Thanks for following along – this blog is now closed. I will be back in the morning for another day of Covid news from around the world.
In the meantime, you can catch up with the latest coronavirus coverage here.
Brazil registered 17,893 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday and 530 additional Covid deaths, according to data released by the country’s health ministry.
In total, registered Covid deaths in Brazil have reached 599,359.
Tammy Abraham has become the first England football player to reveal that he is vaccinated against Covid, but the subject remains a sensitive one around the squad.
Although England’s players have taken a lead on social issues such as tackling racism and child poverty, they have been less forthcoming with their views on vaccination.
Fikayo Tomori, the Milan defender, declined on Wednesday to say whether he was jabbed and, with England’s manager Gareth Southgate revealing last weekend that he did know not how many members are vaccinated, it was notable that Abraham was open about his status.
Roma striker Tammy Abraham said:
It is a personal choice. People are entitled to do what they want to do with their bodies. For me it was a different situation. I am vaccinated. That is a personal choice.
I have contracted the virus before, I am in Italy and for me it is the right thing to do. Everyone is entitled to do what they want to do and what is personal to them. They should make the decision to what they want to do.
Tammy Abraham looks on during a training session at St Georges Park on October 05, 2021 in Burton-upon-Trent, England. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images
Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, launched a stinging attack on people who refuse vaccinations, comparing them to drink-drivers and arguing that they are to blame if people catch Covid from them.
It has become a difficult debate in football, with many Premier League clubs reportedly struggling to convince their players to get jabbed.
In the US, healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente has put more than 2,200 employees nationwide on unpaid leave who have chosen not to get vaccinated against coronavirus.
The employees have until 1 December to get vaccinated to be able to return to work and those who choose not to will be terminated, the company said. Kaiser’s overall vaccination rate stands at 92%, reported the Associated Press.
The company said in a statement:
We hope none of our employees will choose to leave their jobs rather than be vaccinated, but we won’t know with certainty until then.
We will continue to work with this group of employees to allay concerns and educate them about the vaccines, their benefits, and risks.
The Oakland-based company announced the vaccination requirement on 2 August. On 5 August, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an order requiring all of the state’s roughly 2.2 million health care workers and long-term care workers to be fully vaccinated against Covid by the end of September.
The Oakland-based company employs about 216,000 nationwide. Since its vaccination requirement was announced, the inoculation rate among employees has gone from 78% to 92% as of Tuesday, the company said.
Mexico passed a milestone of sorts in September when the airport at the country’s biggest coastal resort, Cancún, surpassed pre-pandemic levels of passengers.
The Airports of the Southeast group, which runs the terminal at the Caribbean coast resort, said Wednesday it handled 1.66 million passengers in Cancun in September, 4.4% percent more than in the same month of 2019.
By January 2020, the coronavirus pandemic cut passenger numbers drastically, and only about 854,000 used the airport in September 2020, the Associated Press reported.
It is unclear, but highly possible, that passenger levels at Cancún airport for all of 2021 could equal or exceed the 2019 annual number.
Tourists wait to check in at the airport in Cancún, Mexico. Photograph: Victor Ruiz/AP
Mexico never instituted any quarantine or testing requirements for incoming passengers, in part to avoid affecting the country’s tourism income.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles leaders approved one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates on Wednesday — a sweeping measure that requires the shots for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms or even a Lakers game.
The City Council voted 11-2 in favour of the ordinance that will require proof of full vaccination starting 4 November, reported the Associated Press.
The move came after the council postponed a vote last week to deal with concerns ranging from who could be fined for violations to whether employees could end up in fist-fights when they have to serve as vaccine door monitors.
Some critics charge that a mandate would amount to segregation of those who cannot or refuse to be vaccinated. Others call it unenforceable.
Business trade groups have said the city mandate will sow confusion because Los Angeles County’s own vaccine rules — which apply both in Los Angeles and in surrounding communities — are less sweeping.
People enjoy tropical cocktails in the tiny interior of the Tiki-Ti bar on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Photograph: Damian Dovarganes/AP
However, council members who support the ordinance said it is aimed at reducing the risk of new Covid surges. The nation’s second-most populous city faced a huge rise in infections and hospitalisations last winter and a smaller surge this summer linked to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.
Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to sign the ordinance into law. Garcetti expressed his support for a vaccine measure last week, saying: “I don’t want to bury another city employee, police officer, firefighter.”
In the United States, Idaho’s Republican governor, Brad Little, temporarily left the state on Tuesday on government business and his deputy, Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin, immediately began issuing rightwing orders while she was temporarily holding executive power – including a ban on coronavirus vaccine mandates.
That same afternoon, McGeachin issued an executive order – as acting governor – banning state officials from requiring what she called “Covid-19 vaccine passports” from employees, the Washington Post reported.
Little, who was in Texas meeting with nine other Republican governors over concerns about Joe Biden’s handling of migration at the US-Mexico border, promised to quickly reverse McGeachin’s order as soon as he returned to Idaho.
Little said in a statement shortly after arriving in Texas on Tuesday:
I am in Texas performing my duties as the duly elected governor of Idaho, and I have not authorised the lieutenant governor to act on my behalf.
I will be rescinding and reversing any actions taken by the lieutenant governor when I return.
Pfizer will study the effectiveness of its vaccine against Covid by inoculating the whole population over the age of 12 in a town in southern Brazil, the company said.
The study will be conducted in Toledo, population 143,000, in the west of Parana state, together with Brazil’s National Vaccination Program, local health authorities, a hospital and a federal university.
Pfizer said the purpose was to study transmission of the coronavirus in a “real-life scenario” after the population has been vaccinated, Reuters reported. Pfizer added:
The initiative is the first and only of its kind to be undertaken in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company in a developing country.
A similar study was conducted by the Butantan Institute, one of Brazil’s leading biomedical research centers, in the smaller town of Serrana, in Sao Paulo state, to test the CoronaVac shot developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
In May, Butantan said mass vaccination had reduced coronavirus deaths by 95% in the town with a population of 45,644 people. The institute is considering extending the study for a third dose.
The number of daily coronavirus cases in Turkey surpassed 30,000 on Wednesday, the highest number of infections since 30 April.
The country’s health ministry reported 30,438 new cases and 228 confirmed deaths. Fahrettin Koca, the health minister, says with the number of daily cases hovering between 28,000 and 30,000 since mid-September.
There were approximately 300,000 active cases in the country during a 10-day period, the Associated Press reported. Koca said:
We have to be aware that this situation presents a critical burden.
The fact that most of the current active cases are among the young means that our health system is not strained.
Still, such high numbers of infected people is not acceptable.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca speaks during a press conference. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
He urged people to get vaccinated. Nearly 73% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated, according to the ministry figures.
Coronavirus is “still running rampant” worldwide and the failure to ensure poorer countries can access vaccines risks more deaths and the emergence of potentially dangerous new variants, the creator of the Oxford jab has warned.
Pleading for immediate action to enable wider distribution of jabs across the world, Prof Dame Sarah Gilbert said the “ever-evolving” virus “continues to circulate unchecked”, and, as a result, every country in the world now faces the threat of “further Sars-CoV-2 variants” this winter.
“No one is safe until we are all safe,” said Gilbert. Even countries with high levels of vaccine coverage, such as Britain, could still face “an alarming future”, she warned, adding:
The virus has already adapted to increase transmission between humans, with the Alpha variant and then the Delta variant becoming dominant in many countries.
As the world grapples with the spread of the Delta variant, it is more crucial than ever that we do not forget the lives that could be saved by administering first and second doses to the most vulnerable populations worldwide and the opportunity that the global distribution of vaccine provides to protect all of us by reducing the selection of further Sars-CoV-2 variants.
Good evening, I’m Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you the latest Covid news over the next couple of hours.
We start with the news that the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has said all domestic air travellers aged 12 or older will need to provide proof of full vaccination or a negative coronavirus test from 30 October.
Then from 30 November, travellers must be fully vaccinated and won’t have the option of a negative test, the Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, officials say all core federal government workers, members of Canada’s national police force and the armed forces must be fully vaccinated by 29 October. Federal public servants who aren’t fully vaccinated and don’t obtain medical exemptions must take unpaid leave.
