08:34
Two of the three largest hospitals in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius stopped accepting non-urgent patients due to influx of Covid cases, a hospital executive director said on Friday.
Several regional hospitals around Vilnius were also full, said Jolita Jakutiene, executive director of the city’s largest hospital, during a televised press conference. Most of the Covid patients were not vaccinated, and were above the age of 30, she added.
“The situation is critical. The COVID-19 patients numbers are rising every day”, the head of the city municipality’s health department, Viktorija Turauskyte, told Reuters.
Around 71% of Lithuanian adults have been fully vaccinated so far, close to European Union average of 74%, EU health figures showed. The country has reported the worst infection numbers in the EU in the fortnight up to Sunday, with 864 new cases per 10,000 people.
08:31
Some 60% of schools in England will fail to host Covid vaccinations by the government’s target date later this month, according to a survey of headteachers that reveals the virus is continuing to “cause educational havoc” with staff and student absences.
A survey by the Association of School and College Leaders found that only two out of every five secondary schools will have had a visit from vaccination teams by the October half-term break.
The survey also revealed that 95% of headteachers said teaching has been impacted by pupil and staff absences, with nearly a third rating the impact as severe. Some 93 school leaders reported pupil absences of 10% or higher, while 63 schools said 10% or more of their staff were absent for Covid-related seasons.
“It is extremely frustrating that the vaccination programme which offers some hope of salvation is apparently beset with delays and is running behind schedule,” said Geoff Barton, the ASCL’s general secretary. He added:
We don’t blame healthcare teams for this as we are sure they are working flat out. However, it is incredibly remiss of the government not to have ensured that there was sufficient capacity in place to deliver this vital programme at the scale and speed required.
Barton also said an “additional difficulty” for schools was having to deal with anti-vaccination protesters. Some 13% of the 526 eligible schools reported seeing protesters outside their school.
“This is at best incredibly unhelpful, and at worst very distressing, and we appeal to those concerned to see sense and stop this nonsense,” Barton added.
The Department for Education has said that in schools that have been visited, uptake rates were around 35% of pupils.
08:20
Rishi Sunak is set to confirm that the “pause” on UK public sector pay that affected 2.6 million teachers, police and civil servants will be lifted in April, as the economy bounces back from Covid.
The chancellor imposed the freeze last November and it came into force in April. At the time, he said it was unfair for public sector workers to get a rise while many of their private sector counterparts were being furloughed or losing their jobs.
With wages in many sectors rising, and the prime minister using his party conference speech to highlight the prospects for a “high-wage economy”, Treasury sources said that argument no longer applied.
However, each Whitehall department will have to fund any pay increases from within its own budget, and TUC analysis shows that many public sector workers have seen their pay fall significantly in real terms after years of tight settlements. The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said:
In the face of a looming cost-of-living crisis the government must increase departmental budgets so that every public sector worker gets a meaningful, real-terms pay increase. If ministers don’t give departments the funding to raise pay, they are not ending the public sector pay freeze.
Recent polling carried out for the TUC by YouGov found that 27% of public sector workers said the government’s pay policy had made them more likely to quit.
07:43
In the United States, people in Washington state will need to either provide proof of Covid vaccination or a negative test to attend large events from 15 November.
The order announced by Governor Jay Inslee applies to indoor events with 1,000 or more attendees and outdoor events that have more than 10,000 attendees.
Events will be required to verify full vaccination status or a negative test within the last 72 hours for all attendees age 12 or older.
The governor’s office said the requirement applied to ticketed or registered events like conventions, concerts, sporting events and fairs.
Religious services or events that are held on K-12 school grounds are exempt from the order.
Updated
07:40
South Korea will partially ease Covid restrictions in its capital Seoul next week, it has been reported.
The deputy health minister, Lee Ki-il, said the limit on private social gatherings in the greater Seoul area would be expanded to eight people if at least four of the participants are fully vaccinated and that the rules will be employed regardless of the time of day.
Seoul and the nearby metropolitan areas have been under the country’s strongest social distancing measures short of a lockdown since July, which limited gatherings to six people after 6pm if at least four were fully vaccinated.
Gatherings between people who aren’t fully vaccinated had been capped to two but Lee said that would be expanded to four starting on Monday, Associated Press reported.
Lee said professional sports teams in the region would be able to sell 30% of the seats in outdoor venues and 20% of the seats in indoor venues to fans who are fully vaccinated.
The country confirmed 1,684 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, its 101st day of over 1,000, with most of the infections reported in the capital area. About 62% of a population of more than 51 million have been fully vaccinated.
Updated
07:36
Sri Lanka is vaccinating 18- and 19-year-olds against the coronavirus as it expands its inoculation programme to students.
After beginning with older people, Sri Lanka has now vaccinated 57% of its 22 million population, Associated Press reported.
