Coronavirus live news: record cases in South Korea and Thailand; US may mandate vaccines for federal workers | World news

Boris Johnson has rejected Michael Gove’s remarks that turning down a vaccine is “selfish”.

Asked about the Cabinet Office minister’s comments this morning, Labour deputy Angela Rayner and Therese Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, also refused to support Gove’s claim.

Police in Malaysia are investigating an an alleged breach of coronavirus restrictions after a customer went to extraordinary lengths to order a takeaway, sending a helicopter more than 100 miles across the country to pick up their meal.

The aircraft landed in Ipoh city to collect 36 portions of a rice popularly known as “nasi ganja” and returned to Kuala Lumpur, 180 kilometres (110 miles) away, according to Reuters.

The country is under lockdown, with people chiefly remaining at home and travel between states banned except in exceptional circumstances.

Police say the helicopter had been given permission to fly outside the capital but only for maintenance, not to collect food. Prosecutors will decide whether to take further action.

The story has sparked anger online, with one social media user tweeting: “There are people who can’t travel back home to attend … funerals or to see their loved ones for one last time, because it’s not a valid enough reason to get them a travel permit.”

Mike Tildesley, professor of infectious disease modelling at the University of Warwick, said recent decline in the number of UK cases could be because people are less willing to be tested ahead of summer holidays.

Asked about the decline, the member of the scientific modelling group Spi-M told Times Radio: “Because schools in England closed last week, we haven’t got secondary school pupils doing regular lateral flow testing and so we’re not necessarily detecting as many cases in younger people.”

He said that it has also been suggested that “people might be less willing to ‘step up’ to testing when they have symptoms” ahead of their holidays.

Tildesley stressed the importance of monitoring hospital admissions which are still rising as it “always takes a couple of weeks before hospital admissions turn around”. He said that if we start to see admissions falling as well in August, then “we would have much stronger evidence to suggest that this third wave is starting to turn around”.

Boris Johnson has called for caution despite recent falls in the daily coronavirus case figures.

The UK prime minister told LBC Radio: “We’ve seen some encouraging recent data, there’s no question about that, but it is far, far too early to draw any general conclusions.”

He added: “The most important thing is for people to recognise that the current situation still calls for a lot of caution and for people just to remember that the virus is still out there, that a lot of people have got it, it still presents a significant risk.”

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike has called on younger people to get vaccinated and to follow coronavirus restrictions amid the surge in cases during the Olympics.

Reuters reports that Tuesday saw cases rise to 2,848, exceeding its previous record in January. Koike said that most of the new cases are in unvaccinated younger people, while most older people have been fully vaccinated.

“Younger people’s activity holds the key (to slowing the infections), and we need your cooperation,” Koike said. “Please make sure to avoid nonessential outings and observe basic anti-infection measures, and I would like younger people to get vaccinated.”

A quarter (25.5%) of people in Japan have been fully vaccinated, while 68.2% of elderly people are.

Malaysia’s health ministry has reported a further 17,405 coronavirus cases – a new daily record.

Reuters reports that the new infections takes the southeast Asian nation’s total caseload of cases to 1,061,476.

More than 8,000 deaths have also been recorded, though experts have warned that the true numbers are far higher as testing rates are low.

Rayner says people who refuse to get vaccinated are not “selfish”, following Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove’s comments saying they were.

“We know from medical advice that compulsory vaccination is not the way to go,” she tells Sky News. “It’s giving people the information and encouragement to take up the vaccine, and where we’ve done that, we’ve been incredibly successful.”

“What we want to see is testing so we can see where the virus is and isolate it”, as well as encouragement for vaccination.

Asked about people who refuse to get vaccinated, Rayner says it’s a “personal choice for them”. “I don’t think it’s selfish – what politicians should be doing is encouraging people to speak to their doctor, get the right information – not stuff online that may be factually incorrect – and get the vaccine.”

Coffey also refused to repeat Gove’s comment after being asked during the broadcast round.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner is on Sky News this morning.

She is emphasising the need for an effective testing regime as well as vaccines to control the virus.

Rayner is calling for more workplace flexibility for employees. “I think Covid has changed the landscape for workers,” she says, adding that employers have seen that flexible and remote working is possible. She says that some people may not return to the office.

The second shot of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine does not increase the chances of rare blood clots with low platelets, a study published in the Lancet medical journal has showed.

The data found that the estimated rate of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) after the second dose of the Vaxzevria vaccine was 2.3 per million in those inoculated, comparable to the typical rate seen in those who have not been vaccinated, AstraZeneca said.

The rate was 8.1 after the first dose.

Sir Mene Pangalos, executive vice-president of BioPharmaceuticals R&D, said: “Vaxzevria is effective against all severities of Covid-19 and it plays a critical role in combatting the pandemic. Unless TTS was identified after the first dose, these results support the administration of the two-dose schedule of Vaxzevria, as indicated, to help provide protection against Covid-19 including against rising variants of concern.”

The leader of Myanmar’s junta is seeking international cooperation to tackle the country’s coronavirus outbreak, according to state media.

In a speech, senior general Min Aung Hlaing called for more cooperation on prevention, control and treatment of Covid-19, including with other members of the Association of southeast Asian Nations and “friendly countries”, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.

He said the number of vaccinations needs to be boosted, through both donated doses and by developing domestic production, aided by Russia, the newspaper said, adding Myanmar would seek the release of funds from an ASEAN Covid-19 fund.

