Covid live: percentage testing positive increases across most of England; Pfizer says jab shows 91% efficacy in children

England’s Covid weekly reproduction “R” number was estimated to have risen to between 1.0 and 1.2, the UK Health Security Agency said on Friday, and the epidemic is estimated to be growing.

An R number between 1.0 and 1.2 means that for every 10 people infected, they will on average infect between 10 and 12 other people. Last week R was estimated between 0.9 and 1.1.

The daily growth of infections was estimated between +1% and +3%, up from -1% and +2% the previous week.

UKHSA said regional estimates of R and growth rate had been paused while it investigated the impact of incorrect negative PCR test results on estimates in the South West, South East and London following an issue in a lab, which was suspended last week.

Norway will hold off giving children aged 12-15 a second dose of a vaccine against Covid until it has gathered more research, partly due to a rare side effect involving inflammation of the heart, health authorities said today.

The Nordic country has so far only recommended using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to minors, Reuters reported.

The health ministry said there was no urgency given that children have a low risk of falling seriously ill from coronavirus and because a single dose of a vaccine offered a protection rate of 85% against the disease for up to 16 weeks.

“A second vaccine dose is also linked with a higher risk of pericarditis and myocarditis, especially among young men and boys,” the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) said in a statement.

Pericarditis is inflammation of the outer lining of the heart, while myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle. The FHI will assess the situation again in early 2022 after it has gathered more information from studies currently being conducted in the Nordics, it said.

Belgium’s daily Covid cases have jumped to the highest level in almost a year, prompting health experts to say that a fourth wave of infections has begun.

Data from the Sciensano health institute showed on Friday that the country registered nearly 6,500 new cases on 18 October. That is as many as on 10 November, 2020, a few days before the government imposed a second lockdown.

The seven-day daily average stood at more than 3,600, a rise of nearly 60% from the previous week, Reuters reported.

Belgium’s coronavirus commissioner Pedro Falcon told a news conference that vaccines were able to prevent 70% of infections and 90% of hospital admissions, and the vast majority of people in hospital were unvaccinated.

The number of patients with Covid in hospitals exceeded 1,000 for the first time since June, and nearly 100 new patients are being admitted a day, Sciensano said, a 53% increase from the previous week.

“The impact on hospital admissions and deaths is much more limited than in the first two waves due to the high vaccination rate,” said virologist and Sciensano spokesman Steven Van Gucht.

In the United States, people are able to choose a Covid booster shot that is different from their original inoculation, Dr Anthony Fauci said today.

However, the recommendation is to stick with the vaccine they got first if it is available,the White House chief medical adviser added. He said in an interview with CNN:

It’s generally recommended that you get the booster that is the original regimen that you got in the first place. But for one reason or other – and there may be different circumstances with people, availability or just different personal choices – you can, as we say, mix and match.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the Covid vaccine boosters for recipients of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson jabs yesterday and said Americans can choose a different shot from their original inoculation as a booster.

Dr Fauci’s comments contrasted with the recommendations from the CDC and Food and Drug Administration this week, which said that Americans should get boosters but did not specify which combinations would be best, Reuters reported.

The recommendations also opened the door for recipients of the one-shot J&J vaccine to get a dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines that have been shown to afford greater protection in a variety of studies.

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered frontline workers and tourism staff to be given a third booster shot of Covid vaccine by next month.

It is part of a bid to reopen the travel industry and revive the economy, the Reuters news agency reported.

More than one million people, including security personnel, health care staff and tourism industry workers, will be given third shots of the Pfizer vaccine beginning 1 November, the president’s office said in a statement. Reuters reported:

Sri Lanka has fully vaccinated a little over 60% of its 22 million people. The country depends on international tourism, and partially rolled back Covid restrictions late last month, allowing fully vaccinated travellers with a negative test to enter without quarantine.

Earnings from tourism plummeted from $4.3 billion in 2018 to just $33 million in the first eight months of this year. Reviving the industry is seen as crucial to restoring reserves which stood at just $2.6 billion at the end of September.

Tourism minister Prasanna Ranatunga said there was strong interest from travellers from countries such as Russia, Britain, France and Germany, and that international flights will be increased from next month.

“The target is to have a strong winter season from November to March or April of next year,” he told Reuters.

Pfizer has said that child-size doses of its Covid vaccine are safe and nearly 91% effective at preventing infections in primary school children.

Details of the study were posted online today as US regulators considered vaccinations for children aged five to 11, the Associated Press reported.

The jabs could begin as early as next month – with the first children in line to be fully protected by Christmas – if regulators give approval.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to post its initial review of the company’s safety and effectiveness data later on Friday. Next week, advisers to the FDA will publicly debate the evidence.

If the FDA then authorises the low-dose shots, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will make the final recommendations on who should receive them.

