UK Covid cases rise for first time in a week

• UK Covid cases rose for the first time in a week - with 27,734 new cases being recorded on Wednesday
• Chelsea became the first football club to announce it would use a Covid pass next season, with fans required to either show proof of full-vaccination or a negative lateral flow test
• NHS England appointed its first female chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, who is set to take the reigns on Sunday when Sir Simon Stevens steps down
• The Government confirmed that fully-vaccinated travellers arriving in the UK from the EU or US would not need to quarantine from Monday
• Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced that the UK will begin delivering nine million AstraZeneca vaccine doses to poorer countries this week - but the bulk of these are set to expire in September, raising fears they will go to waste

Amanda Pritchard is to become the new chief executive of the NHS in England on Sunday, when Sir Simon Stevens steps down.

Ms Pritchard said she is "thrilled" to be the first woman to head the health service in England and pledged to ensure diversity and inclusion are at the "core" of the NHS.

She said that the "can do" attitude of NHS staff would help the health service to overcome some of the challenges it faces, including a third wave of Covid-19 and an unprecedented backlog of care, with more than five million on the waiting list for treatments.

Bear statues in Sheffield that were installed to raise money for the city's children's hospitals have been vandalised with QR code stickers that lead to anti-vaccination websites.

Those behind the statues wrote on Twitter: "Someone has been sticking QR codes to our Bears. These aren't from us so please don't scan them. We're working beary hard to get them taken off."

On July 7, a group of 122 scientists and doctors warned in a letter in The Lancet that population immunity would not be reached in time to prevent hundreds of thousands of new infections, and called for restrictions and mask wearing to remain indefinitely.

However, far from a soaring wave of infections that could pass 200,000 a day, it looks like Britain peaked at around 60,000 cases on July 15.

Although cases rose for the first time in seven days on Wednesday, infections have decreased 36 per cent in a week with daily figures less than half of the peak.

Scientists say they are “puzzled” by the recent drop, blaming it on the heatwave, school closures, the Euros tournament ending, or a decrease in testing. It may even be the result of the “pingdemic” causing mass isolation and lowering transmission, they say, or else people are no longer being tested for fear of missing holidays.

• Read the full story by Sarah Knapton here

Tanzania has delivered its first Covid-19 vaccine doses, with president Samia Suluhu Hassan publicly receiving a jab and urging others to follow suit.

President Hassan, who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, expressed confidence in the safety of vaccinations and said the country will pursue more.

The US announced on Saturday the delivery of more than 1 million doses through the Covax global programme.

Her late predecessor president John Magufuli had frequently expressed Covid-sceptic opinions, including a refusal to share virus data, and insisted the pandemic could be overcome with prayer. 

Scotland has confirmed that fully-vaccinated travellers from the EU and US will not have to quarantine from Monday.

The decision comes shortly after England announced the same rule change.

Japan has reported 3,177 new cases of Covid-19 in capital Tokyo - setting an all-time high that exceeds 3,000 for the first time.

The Olympic Games began in the city on Friday despite widespread criticism from members of the Japanese public who feared the international event could lead to outbreaks of the virus.

The UK's live music industry has welcomed the news that fully-vaccinated travellers from the EU and US will no longer need to quarantine when arriving in England from August 2.

The move will allow international musicians to perform at English festivals this summer, with it coming shortly after Queens of the Stone Age had pulled out of their slot at Reading and Leeds citing "restrictions and logistics".

Greg Parmley, the chief executive of Live, which represents the interests of the live music business, including 4,000 artists and 2,000 backstage workers, said: "We are extremely pleased to see that Government has taken the decision to allow people into the UK without the need to quarantine, if they have been fully vaccinated in Europe or the USA.

"This will allow international artists to perform at our world-leading festivals and venues over the coming months and will provide a vital boost to our iconic live music industry as we come out of lockdown."

The bulk of nine million coronavirus vaccines donated by the UK to developing countries in the coming weeks will expire at the end of September, raising concerns that many of the doses will go to waste.

