Coronavirus live news: Thailand confirms record community cases; mandatory vaccines for Australia’s aged care workers | World news

Russia’s official Covid figures have settled into a fairly consistent rhythm again, albeit at a higher level to the caseloads they were recording in April and May. Russia reported 25,766 new Covid cases on Friday, including 6,643 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 5.7m.

Reuters report that the Russian government coronavirus task force said 726 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours.

Dominique Vidalon has a bit more detail from Reuters here after the media appearance by French health minister Olivier Veran this morning.

Veran, who has said a fourth wave of infections could hit France as early as end-July and is urging as many French people as possible to get vaccinated, told France Inter radio the Delta variant now represents nearly 50% of new Covid infections.

Senior ministers will meet on Monday to discuss the threat of a fourth wave and the government has said it is considering all possible scenarios, including possible compulsory vaccination for health workers.

Veran, who met health workers’ representatives earlier this week, told France Inter a consensus was building in the country for making vaccination for health workers compulsory, though no decision had yet been taken.

The government’s top scientific advisory body during the Covid crisis also now backs making vaccinations for health workers compulsory.

From a seven-day average of more than 42,000 new infections per day in mid-April, the infection rate had plunged to just over 1,800 at the end of June. But since then the trend has reversed, and the number of daily new cases is now back above 4,000.

Public Health England’s latest data bulletin shows that numbers of the Delta variant in the UK have risen by 54,268 since last week to a total of 216,249. This represents a 32% increase in total cases, and a slight rise on the number of new cases recorded the previous week.

Dr Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said:

The data continues to show that the sharp increase in cases that we are seeing is not being followed by a similar increase in hospitalisation and death. This is because 2 doses of the available vaccines offer a high level of protection against the Delta variant. Getting both jabs is the best way to ensure you and the people you love remain safe, so we once again urge everyone to come forward as soon as they are eligible.

Follow Nicola Slawson on our UK live blog for more…

A hospital in Thailand taking reservations this week for the Moderna coronavirus vaccine was sold out in minutes – after offering shots via e-commerce platform Shopee.

With a worsening outbreak and worries about the efficacy of vaccines offered locally, appetite has quickly grown in Thailand for mRNA vaccines, which aren’t available until near the end of the year.

“It was sold out within minutes,” a Shopee spokesperson said on Friday, adding the vaccine sale saw a spike in traffic on Phyathai Hospital’s page, attracting 2.6m visitors.

Chayut Setboonsarng and Orathai Sriring report for Reuters it offered 1,800 slots for doses of the Moderna vaccine at 1,650 baht (£36) apiece via Shopee.

“They were sold out at record speed,” the hospital’s CEO Att Thongtang told Reuters. “I feel very sorry for those who missed it.”

Demand for the Moderna vaccine has increased after a leaked health ministry memo showed the Thai government was considering giving a booster shot of mRNA vaccine to medical workers who had already received two doses of Sinovac’s vaccine.

A couple of quick sharp lines that are developing with the Tokyo Olympics. Firstly organisers are asking people not to spectate by the roadside for events like the road cycling, marathons and triathlons. Secondly, Reuters are snapping that one member of the Israeli Olympic party has tested positive for Covid.

UK transport secretary Grant Shapps urged people not to ignore the NHS Covid app if they are “pinged” and advised to self-isolate. Shapps said it is important that people continue to use the app.

“You shouldn’t ignore this because it is vital information. People should want to know if they have been in contact with somebody with coronavirus. You don’t want to be spreading it around. It can still harm people,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

PA report he said the app is being kept under review to ensure it is “calibrated in the right way” for the prevailing circumstances.

“The medical experts will advise us on what the level of sensitivity should be relative to where we are, for example, to our vaccination programme overall,” he said.

“We will follow scientific advice, keep this under review and tweak the app to be suitable to the circumstances of the time – double vaccination, for example, being at record highs in this country.”

Vaccinations will be mandated for aged care workers, and South Australia will be tasked with establishing a home quarantine trial for returned travellers – who will also finally be asked for their vaccination status before entering Australia – in new decisions made in Friday’s national cabinet meeting.

The Morrison government will also roll out a vaccination campaign from Sunday, almost six months after the program began. But the prime minister still can’t answer say just how many Pfizer doses Australia is to receive in the coming weeks as part of the “ramp up” announced on Friday morning, or when under-40s will become eligible to be vaccinated.

Read more of Amy Remeikis’s report here: Covid vaccination to be mandatory for Australia’s aged care workers, Scott Morrison says

Anne Davies brings us this analysis of the situation in New South Wales, Australia:

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, emerged from her crisis briefing at the Department of Health on Friday looking more stressed – with good reason.

