Coronavirus live news: England ‘bracing for 1-2m cases in weeks’; toughest curbs in force in South Korea capital

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a post-Cabinet press conference on Monday that many government-employed workers at the border have been vaccinated but privately-employed workers are lagging behind.

“Our view is that the uptake in that group hasn’t been as high and so now we are taking the next step to place an order upon them.”

“It is an extraordinary step to mandate, and to tell someone who may perhaps be employed by a private-sector employer, that they will not work in their job unless they are vaccinated – that is a very big step,” Ardern said.

Enough time has passed for workers to voluntarily get vaccinated, she said, but the uptake needs to be higher.

South Korea has reported more than 1,000 coronavirus cases for the sixth straight day as the greater capital area entered stringent social distancing restrictions to slow transmissions.

The 1,100 new cases reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency were the highest ever for a Monday, when the daily increase is usually smaller because of reduced tests during the weekends.

More than 780 of the cases were from capital Seoul and nearby Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, areas where officials have enforced the country’s strongest social distancing measures starting Monday.

Private social gatherings of three or more people will be prohibited from 6 p.m., nightclubs and churches will be shut down, and visitors will be banned at hospitals and nursing homes.

South Korea has added more than 12,100 cases this month alone, brining its caseload to 169,146, including 2,044 deaths. The country last week set record daily increases for three straight days through Saturday, when it reported 1,378 new cases.

The viral surge is a worrisome development in a country where only 30.4% among a population of 51 million have received their first doses of vaccines.

Boris Johnson has said caution is “absolutely vital” before the abandonment of virtually all formal Covid restrictions as ministers toughen their language amid expectations of soaring infection rates.

The Guardian understands that ministers have been told to brace for at least one to two million new cases of coronavirus in the coming weeks, though the vaccination programme means far smaller proportions of those infected will be hospitalised and die than in previous waves.

The move into the final stage of unlocking on 19 July, to be announced by the prime minister on Monday afternoon, has been billed as the moment for people to rely on their own judgment over coronavirus precautions, rather than official prescriptions.

The Guardian’s Peter Walker and Ian Sample report:

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.

Boris Johnson has said England is “tantalisingly close” to lifting final coronavirus restrictions as he prepared to address the country on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile South Korea reported 1,100 new coronavirus cases for July 11, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Monday, as the country’s toughest anti-Covid curbs take effect in Seoul in an attempt to quell its worst-ever outbreak.

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