Hong Kong providers of shipping services are breathing a sigh of relief after authorities announced they would ease strict quarantine restrictions imposed last July on vessels calling at the Asian shipping hub, trade sources said.
From Tuesday, crew of non-cargo goods vessels visiting Hong Kong for shipping services, including bunkering and provision supplies, will be exempt from the curbs, subject to conditions, the Marine Department told shipping firms in a letter.
“This is a long overdue relaxation as the trade had already demonstrated to the health authority here in Hong Kong that there is no human contact throughout the process,” Frankie Yick, a transport sector legislator, told Roslan Khasawneh at Reuters.
Hong Kong’s bunkering industry, which is among the world’s top 10, was hit hard by the strict 14-day quarantine requirement imposed on crew of vessels calling for reasons other than to load or discharge cargo.
Ship operators opted instead to refuel in neighbouring ports, such as China, Singapore and Taiwan, several industry sources said.
Yick said Hong Kong’s bunkering industry was “seriously affected” by last year’s restrictions, which took volumes down by about 70% from levels before the pandemic.
As the rate of coronavirus infections in Germany continues to fall, mandatory mask-wearing rules are set to be relaxed around the country.
Berlin’s senate is today expected to announce that people will no longer have to wear face masks in busy shopping streets or zoos. Visitors to theatres, cinemas or opera houses will likely be allowed to wear simple cloth masks rather than medical FFP2 masks. A night time ban on drinking in public spaces is also expected to be lifted in the German capital.
Some politicians are urging the government to scrap mask-wearing rules altogether. “While we have an incidence rate below 35, the state is no longer to impose wholesale restrictions on the fundamental rights of its citizens”, said Wolfgang Kubicki of the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
Health policy expert Karl Lauterbach of the Social Democrats, junior partners in Angela Merkel’s coalition government, said it was important for people to continue wearing masks at indoor gatherings until more than 70% of the population had been vaccinated.
As of Tuesday morning, 48.7% of the German population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. The country’s disease control agency reported 652 new infections on Tuesday – roughly 50% down on the same point last week – and 95 new deaths.
My colleague Andrew Sparrow has the UK live blog up and running for the day – so you can follow all the latest developments there. I’ll be continuing here with global coronavirus news.
Our community team would like to hear how you have been affected by the ending of all Covid restrictions in England being delayed for four weeks. You can get in touch with them here.
The controversy has brought renewed attention to biosafety, biosecurity, “gain-of-function” and other “dual-use” research, along with consideration of the level of oversight that such labs should be operating under. Although this debate has become polarised and politicised, we should not lose sight of the importance of these issues, even if it turns out this lab had nothing to do with the emergence of the novel coronavirus. Concerns about whether labs are conducting their research safely, securely and responsibly are not new, or of relevance solely to labs in China – as revealed by a comprehensive study on global BSL-4 labs that we recently completed.
Based on open-source research, we have compiled a list of BSL-4 labs around the world in the form of an interactive website at globalbiolabs.org. Our research identified nearly 60 BSL-4 labs in operation, under construction or planned across 23 countries, including seven in the UK. Given recent concerns about biosafety, it is worth noting that three-quarters of these labs are located in urban areas. More than half are government-run, public health institutions. The remaining labs are evenly split between being housed at universities and located at government agencies involved in biodefence, with a small number of private labs in operation as well. Regardless of who runs them, they are used either to diagnose infections with highly lethal and transmissible pathogens, or conduct research on such pathogens to develop new medical countermeasures and diagnostics tests or to improve our scientific understanding of how these pathogens work.
If you missed Michael Gove’s various appearances on UK media this morning, here are the key points he made while defending the UK government’s decision to delay reopening the economy in England from 21 June to 19 July.
He denied that the government delayed putting India on the ‘red list’ for international travel because Boris Johnson wanted to make a trade trip to India. Pakistan and Bangladesh were put on the red list at a point when India had a higher number of infections per million people than either of them.