Vaccinations with the Pfizer shot began on Friday for about 24,000 people in the 18-19 age group in the capital Colombo and suburbs. Officials say jabs in Colombo will be completed within 21 days and they will start giving doses in other parts of the country next week.
Sri Lanka lifted a six-week lockdown on 1 October after Covid cases and related deaths declined. But schools remain closed, unessential trips outside the home are restricted, public gatherings are banned and there are restrictions on transport.
At the peak, Sri Lanka was counting 3,000 daily infections and more than 200 deaths. Daily cases are now below 1,000 and deaths under 100. The Indian Ocean island nation has reported more than 529,000 cases and 13,408 deaths.
Updated
07:31
In France, coronavirus tests are no longer free for unvaccinated adults unless they are prescribed by a doctor.
While tests remain free for vaccinated adults and all children under 18, adults who have not gotten their shots will have to pay 22-45 euros to get tested as of Friday.
The government introduced the change as a complement to the Covid passes that have been required in France since the summer, the Associated Press reported.
To get a pass, people need to show proof of vaccination, a recent negative test or recent recovery from the virus.
The passes are required to visit tourist sites, for hospital visits and on domestic train trips and flights. The pass requirement, announced in July, helped boost France’s vaccination rate.
Over 49 million people, or about 74% of the population, are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus in France. Everyone age 12 and older are eligible for shots.
07:22
EU sends drugs and equipment to Romania to tackle Covid crisis
European Union (EU) countries have sent Covid drugs and equipment to treat patients in Romania, which is facing a surge in infections among unvaccinated people.
In the first 10 days of October, one person has died from Covid every six minutes in the country, but vaccine scepticism remains high.
The European Commission said it had coordinated the shipment to Romania of 250 oxygen concentrators, crucial devices to boost the supply of medical oxygen which is needed to treat critically ill patients, Reuters reported.
Poland sent 50 of the 250 concentrators, while the remainder came from an EU stockpile. The EU has also coordinated the shipment of 5,200 vials of monoclonal antibodies from Italy to Romania, the commission said in a press release. Monoclonal antibodies are an experimental treatment for Covid patients.
The EU will also ship eight additional oxygen concentrators and 15 ventilators from Denmark. Ventilators help seriously ill Covid patients to breathe.
Only about one third of Romania’s adult population have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, according to EU public data.
Updated
07:10
In Denmark, health authorities will start inviting citizens to receive a third vaccination shot against Covid next week.
The health minister, Magnus Heunicke, said invitations will be sent out to everyone who received their second vaccination at least six-and-a-half months ago, Reuters reported.
The Nordic country began giving booster shots last month to residents at homes for elderly people and others at risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus.
Denmark lifted its last coronavirus restrictions in September after vaccinating a large proportion of its population.
Updated
06:30
The Welsh government has said about 4,000 Welsh residents may have been given inaccurate Covid test results.
The health minister, Eluned Morgan, said the majority of these tests are believed to have been taken by people in the Gwent and Cwm Taf Morgannwg areas of south Wales. Morgan said:
Anyone who had a test from 4 October and received a result from the affected laboratory will be contacted by NHS test and trace by text message and/or e-mail and advised if it was negative to book an appointment to be retested.
It will also advise that their close contacts who are symptomatic book a test. People who had a test processed at the laboratory between 8 September and 4 October will also be contacted and advised to get a test if they have symptoms.
She added:
My immediate concern is the information and support for the Welsh residents impacted and I have asked Public Health Wales to provide additional support and advice to the affected health boards. They will also be assessing the potential impact of this incident on the case rates and epidemiology reports for Wales.
Updated
06:28
Morning all, Tom Ambrose here ready to bring you all the big Covid news from the UK and abroad throughout today.
Let’s start with some news coming in from Italy this morning. Protests have been taking place as one of the most stringent anti-coronavirus measures in Europe went into effect today.
Italy is requiring all workers, from magistrates to maids, to show a health pass to get into their place of employment.
Police were out in force this morning and schools planned to end classes early. Meanwhile, embassies issued warnings of possible violence amid concerns that anti-vaccination demonstrations could turn violent, as they did in Rome last weekend.
Protests by port workers in Genoa and Trieste threatened to affect commercial activities, but early reports suggested the ports were operational. Protesters shouted “Liberta” (Freedom) in a largely peaceful demonstration in Florence.
The so-called “green pass” shows proof of vaccination, a recent negative test or of having recovered from Covid in the past six months. Italy already required them to access all sorts of indoor environments, including restaurants, museums, theatres, and long-distance trains.
But the addition of the workplace requirement has sparked heated debate and opposition in a country that was a coronavirus hotspot early in the pandemic and where vaccination rates are among the highest in Europe.
Updated
