07:18
Understandably UK transport secretary Grant Shapps has been questioned on Sky News about allegations that Boris Johnson was present at some kind of birthday party in his honour during a period of lockdown restrictions.
Shapps has done his best to argue variously that Downing Street is both an office building and a home, and so therefore the rules are somewhat blurred, and then at another juncture he also said that the prime minister hadn’t organised any event himself. He also seemed to try and widen the argument out to argue that a lot of people may have unwittingly transgressed the rules at some point.
He finished the segment by saying:
I understand the sense of frustration. I say to you, I could not see my own dad who we didn’t think we were going to see again, when he went to the hospital. I feel personally very upset when I see stories about lockdowns being broken in any form … I don’t seek to defend it. It will be up to Sue Gray to decide on whether this was appropriate.
Updated
07:10
The UK’s transport secretary Grant Shapps is on Sky News – he has been championing the government’s decision to drop Covid testing and quarantine requirements for international travel from 11 February, which he pointed out was in time for half-term holidays in England. He said:
It’s been a long time coming, but when you go abroad there are no more tests to take when you come home. So you don’t need to take a test before you leave, wherever you’re coming from, to get here. You don’t need to take a day two test, it’s already gone. You can just come home, and the only thing we ask you to do is fill in a passenger locator form, which we are going to simplify. That’s it. No quarantine. No testing. And all that cost would fall away.
A couple of other small things, including children 12 to 15 being able to use the NHS Covid app to demonstrate that they’ve been vaccinated. That’s where countries require that. And under-eighteens are exempt anyway. It’s going to be a big change, much cheaper, and I’m really delighted.
07:04
In all the furore over allegations of parties at Downing Street during lockdown, it is easy to lose track of where we are with the current Covid caseload in the UK. Here is a quick catch-up.
There were 88,447 new Covid cases recorded yesterday. Over the last seven days there have been 652,679 new coronavirus cases recorded in the UK. Cases have decreased by 6.8% week-on-week.
There have been 1,843 deaths within 28 days of a positive test recorded in the last week, including 56 deaths recorded yesterday. Deaths have decreased very slightly by 0.1% week-on-week.
Hospital admissions data is up to 18 January 2022, and they have decreased by 12.6% week-on-week. At the latest count on the UK government’s own dashboard, there were 17,523 people in hospital in total, of whom 640 are in ventilation beds. According to the government’s figures, the peak of hospitalisations during the pandemic was in January 2021, with 39,254 patients in hospital.
Testing has decreased by 5.8% in the last week. There were 1,229,253 tests carried out and officially recorded yesterday. The most recent peak was 2m tests on 4 January.
07:00
Hello from Martin Belam in London, taking over from my colleague Samantha Lock in Sydney. Here are a couple of links you might find immediately useful just to get a handle on where we stand. This is a timeline of fifteen social gatherings alleged to have taken place at the heart of government during periods of Covid restrictions that should have forbidden them, and here are seven occasions when Boris Johnson denied that No 10 broke Covid rules.
I draw your attention particularly to 8 December 2021, when in the House of Commons, the prime minister said he was “sickened myself and furious” about staff joking about a Christmas party, and told parliament “I repeat that I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken.”
On 13 December the prime minister told Sky News “I can tell you once again that I certainly broke no rules.”
I will bring you what emerges from the UK morning media round – transport secretary Grant Shapps has drawn the short straw to represent the government on the airwaves today – and all the latest coronavirus developments from around the world.
06:54
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organising Committee has said that 15 new positive cases of Covid-19 were detected among games-related personnel on Monday.
Twelve of the confirmed positive cases were among new arrivals, the committee said. The other three were found among those already in the closed loop, and of those three, one was an athlete or team official, a notice on the Beijing 2022 official website reads.
06:46
Germany has reported another daily rise of 126,955 coronavirus cases and 214 deaths, according to recently released figures from the Robert Koch Institute.
