Coronavirus live news: India reports lowest deaths since mid-March; Japan to end state of emergency

Japan will lift a coronavirus state of emergency in all regions on Thursday as the number of new cases falls and the strain on the medical system eases, economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.

Reuters: The plan, approved by a government advisory panel, takes Japan as a whole out of an emergency state for the first time in nearly six months. Prime minister Yoshihide Suga will hold a news conference at 7pm (10am GMT) to announce the decision after the plan is formalised by a government task force.

But Nishimura said some limitations on eateries and large-scale events would remain in place for about a month to prevent a resurgence in cases.

“New cases will undoubtedly rise after the emergency state is lifted,” Nishimura, who also oversees Japan’s coronavirus response, said on Tuesday as the advisory panel began its meeting.

“We need to continue with the necessary measures to prevent a rebound,” he said, adding that if cases surged again, reinstatement of a more limited “quasi emergency” was possible.

India reported 179 Covid deaths on Tuesday, the smallest daily toll since the middle of March, taking the total to 447,373.

Infections rose by 18,795, the smallest increase since early March, lifting the total to about 33.7 million, health ministry data showed.

Hello and welcome to today’s live coronavirus coverage.

India reported 179 Covid deaths on Tuesday, the smallest daily toll since the middle of March, taking the total to 447,373. Infections rose by 18,795, the smallest increase since early March, lifting the total to about 33.7 million, health ministry data showed.

Meanwhile, Japan will lift a coronavirus state of emergency in all regions on Thursday as the number of new cases falls and the strain on the medical system eases, economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said. The plan, approved by a government advisory panel, takes Japan as a whole out of an emergency state for the first time in nearly six months.

Here are the other key recent developments:

• Covid infection control measures in UK hospitals should be relaxed to help the NHS tackle a record backlog of patients waiting for treatment, the UK’s public health agency has advised.
• In the US, president Joe Biden has had a coronavirus booster jab, the White House confirmed. It comes days after his administration gave the go-ahead for a third shot of Pfizer’s vaccine in certain populations.
• The British prime minister Boris Johnson has finally agreed to meet the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group at Downing Street, well over a year after first promising to do so.
• The UK has fully vaccinated more than two-thirds of its population against Covid – one of a small number of countries to reach the milestone.
• In the US, hospital and nursing home workers in New York must be vaccinated against Covid by the end of today to be allowed to continue working in their jobs.
• Australian authorities have announced plans to reopen locked-down Sydney using a two-tiered system that will give people who are vaccinated against Covid more more freedoms than their unvaccinated neighbours for several weeks.
• South Korea has announced it will begin vaccinating children aged 12 to 17 and offering Covid vaccine booster shots to those 75 years and above.
• In Northern Ireland, shoppers have been urged not to “rush at once” to apply for a high street voucher scheme. All adults are eligible for a £100 pre-paid card to spend on the high street as the government looked to boost local businesses devastated by the pandemic.