Full-strength Pfizer shots already are authorised for anyone 12 or older, but paediatricians and many parents are anxiously awaiting protection for younger children to stem rising infections from the extra-contagious Delta variant and help keep kids in school.

The percentage of people testing positive for Covid is estimated to have increased in all regions of England except south-east England and the West Midlands.

It appeared to level off in those areas, while the trend remained uncertain in north-east England and Yorkshire and the Humber.

In north-west England and south-west England, around one in 45 people was likely to test positive in the week to October 16. This was the highest proportion for any region.

London and south-east England had the lowest proportion, at around one in 75.

In Iran, mass Friday prayers resumed in Tehran after a 20-month hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, state TV reported.

The prayers at Tehran University, a gathering of religious and political significance, came as authorities warned of a sixth wave of the coronavirus, which has so far claimed 124,928 lives in Iran and afflicted more than 5.8 million.

On Saturday, schools with less than 300 students are also due to reopen. Also starting on Saturday, government employees, except those in the armed forces, will be barred from work if they are not vaccinated at least with a first dose, according to a government circular released earlier this week.

The Iranian government says more than 28.2 million people have so far received a second dose of the Covid vaccine. Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, Tehran’s interim Friday prayer imam who led the sermons, said:

T€œoday is a very sweet day for us. We thank the the Almighty for giving us back the Friday prayers after a period of restrictions and deprivation.

Worshippers had to follow social distancing and use face masks during the gathering. Most worshippers brought their own prayer rugs and clay tablets used during prostration, Reuters reported. Friday prayers also were performed in several other Iranian cities.

Russia recorded a fourth straight daily record of Covid deaths this morning, with 1,064 more people reported to have died from the virus.

It comes with still a week to go before the start of a nationwide workplace shutdown ordered by president Vladimir Putin to try to curb a rise in infections.

Authorities said 1,064 people had died in the previous 24 hours, with new infections hitting a second successive daily record at 37,141, Reuters reported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin’s decision to declare the period from 30 October to 7 November as “non-working days” would provide an opportunity to break the chain of infections, but described the situation as “extremely difficult”.

Asked if more drastic measures might be considered, he said:

Right now, no… There is not a single person who can predict the trajectory of the pandemic with a high degree of confidence.

He did not rule out the possibility of further measures being takenif necessary, and once again blamed the situation on negative public attitudes towards getting vaccinated, adding:

Our vaccination programme is going worse than a number of European countries. Fewer people are being vaccinated and more people are getting sick as new, more aggressive strains emerge. That is the reality that is taking place.

Putin has told regional authorities they can introduce further restrictions at their discretion.

Moscow has ordered unvaccinated over-60s to stay at home for four months from Monday, and from next Thursday will reimpose the strictest lockdown measures since June last year, with only essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets allowed to remain open.

Ukraine shut schools in coronavirus hotspots and announced a requirement for vaccine certificates or negative tests to use public transport in the capital, after Covid deaths hit a record high.

Schools in Kyiv were ordered to close for a two-week holiday. In other “red zone” areas of high infection, schools would be permitted to reopen only if all teachers are vaccinated.

Infections have soared after a lull in the summer. Official data showed a record 614 new deaths related to Covid in the past 24 hours, up from 546 on Thursday, Reuters reported.

In a bid to combat vaccine hesitancy, Ukraine has made vaccinations compulsory for some government employees such as teachers. The unvaccinated face restrictions on access to restaurants, sports and other public events.

“I will make unpopular decisions to protect the lives of Ukrainians,” Health Minister Viktor Lyashko told parliament. “We must do what is expected of us today – to convince people to vaccinate.”

Good morning. I’m Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest Covid news from around the world through the rest of the day.

We start with the news that a key measure of coronavirus infections in Germany rose sharply over the past week, figures showed this morning.

It could raise the prospect of tougher restrictions as winter approaches, according to the Reuters new agency. The seven-day incidence rate of cases – which has been used to decide Covid restrictions – jumped more than 26 points in a week, the Robert Koch Institute responsible for disease control said.

The rise comes as the leaders of Germany’s 16 states are discussing pandemic plans. A nationwide state of emergency is set to lapse on 25 November, meaning restrictions will automatically expire then unless extended by parliamentary vote.

The number of new infections per 100,000 people over seven days stood at 95.1 compared with 68.7 reported a week ago, the institute said. A total of 19,572 new infections were reported on Friday, 8,054 more than the same time last Friday, it added.

More than 1,500 coronavirus patients are in intensive care, up from about 1,400 a week ago, figures from the DIVI association for intensive and emergency medicine showed on Thursday. “The fourth wave has started now and is still gaining speed,” Christian Karagiannidis, the scientific head of DIVI, said on Twitter on Thursday.