On Wednesday the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, announced that Britain will begin delivering nine million AstraZeneca shots this week, as part of a broader pledge to donate 100 million surplus vaccines by June 2022.

Roughly five million of these vaccines will be sent to the Covax distribution scheme, while the remainder will be given directly to more than a dozen countries – including 817,000 doses to Kenya, 600,000 to Indonesia and 300,000 to Jamaica.

“We’re doing this to help the most vulnerable, but also because we know we won’t be safe until everyone is safe,” Mr Raab said.

But, though the donations have been widely welcomed amid vast inequalities in global distribution, there are mounting concerns that the vaccines’ short shelf life could undermine the rollout of the vaccines.

• Sarah Newey and Will Brown have more details here

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Twitter that officials would introduce a mandate for all state employees to either be vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to regular testing.

The White House is strongly considering requiring federal employees to show proof they've been vaccinated against the coronavirus or otherwise submit to regular testing and wear a mask - a potentially major shift in policy that reflects growing concerns about the spread of the more infectious delta variant.

The possible vaccine mandate for federal employees - regardless of the rate of transmission in their area - is one option under consideration by the Biden administration, according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss deliberations that have yet to be made public.

President Joe Biden suggested Tuesday that expanding that mandate to the entire federal workforce was "under consideration," but offered no further details.

The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday became the first federal agency to require vaccinations for its health workers.

The UK has recorded 27,734 new cases of Covid-19 and a further 91 deaths within 28 days of testing positive for the virus, official Government data shows.

South Africa plans to spend around 36 billion rand ($2.4 billion) on relief measures to support businesses and individuals affected by Covid-19 restrictions and riots and unrest earlier this month, the finance ministry said.

Edgar Sishi, acting head of the budget office, said increased revenue linked to higher commodity prices meant 36.2 billion rand of new spending could be accommodated "so long as those measures are temporary".

The largest component of the relief package is the reinstatement of a 350 rand-a-month social relief grant, set to stay in place until the end of March 2022.

State insurer Sasria will get 3.9 billion rand to help pay out claims related to the unrest, 2.3 billion rand will be spent on helping businesses not covered for civil unrest, and a tax incentive will be expanded by 5 billion rand to encourage employers to hire and retain staff.

Sajid Javid, who tested positive for Covid-19 despite being fully-vaccinated, said the vaccine is "the reason that I'm here today" and urged more young people to get inoculated.

The Health Secretary told the PA news agency: "My own experience, I think, is a good example, a reminder really, that by getting vaccinated you do absolutely reduce your own chances of getting a positive test result, of course, but you can still get the virus.

"But there's no doubt that the reason that I'm here today, some 10 days after I had that positive test result, feeling absolutely fine, is because of the vaccines.

"My symptoms have been very mild and the latest information we have is that the vaccines in the UK, they've stopped 11 million infections, they've stopped 57,000 people from going to hospital and 37,000 people from dying.

"The vaccines are working."

He also said young people should think of vaccines as a "liberating" way of protecting yourself and your loved ones, and would help the return to normality. 

Joss Croft, the chief executive of tourism group UKinbound, said the removal of quarantine for fully-vaccinated US and EU visitors to England is a "fantastic step forward".

He added that "businesses that are reliant on international visitors still face substantial barriers to recovery, having had virtually no business since March 2020".

Sean Doyle, the chief executive and chairman of British Airways, said the move will "allow us to reunite loved ones and get Global Britain back in business".

John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow Airport, said the Government had made the "right decision to safely further reopen international travel. We will now work with colleagues in the industry to boost UK trade, reunite family and friends, and generate billions in new tourist income".

More countries have been included in the Government's quarantine exemption for fully-vaccinated US and EU travellers.

People travelling to England from Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein - all members of the European Free Trade Association - as well as those coming from Andorra, Monaco and Vatican City, will also be included in the quarantine exemption if double-jabbed.

England will allow US and EU travellers who are fully-vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter without the need to quarantine.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced that the new rules will be in place from 4am on Monday August 2.

He said: "We've taken great strides on our journey to reopen international travel and today is another important step forward.

