID19#vaccine. What's important is which country is BEST. Cutting legal & ethical corners for national pride is reckless, gambling with lives of pop. Safe vaccine doesn't follow a pol or election schedule. It follows science
Latest Government advice goes down well with the experts...
The latest Government advice on how to have safe sex during the time of Covid-19 has drawn some skepticism from global health expert, Professor Devi Sridhar
I'm sure freshers will take this advice super-seriously (as well as comply with Uni guidance banning wild parties & overnight stays) https://t.co/zl1DVG8gTd
Mexico to start Phase III trials of US and Chinese vaccines
Mexico has agreements with two Chinese companies and one American company for vaccine trials, the country's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said during Tuesday morning’s news conference.
Mexico will be participating in trials of vaccines being developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals (owned by Johnson & Johnson) and Chinese companies Cansino Biologics Inc and Walvax Biotechnology Co Ltd, bringing the number of vaccine trials in the country to four.
"We have agreements with three different companies, one from the US and two from China... the goal is that the protocols for Phase III will take place in Mexico. After this announcement, Mexico will participate in four protocols from September to January," Ebrard said.
03:40 PM
Boris Johnson warns there will be 'bumpy month ahead' as UK prepares for winter
Boris Johnson announced NHS trusts across England will receive £300 million to upgrade facilities ahead of the winter amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus.
The Prime Minister also said that there will be bumpy months ahead after unemployment data showed that UK job losses hit a decade-high.
"We always knew that this was going to be a very tough time for people losing their jobs," Johnson told reporters when asked about the data. "Clearly there are going to be bumpy months ahead and a long long way to go."
Data showed the number of people in work in Britain has suffered the biggest drop since 2009 and signs are growing that the coronavirus will take a heavier toll on the labour market as the government winds down its huge job-protection scheme.
03:31 PM
US accounts for half the daily 100,000 Covid-19 cases in Americas
More than 100,000 cases of Covid-19 are being reported every day in the Americas with at least half of them in the United States, the World Health Organization regional director Carissa Etienne said today.
She also noted that there are worrisome spikes in countries that had controlled their epidemics, such as Argentina and Colombia,
"Our region remains under COVID's grip," she said in a virtual briefing from Washington with other Pan American Health Organization directors. Etienne said the disruption of healthcare services threatened an increase in illnesses that were under control such as TB, HIV and hepatitis.
03:21 PM
ME charity warns against pushing Covid-19 patients to exercise too soon
Thousands of people having problems recovering from Covid-19 risk further damage to their health if they follow new NHS guidance aimed at getting them moving again, the UK’s oldest charity working with post-viral fatigue syndromes warned this week.
The ME Association says new online NHS England guidance on fatigue management increases the danger of people with a Post-Covid illness becoming long-term sufferers of Myalgic Encephalopathy, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
The charity is already fielding a steadily increasing number of inquiries every week from people who are unable, months after the initial infection, to shake off their Covid symptoms – fearing their condition may develop into the devastating energy-sapping condition M.E.
“The NHS guidance fails to acknowledge that people with any significant degree of post-Covid fatigue need an initial period of convalescence involving rest and relaxation”, the charity says in a letter to Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty and Professor Stephen Powis, Medical Director for NHS England.
Dr Charles Shepherd, said the guidance had “a potential for real and lasting harm”, including increasing the chance of patients going on to develop ME/CFS – by advising them, for example, to start using an exercise bike when they are still unable to go for a short walk.
03:11 PM
One third of India's laborers went without food during national lockdown
More than one-third of India’s internal migrant labour force went without eating for at least one day during the nation’s draconian Covid-19 lockdown, our India correspondent Joe Wallen reports.
A survey of 25,000 migrant labourers by the New Delhi-based Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) also found that almost half of India’s migrant labourers regularly skipped meals.
Between March 25 and June 1, Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, announced a strict curfew in an attempt to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the world’s second-most populous country. While public health experts agree the lockdown gave India’s beleaguered public health system time to prepare for an influx of cases, it had a catastrophic impact on India’s economy.
Around 90 percent of India’s workforce are employed informally - typically, without a written contract or regular pay - and were suddenly confined to their homes without a source of income.
While the Indian Government promised food rations for the poor, its distribution was hampered by bureaucratic problems and the CSDS survey found that just over one-in-four households without a ration card received promised supplies.'
Migrant labourers and their families stranded, at a bus station during India's national lockdown in July - AFP_1VA1KA
03:00 PM
Breast cancer treatments delayed due to coronavirus have affected women's mental health, study finds
Breast cancer treatment delays caused by the coronavirus response have led to increased depression and anxiety among patients, which experts fear could harm their survival.
A new study by Birkbeck, University of London, has found that nearly one in three women diagnosed with primary breast cancer had treatment, appointments or scans postponed as a result of the pandemic response.
Those women reported poorer mental health than women who were able to continue treatment, scoring around 20 per cent higher for depression and anxiety on questionnaires.