Myanmar is believed to have only vaccinated about 3.2% of its population, despite recently receiving 2m further Chinese vaccines, according to a Reuters tracker.

Thérèse Coffey, the UK work and pensions secretary, is doing the media round this morning.

Coffey says “no decision has been made” on plans to end quarantine for vaccinated travellers but that the government is considering “opportunities to reopen the economy from people coming from abroad”. An announcement is expected later today.

Asked on Sky News about the “pingdemic” and whether there is a possibility the end of self-isolation for vaccinated people could be brought forward, Coffey says that self-isolation continues to be an important tool in fighting the spread of the virus, although “vaccines help in reducing transmission”.

Coffey says “all policies are kept under consideration” but that there is “very strong medical advice” saying fully jabbed people should continue to self-isolation until 16 August.

Hello, I’m Clea Skopeliti and I’ll be running the blog for the next few hours. Do drop me a DM on Twitter if you spot a story I’ve not included. Thanks in advance.

Thailand reported on Wednesday a daily record of 16,533 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s total accumulated cases to 543,361.

The country’s Covid taskforce also reported 133 new deaths, taking total fatalities to 4,397.

South Korea on Wednesday reported 1,896 new cases for Tuesday, its highest daily increase, as the country struggles to subdue a fourth wave of outbreaks fanned by the more contagious Delta variant.

The daily tally broke a previous record set on 22 July as infections are spreading beyond the capital, Seoul, and its neighbouring regions where the toughest social distancing rules are in place, Reuters reports.

There were 1,823 domestically transmitted cases on Tuesday and 33.5%, or 611, of the were from areas outside the capital regions, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

This is the first time the number of cases outside the Seoul metropolitan region has exceeded the 600 mark since the first Covid wave emerged from a church in the southeastern city of Daegu.

Tighter social distancing curbs took effect across most of the country on Tuesday and will last for two weeks. Those areas will be under Level 3 curbs on a four-level scale, which will mean a 10pm (1300 GMT) dining curfew and ban on gatherings of more than four people.

The tighter curbs were enacted to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus during South Korea’s peak summer holiday season.

The great Seoul area region remains under Level 4 curbs that include a ban on gatherings of more than two people after 6pm.

Joe Biden says requiring all federal workers to get coronavirus vaccine is “under consideration” as the Delta variant surges.

Meanwhile, CNN has reported that the president will indeed announce a vaccine requirement for all federal employees and contractors, or submit to regular testing and mitigation requirements, according to a source the network said is close to the matter.

As he wrapped up a speech to members of the intelligence community at the Office of the Director of National intelligence today, Biden took a couple questions from reporters.

One journalist asked Biden whether he plans to mandate coronavirus vaccinations for federal employees.

“That’s under consideration right now, but if you’re not vaccinated, you’re not really as smart as I thought you were,” Biden said:

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.

South Korea has reported 1,896 new cases, its highest-ever daily increase, as the country struggles to subdue a fourth wave of outbreaks fanned by the more contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. Thailand also reported a daily record, of 16,533 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s total accumulated cases to 543,361.

Meanwhile in the US, Joe Biden says requiring all federal workers to get coronavirus vaccine is “under consideration” as the US responds to surging Delta variant cases.

Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:

• Plans to significantly open up international travel are expected to be announced on Wednesday, with UK ministers poised to let people who have been fully vaccinated in the US and EU avoid quarantine if arriving from amber list countries.
• Kuwait said it will allow only vaccinated citizens to travel abroad starting 1 August, the government communication office reported.
• Iran’s Covid-19 cases hit a record high for the second time in as many days today, rising to almost 35,000, as the health minister warned there was little hope of improvement unless the public followed health precautions, state TV reported.
• The UK and Germany “have protected Covid vaccine patents over human lives”, campaigners have said as the World Trade Organization is reportedly about to delay a decision on whether to waive patents on Covid vaccines. The two countries are expected to resist efforts to allow poorer countries to produce their own vaccines, thus speeding up the global rollout of the jabs.
• The US’s top health agency is expected to backpedal and recommend that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in parts of the US where Covid is surging, according to reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to make an announcement later in the day revising guidance issued in May, which said vaccinated individuals did not need to wear masks in most indoor settings.
• Schools closed due to the pandemic must reopen as soon as possible, the United Nations said, estimating that the education of more than 600 million children was at stake.
• Ireland is set to open its vaccination programme to those aged 12 to 15 after its national immunisation advisory committee made a favourable recommendation. Foreign minister Simon Coveney said the decision meant “the benefit of vaccination can be extended to this much younger cohort” but that parents would retain the right to decide how to proceed.
• Almost 99% people who have died of Covid-19 in Italy since February this year were not fully vaccinated, the National Health Institute said.
• An additional 18,000 New Zealand children were pushed into poverty in the first year of the pandemic, according to research, despite child welfare being one of prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s main concerns.
• The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the EU has met the target of administering a Covid jab to 70% of adults by July, making good on the promise to “catch up” after a rocky start to the bloc’s vaccination rollout.
• Tokyo’s 2,848 daily coronavirus infections on Tuesday were the Olympic host city’s highest since the pandemic began, officials said, but Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga said it was “not a problem” for the Games and that Tokyo residents should focus on working from home to suppress the movement of people
• Germany is planning to introduce tighter controls on citizens returning from holiday in an attempt to control the growth in coronavirus cases.
• People advised to shield during the first wave of the pandemic were eight times more likely to get Covid-19 and five times as likely to die following infection than the general population, a study indicated.