"Whether you are a family reuniting for the first time since the start of the pandemic or a business benefiting from increased trade - this is progress we can all enjoy.

"We will of course continue to be guided by the latest scientific data but thanks to our world-leading domestic vaccination programme, we're able to look to the future and start to rebuild key transatlantic routes with the US while further cementing ties with our European neighbours."

It has not been announced whether the change will apply to people arriving in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Vaccine equity campaigners have called the Government's vaccine donations "shamefully inadequate" and "shoddy PR".

The Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab today announced 100 million vaccine doses would go to Commonwealth and "vulnerable" poorer countries around the world by next June.

Nick Dearden, Director of Global Justice Now, said: “Britain’s donations today are shamefully inadequate. And the Government wants to use this as a form of diplomacy, offering many doses on the basis of their strategic interests. This is a global health crisis, not an opportunity for vain self-promotion.

“Worse still, this shoddy piece of PR went out on the very day the UK is blocking real solutions at the World Trade Organisation that would allow many of these countries to produce their own vaccines in far greater quantities than donations will ever achieve."

Zimbabwe has authorised Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, making it the first jab produced in the West to be approved by the African nation.

Until the approval, the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) had only registered coronavirus vaccines from India, Russia and China.

More than 1.5 million people in the country have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, with most being given China's Sinovac and Sinopharm shots.

MCAZ spokesman Shingai Gwatidzo refused to say when Zimbabwe would receive its first J&J doses, but said the health ministry would confirm the shipping of the vaccines after reviewing requirements for cold chain storage.

The country has paid for a total of 12 million vaccine doses from China, and is set to receive 5 million shots under the African Union vaccine procurement facility (following a deposit payment of £7.5 million) and a further 1.15 doses from the Covax programme.

The significance of the Government's decision to allow fully-vaccinated travellers from the US and the EU to enter England without the need to self-isolate cannot "be overestimated", a travel industry expert has said.

Paul Charles, the chief executive of travel consultancy firm The PC Agency, said the move will "pump vital cash into the travel economy, and help salvage the rest of the summer".

He said it is "especially good news for our airlines who need to fill their seats across the Atlantic" and hopes the "news will encourage millions of extra visitors to the UK at a time when the sector badly needs them".

He added that while the decision is "welcome", it "should have been made weeks ago".

Pfizer has raised its forecast for 2021 full-year sales of its Covid-19 vaccine, that it jointly developed with Germany's BioNTech, by nearly 29 per cent to $33.5 billion.

The company also said that it could apply for an emergency use authorisation for a potential booster shot as early as August.

The raised sales forecast of the vaccine is based on signed deals for 2.1 billion doses, and the company could increase it if it signs additional contracts.

Eight out of the 10 highest paid civil servants in the Department of Health and Social Care during the first quarter of the year worked for NHS Test and Trace, with seven of them on more than the department’s permanent secretary.

Government transparency data for the first quarter of 2021-22 released last week shows senior officials at NHS Test and Trace were on the highest salaries in the DHSC.

Five Test and Trace directors were on a salary of at least £200,000, including Ben Stimson, who was chief customer officer, on £240,000, until he left in May; Gareth Williams, formerly chief people officer and now chief operating officer, on £240,000; and Simon Bolton, then chief technology and information officer, on £200,000 — who left in June to become NHS Digital interim chief executive, where he also earns between £200,000 and £205,000, among others.

The news comes after the Government decided not to give a pay rise to senior managers in the NHS in line with other, more junior colleagues who got a 3 per cent increase.

Premier League football team Norwich City have confirmed a number of positive Covid tests among the squad.

The team's pre-season friendly against Coventry on Wednesday evening has now been cancelled as a result.

A Norwich statement said: "The decision was made as a precautionary measure following a small number of positive Covid-19 test results within City's first team group.

"The club's players and staff will continue to follow Premier League protocols and government guidelines, operating and training in their respective first team bubble at the Lotus Training Centre."