• Amnesty International has urged the Italian parliament to launch an independent inquiry into coronavirus deaths in care homes and reports of retaliation against nursing staff who criticised unsafe conditions. Amnesty interviewed 34 care home workers, as well as labour union leaders and lawyers, and found that a third of workers “raised concerns about a climate of fear and retaliation in their workplace” if they criticised the unsafe conditions.
• India seems unlikely to meet its goal of vaccinating 944 million adults by December. 230 million of them have yet to get even a single dose, and with India using a 12- to 16-week gap between AstraZeneca doses in contrast to the 8- to 12-week gap recommended by the World Health Organization, the programme looks unable to be completed.
• The Covid surge in Ukraine continues as the country again set records for the daily number of deaths and cases: 23,785 cases and 614 deaths.
• Poland has reported 5,706 new coronavirus infections and 59 more deaths related to Covid. The case numbers are slightly down on figures from earlier in the week.
• France’s annual flu vaccination campaign kicked off today, four days earlier than initially planned, dovetailing with the country’s Covid-19 vaccination programme that, as well as trying to reach those who remain unvaccinated, is also providing booster shots to those in need. French health authorities issued instructions this week that the jabs can be given the same day, one in each arm.
• Hong Kong authorities prevented a Royal Caribbean cruise ship from departing the city’s terminal late on Thursday as a crew member was suspected to have Covid-19 after routine testing. About 1,000 passengers out of a total of 1,200 had already boarded the ship, which was due to take a “cruise to nowhere” before the four-night trip was cancelled.
• Fully vaccinated travellers arriving in Wales from a non-red list country will be able to take a lateral flow test instead of the more expensive PCR test from Sunday 31 October, the Welsh government has announced.
• In the latest development in the row over Conservative MPs not wearing face masks in the enclosed space of the House of Commons, Gillian Keegan, the minister of state for care, told Sky News masks were “less relevant” than vaccines and boosters in the race to curb surging cases of coronavirus, which on Thursday surpassed 50,000 in a single day for the first time in three months. “We shouldn’t make it a sign of virtue or not,” she said.
• Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow secretary for work and pensions in the UK, has been highly critical of the government’s rollout of the booster jab programme, saying “You can’t get past the fact that the government are not where they should be – and promised us – in terms of the overall picture.”
• Progress in clearing the NHS cancer treatment backlog in England has gone into reverse amid high Covid cases and staff shortages, analysis suggests.
• The UK’s neighbours have criticised British Covid policies as cases begin to surge across EU.
• China has continued to take action to close some tourist attractions, flights and train routes after a small outbreak of Covid. Six local cases, some of the highly transmissible Delta variant, were detected this week in Beijing city, which has vowed high vigilance ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in February.
• A poll suggests voters in Switzerland will again back the country’s anti-Covid measures in a November referendum.
• More than half of US states have introduced new laws to restrict public health actions, including policies requiring quarantine or isolation and mandating vaccines or masks. Between the new laws and the massive workforce departures during the pandemic, public health in America is in crisis, experts say.
• New Zealand set a new 90% vaccination target as prime minister Jacinda Ardern vowed to only lift most restrictions when country reaches the milestone.
• Nearly one-third of refugees and asylum seekers detained by the government at Melbourne’s Park hotel have tested positive for Covid-19, amid claims in court an ambulance was turned away from the hotel without being allowed to see a patient.

Clea Skopeliti has our politics live blog if you are looking for further updates on Covid developments in the UK. Tom Ambrose will be here shortly to continue bringing you Covid news from around the world. That’s it from me, Martin Belam, for this week. I will see you on Monday. Take care, stay safe, and have a great weekend.

Worried that the flu and Covid-19 could trigger a winter-time crisis of new infections and deaths, John Leicester reports for Associated Press that France is forging ahead with a nationwide vaccination and booster-shot programme against both diseases, offering simultaneous jabs to millions of at-risk people.

The annual flu vaccination campaign kicked off Friday, four days earlier than initially planned, dovetailing with France’s Covid-19 vaccination programme that as well as trying to reach those who remain unvaccinated is also providing booster shots to those in need.

French health authorities, in instructions issued this week, urged doctors, nurses, pharmacists and midwives to “systematically promote both vaccinations” to at-risk people eligible for Covid-19 booster and flu shots. The note said the jabs can be given the same day, one in each arm.

It added that the onset of the winter flu season with the pandemic ongoing “increases the risk of co-infection and the development of serious cases and deaths.”

French health authorities also fear that because there were fewer flu infections in 2020, because of social distancing and coronavirus lockdowns, people could be more vulnerable this winter.

“The flu could be strong this year – I stress could – because we had no flu last year and so the population’s immunity is lower,” health minister Olivier Véran said on BFM-TV.

Poland has reported 5,706 new coronavirus infections and 59 more deaths related to Covid. The case numbers are a little bit down on figures from earlier in the week.

PolskieRadio report that the Polish health ministry announced on Friday morning that 4,264 Covid-19 patients were in hospitals nationwide, 353 of them on ventilators, with a further 181,800 people quarantined for possible coronavirus exposure.