The numbers take the nationwide tally of confirmed coronavirus cases to 8,871,795 and 116,960 deaths.
06:37
The Czech Republic recorded 30,350 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, the European country’s highest daily count since the pandemic began, health ministry data showed on Tuesday.
The country is bracing for a surge in cases from the new Omicron variant which could peak this month, the health minister said.
06:14
New York judge strikes down mask mandate
A New York judge has struck down the state’s mask mandate, ruling that it was unconstitutional and a violation of state law, according to the court decision.
Judge Thomas Rademaker, of New York State Supreme Court on Long Island, wrote in his decision, which reportedly takes effect immediately, that the state legislature last year curbed any governor’s ability to issue decrees, such as a mask mandate, amid a declared state of emergency.
Rademaker argued that because New York was no longer under a state of emergency at the time the mask mandate was announced, the governor and health commissioner did not have the additional authority to order such a mandate, adding the mandate is now unenforceable.
The legislature’s action “prevents the type of mandates and directives that former Governor Cuomo included in his various Covid-19 related Executive Orders,” the judge wrote.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement:
My responsibility as governor is to protect New Yorkers throughout this public health crisis, and these measures help prevent the spread of Covid-19 and save lives.
We strongly disagree with this ruling, and we are pursuing every option to reverse this immediately.
Rademaker wrote in his decision that he had no doubt there was good intention behind the mask mandate and said his ruling is not intended “in any way to question or otherwise opine on the efficacy, need, or requirement of masks as a means or tool in dealing with the Covid-19 virus.”
Updated
06:01
While we are in the Asia region, South Korea’s daily count of new coronavirus cases surpassed 8,000 for the first time on Tuesday, despite the recent extension of strict social-distancing rules to slow infection.
A total of 8,571 new infections were reported for Monday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), exceeding the previous peak of 7,848 in mid-December.
The new record came amid the spread of the Omicron variant, which became dominant across the country last week.
South Korea reimposed tougher distancing curbs in December as record-breaking numbers of daily cases and critically ill patients threatened to overwhelm its medical system before the Omicron wave hit.
Daily tallies had almost halved to around 4,000 this month but began rising again last week because of Omicron infections.
The surge fuelled worries about a potentially bigger wave ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, when tens of millions of Koreans usually travel across the country.
Prime minister Kim Boo-kyum issued a special statement on Monday to plead for people to refrain from travel and gatherings during the break, which starts on Saturday.
“It is no different to adding fuel to the raging flames if many people move around the country and meet each other,” he told a briefing.
More than 95% of South Korean adults have been fully vaccinated and nearly 58% have received a booster shot, KDCA data showed.
05:40
Japan to place 70% of the country under new Covid curbs
Justin McCurry
Japan is expected to expand quasi-emergency measures to more parts of the country from Thursday in an attempt to stem a surge in Omicron cases.
Restrictions on opening hours and alcohol sales at bars and restaurants are already in place in 16 of the country’s 47 prefectures, but the measures will go into effect in a further 18 prefectures from Thursday until 20 February, according to the Kyodo news agency.
The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, is expected to announce the new measures, covering more than 70% of the country, later today.
The western prefectures of Osaka and Kyoto are among the areas covered by the measures.
The advisory panel is also expected to greenlight an extension through 20 February of the so-called quasi-emergency measures prevailing in three regions.
The measures have prompted complaints that Japan’s nighttime economy is being unfairly targeted as governors in those regions can request restaurants and bars to shorten business hours and stop serving alcohol.
Mitsuru Saga, the manager of an izakayapub in Tokyo, said he would serve alcohol but close at 8pm, even though he will receive less compensation from the government. “We can’t do business without serving alcohol,” Saga told Nippon TV. “It seems only eateries are targeted for restraints.”
Packed trains and crowded shopping districts suggest people are tiring of requests to limit their movements two years into the pandemic, although mask wearing is still the norm.
Japan logged more than 44,000 new cases on Monday, a tally by public broadcaster NHK showed.
