Covid news live: Austria enters nationwide lockdown; Australia eases international border restrictions

Dr David Nabarro, a World Health Organisation special envoy on Covid-19, has told Sky News he can understand the protests in Europe but added: “I’m really very, very anxious about what I’m seeing right across Europe, including now in Western Europe – these very large numbers of cases – but also the speed with which they’re increasing really is a cause for concern.

PA Media quote him saying “I’m not surprised because this virus is just not going away. And I’m also not surprised that people are protesting because, actually, the public in so many countries are really fed up with what’s going on.

“However, me, as a public health person, I’ve got to share with UK and with your viewers that we’re going to have to go on, we’re going have to go on resisting this virus and we do it through making it hard for the virus to get from one person to another with face masks and also with avoiding breathing in the air breathed out by others.”

He said there is a need to “make sure that those who are eligible for vaccination are vaccinated and vaccinated promptly, because that also makes a huge difference to the amount of suffering and death.

“So we’ve got to keep going. And, please, everybody take it really seriously. This virus has got so many surprises in store for us.”

Here’s an updated map of the latest caseloads across the continent.

People were lining up for Covid-19 shots outside Budapest’s main hospitals on Monday as Hungary for the first time offered vaccinations without prior registration amid a surge in new infections.

Reuters report that Hungary had a record high tally of 11,289 new cases on Friday and on Monday reported 27,209 new cases for Friday to Sunday and 392 deaths. Hungary, with a population of 10 million, has reported 33,172 coronavirus deaths in total.

Despite people lining up for shots, Hungary’s vaccination rate lags behind the EU average, with about 5.8 million people having had the two shots.

The government imposed mandatory mask-wearing in closed spaces last week and said it would make Covid shots mandatory for all healthcare workers. But these fall short of the strict measures that the Hungarian Medical Chamber called for on Wednesday.

Janos Szlavik, of Budapest’s main Covid-19 hospital, said late on Sunday on commercial television ATV that further measures could soon be necessary to curb infections.

He was cited as saying that 80-90% of Covid-19 patients requiring intensive care were unvaccinated, and the intensive care unit in his hospital was full.

Prof Peter Openshaw, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), has told BBC Breakfast this morning that he is pleased that the UK can currently avoid the measures being introduced in Europe.

“The situation appears to have really been destabilised in some parts of Europe because of misinformation, particularly about vaccines,” he said.

“I think, in the UK, we had a very successful early vaccination campaign and we got very high vaccination rates, particularly amongst those who are vulnerable, but obviously that means that many people have now been vaccinated some time ago and they do need the boosters in order to raise their level of immunity back up again and make sure that, as we go into the winter season and towards Christmas, that we have very high levels of immunity again within society.”

PA Media quote him, adding: “I am concerned that we do have really quite high levels of transmission in the UK. My personal preference would be that we should really try to get these rates down – we know that masks do work … because there are people who are unvaccinated for various reasons, and we do need to try and reduce the level of circulation of the virus, as well as getting up vaccination rates.

“No single measure by itself is going to be successful; we need the combination of measures, which includes re-vaccination, third doses, but also wearing masks and being very careful not to transmit the virus.”

Here’s some more detail from Agence France-Presse in Vienna on Austria’s move into its fourth Covid lockdown:

People in Austria are not allowed to leave home except to go to work, shop for essentials and exercise, as the country returned to a Covid-19 lockdown on Monday morning.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday to protest against the measures, some blaming the government for not doing more to avert the latest coronavirus wave crashing into Europe.

The Alpine nation is also imposing a sweeping vaccine mandate from 1 February – joining the Vatican as the only places in Europe with such a requirement.

Battling a resurgent pandemic almost two years since Covid-19 first emerged, several countries on the continent have reintroduced curbs, some banning unvaccinated people from venues including restaurants and bars.

But not since Covid jabs became widely available has an EU country had to re-enter a nationwide lockdown. Austria’s decision punctures earlier promises that tough virus restrictions would be a thing of the past.

Over the summer, then chancellor Sebastian Kurz had declared the pandemic “over”.

But plateauing inoculation rates, record case numbers and a spiralling death toll have forced the government to row back on such bold claims.