Volunteers in Thailand turned a cargo warehouse at Bangkok's Don Muang Airport into a 1,800-bed field hospital for Covid-19 patients with less severe symptoms, as the country continues to battle a surge in cases.

Rienthong Nanna, director of Mongkutwattana Hospital, told Reuters: "This is a level one field hospital where it can receive a large number of patients, who have less severe symptoms. But if patients' conditions deteriorate, they will be moved to our other field hospital, called Pitak Rachan."

Rienthong, a retired major-general and an ultra-royalist leader, said the field hospital was not yet up and running as more preparations were needed.

The country reported a daily record of 16,533 new cases on Wednesday, plus 133 new deaths, bringing the total number of cases to 543,361 and 4,397 deaths.

The UK Emirates boss said it is "frustrating" that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is still on the red travel list, meaning that passengers travelling from the Gulf state to the UK must enter a quarantine hotel for 11 nights at a cost of £1,750.

Richard Jewsbury, the divisional vice president, said he hopes low coronavirus cases and a strong vaccine rollout will see the state, which includes the popular tourist cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, soon removed from the red list.

Mr Jewsbury said: "All we can do is stay engaged and flag up the data and hope that it's acted upon."

Yangon, Myanmar

Sydney, Australia

 Tokyo, Japan

A single dose of a Covid-19 vaccine offers as much protection against severe illness to people who were shielding during the pandemic as it does for the rest of the population, a study has found.

Researchers from Public Health Scotland and the University of Edinburgh said there had been concerns that a weakened immune system may reduce the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines.

They used data from over 100,000 people to assess its impact on reducing severe forms of the disease among the clinically extremely vulnerable.

The results showed the efficacy of a single vaccination dose in protecting against severe Covid-19 was as high or higher in those eligible for shielding - but there was not enough data to judge the vaccine's effect on those who have received a solid organ transplant.

Dr Nicholas Phin, director of public health science at Public Health Scotland, said the results were "hugely encouraging".

He added: "However, caution is still needed. Restrictions continue to ease and case rates remain high, meaning that all people, especially those who are at most risk, should continue to take extra precautions until fully vaccinated with two doses."

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the Government has committed to providing 100 million doses from surplus domestic supply to the "poorest and most vulnerable" countries, and Commonwealth allies, by next June.

Part of the first batch, consisting of nine million Oxford/AstraZeneca doses, will start going out to the Covax programme from Friday.

Mr Raab said: "We succeeded in double-vaccinating 70 per cent of the adult population, the UK economy is bouncing back but we know we're not going to be safe in the UK until everyone is safe.

"That is why we have been leading the (international) vaccine rollout to give enough doses to get the world vaccinated by the middle of next year, rather than the current trajectory, which is the end of 2024.

"The first nine million doses will be going on Friday to countries from vulnerable countries in the Indo-Pacific, such as Laos, Cambodia, key partners like Indonesia, right the way through the Commonwealth countries from Kenya to Jamaica."

According to a poll conducted by YouGov, 63-66 per cent of people agree with allowing fully-vaccinated visitors from key European countries into England.

This includes those from Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Italy and France.

Meanwhile, 58 per cent of respondents support letting in fully-vaccinated visitors from the US.

The number of coronavirus deaths has increased by a fifth in the last week, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation.

In its weekly Covid update the WHO reported there had been 69,000 deaths globally in the last seven days - an increase of 21 per cent since the last report. 

The largest number of deaths took place in the Americas and South East Asia. 

The report also showed that cases are rising again around the world - 3.8 million cases were reported in the last week, an eight per cent increase on last week's figure. 

There have now been almost 194 million cases of the disease since the pandemic began and the number could exceed 200 million if cases rise at the current level.

The countries seeing the largest number of new cases this week were: the US with 500,000 new cases (131 per cent increase); Brazil 324,000 new cases (13 per cent increase); Indonesia, 289,000 new cases (17 per cent decrease); the UK, 282,000 new cases (five per cent decrease); and India, with 265,000 new cases, a similar number to the previous week. 

The Government said the UK will offer 817,000 Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines to Kenya, with the first 400,000 doses set to be sent this week.

