Coronavirus live: Auckland lockdown extended, psychosis cases soar in England

The US has administered 408,265,959 doses of Covid-19 vaccines as of Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

The figures are up from the 407,446,961 vaccine doses the CDC said had been administered by 16 October.

The total numbers of deaths currently stands at 722,212.

Good morning or afternoon from wherever you may be in the world and welcome to our rolling coronavirus coverage.

I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be reporting from Sydney, Australia, bringing you the latest developments.

Cases of psychosis have soared over the past two years in England as an increasing number of people experience hallucinations and delusional thinking amid the stresses of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There was a 75% increase in the number of people referred to mental health services for their first suspected episode of psychosis between April 2019 and April 2021, NHS data shows.

In New Zealand, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has extended Auckland’s level 3 lockdown by another two weeks.

“If we get this right, if we keep case numbers low while we vaccinate people then it makes it easier for us to keep control of Covid, while we ease restrictions in the future, and that is everyone’s goal,” she said on Monday.

Here’s a round-up of today’s top stories in case you missed it.

• The UK recorded 45,140 new infections on Sunday, the highest jump in Covid cases since mid-July.
• Cases surged in Russia as 34,303 new positive Covid tests and 997 deaths were reported.
• England is planning to launch walk-in vaccine clinics within weeks for children aged 12 to 15, after its inoculation rate for this age group severely lags behind Scotland. The programme is hoped to stem rising rates of Covid-19 infections within secondary schools.
• Melbourne, Australia is set to lift stay-at-home orders this week, ending what is considered to be the world’s longest lockdown. About 5 million people living in Australia’s second-most populous city have spent more than 260 days under six lockdowns since March of 2020. The figure surpasses Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the longest lockdown globally.
• Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown urged an emergency Covid vaccine airlift to Africa, saying it could save 100,000 lives.
• Italy announced 2,437 new Covid cases and 24 deaths, following its introduction of workplace vaccine mandates on Friday.
• The lawyer of American convicted murderer Robert Durst said the real estate mogul has Covid and is on a ventilator, days after he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
• Aid organisation World Vision warned the fallout of the pandemic could provoke a rise in child stunting in the Pacific as job losses and rising food prices threaten malnutrition.
• Egypt announced new Covid requirements for public sector employees from 15 November, who will have to be vaccinated or take a weekly Covid test to work in government buildings.
• Covid patient denies Covid exists while gasping for breath, ICU nurse says.