Covid live: Beijing reports new cases for seventh consecutive day; WHO chief says pandemic ‘at a critical juncture’ | World news

China has lifted one in all its longest lockdowns, within the northern metropolis of Xi’an, as coronavirus spreads throughout the nation.

AFP studies:

The town’s 13 million residents had been confined to their houses since 22 December after the invention of a Covid-19 cluster that grew to greater than 2,100 instances – China’s largest outbreak in months.

With the Winter Olympics starting subsequent week, Chinese language authorities have been scrambling to eradicate flare-ups in a number of main cities, most just lately Beijing, the place greater than 40 instances have been recorded since mid-January.

Whereas China’s coronavirus caseload pales compared to international numbers, the nation’s strict “zero-Covid” technique means even the slightest trace of the virus is met with contact tracing, focused lockdowns and lengthy quarantines.

Officers started eradicating restrictions in Xi’an final week after each day instances slowed to single digits.

Residents with a clear invoice of well being are actually permitted to go away the town, whereas public transport and financial exercise have absolutely resumed now that Xi’an has been deemed a “low-risk” space, virus management authorities mentioned in an announcement on Monday.

Just one district stays beneath lockdown, the discover mentioned, with restrictions to be lifted at a later date.

However travellers to Xi’an, house of the famed Terracotta Warriors, nonetheless want to offer a unfavorable take a look at end result, whereas these from virus-affected areas of China are barred entry.

Rachel Corridor right here taking on the worldwide coronavirus weblog for the remainder of the day. I’ll be protecting you up to date on key happenings internationally, together with the UK. If we’ve missed something do drop me a line at rachel.hall@theguardian.com.

• In China, Beijing reported new native Covid instances for the seventh consecutive day as flare-ups endured forward of the Winter Olympics Video games in February, whereas 4 provinces discovered infections linked to clusters in Beijing.
• The Fengtai district in Beijing, which on Sunday launched blanket testing, mentioned it might begin a second district-wide testing programme tomorrow. Outdoors of Beijing, the provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Liaoning and Hebei have already discovered a complete of eight infections linked to the capital.
• “The Covid-19 pandemic is now coming into its third 12 months and we’re at a essential juncture,” the World Well being Group (WHO) director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has mentioned. “Circumstances are perfect for extra variants to emerge,” he warned.
• Dr David Nabarro, the WHO particular envoy for Covid-19, has mentioned: “What individuals are seeing from world wide is that is nonetheless a really, very harmful virus, particularly for individuals who haven’t been vaccinated and who’ve not been uncovered to it earlier than. So fairly actually, we’re not saying that this must be thought-about to be like flu or certainly like the rest. It’s a brand new virus, and we should go on treating it as if it is stuffed with surprises, very nasty and reasonably crafty.”
• The Omicron variant has moved the Covid-19 pandemic into a brand new section and will carry it to an finish in Europe, the WHO Europe director has said. “It’s believable that the area is transferring in direction of a form of pandemic endgame,” Hans Kluge instructed AFP, including that Omicron may infect 60% of Europeans by March.
• The easing of measures put in place in Scotland in response to Omicron marks a “very vital second of progress” in tackling the virus, John Swinney has mentioned.
• Solely the “findings” of Sue Grey’s report into alleged lockdown-breaking events at Downing Avenue can be revealed, the UK training secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, has said, in one other obvious step by the federal government away from promising full transparency with what she uncovers.
• Russia reported a brand new document variety of Covid-19 instances confirmed up to now 24 hours – instances jumped to 65,109, from 63,205 a day earlier.
• Covid instances are rising rapidly amongst US nursing house residents and workers, inflicting shortages in admissions, exacerbating mattress shortages at hospitals in flip, and in some instances requiring the nationwide guard to be known as in.
• Specialists in India are warning that the height of the nation’s Omicron wave might be but to come back. “The variety of instances in cities like Mumbai and Pune are the tip of the iceberg,” mentioned the nationwide Covid taskforce’s Dr Subhash Salunke. He expects to see a number of peaks within the subsequent eight to 10 weeks with the variant spreading to semi-urban and rural areas.
• Indonesia opened up two islands near Singapore to guests from the city-state as we speak. Singaporeans can go to Batam and Bintan islands offering they’re vaccinated in opposition to Covid-19, they bear checks and have insurance coverage protection, authorities mentioned.
• Hong Kong will take steps from Tuesday to cut the number of civil servants working in their offices, because it battles a spate of Covid-19 infections within the run-up to the busy Lunar New Yr vacation.
• In Australia, nationwide incapacity insurance coverage scheme members will be capable to dip into their core funding to buy speedy antigen checks for themselves and their help staff, however critics have warned the change is still inadequate.
• New measures are being launched in New Zealand as coronavirus instances may rise to greater than 1,000 a day pushed by the extra transmissible Omicron variant. Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has postponed her planned wedding in response.
• Practically half of those that turned in poor health with Covid within the first wave of infections might have long-term and even everlasting modifications to their sense of scent, according to preliminary research from Sweden.

Rachel Corridor can be with you shortly, to carry you the newest Covid developments from the UK and world wide. Andrew Sparrow has our UK politics live blog. I can be again with you tomorrow.