Boris Johnson will meet Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta at Chequers today for talks, with the proposed vaccine deal part of a delivery of nine million doses through the global Covax scheme and directly to individual countries.

The Prime Minister said: "As friends and allies, we are sharing UK vaccine doses to support Kenya's fight against the pandemic."

Unvaccinated French secondary school pupils will be 'ousted' from the physical classroom if a classmate tests positive for Covid-19 this autumn, the education minister announced on Wednesday.

Pupils aged 11 to 18 who are not fully vaccinated will be obliged to follow classes remotely while their colleagues continue attending physical lessons, said Jean-Michel Blanquer.

As for primary schools where pupils cannot be vaccinated, classes will be shut as soon as one positive case is detected, he added.

"Our compass remains to keep open the school system," said Mr Blanquer.

Half of the population (around 34 million people) is now fully vaccinated, the French health minister announced on Tuesday, adding the government hopes to raise the number of people who have received at least one dose to 50 million by the end of next month.

To speed up jabs among 12 to 17-year-olds, between 6,000 to 7,000 vaccination centres will be deployed "in or next to" schools, Mr Blanquer said.

By Henry Samuel in Paris

A deaf woman who took High Court action after complaining about a lack of British Sign Language interpreters at Government Covid briefings in England has won a compensation fight.

Katie Rowley, who is in her 30s and from Leeds, took legal action against the Cabinet Office.

Ms Rowley said the Government has breached obligations to make broadcasts accessible to deaf people under equality legislation.

Ministers disputed her claim and lawyers representing the Cabinet Office said it should be dismissed.

• Read the full story here. 

The coronavirus pandemic has forced a “real reset” in efforts to ensure that all children around the world are able to go to school, according to Sierra Leone’s charismatic minister for education.

Speaking to The Telegraph ahead of a global education summit hosted in London by the UK and Kenya on Thursday, Dr David Moinina Sengeh said that while the pandemic has wrought havoc, it has also forced unprecedented innovation and “out of the box” thinking.

He is confident that the world may reach ambitious targets – set out by the United Nations in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – to achieve “inclusive and equitable quality education” for children worldwide by 2030.

“Before Covid, we would have definitely failed. And at the peak of Covid, it seemed like we’re all doomed… but I think Covid is the real reset,” Dr Sengeh said.

“It’s not good that Covid happened, but because of Covid and because all of our children were out of school, it woke us up… it forced everyone to take a look at themselves and we didn’t like what we saw.”

Sarah Newey and Anne Gulland have more details here.

Mike Tildesley, professor of infectious disease modelling at the University of Warwick, said Covid-19 "isn't necessarily all over bar the shouting quite yet".

The member of scientific modelling group Spi-M told Times Radio: "I think people are aware that Covid isn't quite over.

"I really hope that this is the turnaround of the third wave and as we get towards the autumn we really are very much getting back to normal.

"But I think, actually, people are doing pretty well at using their own judgment and exercising caution when necessary.

"It's pretty clear that we are not back to kind of pre-pandemic levels of mixing - people aren't socialising in the same way they were before the pandemic, hopefully that will come.

"But I think that's probably partly what we're seeing in the data - that we're not seeing a big surge in infections because people are taking a little bit of time to get back to normality."

He added that the high level of protection from the vaccines should put the UK in a "better position" in the winter, but added that it is possible a variant of concern could emerge.

Mike Tildesley, professor of infectious disease modelling at the University of Warwick, said the recent falls in Covid-19 case numbers could have occurred because people are less willing to get a test ahead of summer holidays.

Asked about the decline, the member of the scientific modelling group Spi-M told Times Radio: "Because schools in England closed last week, we haven't got secondary school pupils doing regular lateral flow testing and so we're not necessarily detecting as many cases in younger people.

"It's also been suggested by some that, possibly, because of a high number of cases, because of the summer holidays approaching, people might be less willing to 'step up' to testing when they have symptoms.