He said “what we want to do is make sure that when we do make that move that we don’t go back. The worst thing for any of us, would be to open up again and then to very quickly find that we had to reimpose restrictions.”
“It would require an unprecedented and remarkable alteration in the progress of the disease” for the date to be moved again, he said.
He didn’t sound optimistic about travel in the summer, saying he had not booked a holiday.
Several Russian regions tightened coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday and said they were increasing hospital capacity for an influx of patients after a steep rise in Covid-19 cases.
Authorities reported more than 14,700 infections on Sunday, the largest one-day tally since February. Over the weekend, St Petersburg, which is hosting matches in Euro 2020, and Moscow said they were imposing new curbs.
The local government in the far eastern region of Primorye said on Tuesday two hospitals would open in coming days in the cities of Ussuriysk and Vladivostok, and that they had created hundreds of new beds since April to treat Covid-19 patients.
“We’re now seeing a similar pattern to last year’s spring wave. First there was an increase in Europe, a few weeks later in central Russia, and 2-3 weeks after that in large cities of Primorye,” said the local health minister.
Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber reports from Moscow for Reuters that the region of Buryatia in eastern Siberia said it needed more intensive care beds after a rise in cases this month. Public areas including parks, squares and swimming pools would be closed until 1 July, authorities in Buryatia said. Sports in gyms and indoor and outdoor facilities were suspended.
In the oil-producing Siberian region of Yugra, authorities banned large public events of more than 20 people. It said workers returning to the region from 20 June would have to first test negative for Covid-19 or show they have been vaccinated.
In the Arctic region of Murmansk, restaurants were banned from working overnight and a third of state employees were told to work remotely, the RIA news agency reported.
Taiwan has reported 132 local cases, the third consecutive day with a daily figure below 200 in an outbreak which started in late April. Eight more people have died.
The most cases were again in New Taipei with 65, followed by Taipei at 26 and Miaoli with 18. Miaoli is home to several factories which have recorded outbreaks among their employees with most cases linked to migrant workers who are housed in dormitories.
Taiwan is currently on level 3 restrictions, limiting gatherings, closing entertainment, sport and public venues, and restricting restaurants to takeaway. In some regions beaches and outdoor areas have been closed to the public. The order has been in place since 19 May and was extended to the end of this month.
Health and welfare minister Chen Shih-chung said the number of cases and deaths had started to drop, which was positive, but also flagged high rates of 10-15% positive infections expected as authorities start testing all migrant workers quarantined in Miaoli.
The issue of migrant workers in Taiwan, including the conditions they live in and the rights afforded to them, has been a hot topic in Taiwan in the past week or so. Local governments and some companies are enforcing restrictions and rules that go far beyond the requirements set by the central epidemic command centre.
The Guardian reported on Friday on one company which had ordered workers who lived in their own homes to return to the dorms or face penalties. The company has said it plans to move people out of dorms into hostels and other accommodations to reduce the risk of spread.
But human rights groups have criticised the order, which included a ban on anyone leaving their accommodation except to go to work. A similar order was made by the county government in Miaoli.
Critics pointed to the lack of any similar order on local employees who work alongside the thousands of migrant workers, accusing the local governments and companies of discrimination.
The CECC has reminded local governments to only follow their requirements, but there doesn’t appear to be any attempt to enforce this.
Authorities are currently inspecting migrant worker dorms across Taiwan, to ensure they meet disease prevention standards set for this outbreak. Chen told the press conference this afternoon that of the 1,164 dorms with more than 50 residents inspected so far, more than 80% were up to standard, while the rest needed to make changes, according to local media.
Neha Arora and Uday Sampath Kumar report from New Delhi for Reuters that thousands of commuters crowded into underground train stations and shopping malls in India this morning prompting some doctors to warn it could lead to a resurgence in Covid infections.