Experts are concerned not only because delays to therapy can harm survival, but because previous studies have shown that poor mental health can also increase cancer mortality.
Professor Nazanin Derakhshan, founder of Birkbeck’s Centre for Building Resilience in Breast Cancer who supervised the research, said: "This study is the first to find evidence on the effects on patients’ mental health of the disruption to cancer services caused by the response to Covid-19."
"Women with breast cancer are known to be at a heightened risk of developing mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, loss of confidence, worry and fear about their conditions, so it is perhaps not surprising that these feelings can intensify if their treatment is affected."
Labour: Shadow Health Minister questions Serco's role in test and trace scheme
Labour has raised fresh questions over Serco's role in the Government's test-and-trace programme to track coronavirus cases.
Shadow health minister Justin Madders accused the Government of being "too quick to hand out juicy contracts to the private sector" as he shared a letter on Twitter, which he claimed revealed communication with the company back in January months ahead of the coronavirus lockdown. Mr Madders said:
"Serious questions need to be answered about why Serco was asked as early as January to get involved in the Government's response to the pandemic and whether adequate procurement processes were followed when Serco was later awarded the contract to oversee contact tracing."
A Serco spokesman said: "Serco was appointed to the test-and-trace programme in May under an initial three-month contract. Serco was appointed under the Crown Commercial Service's contact centre services framework."
"We gained our place on the framework through fair and open competition."
This is an email from the Customer Services Director at Serco explaining how they first got involved in track and trace. “I received a phone call from Public Health England officials on 22nd January...” Who instructed officials to make that phone call? Why Serco? We need answers! pic.twitter.com/AFgXywHYgQ
Scotland: Education Secretary apologises to students whose results were downgraded
Scotland's Education Secretary John Swinney has apologised to students whose results were downgraded and announced that 124,564 downgraded exam results will revert to the grades estimated by pupils' teachers.
Speaking to MSPs, Mr Swinney said that he had spoken to a number of young people who had protested against their results last week, which saw almost 125,000 teacher estimates downgraded.
Mr Swinney has been criticised after Higher pass rates for pupils in the most deprived areas were reduced by 15.2 per cent compared with 6.9 per cent in the most affluent parts of the country.
The Education Secretary said: "We set out to ensure that the system was fair. We set out to ensure it was credible. But we did not get it right for all young people."
"Before I go any further, I want to apologise for that.
"In speaking directly to the young people affected by the downgrading of awards - the 75,000 pupils whose teacher estimates were higher than their final award - I want to say this: I am sorry."
Earlier today, the Welsh Government insisted that students awaiting their A-level results in Wales would not be failed in the same way as their Scottish counterparts.
Minister Julie James said: "We're not expecting what happened in Scotland to happen here"
02:03 PM
US: President Trump says the pandemic has changed his 'great' relationship with China's Xi
President Donald Trump has said that his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping has disintegrated in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
In an interview with Fox Sports Radio, Mr Trump said: "I had a great relationship with President Xi. I like him, but I don’t feel the same way now."
President Donald Trump wears a mask as he tours the Whirlpool Corporation facility in Clyde, Ohio - Susan Walsh/AP
"I certainly feel differently. I had a very, very good relationship, and I haven’t spoken to him in a long time."
The President said that he regarded the fallout from the pandemic as worse than the US-China conflict over trade.
He added: "This is a thousand times the trade deal what happened with all of the death and ... the world had to shutdown. It’s a disgrace".
Analysis: 'Is better testing fuelling the increase in Covid-19 cases?'
Fears of a fresh Covid-19 surge mounted this week as the UK saw its largest rise in new cases since the end of June - but data suggests the rise is being driven by more infections in younger people and increased testing.
A total of 1,062 people tested positive for Covid in the 24 hours before 9am on Sunday - nearly a fortnight after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of the possibility of a 'second wave' of infections.
But the rise appearing in the UK's daily case numbers may in part be due to more testing - as infection rates climb among younger people while community testing is ramped up .
Dominic Gilbert and Alex Clark give their analysis of the latest figures here.
01:34 PM
England: Covid-19 hospital death toll rises to 29,425
A further six people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, with four of the regions recording no fatalities at all.
There was one death recorded in the Midlands, one in the South East and four in the North West, NHS England have said.
It brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 29,425.
Patients were aged between 46 and 96 years old. All had known underlying health conditions.
Our graph below highlights the rate of new positive cases across regions within England.
01:27 PM
Wales: Covid-19 fatalities near 1,600
Another two people who tested positive for coronavirus in Wales have died, bringing the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,581.
Public Health Wales said the total number of cases in the country increased by 13, bringing the revised total of confirmed cases to 17,476.