All the signs are that NSW is losing control of this outbreak of the Delta strain of Covid-19, despite the increasingly stringent lockdown rules.

“To 8pm last night there were 44 cases of community transmission. Regrettably, 29 of those were either partially or fully exposed to the community and that is the number that is really concerning us,” Berejiklian said on Friday.

“It tells us that both the case numbers and unfortunately the number of people who may be exposed or have been exposed in the community is going to go up.”

The number that should put fear into everyone is the 14,000 people who are under 14-day isolation orders as close contacts. That’s doubled in 24 hours and is an indicator of how quickly the pool of exposed people can grow.

Not only is Berejiklian battling the most serious outbreak of Covid that NSW has experienced and the added threat of the Delta variant, she is dealing with a new bout of destabilisation from within her own ranks.

The sniping and negative commentary is coming from disgruntled cabinet colleagues who seem intent on seizing on any setback to pour petrol on the fire.

Read more of Anne Davies’s analysis here: Gladys Berejiklian faces instability within as a Covid storm brews outside

There’s a lot of excitement about the prospect of easier international travel to and from the UK as restrictions are eased, but these is a not of caution as well.

On BBC Breakfast, UK transport minister Grant Shapps has said holidaymakers should expect additional queues when they check in for their flights home due to the need for coronavirus checks.

Mr Shapps told BBC Breakfast: “Before you board a plane you would need to show you have completed your passenger locator form, that you have carried out a pre-departure test, that you have got your test booked for day two and all of that needs to be checked by the carrier – the airline usually – before you travel.

“So the place to expect queues is the airport you are coming from. Once you get back to the UK all of that is starting to be automated. People should expect more disruption than usual but I know that everyone is working very hard to minimise those queues.”

China’s official vaccination numbers continue to dwarf everybody else. Reuters report that yesterday they administered about 11.85m doses of vaccines, taking the total to 1.35bn doses.

The highly contagious Delta variant of Covid will probably account for most of the new coronavirus cases in France from this weekend, health minister Olivier Veran said on Friday.

The Delta variant now represents nearly 50% of new Covid infections, Reuters report Veran told France Inter radio station.

Having regular covered both the Olympics and the Paralympics in the past, I’m not saying that people often treat the Paralympics as an afterthought, however, Reuters report that Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto said on Friday she aimed to reach an agreement on Paralympic spectators with relevant parties “at the earliest possible” timing after the close of the Tokyo Olympics – without saying when.

Organisers said yesterday that the Olympics would take place without spectators in host city Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures, but that a decision on Paralympic spectators would be made after the Olympics, without mentioning specific timing.

The Olympics are scheduled for 23 July to 8 August, with the Paralympics slated to start 24 August.

Talking of face masks, without wanting to sound like a stuck record, this week our video team put together this great little explainer featuring our science correspondent Natalie Grover explaining why masks are more about protecting others than ourselves, and where we still might want to wear them. It’s useful as a refresher, and to share.

Also on the airwaves in the UK this morning is Gemma Peters, the chief executive of the Blood Cancer UK charity. She was expressing concern for the group of around half a million people who is immunosuppressed and for whom vaccines are not offering efficacy. She told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:

It’s really important that people understand there are things that they can do, not actually to protect themselves, but to protect others you really need that support. People can continue to wear face masks when they’re in crowded places – that’s certainly what I will be doing and certainly when I’m inside – and to keep your distance from people and to not assume that the people around you are protected. They might well not be. They might be one of the half a million in the group that we’re talking about.

Blood Cancer UK have said they want to see:

• government and the NHS write to every immunocompromised person to tell them about likely vaccine efficacy in the immunocompromised.
• government to set out the support it will offer them, particularly what financial support will be available for people who work in busy workplaces and cannot work from home.
• the general public to keep wearing masks and respecting people’s social distancing – saying the more people do this, the safer the immunocompromised will feel when they are out.

UK transport minister Grant Shapps has been questioned on the vexed matter of whether people should wear face masks on public transport. People who are immunosuppressed or vulnerable have expressed concern that large numbers of people going maskless in public places will restrict their freedom of movement from 19 July. Shapps told Sky News:

We’ve been living with this for a year and a half now, and people know the things to do in order to try to keep themselves safe. It’s still sensible to wear a face covering if you’re on a crowded piece of transport – a crowded tube for example. But clearly, if you’re on a train, perhaps a long distance service, and there’s no one else in the carriage, their not really protecting anyone. We’re able to now shift to people using their own common sense, increasingly, as we get through the 19 July, and asking people to do that. So I think it’s right that we switch these things from the law to guidance, but nonetheless, that doesn’t mean that we’re not guiding people to be sensible and to think about how they can protect themselves and others.