Coronavirus live news: UK wakes up to tighter restrictions as EU begins vaccine rollout-The outline of the latest updates of the day
outline of the latest updates of the day
- Millions wake up to tougher restrictions in UK
- South Korea at ‘crossroads’ as concern mounts over variants
- Covid led to huge London property exodus, says Hamptons
- Australian golf great Greg Norman tests positive for Covid-19
(The Guardian)-
Israel to begin third national lockdown on Sunday
Israel has announced the country will be heading into a two week long lockdown, with the option to extend for another two weeks if the desired drop in cases is not recorded
The regulations of the lockdown include not travelling more than a kilometer from one’s home, as well as restricting visits to other people’s houses, the Haaretz newspaper reports
All retail is expected to close, except for delivery services and stores that do not service customers directly. The ‘green tourism islands’ of the Dead Sea and Eilat will also be closed
This is the third lockdown Israel will enter since the beginning of the pandemic, after the first was imposed in March and the second in late September
Since Thursday, more than 150,000 people have already received the vaccine
Japan temporarily bans non-resident arrivals
Japan on Saturday said it would temporarily ban non-resident foreign nationals from entering the country as it tightens its borders following the detection of a new, highly infectious variant of the coronavirus
The ban will take effect from 28 December and will run through January, the government said in an emailed statement
Japanese citizens and foreign residents will be allowed to enter but must show proof of a negative coronavirus test 72 hours before departing for Japan and must quarantine for two weeks after arrival, the statement said
Japan on Friday reported its first cases of a fast-spreading variant in passengers arriving from Britain, Reuters reports
The new strain adds to worries about a surge in cases as Tokyo reported another record rise on Saturday
Infections of the virus that causes Covid-19 hit a record 949 in the capital just as Japan heads into New Year holidays that normally see people stream from the capital into the provinces
Germany to start vaccinating on Sunday
Preparations for the start of vaccination in Germany are in full swing, with the first mobile vaccination teams scheduled be deployed to vaccinate primarily in old people’s and nursing homes and hospitals on Sunday
The first doses of vaccine arrived in individual federal states on Saturday morning
In the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, 9,750 cans were initially delivered and taken to a secret central warehouse
Bavaria also received 9,750 doses of vaccine, the German press agency DPA reports
According to a survey, around two thirds of Germans want to be vaccinated against coronavirus, while 19 percent have decided against a vaccination, 16 percent are still to make up their mind
In the survey, carried out by the YouGov opinion research institute on behalf DPA, 32 percent of those questioned stated that they wanted to be vaccinated as soon as possible
Another 33 percent are also determined to do so, but first want to wait and see the potential consequences of the vaccine for others
A clear majority of 57 percent are also afraid of possible side effects of the vaccine
Thousands more lorries have been allowed to cross the English Channel after being held at the border on Christmas Day, but hauliers have warned “it’s not over yet”
Congestion continues to ease at the Port of Dover in the UK and Eurotunnel on Boxing Day after thousands of drivers spent days in queues, but more who held off leaving for the border over the festive period are expected to join the queue soon
France closed its border last Sunday following the discovery of a fast-spreading mutant Covid-19 strain in the UK, and drivers wishing to enter the country from Britain must now show proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken in the previous 72 hours
Traffic began moving smoothly through Dover on Friday, with French firefighters and the Polish military’s Territorial Defence Force drafted in to help some 1,100 British military personnel with the testing of lorry drivers at Manston Airport and two mobile sites
Around 3,000 hauliers were still waiting to cross into France from Kent on Friday evening, and around half of these had been cleared by 10.30am on Saturday, according to the Department for Transport (DfT)
Poland to start vaccinations on Sunday
The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, extended on Saturday a ban on flights from the UK by another two weeks to mid-January in a bid to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus variant
He also ordered a 14-day quarantine for passengers that came from or transited in the United Kingdom, and from countries where the more infectious Covid-19 variant was detected, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Japan
Duterte said the government might declare a stricter lockdown should cases of the new coronavirus variant skyrocket in the Philippines
Summary
Below is an outline of the latest updates of the day:
• Iran has extended a night-time traffic curfew to 330 lower-risk cities in an effort to sustain a recent fall in the number of new coronavirus infections and deaths, state television reported on Saturday
• Four cases of a coronavirus variant believed to be particularly infectious that recently emerged in Britain have been confirmed in the Spanish city of Madrid, the regional government said Saturday, the first cases detected in the country
• Hungary stole a march on its fellow EU nations as it began vaccinating its people against Covid-19 on Saturday, a day ahead of rollouts in several other countries including France, Germany and Spain as the pandemic surges across the continent
• Mass vaccination across the European Union, home to almost 450 million people, would be a crucial step towards ending a pandemic that has killed more than 1.7 million around the world, crippled economies and destroyed businesses and jobs
• The total number of cases of coronavirus infections in Russia crossed the 3 million mark for the first time on Saturday after officials recorded 29,258 new cases in the preceding 24 hours and 567 deaths
• A resurgence of coronavirus in South Korea has reached new heights during Christmas week, prompting soul-searching on how the nation sleepwalked into a crisis. The 1,241 infections on Christmas Day were the largest daily increase. Another 1,132 cases were reported Saturday, bringing South Korea’s caseload to 55,902