Read more here: Austria re-enters Covid lockdown as Europe battles virus surge

India is not considering authorising booster Covid-19 doses yet as many in the country have been naturally infected and the government believes two doses of a vaccine offers sufficient protection for now, three sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.

As vaccine supplies have increased, some doctors and public health experts in India have urged the government to start a booster programme for the most vulnerable like many western nations have done.

Authorities will instead concentrate on having most of India’s 944 million adults complete a two-dose vaccination by January before shifting their focus to a big expansion in exports, said the sources who are involved in vaccine policy discussions.

So far, 81% of India’s adults have received at least one dose, while 43% have had two doses. Vaccination for people under 18 has not yet begun.

“The priority is to fully immunise the adult population,” said one of the sources. “A big majority has been naturally infected, and for them two doses are enough. That’s why we are seeing that even after recent festivals, cases are not rising.”

The source said that once most adults have had two vaccine doses, the government could make boosters optional. The health ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The mayor of a city hit by unrest on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has made an appeal to French authorities to restore calm.

“We just don’t know how far this will still go,” the Pointe-a-Pitre mayor, Harry Durimel, told Franceinfo radio. Guadeloupe has been hit by violent protests before, but he said there were “big worries” on the island now because rioters had guns.

Speaking in the early hours of the morning, Durimel said he could still hear noise from protests outside.

Tassilo Hummel reports for Reuters that violence erupted last week after walkouts organised by the territory’s labour unions to challenge local Covid-19 restrictions such as the mandatory vaccination of health workers degenerated.

The French prime minister, Jean Castex, is due to meet lawmakers from Guadeloupe later today to try to resolve the crisis.

“France must re-establish peace,” Durimel told Franceinfo when asked about his expectations of the meeting.

He also urged the government in Paris to open up dialogue with the local population suffering from issues such as social distress which were adding to the current health crisis.

Over the weekend, France announced it would send police special forces to restore order in the French overseas territory. The local school authority said on Sunday that all schools in Guadeloupe would be closed on Monday.

Kenyans will have to prove they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to gain access to government services, public transport and public places such as national parks, bars and restaurants under new health regulations.

The move comes despite Kenya recording a declining number of coronavirus infections in recent weeks. People will be required to show vaccination certificates from 21 December. The government is planning a 10-day mass inoculation campaign from 26 November, the health minister, Mutahi Kagwe, said in a statement.

He said Kenya had recorded a “marked decrease” in the number of severe cases and deaths. “I have no doubt that looking at these statistics, it’s very easy to become complacent and fail to appreciate the magnitude of the problem that we still face with the pandemic,” Kagwe said.

“The current decline in the number of new infections may be attributed to a buildup of immunity both through natural exposure to the disease and the ongoing vaccination exercise. Nonetheless we know that it’s not yet time to celebrate.”

Agence France-Presse reported that only 2.4 million people, or less than 9% of Kenya’s adult population, had been vaccinated, according to official figures, compared with a government target of 30 million by the end of next year. Since the start of the pandemic, Kenya has recorded a total of 254,629 cases and 5,325 deaths.

The Irish Times this morning is leading with news that the government there may be reconsidering financial support for businesses in the light of rising cases in the run-up to Christmas. Their political correspondent Harry McGee writes:

The Cabinet subcommittee on economics will receive an update on financial supports amid widespread infections across the State and new restrictions being imposed on businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector.

While a proposal is anticipated in relation to the employment wage subsidy scheme (EWSS), a number of sources said they did not expect the Government to reverse reductions in pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) from €250 per week to €200, which kicked in last week.

The EWSS gives businesses impacted by Covid-19 a subsidy per employee to help keep them in work. Payments for each employee are due to fall to €203 per week on December 1st, from the existing rates of €250 and €350. For those receiving €203 at present, this is due to fall to €151.

The subcommittee – which includes the five most senior ministers in government – will discuss putting a stay on those reductions until after the Christmas period.

Cambodia’s vaccination programme got off to a slow start, but the rate has reached 78%, which compares favourably with the rate of 58% in the US and some other Western countries.

