Five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Monday evening.
Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Monday evening. We’ll have another update for you tomorrow morning..
The UK’s booster vaccine programme will be extended to over-40s to top up protection and help limit the spread of the virus over winter. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it would be an “utter tragedy” if people who had two doses were to become seriously ill because their immunity was allowed to wane. So far, 12.6m people have received a third dose, which has been offered to over-50s, front-line medical staff and people who have health conditions that put them at greater risk. Each UK nation will decide on their own booster programme, but Scotland and Wales have already announced they will also offer third doses to over-40s. UK vaccine experts also said 16- and 17-year-olds, initially offered only one dose, should receive their second.
Image source, Reuters
Northern Ireland’s Health Minister Robin Swann has said “now is the time” for a phased introduction of a Covid passport scheme. Ministers will consider on Wednesday what settings will require the pass, with the nation grappling with high levels of community transmission. With the UK’s highest Covid rates, Wales extended its Covid pass scheme – which demonstrates people are fully vaccinated or have had a recent negative lateral flow test – to cinemas, theatres and concert halls. Pubs warned that they must not be next, saying it would be “counter-productive and put brewers and pubs in jeopardy”. The Welsh government said no decision has been made on extending the scheme to the hospitality industry.
Hate speech rose online by 20% in the US and the UK during the pandemic, a study commissioned by youth charity Ditch the Labels suggests. The charity analysed 263 million online conversations and concluded that the boredom and lack of control experienced by people during lockdown fuelled the rise. It found discussions about and featuring hate speech spiked around major news events, including the World Health Organization’s official declaration that Covid-19 was a pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020 and the murder of Sarah Everard in March.
Image source, Getty Images
Local authorities in Shangrao in Jiangxi province apologised after video footage appeared to show a Covid health worker who had been disinfecting a woman’s flat beat her dog to death with a crowbar. The owner, whose security camera recorded the incident, had been forced to quarantine because the neighbourhood had been designated a Covid-controlled area. The incident sparked outrage on Chinese social media and added to debate over China’s “zero-Covid” strategy, in which authorities respond to outbreaks with massive programmes of testing, tracing and localised lockdowns, including forced quarantine.
Image source, Getty Images
Two men who fraudulently claimed £200,000 between them in emergency Covid loans by setting up bogus businesses have been banned from running companies. The men, both from Rotherham, triggered an investigation when they put their companies into voluntary liquidation after receiving the Bounce Back Loans, which were offered by the government to help businesses keep going through lockdown. Muneef Ihsan was director of three companies that received £150,000 in total, while Mahir Towid Ul Haque received a £50,000 loan, using some of it to buy a Rolex watch. The money has not yet been recovered, but the two men could face attempts to retrieve it.
Image source, Getty Images
The weekday morning coronavirus briefing is being paused for two weeks to tell you five things you need to know about the COP26 climate summit.
As more age groups are being made eligible for Covid vaccine boosters, here’s what you need to know about the risk of waning immunity.
Find further information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.
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