Iran has reported its first three deaths from the Omicron variant. The country, which has been the hardest hit by Covid-19 in the Middle East, with more than 132,000 dying.
Peru’s health minister has asked vaccine companies to extend expiration dates beyond the current three month period to reduce the risk of losing doses.
Covax, the global scheme to share vaccines, has now delivered 1bn Covid doses. Gavi, one of the organisations which manages it alongside the World Health Organization (WHO) said in the last quarter shipments have exponentially increased.
Brazil has reported another 48,520 Covid-19 cases, according to its health ministry. The figure means it has had a total of 22,975,723 infections during the pandemic with more than 659,000 deaths.
France has reported another 324,580 new Covid infections, on a day of protest in the country against more restrictions for unjabbed people (see 18:11). The level is a slight drop compared to Friday’s 329,371. Another 148 people have died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 126,869.
Staff working for Apple in the US will have to get a Covid-19 booster jab, according to an internal email reported by The Verge. Store and corporate employees will have four weeks to comply once they are eligible for the jab from 15 February.
The fallout from parties in Downing Street continues as the Observer has been told Conservative party MPs will be ready to force UK prime minister Boris Johnson out if he tries to avoid taking responsibility.
Johnson’s wife, Carrie, has been photographed breaking social distancing rules in September 2020 at a London private members club, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
A new daily record number of Covid cases has been confirmed in Mexico, after it reported 47,113 new infections on Saturday. The total number of cases during the pandemic now stands at 4,349,182.
A new daily record number of Covid cases has been confirmed in Mexico, after it recorded 47,113 new infections on Saturday.
The country’s previous record was set on Friday, with more than 44,000 new infections. The total now stands at 4,349,182. Another 227 deaths were confirmed, bringing the official death toll during the pandemic to 301,334.
Tennis star Novak Djokovic is currently fighting in court for the right to stay in Australia and defend his Australian Open title – over coronavirus rules.
Australia’s immigration minister, Alex Hawke, personally cancelled the unvaccinated world No 1’s visa, arguing his presence in Australia could incite “civil unrest” and encourage others to eschew vaccination against Covid-19.
My colleagues in Australia are covering the hearing, which you can follow here:
Carrie Johnson, the wife of the UK prime minister Boris Johnson, has been accused of breaking social distancing rules at an exclusive London club in September 2020.
The Sunday Telegraph has printed a photo of Carrie with her arms around a friend while they were out celebrating a friend’s engagement at a private members’ club in the West End.
The photograph is purported to have been taken days after the prime minister, her husband, had warned people it was “critical” to follow guidance in order to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Guidance at the time included remaining two metres apart from people in other households, or one metre with extra precautions including meeting outdoors.
A spokesman for Carrie told the Sunday Telegraph. “Mrs Johnson was one of a group of six seated outside celebrating a friends’ engagement.
“Mrs Johnson regrets the momentary lapse in judgement in briefly hugging her friend for a photograph.”
Boris Johnson speaking at a press conference on 4 January updating Britons about the Covid-19 pandemic. Photograph: Jack Hill/AFP/Getty Images
The fallout from parties in Downing Street continues as the Observer has been told Conservative party MPs will be ready to force UK prime minister Boris Johnson out if he tries to avoid taking responsibility.
While most Conservative MPs say they are waiting for a report into so-called “partygate” by the senior civil servant Sue Gray before deciding the prime minister’s fate, large numbers admit privately that their minds are effectively made up and that they are merely observing “due process”.
In latest polling, the Labour party has taken a 10-point lead over the Tories, with Johnson’s personals ratings also taking a hit.
Covax, the global scheme to share vaccines has now delivered 1 billion Covid doses.
Gavi, one of the organisations which manages it alongside the World Health Organization (WHO) said in the last quarter shipments have exponentially increased, meaning 1 billion doses had been delivered to 144 countries.
The programme was launched in 2020 with the aim of delivering 2 billion shots by the end of 2021, but was stymied by wealthier states initially hoarding jabs, export restrictions and changes within its own organisation.
It meant that wealthier nations initially had a larger share of doses from December 2020 when they became available.
Covax began delivering jabs in February 2021. One in three have been donated by rich nations, according to Reuters.
In Australia, people have been sharing their experience of self isolating amid supply shortages and shared housing.
Tory Shepherd has more.
Dancing to the Wiggles was one of the things that helped Clare Fletcher get through isolation with a baby to look after.
Water play on the balcony, reading books and horsing around all helped too, although the Sydney mother of Dorothy (Dot, 20 months) said a week in a two-bedroom apartment was harder than she expected.
Fletcher and her husband, David Dewey, (both 37, both double vaccinated) went to the US for Christmas so Dewey’s family could meet Dot. After having a “bit of a shock” at testing delays here, eventually they got hold of rapid antigen tests and found they were positive. Dot was coughing, too.
Peru’s health minister has asked vaccine companies to extend expiration dates beyond the current three month period to reduce the risk of losing doses.
In a telephone interview reported by Reuters on Saturday, Hernando Cevallos said it had asked one of the laboratories that supplies vaccines to deliver them with expirations of up to six months, but the lab refused.
Peru has one of the highest per-capita Covid mortality rates in the world. It has signed contracts with China’s Sinopharm, US firm Moderna and Pfizer, as well as UK-based AstraZeneca.
“The situation that the affected countries are facing must be understood, particularly in Latin America, due to the economic difficulties we’re going through,” Cevallos added.
Three people are reported to have died from the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Iran, according to its health ministry.