01:21 PM
In pictures: Around the world, countries adapt to the new normal
Indonesian traditional dancers, wearing face shields as part of COVID-19 measures - ADEK BERRY/AFP A demonstrator walks towards Lebanese riot police during a protest in Beirut - GORAN TOMASEVIC/REUTERS Firefighters wearing protective suits spray disinfectant in the Indonesian Parliament amid the coronavirus disease - AJENG DINAR ULFIANA/REUTERS A Vietnamese woman carries a stuffed animal while boarding a repatriation flight from Singapore to Vietnam amid spread of the coronavirus disease outbreak at Changi airport, Singapore - STAFF/REUTERS
01:02 PM
New Zealand: Auckland lockdown is a reminder of the importance of contact tracing, leading experts say
Following the news that Auckland will be placed under temporary lockdown, leading experts have stressed the importance of contact tracing.
Dr Andrew Chen, Research Fellow at The University of Auckland said: "The announcement of four new cases in the community is a timely reminder that we all need to be engaged with contact tracing processes."
"We don't need to panic, but it reiterates the message that Covid-19 can reappear and we will need to continue to maintain and collect contact tracing records for awhile."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that Auckland will be placed under temporary lockdown following an outbreak in the area. - Mark Coote/2020 Bloomberg Finance LP
Meanwhile, Dr Amanda Kvalsvig, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago Wellington added: "Moving up to Alert Level 3 in Auckland will keep everyone’s bubbles small, and it will also help the contact tracing system because with fewer contacts, it will be easier to identify and quarantine the close contacts of each case."
"A key action from Government now is to ensure that people who need to go into isolation or quarantine are supported to do so, including financial support and help with practicalities like food shopping. We won’t get on top of outbreaks if people who should be isolating are forced to keep going in to work so they can feed their families."
12:46 PM
Afternoon summary
If you are just joining us, here is a round up of today’s top stories:
The global number of Covid-19 cases has reached 20 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre.
Russia’s health ministry has given regulatory approval for the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that Auckland will be placed under temporary lockdown following an outbreak in the area.
Bhutan has ordered its first nationwide lockdown after a returning resident tested positive for coronavirus after being discharged from quarantine.
Former Indian president Pranab Mukherjee has been placed on ventilator support, just one day after announcing that he had tested positive for coronavirus.
The number of UK workers on payrolls fell by 730,000 between March and July as another 81,000 jobs were lost last month, in large part due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Office for National Statistics has said.
British department store Debenhams has announced 2,500 job cuts, citing a difficult “trading environment” as the primary reason for the decision.
12:28 PM
Analysis: 'The race is on to heal the jobs market before furlough ends'
The race is on, writes Tim Wallace. Can the recovering economy generate enough jobs in the next three months to prevent a huge spike in joblessness when the furlough scheme ends?
Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, will hope so: his flagship job retention scheme (JRS) has clearly saved millions of workers so far. He will not want that good work to be undone with an autumn of agony in the labour market.
The crucial number for the Chancellor is job vacancies. Is demand for workers returning? Do those who are laid off have a chance of finding a new position?
Last month there was a modest rise in vacancies, the first increase since January.
The Office for National Statistics found 370,000 available positions between May and July, up from 337,000 in the three months to June.
PM: 'No doubt' that the reopening of schools can 'be done safely'
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted that it would be safe for England's schoolchildren to return to classes in September.
He told reporters during a visit to Herefordshire: "I have no doubt that it can be done safely. Schools are doing a huge amount to make sure that it is done safely."
"Just for the sake of social justice, ensuring that all our kids get the education they need, we need to get our pupils, our children, back to school in September and I am very, very impressed by the work that has been done to make those schools Covid-secure."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds his arms out like an aeroplane, demonstrating the two metre distancing rule, during his visit to St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Upminster, east London - Lucy Young/Evening Standard/PA
Asked about reports that work by Public Health England suggested secondary school pupils transmit coronavirus like adults, Boris Johnson said: "Obviously we need to make sure that we don't have a second wave, that we do everything we can to avoid a second wave.
"I'm afraid you are going to see outbreaks, we have seen them across the country in the last few weeks and months and we have also seen the immense efforts that local authorities have gone to, local communities have gone to, to get that outbreak under control.
"The most important thing for people to remember is that you have got to get schools back, we will get schools back, but also we have got to stick to our discipline - so in schools they have some very well thought through plans for how to manage it."
Sturgeon: Reopening of schools is a 'major milestone' but the public still needs to be 'vigilant'
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that schools returning marked a "major milestone" in the fight against coronavirus in Scotland.
Speaking at this afternoon's briefing, she said: "Today's return has been made possible by the progress all of us have made in suppressing the virus but we know from all sorts of evidence here at home and elsewhere across the UK and across Europe that progress remains fragile and we all really need to continue to be vigilant and cautious."
In Scotland, 19,079 people have now tested positive for Covid-19, an increase of 52 from yesterday.
No new coronavirus deaths have been registered in the last 24 hours, meaning the total death toll still stands at 2,491.
11:51 AM
WHO discussing new coronavirus vaccine with Russia
The World Health Organization and Russian health authorities are discussing the process for possible WHO prequalification for its newly approved Covid-19 vaccine, a WHO spokesman said on Tuesday.
President Vladimir Putin announced earlier today that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing.