Major Indian cities have begun lifting strict lockdowns as the nationwide tally of new infections has dropped to its lowest level in more than two months. But disease experts and doctors have cautioned that a race towards resuming business as usual would compromise vaccination efforts as only about 5% of all 950 million eligible adults have been inoculated.
Doctors say Delhi’s near-complete re-opening is concerning. The city’s authorities have said they would reimpose strict curbs if cases rise.
“Delhi’s top mall saw a footfall of 19,000 people last weekend- as soon as it reopened. Have we gone totally mad?” Ambrish Mithal of Max HealthCare in New Delhi said on Twitter. “Wait for Covid to explode again- and blame the government, hospitals, country.”
In the early hours of Tuesday, Delhi’s underground rail network put out alerts on Twitter about peak traffic and longer waits, responding to angry commuters angry about long queues.
After a strict five-week lockdown in Delhi, authorities have fully re-opened shops and malls, and allowed restaurants to have 50% seating. Suburban rail networks can run at 50% capacity, and offices have been partially reopened.
Vaccinations have slowed, however; the city government said inoculation centres for people ages 18-44 would start shutting down on Tuesday, as doses were scarce.
“Delhi ought to have unlocked far more scientifically. We are inviting trouble!” Arvinder Singh Soin, a surgeon and leading liver transplant specialist, said on Twitter.
Nationwide, India reported 60,471 new Covid infections over the past 24 hours, the lowest number since 31 March, data from the health ministry showed.
UK opposition health spokesperson, Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary, has told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the reason why the nation was in the current situation was because the Government had not imposed travel restrictions sooner.
“Rather than red listing this variant, we essentially gave it the red carpet treatment as 20,000 people were allowed to arrive from India over a number of weeks in April, even though the warning signs were there,” he said. “That essentially seeded this Delta variant across the country.”
“Nobody wanted to be in this place and we could have avoided this if it was not for the Delta variant, and I’m afraid this is on Boris Johnson for his puny weak border policy, which was secure as a sieve.”
PA report he added that Labour would “collapse” the traffic light travel system, adding: “Essentially all those nations on the amber list we wouldn’t move to a red list. We would want to see more nations move on to the green list when it is safe to do so.
“But we would ask those returning from those red list countries to properly quarantine themselves at the borders – I understand this is an immense inconvenience for people, and I don’t want to put people in this situation, but we’ve got to protect ourselves from this very dangerous virus.”
Our Morwenna Ferrier writes about the rise of a new trend in the wake of the pandemic – the “vaxinistas”:
This summer’s trend is not a dish or a dress, but a clean bill of health posted on social media. There’s even a word for it: a “vaxinista” – a combination of “fashionista” and “vaccine” – is someone who has not only had both jabs, but wants to broadcast it via vaccine selfies, cards and even merchandise.
This interest in pharmaceutical merch has now reached a strange new frontier: used pharma memorabilia. On eBay, old mementoes branded with Pfizer and AstraZeneca logos are selling for tens and hundreds of pounds. AstraZeneca paperweights and ballpoint pens are going for £150 and £50 respectively. Bids for a Pfizer lab coat begin at £106, a “pre-loved” Pfizer denim shirt at £100 and a Disneyland Pfizer conference T-shirt at £144. Meanwhile, newspapers from the day the vaccine was announced are selling for more than £40.
One seller of a Pfizer-branded pen told the Guardian he had listed the item “years ago but no one was interested”. This time, about 20 people have been in touch asking to “buy it now” rather than bid on the site.
Japan will send a million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Vietnam, foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi said, as the south-east Asian nation steps up vaccine procurement to fight a more stubborn wave of infections.
With a population of about 98 million, Vietnam’s tally of infections stands at 10,241, and only 58 deaths, since the pandemic began.
The shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines produced in Japan is due to arrive in Vietnam on Wednesday, Motegi told reporters.
Japan is considering additional vaccine donations to Vietnam and Taiwan, and plans similar shipments to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand from early July, Motegi added.