The prime minister, Hun Sen, leveraged close ties with Beijing to procure nearly 37m doses from China, some of which were donated. He declared last week that Cambodia’s “victory of vaccination” could not have happened without them. The country also received large donations from the US, Japan, Britain and from the international Covax program.

David Rising and Sopheng Cheang report for Associated Press from Phnom Penh that it still took time to get sufficient supplies, and many countries in the region that started their programs later struggled even more, especially when the region’s major producer, India, suspended vaccine exports during its spring surge.

“Certainly getting the supply in place was really important for the countries that have done particularly well,” said John Fleming, the Asia-Pacific head of health for the Red Cross. “Then there’s the demand creation side – clearly this is about getting a buy-in from the population and also reaching out to marginalized groups.”

Early in the pandemic, many Asian countries imposed strict lockdown and travel rules that kept the virus largely at bay. As vaccines rolled out in force elsewhere, those low rates sometimes worked against them, giving some people the impression that getting the shot wasn’t urgent.

But when the virulent delta variant began ripping through the region, cases rose, encouraging people to sign up.

Hello, it is Martin Belam in London taking over from my colleague Samantha Lock in Sydney. I’ll bring you any Covid lines that emerge from the UK’s morning media round. Here’s a reminder of the latest Covid statistics in the UK.

That is a 9.4% rise week-on-week in cases. Fatalities are down 5.9% week-on-week, and hospital admissions are down 4.7% week-on-week. I’ll also have the latest coronavirus developments from around the world.

It’s Samantha Lock back with you to give a rundown of all the latest Covid headlines.

The regional disparity in tackling Covid has become even more pronounced in recent weeks as Europe introduces more lockdowns and nations in Asia and the Pacific ease restrictions.

Austria has entered its fourth national Covid lockdown today, making it the first western European country to reimpose the measure this autumn in the face of surging coronavirus infections.

Average daily deaths in the nation have tripled in recent weeks and hospitals in heavily hit states have warned that intensive care units are reaching capacity. The lockdown will last at least 10 days but could go up to 20, officials said.

The government also will make vaccinations mandatory starting 1 February. About 66% of Austria’s 8.9 million people are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe.

“For a long time, maybe too long, I and others thought that it must be possible to convince people in Austria, to convince them to get vaccinated voluntarily,” Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said.

Australia will welcome international students and skilled workers for exemption-free travel into the country from next week, in what the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has hailed a “major milestone” for the country returning to normal.

• South Korea’s schools will resume full in-person classes for the first time since the pandemic began on Monday.
• German politicians are debating making Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory for citizens in light of soaring infections and low inoculation rates.
• Germany reports another 30,643 confirmed coronavirus cases and 62 deaths, the Robert Koch Institute reports.
• The US government’s chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci warns that time is running short to prevent a “dangerous” new surge of Covid-19 infections from overwhelming the upcoming holiday season.
• England’s flagship test-and-trace service is still spending more than £1m a day on private consultants, official figures reveal weeks after MPs lambasted it as an “eye-watering” waste of taxpayers’ money that is failing to cut Covid infection levels.
• In the UK, Covid booster jabs are likely to be offered to all adults eventually, with the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation already considering the issue, the health secretary has suggested.
• Some Pacific countries will have less than a quarter of adults vaccinated by the end of the year, with predictions that Papua New Guinea will take five years to vaccinate just one-third of its population, undermining economic recovery and threatening huge loss of life across the region.
• New Zealand will soon be opening up far more freedoms as the country approaches 90% of adults vaccinated, with prime minister Jacinda Ardern announcing it will move into a new “traffic light” framework of covid protections on 3 December.
• The Delta variant was first detected a year ago and is now dominant across the globe. Scientists are concerned that a new strain could supersede it.
• Violence erupted at demonstrations in Belgium and the Netherlands over the weekend as tougher Covid-19 restrictions to curb the resurgent pandemic led to angry protests in several European countries.
• The US Marine Corps has the worst vaccination record among US military branches, Reuters reports, with thousands of active-duty staff set to miss a 28 November deadline for personnel to be fully vaccinated.
• The World Health Organisation said it is “very worried” about a fresh wave of European infection.
• The French government has warned that Covid is spreading at “lighting speed”. The seven-day average of new cases in France reached 17,153 on Saturday, an increase of 81%.