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing - Dado Ruvic/REUTERS
In response to the latest news, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told a U.N. briefing in Geneva: "We are in close contact with Russian health authorities and discussions are ongoing with respect to possible WHO prequalification of the vaccine, but again prequalification of any vaccine includes the rigorous review and assessment of all required safety and efficacy data."
British department store Debenhams has announced 2,500 job cuts, citing the pandemic as the primary reason for the decision.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the company said: "We have successfully reopened 124 stores, post-lockdown, and these are currently trading ahead of management expectations".
"At the same time, the trading environment is clearly a long way from returning to normal and we have to ensure our store costs are aligned with realistic expectations."
For all of the latest business news, follow our live blog here.
11:10 AM
Labour: More support needed for businesses impacted by local lockdowns
Extra support is needed in areas of the country affected by additional lockdown restrictions, business leaders from Lancashire have said, in a virtual meeting with the shadow chancellor.
Labour's Anneliese Dodds held a Zoom meeting on Tuesday with business owners and workers from east Lancashire, where some areas have seen extra measures brought in due to a rise in coronavirus cases.
Miranda Barker, the chief executive of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, said: "We need support for those businesses who have got themselves ready to reopen, they have restocked - there are an awful lot of food businesses - and they are literally now having to throw things away because they are not getting the take-up."
In east Lancashire, extra restrictions were imposed in Pendle, which has the highest infection rate in England at the moment, as well as Burnley, Rossendale and Hyndburn to stop residents meeting other people in their homes, gardens or other indoor venues.
Speaking after the meeting, Ms Dodds said: "We think we need to have a more flexible approach from Government around this, both in the context of those localised lockdowns but also potentially, if we do see a situation where there's a more general additional wave of the disease across the country.
"The Government seems to be taking a really ad hoc short-term approach."
10:47 AM
Philippine President Duterte says he has 'huge trust' in Russia's vaccine
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has praised Russia’s efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine and has expressed a willingness to personally participate in trials.
Russia has offered to supply or co-manufacture the vaccine in the Philippines, which said it was ready to work with Moscow on trials, supply and production.
"I will tell President (Vladimir) Putin that I have huge trust in your studies in combating Covid and I believe that the vaccine that you have produced is really good for humanity," Duterte said late on Monday.
He added: "I can be the first they can experiment on."
On Tuesday, The Philippines reported a further 2,987 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total caseload to 139,538.
10:24 AM
'It is not possible to know if the Russian vaccine has been shown to be effective', say leading scientists
Following the news that Russia’s health ministry has given regulatory approval for the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, leading professors from the UK’s top universities have warned that Russia may need to give the global scientific community more detail on the vaccine.
Prof Danny Altmann, Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London, said: "There are many vaccines in development around the world and we all share an interest in this being a truly open, global effort to use the very best vaccines – in terms of protection, safety and durability."
On Tuesday morning, President Putin announced that Russia’s health ministry has given regulatory approval for the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine - Alexei Nikolsky/Pool Sputnik Kremlin
"While information on the vast majority of the vaccines and trial protocols in the world have been made available, there seems to be rather little detail thus far on the Russian candidates, except for a protocol on Clintrials.gov, which seemed to suggest an adenovirus vector."
Meanwhile, Prof Keith Neal, Emeritus Professor of the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, University of Nottingham, added: "It is not possible to know if the Russian vaccine has been shown to be effective without submission of scientific papers for analysis and then there may be problems on data quality."
More local resources needed to ensure test and trace success, Public Health directors warn
The president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, Jeanelle de Gruchy, has welcomed changes to the test and trace system, but has warned that more resources will be needed to ensure its success.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think this is an evolution of the system... it's fantastic that the Government is recognising the value of local government, which is rooted in the community and the importance of this for the test and trace programme, so we're really pleased about the direction and we're very keen to continue to work with the Government to make this a fully integrated national and local system to improve the way we're doing the test and trace system."
"Some people, some communities, they need a much more local approach in terms of people who know the communities, know where people are, how to contact them and, as you say, knock on their doors and have that conversation face-to-face, because a lot of what we're asking people, it is a lot to self-isolate for 14 days, so all the support that we can give to them really does help make it the most effective it can be.
"Resources to deliver it will be an issue because we are being asked to do a lot more."
09:40 AM
Singapore reports 61 Covid-19 cases
Singapore has reported 61 new coronavirus cases, its lowest daily count in more than four months.
The region went into a lockdown in mid-April after mass outbreaks in cramped migrant worker dormitories pushed its caseload to one of the highest in Asia.
Last week, the city-state said it had cleared infections from all of the dormitories - which house around 300,000 workers.
Click on our interactive tool below to see how the pandemic spread across the world.
09:24 AM
Special report: Meet the workers fighting back against bosses who spy on them while working from home
Many employers have embraced monitoring software to keep tabs on what their staff are up to at home, reports Hannah Boland.