"What we really need to do is monitor hospital admissions, because at the moment of course they're still going up - now, of course there is a lag when cases go down, it always takes a couple of weeks before hospital admissions turn around - but if we start to see as we get into August, if we start to see hospital admissions going down as well then I think we would have much stronger evidence to suggest that this third wave is starting to turn around."

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey refused to repeat Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove's comment that it is "selfish" not to have a Covid vaccination.

Asked whether those not getting a jab are "selfish", she told LBC radio: "I think there are still quite a lot of people who are still scared.

"We want to encourage people to recognise the vaccine is safe and actually will help them but also other people around them too.

"I just really want to encourage people to be positive about the benefits to them, but also to wider society.

"Taking the vaccine is a sensible, safe step forward."

Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland, said that after the number of workers getting pings surged last week, the numbers have mysteriously started to drop over the past couple of days. 

He told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme: "The pinging has started to drop. Now, our staff are law abiding citizens, but with all of that sick pay used up with peak holiday season, it feels to me like, potentially, they're starting to delete the app en masse in numbers that they weren't previously doing.

"And to be honest, who can blame them."

Asked if that was a relief to him, given that less of his workforce would be at home self-isolating, he said: "I'm not I'm not condoning it, but I can understand why they are doing it.

"And, you know, this is, not law. This is government guidelines, but it has to be pragmatic and we're stuck. They're working so hard and have been nothing short of heroic throughout this pandemic.

"They deserve a break now but also business deserves clarity from Government and the pragmatic framework from which we can we can move forward."

Boris Johnson stressed the need for caution despite recent falls in the number of coronavirus cases.

The Prime Minister told LBC Radio: "We've seen some encouraging recent data, there's no question about that, but it is far, far too early to draw any general conclusions."

He added: "The most important thing is for people to recognise that the current situation still calls for a lot of caution and for people just to remember that the virus is still out there, that a lot of people have got it, it still presents a significant risk."

One in four adults has not been huggedfor more than a year, a survey has found. 

The research, carried out by Demos, suggests people are less likely to build new relationships, with 32 per cent of adults feeling there are fewer opportunities to do so than when the nation first locked down.

But the thinktank's polling of 1,000 UK adults in May found that 23 per cent believed there are more opportunities as society opens up from Covid restrictions.

It also showed that 64 per cent of respondents said they had not made a new friend for six months, while 44 per cent had not done so in more than a year.

Thirty-seven per cent reported that they have not been hugged for at least half a year, while 25 per cent said they had not shared a hug for a year or more. A further 13 per cent said they have not been asked how their day was or talked to their neighbours in six months or more.

The report called for public services to be delivered in a way that makes it easier for people to form new relationships. This would enable citizens to prevent problems and manage them more successfully with less reliance on the state, it said.

The New South Wales state government said the lockdown of the city of 5 million would last at least until Aug. 28, after reporting on Wednesday 177 new infections in the latest 24-hour period.

It was the largest daily tally since the cluster was discovered in mid-June.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters: "I am as upset and frustrated as all of you that we were not able to get the case numbers we would have liked at this point in time but that is the reality."

More than 2,500 people have been infected in a cluster that began when a limousine driver tested positive on June 16 to the contagious delta variant.

The driver had been infected by a US aircrew he transported from Sydney airport.

The death toll from the cluster reached 11 on Wednesday with a woman in her 90s dying in a Sydney hospital.

The number of newly reported Covid-19 cases in Tokyo exceeded 3,000 for the first time, Kyodo News reported on Thursday, citing government sources.

Japan has avoided the devastating outbreaks suffered by other nations such as India, Indonesia and the United States, but the fifth wave of the pandemic fueled by the delta variant is piling pressure on hospitals in the Olympic host city.

Here is your Daily Telegraph on Wednesday July 28. 

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern receives her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine from nurse Gordana Nezich today in Hamilton, New Zealand.

The New Zealand government will open vaccinations up to the general population, with people over 60 first invited to book an appointment.

Millions of people are missing out on new working from home tax breaks, as the "pingdemic" has thrown plans of a nationwide return to the office into chaos. 