Speaking to state broadcaster IRIB, spokesman Mohammad Hashemi said: “The number of patients with Omicron in the country has reached 1,162 and ... one death has been reported due to Omicron in each of the cities of Tabriz, Yazd and Shahrekord, and one critically ill patient is hospitalised in Ahvaz.”
More than 132,000 people have died from the virus in the country hardest hit by the pandemic in the Middle East. 18 people died on Saturday, a 22-month low, according to Reuters.
This week Iran lifted restrictions on land travel to and from neighbouring countries and some European countries, but kept a ban on arrivals from France, Britain and eight countries in southern Africa.
France has reported another 324,580 new Covid infections, on a day of protest in the country against more restrictions for unjabbed people in the country (see 18:11).
The level is a slight drop compared to Friday’s 329,371, but higher than the average of 297,021 in the last week.
Another 148 people have died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 126,869.
Staff working for Apple in the US will have to get a Covid-19 booster jab, according to an internal email.
The Verge, a technology website in the US, has seen an internal email to store and corporate employees saying that once they are eligble to get the follow-up injection they will have four weeks to comply, otherwise they will need to take regular tests to enter a store or office from 15 February.
The tech giant will require unvaccinated employees to provide negative tests before entering their workplace from 24 January.
Another member of the UK government has criticised double standards in Downing Street as the furore around parties during lockdowns continues.
A government minister has said Boris Johnson needs to “change his ways” as he recalled how, in the same month when some in No 10 were “not behaving appropriately”, he was not able to support his children before they died.
Guy Opperman, the pensions minister, said Johnson should stay in his post, but was critical of the rule-breaking.
Thousands of people demonstrated in cities across France on Saturday against tighter restrictions for the unvaccinated, as parliamentary wrangling continued over the draft law.
In Paris, the largest single gathering set off from near the Eiffel Tower, called by fringe anti-EU presidential candidate Florian Philippot, AFP reports, while there were further gatherings in major cities like Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lille.
People in the crowd chanted “no to the vaccine” or “freedom for Djokovic”, in reference to the case of world tennis number one Novak Djokovic, who travelled to compete in the Australian Open despite having chosen to remain unvaccinated and is now fighting the Australian government over the cancellation of his visa.
A measure came into force on Saturday that will deactivate the government-issued “health pass” for tens of thousands of people who have not received a booster jab within seven months of their first course of shots.
The pass - which grants access to public spaces like bars and restaurants - will be transformed into a “vaccine pass” under a law currently being debated in parliament, meaning proof of having the jab will be required.
So far people have been able to keep their pass valid with negative coronavirus tests.
People attend a demonstration called by French nationalist party Les Patriotes to protest against a bill that would transform France’s current coronavirus health pass into a “vaccine pass”. Photograph: Benoît Tessier/Reuters
Two demonstrators, Laurence and Claire, told AFP they were vaccinated “but we’re against the pass for teenagers, we don’t see why they’re being vaccinated because they aren’t in danger”.
While officials had not published an estimate of nationwide turnout by late afternoon, police or local authorities counted around 1,000 each in Lyon, Nantes, Bordeaux and Marseille.
Demonstrators were hoping to outstrip the 105,000 who hit the streets last weekend - some possibly mobilised by Macron’s declaration in a newspaper interview that he wanted to “piss off” the unvaccinated with new restrictions until they got inoculated.
On Friday, 330,000 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in France, with an average of almost 300,000 over the preceding week.
On Saturday, France reported that the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units had fallen for the third day in a row, with 3,852 Covid patients in intensive care units on Saturday, 43 fewer than Friday.
Infections are also increasing in Chile, with 5,241 new cases reported on average every day. That’s 51% of the peak - the highest daily average reported on 17 June - according to the Reuters Covid-19 Tracker.
On Saturday, Chile posted 9,284 new daily cases, the second highest daily figure recorded since the start of the pandemic, and possibly the actual record, since a record of 13,990 cases logged on 6 June 2020 looks like a statistical anomaly due to a backlog.
People wait to perform a PCR test for Covid-19 in Santiago, Chile, at a mobile testing point. Chile registered 8,270 new cases on Friday, the highest number in 223 days. Photograph: Matias Basualdo/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
The average number of new infections reported each day in Chile rose by more than 4,000 over the last 3 weeks, 38% of its previous peak.
Earlier this week, Chile became the first Latin American country to start administering fourth doses of Covid-19 vaccines. 88.33% of the Chilean population are fully vaccinated, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.
Chile has recorded 1,857,764 infections and 39,355 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic began.
Daily average infections peak in Argentina, Mexico and Peru
Argentina on Saturday reported139,853 new cases, its largest daily increase since the start of the pandemic.
Infections in the country have now reached the highest daily average reported, with now 113,876 new infections reported on average each day.
There have been 6,932,972 infections and 117,901 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the country since the pandemic began.
Daily average infections in Mexico and Peru have now also peaked, with 31,278 new infections reported each day in Mexico, and 24,319 new infections reported each day in Peru, according to the Reuters Covid-19 Tracker.
Philippines logs record infections for third day in a row
The Philippines has reported a new record number of daily infections for the third straight day, with 39,004 new cases reported on Saturday and number of active cases at 280,813.
Metro Manila’s Covid-19 case growth rate is steadily declining however, Octa research fellow Guido David reported on Saturday.
The rate dropped to 3% from 5% on Friday based on its seven-day moving average.
But on Saturday the Department of Health confirmed that there is already community transmission of the Omicron variant in Metro Manila.
The nationwide death toll climbed to 52,858 with 43 new fatalities, CNN Philippines reported.