Many employers have embraced monitoring software to keep tabs on what their staff are up to at home - Joe Giddens/PA
When Steve Williams created a piece of software to automatically move a mouse around a screen 10 years ago, there was nothing underhand about his motives.
At the time, he was working at a large investment bank where different members of staff needed to use a single machine without logging out each time.
“Move Mouse just started as a really simple script to keep the machine alive,” he says.
Ever since, the software has developed a small but loyal fan-base of people who rely on the software and other similar tools to keep their systems logged in during lengthy work processes.
Williams had never predicted what would come next – or how the spread of a deadly virus might impact demand.
This year, since the first few weeks of lockdown, Williams says the software has experienced a “massive spike” in downloads. In the end, he says: “There were something like 40,000 people a day using Move Mouse”.
What explains the huge surge? Williams says one obvious reason is that people are working from home – and want to appear to be online even when they are not.
Russia’s health ministry has given regulatory approval for the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday.
It is hoped that the vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, will pave the way for mass inoculation - even as the final stages of clinical trials to test safety and efficacy continue.
"This morning, for the first time in the world, a vaccine against the new coronavirus was registered" in Russia, President Putin said during a televised video conference call with government ministers.
Test and trace system 'has to be run locally' says leading professor
Professor Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, has said that the test and trace system will be more effective "if it's done close to the population" and if local authorities are able to take the lead.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "I think, as many of us have been saying for quite some time now and particularly the local directors of public health, any infectious disease surveillance system will only work well if it's done close to the population."
Samples are taken at a coronavirus testing facility in Temple Green Park and Ride, Leeds - Danny Lawson/PA
He continued: "In this country we have had many years of very successful, very effective infectious disease surveillance for a wide range of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, meningitis and many others, and not to actually have used that skill and that experience, I think it was very clear this was not going to be as effective as it could have been."
Asked if money should go to local councils instead, he replied: "Oh absolutely, the local councils are already, in terms of the investigation of local outbreaks, are showing a very effective system and I think it has to be run locally and it has to be resourced so that local government can achieve that and it's reassuring that actually this might now happen."
08:56 AM
More than 50,000 deaths involving Covid-19 recorded in England and Wales, ONS figures show
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics have been released.
Here are some of the key points:
A total of 8,946 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the week ending July 31 - 90 fewer than the five-year average of 9,036.
The latest figures mark the seventh week in a row that deaths have been below the five-year average.
Of the deaths registered in the week to July 31, 193 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate - the lowest number of deaths involving Covid-19 since the week ending March 20.
In total, 51,779 deaths involving Covid-19 occurred in England and Wales up to July 31 - the figures include deaths registered by August 8.
08:44 AM
Heathrow passenger numbers fall by 89 per cent
Heathrow's passenger numbers were down 89 per cent in July, figures published by the airport show.
Just 867,000 people travelled through the west London airport last month, compared with 7.754 million in July 2019.
According to the airport, more than half of the passengers who used Heathrow in July were visiting European destinations, the majority of which do not require people to go into quarantine upon returning to the UK.
Heathrow also said that 60 per cent of its route network remained grounded and argued that the Government's quarantine policy was "preventing the UK from travelling to and trading with these countries".
Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said:
"Tens of thousands of jobs are being lost because Britain remains cut off from critical markets such as the US, Canada and Singapore.
"The Government can save jobs by introducing testing to cut quarantine from higher-risk countries, while keeping the public safe from a second wave of Covid."
Click here, to keep up-to-date with the latest travel news on our live blog.
A further 130 coronavirus deaths have been recorded within Russia taking the total death toll to 15,131.
The number of confirmed, new cases rose by 4,945, bringing the country's caseload to 897,599 - the fourth largest in the world.
08:19 AM
Former Indian President placed on ventilator support after contracting Covid-19
Former Indian president Pranab Mukherjee has been placed on ventilator support, just one day after announcing that he had tested positive for coronavirus.
According to local media, Mr Mukherjee was in hospital for a surgical procedure to remove a blood clot from his brain.
On Monday, Mr Mukherjee announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for coronavirus and urged individuals who had been in contact with him to get tested.
The 84 year old, served as president between 2012 and 2017 and also led India’s federal defence, foreign affairs, finance ministries over a decades-long political career.
At least 50,000 new cases have been reported in India every day since July 30.
On a visit to the hospital for a separate procedure, I have tested positive for COVID19 today. I request the people who came in contact with me in the last week, to please self isolate and get tested for COVID-19. #CitizenMukherjee
No plans for face masks in the classroom, says minister
Edward Argar, a health minister, said face coverings for pupils was "not something that's in prospect at this point".
He told BBC Breakfast: "On the basis of the many studies we've seen so far, I think parents can have confidence that it's safe for their children to go back to school and it's very important their children do go back to school so they can continue their education."
Asked about masks, he said: "Well, that's not something that's in prospect at this point. We've been clear and the Department for Education have been clear that that poses a challenge to actually the ability to teach and the ability to learn in certain contexts.
"We don't think that that's necessary at this point, not least because we are essentially setting up different class groups or year groups as social bubbles...