Prof Graham Medley, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) advising the government, has been on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, and here are some of the key quotes:
Although the numbers of deaths are low at the moment, everyone expects that they will rise. The question is really as to what level they will rise, and at the moment there is a lot of uncertainty in what’s going to happen over the next couple of months.
Remember the government risks are not the same as individual personal risks. My kind of risks are about whether or not I get ill or whether or not I die, government risks are primarily based upon the healthcare, and whether the healthcare can continue to function.
And so they’re really focused very much on how many people end up in hospital, how many people end up in high dependency in hospital, and it’s really that is the focus of their risk and thinking about what should the government do to prevent those bad things happening.
PA Media reports that pressed on the notion that the nation could return to seeing hundreds of deaths each day, he added: “I think that’s quite possible it’s not a certainty. There is a lot of uncertainty, but I think that’s quite possible.”
On the border issue, he said the Delta variant “would have ended up in the UK at some point” even if the borders had been closed sooner. “The newer Delta variant is now quite common around the globe so it would have ended up in the United Kingdom at some point but perhaps it would have been delayed.
“It’s really the competition between the virus and the vaccine so had the variant arrived in the country when we’d had more people vaccinated, then it may well not have grown in the same way that it has. It is now the predominant virus in the United Kingdom. And so it got a good start. A lot of cases introduced.”
Shi has denied these accusations, and now finds herself defending the reputation of her lab and, by extension, that of her country. Reached on her cellphone two weeks ago, Dr Shi said at first that she preferred not to speak directly with reporters, citing her institute’s policies. Yet she could barely contain her frustration.
“How on earth can I offer up evidence for something where there is no evidence?” she said, her voice rising in anger during the brief, unscheduled conversation. “I don’t know how the world has come to this, constantly pouring filth on an innocent scientist,” she wrote in a text message.
In a rare interview over email, she denounced the suspicions as baseless, including the allegations that several of her colleagues may have been ill before the outbreak emerged.
The speculation boils down to one central question: Did Dr Shi’s lab hold any source of the new coronavirus before the pandemic erupted? Dr. Shi’s answer is an emphatic no.
A 2017 photo of Shi Zhengli working with other researchers in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Photograph: AP
Israel has told its citizens they could stop wearing masks indoors, ending one of its last main restrictions as new Covid-19 infections continued to wane even as vaccinations tapered off after a record rollout.
Children headed to school and adults to work without masks for the first time in more than a year. Israelis have not had to wear masks outdoors since April.
About 55% of Israel’s 9.3 million population are fully vaccinated – a turnout largely unchanged by this month’s expansion of eligibility to include 12- to 15-year-olds.
Dan Williams reports from Jerusalem for Reuters that Israel has this month logged either zero or one daily Covid deaths, health ministry data shows. New infections have been in a steady but gentle decline after a steep drop-off in February and March.
The ministry said masks would still be required of unvaccinated patients or staff in medical facilities, of people en route to quarantine and of passengers on commercial flights.
Michael Gove is on the UK media round this morning, and pretty much saying the same thing everywhere. He’s been pushing this line that 19 July is the new “terminus date” for ending restrictions in England, although with the events of the last couple of days, you’d be forgiven for thinking that roadmap had been saved on government computers as final_FINAL_revised_v2.doc.
Alan McGuinness(@Alan_McGuinness)
Gove on 19 July: “That will be the terminus date.
“What we said is we won’t lift those restrictions before the 21 June – in there in the roadmap it says not before – and the whole point about the roadmap was to build in an element of flexibility and caution…
“It is regrettable that we do have this pause before moving to step four, but what we want to do is make sure that when we do make that move that we don’t go back…
“Because the worst thing for business, the worst thing for any of us, would be to open up again and then to very quickly find that we had to reimpose restrictions.”
Working from home is the best way you can achieve total freedom and we at Abound Online Jobs are here to help you out and hence you can count on us every single step you take all the way till you achieve the goal which is making a fulltime income online.
No comments:
Post a Comment