Air Canada planes parked at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Photograph: Carlos Osorio/Reuters
The new policy will affect more than 267,000 core public-service and Royal Canadian Mounted Police workers and apply to those who work from home and outside of the country.
Before I hand over to my colleague shortly, here is a quick recap of some of the main developments from the day so far:
The UK government will slash England’s travel red list to about a dozen countries, but plans for replacing the requirement for a negative PCR test with a lateral flow one to avoid isolation hang in the balance. An announcement is expected on Thursday. Story here.
The UK government has lifted its advice against non-essential travel to 32 countries and territories, including Bangladesh, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana and Malaysia. The UK will stop advising Britons to avoid all but essential travel to non-red list countries on Covid-19 grounds except in “exceptional circumstances” such as if the local healthcare system is overwhelmed, the FCDO added. This will make it easier for people visiting those locations to obtain travel insurance.
Russia reported 929 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, the largest single-day death toll it has recorded since the pandemic began, compared to 895 the day before.
Canada’sfederal employees who are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and are not exempt from getting the shots will be put on administrative leave without pay, officials said, while domestic air, train and cruise ship travellers and workers will soon have to show proof of vaccination.
The UK reported 39,851 new cases of Covid-19 and a further 143 people were reported as having died within 28 days of a positive test.
The Lithuaniangovernment proposed to pay 100 euros to people aged 75 or old to take the Covid-19 vaccine, to boost the inoculation rate for the group, which lags in the European Union. About a third of over-75s in Lithuania remain unvaccinated, according to government data, one of the worst in the bloc, and two-thirds of the 4,965 Covid deaths in the country have been in this age group.
Wales will press ahead with the introduction of a Covid pass for nightclubs and big sporting events despite only getting its policy through the Senedd because a technical issue meant an opponent could not cast his vote. Story here.
Vietnamis planning from December to reopen key tourist destinations to vaccinated visitors from countries deemed a low Covid risk, the government, ahead of a full resumption targeted for June next year. It will from December allow tourists from approved countries to visit Unesco world heritage site Halong Bay and Hoi An, the highlands town of Dalat and beach destination Nha Trang.
Swedenwill pause the use of Moderna’s Covid vaccine for people born in 1991 and later for precautionary reasons after reports of possible rare side-effects, such as myocarditis, the Swedish health agency said. “However, the risk of being affected is very small,” it added.
The UK government will slash England’s travel red list to about a dozen countries, but plans for replacing the requirement for a negative PCR test with a lateral flow one to avoid isolation hang in the balance.
Destinations including Brazil, Mexico and South Africa are expected to be moved off the red list on Thursday, meaning passengers returning from them will not have to isolate in a hotel for 11 nights at a cost of more than £2,000.
The move means restrictions at the border will be at their loosest since the third lockdown began nine months ago.
Brazil and South Africa have faced the toughest restrictions longer than almost any country, as they were both put on the red list in January owing to fears that the Gamma and Beta variants that were discovered in the two countries respectively were more resistant to vaccines. Pockets of Beta cases sprang up in the UK, but Delta was then imported from India and began to outstrip most other variants owing to its high transmissibility.
There are 54 countries on the red list, which include all of those in mainland South America and southern and eastern Africa. The London-based World Travel and Tourism Council, which represents industry firms, said the sector’s recovery would continue to be “sluggish” owing to policies such as the red list.
Full story here:
The UK government has lifted its advice against non-essential travel to 32 countries and territories, PA reports.
Bangladesh, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana and Malaysia are among the locations for which travel advice based on the risk of coronavirus has been relaxed, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said.
The UK will stop advising Britons to avoid all but essential travel to non-red list countries on Covid-19 grounds except in “exceptional circumstances” such as if the local healthcare system is overwhelmed, the FCDO added. This will make it easier for people visiting those locations to obtain travel insurance.
Before Wednesday’s changes, the FCDO advised against non-essential travel due to the virus to 117 countries and territories. Advice is expected to be lifted for more locations in the coming days.