"But at the moment we believe the measures that have been put in place around social distancing, around those bubbles and around the facility to test if necessary, are the right ones to continue to make our schools safe when they reopen."
He added: "What we've done is, we've been - quite rightly I think - willing to be guided by the scientific advice on things like masks and other aspects of this which, as you'll have seen over those past three or four months, has evolved."
07:47 AM
Covid-19 sends 730,000 UK workers home for good
The number of UK workers on payrolls fell by 730,000 between March and July as another 81,000 jobs were lost last month, in large part due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Office for National Statistics has said.
The latest tranche of economic data gives a clear view of the effect of coronavirus on the jobs market.
Louis Ashworth, our lightning-fingered business live blogger, has all the latest here.
07:33 AM
Bhutan heads into lockdown for the first time
A luxury hotel in Bhutan, closed since March - Six Senses Bhutan
Bhutan has ordered its first nationwide lockdown after a returning resident tested positive for coronavirus after being discharged from quarantine.
The case took the total in the tiny Himalayan kingdom to 113, still the lowest in South Asia.
The country has yet to record a fatality.
Bhutan, which is heavily reliant on high-end tourists, banned tourism in March after an American visitor tested positive for the virus, and ordered a three week mandatory quarantine for everyone returning from abroad.
The lockdown was ordered after a 27-year-old Bhutanese woman, who returned from Kuwait and was discharged from quarantine after testing negative, tested positive at a clinic on Monday.
"The unprecedented lockdown is enforced to identify and isolate all positive cases, immediately breaking the chain of transmission," the government said in a statement, restricting movement of people and vehicles in the largely Buddhist nation of 750,000 people.
"Everyone is asked to stay home to protect themselves and their families from the disease, should there be undetected, rampant transmission," the government said.
07:26 AM
Global Covid cases have hit 20 million, says tally
The global number of Covid-19 cases has reached 20 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre.
The grim milestone was reached in the early hours of Tuesday morning, UK time, with 20,011,186 cases worldwide.
The total number of global coronavirus deaths stands at 734,664, according to experts at Johns Hopkins, the American university whose aggregated tally has become the main reference for monitoring the disease.
The US has also suffered the most deaths at 163,331, while there have been 101,000 in Brazil, 52,000 in Mexico, 46,611 in the UK and more than 44,000 in India.
The number of cases in the US has just passed five million, Brazil has reached three million, with 2.2 million in India, almost 900,000 in Russia and 560,000 in South Africa.
The UK has 313,392 cases according to the university, putting it 12th on the list, just behind Spain.
Track all the latest here:
07:24 AM
Councils won't get any extra money for door-to-door tracing, suggests minister
Edward Argar - Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph
Edward Argar, a health minister, has been sent out to bat for the Government on the Today programme.
He was just confronted with the claim that councils won't have enough money to run the new door-to-door contact tracing system.
Asked whether councils will receive extra funding from central Government to operate the system, Mr Argar said the Government had already been given "billions of pounds" to run local health responses to Covid-19.
He would not commit to any extra funding for the contact tracing work that councils will be doing under the new system.
"This is about having the scale of the national calling alongside the work on the ground from people who know the local communities," he said.
"You will still have that national calling, that national push to make contact, but for people we can't reach, they will be contacted door-to-door."
Jeanelle de Gruchy, the director of public health for Thameside Council, has already said "resources will be an issue".
07:03 AM
Do teenagers spread Covid just like adults?
This morning's health debate revolves around a new piece of research published in the Times this morning that suggests teenagers in secondary schools may be able to spread the virus as easily as adults can.
If accurate, that could be an issue for Boris Johnson's plans to send high schoolers back to the classroom in September, especially since older children are more likely to socialise outside their classroom "bubbles".
But Edward Argar, a health minister, said this morning people should be "cautious" interpreting the report, which was a "work in progress".
06:53 AM
Good morning
Good morning. If you're just joining us and want to catch up on the latest Covid news over breakfast, here is all you need to know from the morning's papers.
This morning's Daily Telegraph - Daily Telegraph
Today's Daily Telegraph splashreports that contact tracers will soon be sent to knock on doors rather than calling potentially infected people, as part of a wider devolution of the Government's test and trace programme to local councils. Local health chiefs have welcomed the move but - unsurprisingly - called for more resources to make the UK's system "world beating".
A global tally of coronavirus cases run by Johns Hopkins University in the United States says there are now more than 20 million cases worldwide. The tally is one of the most reliably reported figures but, as always, the true figure could be much higher.
Children in Scottish schools are heading back to the classroom today for the first time since the start of lockdown. We'll be bringing you the latest on that as it comes in.
New figures published just now show 730,000 jobs were lost in first four months of the Covid crisis in the UK. Claims for income support also jumped, with 2.69m people now claiming either Jobseekers’ Allowance or certain unemployment-related versions of Universal Credit. Louis Ashworth has the latest on our business blog.