Kishida is coming under increasing pressure to speed up Japan’s booster rollout. While about 80% of of the 125 million population has received two vaccine doses, less than 2% has received a booster shot.
05:16
Hello it’s Samantha Lock with you on the blog as we unravel all the latest coronavirus developments.
Let’s jump in with some news straight from the UK with the Downing Street crisis continuing to reach new lows.
Boris Johnson is facing renewed anger from MPs and bereaved families after the disclosure that his fiancee threw him a surprise lockdown birthday party, as sources said an official inquiry had uncovered “appalling evidence of mismanagement” at the heart of Downing Street.
Sue Gray, the senior civil servant leading the inquiry into Downing Street parties, is expected to make deeply critical recommendations on overhauling No 10’s operation after hearing of repeated failures of leadership, according to a Whitehall source who spoke to the inquiry.
In the latest alleged breach of rules, No 10 admitted that Carrie Johnson held a party for the prime minister and up to 30 staff on 19 June 2020 despite Covid rules banning indoor social gatherings. Outdoor gatherings were limited to groups of six.
Meanwhile, in Japan an advisory panel is set to approve the expansion of tougher measures against Covid-19 to 18 additional regions on Tuesday, putting more than 70% of the country under restrictions.
The western prefectures of Osaka and Kyoto are among the areas covered by the measures, taken in response to a surge of infections and hospitalisation driven by the Omicron variant, Reuters reports.
The curbs will be enforced from Thursday through 20 February, and governors in those regions can request restaurants and bars to shorten business hours and stop serving alcohol.
Here is a comprehensive rundown of all the latest international Covid developments:
Europe:
- Italy said that the Omicron wave had peaked in the country as case numbers begin to fall.
- The UK announced plans to end testing rules for all doubly vaccinated travellers from 11 February.
- Rules requiring a vaccine passport to enter hospitality businesses and take public transport came into force in France.
- The European Union’s drug regulator is set to decide whether to approve Pfizer’s Covid-19 pill at the end of this month, before doing a final review of Merck’s similar but less effective drug in February, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
- Fully vaccinated travellers arriving in Britain will no longer have to take a Covid-19 test, while Germany extended its current pandemic measures.
- Norway will end its system of mandatory quarantines for non-vaccinated travellers and close contacts of infected persons, replacing it instead with a daily test regime.
Asia:
- Covid-related deaths surged in Australia and authorities warned numbers could rise further when schools return from holidays next week.
- Japan announced plans to extend coronavirus restrictions beyond the current 9pm curfew in a bid to tackle the spread of Omicron. The country is poised to double the number of regions subject to restrictions such as shortened restaurant opening hours in order to rein in a record surge in cases.
- Organisers of next month’s Beijing Winter Olympics slightly eased the strict Covid-19 requirements for participants.
- One of China’s longest lockdowns in the northern city of X’ian comes to an end after its 13 million residents were confined to their homes on December 22.
Middle East:
- Israel’s health minister said he did not think Israel will offer a fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose to most people after the government made it available to over 60s and other high-risk groups.
United States:
- The US advised against travel to 15 countries and territories.
Medical developments:
- A third booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech or Johnson & Johnson increases antibody levels significantly in those who have previously received two doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac shot, a study has found.
- Omicron can survive longer than earlier versions of the coronavirus on plastic surfaces and human skin, Japanese researchers found in laboratory tests.
- British scientists will begin testing Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics’ antiviral pill molnupiravir as a possible treatment for patients hospitalised with Covid-19.
- The US Food and Drug Administration is likely to restrict the use of Covid-19 antibody treatments from Regeneron and Eli Lilly as they are ineffective against Omicron, the Washington Post reported.
- World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gave a press conference in which he warned that conditions remain ideal for more coronavirus variants to emerge and said it was dangerous to assume Omicron was the last one, but added that the acute phase of the pandemic could end this year if some key targets were met.