The FCDO said the change in policy follows the “improved public health in many countries” and the “decreased risk to British nationals” as a result of the vaccine rollout. This comes amid an easing of the government’s rules for travellers entering the UK, with the traffic light system scrapped on Monday.
Fully vaccinated residents – and unvaccinated under 18s – from more than 50 countries and territories can now arrive without taking a pre-departure lateral flow test, a day-eight post-arrival PCR test, or self-isolating.
The foreign secretary Liz Truss said:
These rule tweaks will make travelling more straightforward, supporting businesses and families right across Britain – and allow more of us to see friends and loved ones with greater peace of mind.
We’re striking the right balance between keeping people safe which remains our priority and giving them the freedom to exercise personal responsibility, while supporting the travel sector as it continues to recover.
The full list of countries for which the FCDO has eased its travel advice is: Algeria; Armenia; Bangladesh; Belarus; Benin; Comoros; Tokelau and Niue; Djibouti; Equatorial Guinea; Fiji; Gambia; Guinea; Kazakhstan; Kiribati; Kosovo; Liberia; Madagascar; Malaysia; Marshall Islands; Micronesia; Nauru; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; Solomon Islands; Togo; Tonga; Tuvalu; Vanuatu; Congo; America Samoa; French Polynesia; and Ghana.
The FCDO will continue to advise against all but essential travel for all red list countries where the risk to British nationals is deemed to be “unacceptably high”.
Meanwhile, the government is expected to announce on Thursday that it will reduce England’s red list. There are currently 54 countries on the list, such as Mexico, Cuba, all of mainland South America, and southern and eastern Africa.
Anyone arriving in the UK from a location in the red tier must spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel. This costs £2,285 for solo travellers, making such trips unaffordable for many people.
The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own travel rules but have recently mirrored announcements made in Westminster.
Brazil has lifted a restriction that blocked people coming from the UK, South Africa and India from entering the country due to the pandemic, according to a decision published in the country’s official gazette late on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The country said the measure applies to travellers arriving by air. They will only need to show a negative Covid test, which means vaccination proof is not required.
According to Brazil’s government, foreigners coming by land will still be prevented from entering the country.
Members of a Chinese opera troupe prepare backstage during the annual vegetarian festival in Bangkok, Thailand. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
Russia reported 929 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, the largest single-day death toll it has recorded since the pandemic began, compared to 895 the day before.
The government coronavirus task force also said it had recorded 25,133 new cases in the last 24 hours, a slight increase from a day earlier.
I’m grateful to reader Anthony for flagging this.
Canada’s federal employees who are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and are not exempt from getting the shots will be put on administrative leave without pay, officials said on Wednesday, while domestic air, train and cruise ship travellers and workers will soon have to show proof of vaccination.
Federal employees will be required to show proof of vaccination through an online portal by 29 October. Workers and travellers on trains, planes and cruise ships operating domestically must show they have been inoculated by 30 October.
The introduction of these vaccine mandates was a cornerstone pledge by the Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau during his campaign for re-election.
Canada’s vaccine policy will be one of the strictest in the world.
Fiji in August forced public servants to go on leave if unvaccinated. If still not inoculated by November, they will lose their jobs. Later this month, Italy will require proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from infection for all the country’s workers.
Canada’s vaccine mandate for federal workers, first promised on 13 August, will be reassessed every six months and stay in place until the policy is no longer required, one official said.
For travellers, a negative test will not be accepted as a replacement for proof of vaccination after 30 November, officials said. Children under 12, who are not yet eligible for vaccination in Canada will be exempted from the travel mandate.
The number of new Covid infections has been dropping over the past month throughout the Americas, even though only 37% of the people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.
However, Alaska has the most serious outbreak in the United States today that is overwhelming emergency rooms, and while South America is continuing to see a drop in infections, Chile has seen a jump in cases in the capital Santiago and port cities Coquimbo and Antofagasta.
PAHO has closed vaccine supply agreements with Sinovac Biotech Inc and AstraZeneca Plc for delivery this year and next and with China’s Sinopharm for 2022, the agency’s director Carissa Etienne told reporters.
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