Worried would-be holidaymakers wake up to the news in the Daily Mail this morning that quarantine measures could be extended to France, Holland, Switzerland and Malta. Downing Street has not ruled out any more last-minute changes to the rules based on foreign 'R' rates, with Whitehall sources declaring last night: "No holiday is necessarily guaranteed."
In happier news, more than 10.5 million Britons have already cashed in on the Government's Eat Out to Help out scheme, saving up to £10 each on a meal out to bring confidence back to the hospitality sector.
05:29 AM
Philippine President offers to be 'guinea pig' in Russia vaccine trial
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has lauded Russia's efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine and is willing to participate in trials, as he welcomed a supply offer from Moscow that he expects will be free of charge.
Russia expects regulatory approval for a potential Covid-19 vaccine this month and is ready to provide it to the Philippines, or team up with a local firm to mass produce it.
The Philippines has among Asia's highest numbers of infections, which rose to 136,638 on Monday after a record daily jump of 6,958 cases.
"I will tell President (Vladimir) Putin that I have huge trust in your studies in combating Covid and I believe that the vaccine that you have produced is really good for humanity," Mr Duterte said on television late on Monday.
The frenetic global race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine has raised concern that speed and national prestige could compromise safety.
To allay public fears, Mr Duterte offered to be a guinea pig when the vaccine arrives and said: "I can be the first they can experiment on."
Filipinos who were hoping to go back home to their provinces but were left stranded after the government reimposed a lockdown queue for free meals - Getty
04:50 AM
S. Korean drugmaker gets India nod to test anti-parasite drug
South Korea's Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co said on Tuesday it received Indian regulatory approval to test its anti-parasitic niclosamide drug to treat Covid-19 patients in an early-stage human trial.
The phase 1 trial, approved by India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, will involve around 30 healthy participants to test safety and kickstart this month, Daewoong said in a statement.
The South Korean drugmaker is testing the drug in partnership with New Delhi-based Mankind Pharma Ltd, which will continue the second and third phases of trials in India on mild and severe coronavirus patients.
The trial results from India will be used for export permits in Europe and the US, said Daewoong.
Daewoong had said its anti-viral drug had completely eliminated the virus from animals' lungs during pre-clinical testing.
Late-stage trial for potential vaccine launched in Indonesia
China's Sinovac Biotech launched on Tuesday a late-stage human trial involving as many as 1,620 patients in Indonesia for a Covid-19 vaccine candidate that it is developing with Indonesian state-owned peer Bio Farma.
The candidate, known as CoronaVac and previously PiCoVacc, is among few potential vaccines that have entered late-stage trials for a large-scale study to gather proof of efficacy for regulatory approval.
CoronaVac is already undergoing a late-stage trial in Brazil slated for as many as 9,000 people.
Its Indonesia trial comes as Southeast Asia's most populous country grapples with spiking infection numbers, with over 127,000 cases recorded as of Tuesday. The trial has so far recruited 1,215 people and will last six months.
A worker walks through a grave site provided by the government for coronavirus victims in Medan, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia - via Reuters
03:47 AM
NZ retirement village in lockdown
A New Zealand retirement village has gone into lockdown after residents displayed symptoms of respiratory illness, the New Zealand Herald reported on Tuesday.
The Village Palms retirement village in Christchurch advised of the lockdown in a letter to family members today, the newspaper said. No further details were immediately available.
New Zealand, which has managed to largely contain the spread of the coronavirus, has gone more than 100 days without community transmission of COVID-19.
02:02 AM
Wuhan on the road to recovery
Fans dancing at an electronic music festival, long lines at breakfast stands, gridlocked traffic - the scenes in ground zero Wuhan these days would have been unthinkable in January.
The central Chinese city's recovery after a 76-day lockdown was lifted in April has brought life back onto its streets.
The queues snaking outside breakfast stands are a far cry from the terrified crowds that lined up at the city's hospitals in the first weeks after the city was quarantined in January.
The hazmat suits and safety goggles that were once the norm have given way to umbrellas and sun hats as tourists shield themselves from the scorching summer sun, posing for photos in front of the city's historic Yellow Crane Tower.
But all is not back to normal.
Business remains slow in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the coronavirus was first detected late last year before it unleashed a global pandemic.
People dancing during the afternoon next to the Yangtze River in Wuhan - AFP
12:50 AM
Summary of news from around the world
Spanish actor Antonio Banderas says he has tested positive and is celebrating his 60th birthday in quarantine.
Greece's culture ministry is closing down the Museum of the Ancient Agora, a major archaeological site in central Athens, for two weeks after a cleaner there was diagnosed with Covid-19.
Thailand is making plans to allow at least 3,000 foreign teachers to enter the country, even as it continues to keep out tourists and tightly restricts other arrivals to guard against infections.
The incoming president of the United Nations General Assembly has praised Pakistan for quickly containing the coronavirus, saying the South Asian nation's handling of the pandemic is a good example for the world.
Mexico's health ministry on Monday reported 5,558 new cases and 705 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 485,836 cases and 53,003 deaths.
