Coronavirus live news: Fourth Brazil UN attendee tests positive; life expectancy falls by most since second world war

The Australian state of New South Wales, the centre of the country’s worst coronavirus outbreak, reported on Monday its lowest rise in Covid cases in more than a month as it begins to ease some tough restrictions amid higher vaccinations.

A total of 787 new locally acquired cases were reported, the majority in the state capital, Sydney, down from 961 a day earlier, according to a statement from the state health department. The state recorded 12 new deaths, taking the total number of fatalities from the latest outbreak to 309.

New Zealand is to begin allowing small numbers of vaccinated travellers to isolate at home instead of in state-run quarantine facilities as part of a phased approach to re-opening its borders, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

The pilot project starting next month will be open to 150 people, who must be New Zealand citizens or residents and are fully vaccinated, Ardern said at a news conference.

The pandemic reduced life expectancy in 2020 by the largest amount since the second world war, according to a study published on Monday by Oxford University, with the life expectancy of American men dropping by more than two years.

Reuters: Life expectancy fell by more than six months compared with 2019 in 22 of the 29 countries analysed in the study, which spanned Europe, the US and Chile. There were reductions in life expectancy in 27 of the 29 countries overall.

The university said most life expectancy reductions across different countries could be linked to official Covid deaths. There have been nearly 5 million reported deaths caused by the new coronavirus so far, a Reuters tally shows.

“The fact that our results highlight such a large impact that is directly attributable to Covid-19 shows how devastating a shock it has been for many countries,” said Dr Ridhi Kashyap, co-lead author of the paper, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

There were greater drops in life expectancy for men than women in most countries, with the largest decline in American men, who saw life expectancy drop by 2.2 years relative to 2019.

Overall, men had more than a year shaved off in 15 countries, compared to women in 11 countries. That wiped out the progress on mortality that had been made in the previous 5.6 years.

In the US, the rise in mortality was mainly among those of working age and those under 60, while in Europe, deaths among people aged over 60 contributed more significantly to the increase in mortality.

Pedro Guimaraes, a member of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s delegation to the United Nations, has tested positive for Covid, the CEO of state lender Caixa Economica Federal said on his one of his social media accounts on Sunday.

Guimaraes, who said he was fully vaccinated, is the fourth member of the delegation that was with Bolsonaro in New York for his address to the UN to test positive.

He said he is asymptomatic, but has been isolated since Wednesday, when he returned to Brazil from New York.

Health minister Marcelo Queiroga, Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo and one diplomat also tested positive for Covid. Queiroga, diagnosed during the visit, is still in isolation in a New York hotel.

The president said on Sunday he had a negative result in a Covid-19 test. Since the arrival to Brazil, all members of Bolsonaro’s delegation are in isolation and have taken tests due to contact with the health minister.

Hello and welcome to today’s live coronavirus coverage.

Pedro Guimaraes, a member of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s delegation to the United Nations, has tested positive for Covid, the CEO of state lender Caixa Economica Federal said on his one of his social media accounts on Sunday.

Guimaraes, who said he was fully vaccinated, is the fourth member of the delegation that was with Bolsonaro in New York for his address to the United Nations to test positive.

Health minister Marcelo Queiroga, Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo and one diplomat also tested positive for Covid-19. Queiroga, diagnosed during the visit, is still in isolation in a New York hotel.

Meanwhile the pandemic reduced life expectancy in 2020 by the largest amount since the second world war, according to a study published on Monday by Oxford University, with the life expectancy of American men dropping by more than two years.

Here are the other key recent developments:

• Violent clashes and mass brawls have broken out in Norway’s biggest cities after streets, bars, restaurants and nightclubs were filled with people celebrating the end of Covid restrictions.
• In the US, health authorities have said they are confident there will be enough vaccine shots for both qualified older Americans seeking booster jabs, as well as young children.
• The biggest state intervention in the UK’s labour market in peacetime comes to an end this week when the government finally winds up its furlough support. The wage subsidy that has been in place for 18 months and has cost £70bn will no longer be open to struggling firms.
• The Russian president Vladimir Putin has ended his short spell in self-isolation and has spent several days on holiday in Siberia where he was hiking and fishing, the Kremlin said on Sunday.
• In Scotland, the army could drive ambulances for longer than the two months originally planned, according to the Scottish secretary, Alister Jack.
• Also in Scotland, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has urged the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) to investigate plans for vaccine passports.
• Hollywood studios are planning a £250m-plus UK marketing blitz to promote the return of blockbusters to the big screen over the next 18 months, as the much-delayed premiere of James Bond: No Time to Die gives the industry the confidence to plot a post-pandemic boom in new releases.