Just 900,000 people have claimed the working from home tax allowance since the start of the tax year in April, Telegraph Money has learnt. 

The allowance is potentially worth hundreds of pounds and is designed to cover the additional costs of working from home, such as higher energy bills. 

Read the full story

Vaccinated people in parts of the US where the delta variant is spreading rapidly should resume wearing face masks, the country's top health authority after previously scrapping the mask mandate.

President Joe Biden said the announcement showed that America needs to "do better" on vaccinations, adding that a mandate for the country's more than two million federal workers was now "under consideration".

Read the full story

Governors of three prefectures near Olympics host Tokyo are likely to ask the government to declare states of emergency for their regions, media said on Wednesday, after Covid-19 infections spiked to a record high in the Japanese capital.

Tokyo recorded 2,848 new cases on Tuesday, the highest since the pandemic began, and media reported authorities had asked hospitals to prepare more beds for patients amid a surge driven by the delta variant.

Tokyo Olympics organisers on Wednesday reported 16 new Games-related cases, for a total of 169 since July 1. Olympic athletes, staff and media must follow strict rules to prevent the virus's spread, including frequent testing.

The Tokyo surge may spell trouble for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, whose support ratings are at their lowest since he took office last September, ahead of a general election this year.

Suga on Tuesday urged people to stay home as much as possible and watch the Olympics on television. He said cancelling the Games was not an option.

South Korea on Wednesday reported 1,896 new cases for Tuesday, its highest-ever daily increase, as the country struggles to subdue a fourth wave of outbreaks fanned by the delta variant.

The daily tally broke a previous record set on July 22 as infections are spreading beyond the capital Seoul and its neighbouring regions where the toughest social distancing rules are in place.

There were 1,823 domestically transmitted cases on Tuesday and 33.5 per cent, or 611, of the were from areas outside the capital regions, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

This is the first time the number of cases outside the Seoul metropolitan region has exceeded the 600 mark since the first Covid-19 wave emerged from a church in the southeastern city of Daegu.

Australia's New South Wales state authorities on Wednesday extended a lockdown in state capital Sydney for another month after weeks-long curbs failed to contain an outbreak of the delta virus variant.

Lockdown rules were due to end on Friday but restrictions will now run until Aug 28, state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

A total of 177 new locally acquired cases were detected in New South Wales, up from 172 a day earlier.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has fully vaccinated 90 per cent of its eligible adult population within just seven days, its health ministry said Tuesday.

The tiny country, wedged between India and China and home to nearly 800,000 people, began giving out second doses on July 20 in a mass drive that has been hailed by UNICEF as "arguably the fastest vaccination campaign to be executed during a pandemic".

In April, Bhutan grabbed headlines when its government said it had inoculated around the same percentage of eligible adults with the first dose in under two weeks after India donated 550,000 shots of AstraZeneca vaccine.

But the country faced a shortage for months after India, a major supplier of the AstraZeneca shot, halted exports as it scrambled to meet a rising demand at home as infections surged.

Bhutan was able to restart its drive last week after half a million doses of Moderna vaccine arrived from the United States as a donation under the UN-backed COVAX programme.

• Britain is to drop restrictions for fully vaccinated people and reopen its borders to European and American travellers from next month.
• Michael Gove has described people refusing to get vaccinated against Covid as "selfish" and suggested they could be "barred" from more venues in future.
• Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of having a “Donald Trump style meltdown” after she claimed critics who accused her of missing a key Covid vaccination target lacked intelligence.
• Patients died after the NHS cancelled appointments to remove objects left inside them, a University of Oxford study into indirect Covid deaths during the pandemic has found. 
• Vaccinated people in parts of the US where the delta variant is spreading rapidly should resume wearing face masks, the country's top health authority after previously scrapping the mask mandate.
• Nicola Sturgeon has hinted that she could break ranks with the UK and roll out vaccinations to all secondary school children amid concern from experts that the new term could be a "petri dish" for Covid variants.
• Britain's Olympic heroes are to be approached to promote the Government's Covid vaccination campaign in an attempt to drive uptake among the young.