Here’s a little little bit of the messaging popping out from the World Health Organization (WHO) this morning. There’s an occasion in Geneva the place the director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has been speaking.

He mentioned it might be harmful to imagine that the extremely transmissible Omicron was the final variant to emerge, and that the world was within the “finish recreation” of the pandemic.

Nevertheless, he mentioned it was potential this 12 months to exit the acute section of the pandemic the place Covid constituted a world well being emergency if methods and instruments comparable to testing and vaccines had been utilized in a complete manner.

Talking on the opening of govt board assembly, Tedros mentioned that since Omicron was first recognized slightly over 9 weeks in the past, greater than 80m instances had been reported to the UN company, greater than had been reported in the entire of 2020.

“Circumstances are perfect for extra variants to emerge,” he added.

Violent clashes broke out between police and folks protesting in opposition to Covid-19 restrictions in Brussels on Sunday. Police used teargas and fired water cannon in an effort to disperse protesters. Authorities mentioned about 50,000 individuals took half within the demonstration within the Belgium capital, which coincided with comparable protests in different European cities.

Protesters hurled projectiles exterior the European Union’s diplomatic service and steel obstacles had been thrown at officers in a metro station. Our video staff have a package deal of clips right here.

The easing on Monday of the restrictions put in place in response to the Omicron variant marks a “very vital second of progress” in tackling the virus, John Swinney has mentioned. PA Media quote him telling BBC Good Morning Scotland:

I feel it’s too early to say it’s the start of the tip, as a result of I feel anyone listening to the worldwide commentary on the progress of Covid world wide would point out that there are vital challenges that stay within the dealing with of Covid, significantly about the opportunity of new variants.

However I feel as we speak marks a really vital second of progress in Scotland in tackling Covid and enabling individuals to reside lives a bit extra intently to what we might usually anticipate to be the case.

Necessities for face coverings and self-isolation will stay for the foreseeable future. Swinney mentioned: “I feel the baseline measures that now we have requested individuals to proceed to observe across the carrying of face coverings, about making an attempt to restrict their social contact the place it’s potential and to work at home the place they will are smart measures to attempt to make sure that we preserve safety in opposition to any potential resurgence of the virus.”

Swinney, who can be the Covid Restoration Secretary, mentioned the Scottish Authorities has tried to take a “proportionate strategy” to allow individuals to have the ability to get on with as a lot of their lives as near regular as potential whereas making use of “mandatory warning” to guard them from the unfold of the virus.

There’s a really slight replace from Reuters right here on the state of affairs in China. They report that Fengtai district in Beijing, which on Sunday launched blanket testing, has mentioned it might begin a second district-wide testing programme tomorrow. The Winter Olympics begin in Beijing on 4 February.

Russia on Monday reported a brand new document variety of Covid-19 instances confirmed up to now 24 hours because the Omicron variant of the virus unfold throughout the nation, the federal government coronavirus process pressure mentioned.

Day by day new instances jumped to 65,109, from 63,205 a day earlier. The duty pressure additionally reported 655 deaths. The earlier peak of the pandemic in Russia, in keeping with the official figures, was simply over 40,000 instances someday in November 2021.

Andrew Sparrow has launched our UK politics live blog for as we speak, and in his opening submit he has recognized six separate crises enveloping Boris Johnson’s authorities – and none of them had been instantly the pandemic. You’ll be able to observe that here.

I’ll be persevering with right here with coronavirus information from world wide, and any main UK Covid developments.

Beijing reported new native Covid instances for the seventh consecutive day as flare-ups endured forward of the Winter Olympics Video games in February, whereas 4 provinces discovered infections linked to clusters in Beijing.

The Beijing municipality reported six new domestically transmitted infections with confirmed signs for Sunday, after reporting 9 a day earlier, knowledge from the Nationwide Well being Fee (NHC) confirmed. Since 15 January, the town has reported a complete of 36 native symptomatic instances, in keeping with NHC statements.

Outdoors of Beijing, the provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Liaoning and Hebei have already discovered a complete of eight infections linked to the capital. There have been no new deaths, leaving the general dying toll at 4,636 report Reuters.

Fengtai district in Beijing on Sunday launched blanket testing of round two million residents, whereas some communities in different districts have began focused testing in key teams.

Individuals who purchased over-the-counter therapies for fever, cough, infections or dry and sore throat ought to do a Covid take a look at inside three days upon the acquisition, and may keep away from going out earlier than the take a look at result’s identified, an announcement revealed by the Beijing Municipal Well being Fee mentioned on Sunday.

Any lack of testing can be mirrored within the people’ digital well being code, which “might have an effect on journey and each day life,” the assertion mentioned.

Within the northern metropolis of Tianjin, the place an outbreak of the Omicron variant has been introduced beneath management, Toyota’s three way partnership advanced with China’s FAW Group resumed operation on Saturday. It had been shut from 10 January for 11 days, a Toyota spokesperson mentioned on Monday.

The top of the World Health Organization has urged nations to work collectively to carry the acute section of the pandemic to an finish, saying that they now have all of the instruments obtainable to take action.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is now coming into its third 12 months and we’re at a essential juncture,” mentioned Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press convention, Reuters report.

“We should work collectively to carry the acute section of this pandemic to an finish,” he added. “We can not let it proceed to tug on, lurching between panic and neglect.”