In the US, California's top public health officer has resigned following data-collection failures that led to an undercount of cases as the state was reporting a downward trend in infections.
Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria on Tuesday reported 19 deaths in the last 24 hours and 331 new cases.
Thai kindergarteners wear face masks as they play in screened in play areas - Getty
12:17 AM
Global cases tally reaches 20 million
The global number of Covid-19 cases has reached 20 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre.
The total number of global deaths stands at 733,103, according to experts at the American university, whose aggregated tally has become the main reference for monitoring the disease.
The UK has 313,390 cases according to the university, putting it 12th on the list, just behind Spain.
The US has suffered the most deaths at 163,331, while there have been 101,000 in Brazil, 52,000 in Mexico, 46,611 in the UK and more than 44,000 in India.
A health worker collects a swab from a resident at a makeshift free Covid-19 testing booth in Hyderabad - AFP
11:35 PM
Rio considers app for beachgoers to reserve space
Sunbathers wanting to visit Rio de Janeiro's famous beaches, despite Brazil's raging Covid-19 epidemic, could soon be able to reserve socially-distant sand space through a mobile app, the city's mayor said on Monday.
Rio's beaches currently have a hodgepodge of sanitary restrictions in place. Visitors and cariocas, as local residents are known, can swim and practice individual sports on the sand during the week. But team sports can only be played Monday through Friday. Merchants can sell beverages, but not alcoholic ones.
The one thing nobody has been allowed to do since the outbreak, officially at least, is to simply plunk down on the beaches and take in the sun.
Rio's beaches have often been full recently, especially on weekends, as visitors ignore restrictions aimed at fighting the world's second worst outbreak, with deaths surpassing 100,000.
Now city officials are hoping to turn to technology to help ensure that social-distancing measures, including and proper conditions for sunbathing, are respected.
Cariocas and tourists who wish to sunbathe on the beaches will have to reserve their space through a mobile application - Antonio Lacerda/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
11:19 PM
Trump weighs blocking US citizens coming home over infection fears
The administration of US President Donald Trump is considering a measure to block US citizens and permanent residents from returning home if they are suspected of being infected with coronavirus, a senior US official confirmed to Reuters.
The official said a draft regulation, which has not been finalised and could change, would give the government authorisation to block individuals who could “reasonably” be believed to have contracted Covid-19 or other diseases.
Mr Trump has instituted a series of sweeping immigration restrictions since the start of the pandemic, suspending some legal immigration and allowing US border authorities to rapidly deport migrants caught at the border without standard legal processes.
There is “no risk-free way of travelling overseas” Downing Street has warned, after Boris Johnson said he would "not hesitate" to impose quarantine for other countries.
Video has emerged of people ignoring social distancing rules and holding spontaneous “corona parties” on crowded Berlin subway trains late at night.
Almost 100,000 American children tested positive for Covid-19 in the last two weeks of July, raising concerns for many US schools which planned to reopen this month.
A horse trainer who was accused of the murder and rape of a showjumper he was in an “illicit relationship” with has been found dead before the second day of his trial was set to begin.
If, as appears more likely than not, Donald Trump returns to the White House come January 20 2025, China will become America’s unmatched foreign policy priority. But the happy days of Trump’s red-carpet fetes in Beijing are long forgotten.
Iran replaced a destroyed radar installation within hours of an Israeli strike on an air base last week in an attempt to make it appear as though the damage had been minimal, it has been claimed.
Hezbollah has launched a series of drone strikes against Israeli military bases, in its deepest attack inside Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.
When you are fighting to stay in the title race and need a win at the home of your city rivals, you cannot get away with the calamitous defending that gifted Everton the lead against Liverpool.
In a suit being brought by her ex-cameraman, Megan Thee Stallion is being sued for allegedly creating a hostile work environment and forcing her former videographer to watch her having lesbian sex.
Last summer there were high expectations that Ukraine’s major counter offensive would succeed in driving Russian forces back, setting the stage for victory. That didn’t happen; instead the offensive faltered and gained little ground. This failure can be laid squarely at the feet of Western refusal to supply adequate military aid. The result was a silent backlash in domestic politics both sides of the Atlantic, which undoubtedly contributed to the US president’s failure to get a further aid packa
"We pulled over and I got out of the car and saw that an alligator had him by the leg," Walter Rudder recalled to a local news outlet about the scary incident
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -TikTok's chief executive said on Wednesday the social media company expects to win a legal challenge to block legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden that he said would ban its popular short video app used by 170 million Americans. "Rest assured - we aren't going anywhere," CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a video posted moments after Biden signed the bill that gives China-based ByteDance 270 days to divest TikTok's U.S. assets or face a ban. Biden's signing sets a Jan. 19 deadline for a sale - one day before his term is set to expire - but he could extend the deadline by three months if he determines ByteDance is making progress.
Around half of the remaining Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas have been killed in Gaza, an Israeli-American captive said in a rare proof-of-life video.
