Covid news - live: Europe entering ‘plausible endgame’ for pandemic, says WHO

WHO’s Europe director says continent entering a “plausible endgame” to the pandemic, adding this does not imply the pandemic is over

Winter Olympics organisers says Covid situation 'under control' in Beijing

Europe is entering a “plausible endgame” to the Covid-19 pandemic, said a top official of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In a statement at a media briefing on Thursday, WHO’s Europe director Hans Kluge said the continent was entering “a plausible endgame for the pandemic – not to say that it is now all over – but to highlight that in the European region, there is a singular opportunity to take control of the transmission.”

Dr Kluge said that upcoming spring “leaves us with the possibility for a long period of tranquility and a much higher level of population defense against any resurgence in transmission.”

This would be possible only through “a drastic and uncompromising increase in vaccine-sharing across borders,” he said.

The remarks come even as the health agency said the BA.2 sub-variant has been found in five African countries, a development which scientists said is “concerning” as the variant proves difficult to identify.

Regulators in the UK have approved Nuvaxovid — the Covid vaccine developed by US-based vaccine maker Novavax — for use in adults.

With the approval, Nuvaxovid becomes the fifth Covid vaccine authorised in the UK, the regulator said.

Key Points

• Nearly 300 cases of BA.2 sub-variant in Israel
• New Zealand to reopen its borders after almost two years
• Study shows virus symptoms appear just two days after being exposed
• Ukraine, Russia report record daily cases

[4 February 2022 10:29 · Sravasti Dasgupta]

South Africa's Afrigen makes mRNA COVID vaccine using Moderna data

South Africa’s Afrigen Biologics has used the publicly available sequence of Moderna Inc’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine to make its own version of the shot.

The vaccine candidate is the country’s first mRNA vaccine designed, developed and produced at lab scale in the African continent.

The vaccine candidate will also be the first vaccine in the world to be indigenously made on the basis of an already available widely used vaccine without assistance from the developer.

“We haven’t copied Moderna, we’ve developed our own processes because Moderna didn’t give us any technology,” Petro Terblanche, the managing director at Afrigen, told Reuters.

“We started with the Moderna sequence because that gives, in our view, the best starting material. But this is not Moderna’s vaccine, it is the Afrigen mRNA hub vaccine.”

[4 February 2022 10:35 · Sravasti Dasgupta]

Spain to drop outdoor mask mandate

Spain will lift its outdoor mask mandate from next week, government officials announced on Thursday.

Health Minister Carolina Darias said that with Covid cases declining, the Spanish cabinet will end the mandate next Tuesday after confirming that infection levels have peaked.

Ms Darias added that the government hopes to adopt the changes from 10 February.

Masks will remain mandatory in indoor public spaces, including public transportation, and outdoors whenever citizens can’t keep a safe distance of 1.5 metres between them.

Health ministry data showed cases surged in November and peaked on 21 January with a record 3,418 new infections per 100,000 residents in two weeks.

The surge has since slowed down and the 14-day figure dropped by 1,000 infections per 100,000 residents on Thursday to 2,420.

The outdoor mask mandate was adopted on 22 December ahead of the Christmas holidays.

[4 February 2022 11:09 · Eleanor Sly]

Upper Crust owner SSP’s January trade hit by Omicron spread

The spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 knocked Upper Crust owner SSP in January but the hospitality firm has said its recovery is still on track.

Shares in the company, which also runs Caffe Ritazza, rose after it cheered a “good start” to the year despite the effect of Omicron.

SSP revealed that the spread of the variant and associated government restrictions “had an impact on passenger numbers in many of our markets”.

Read more here:

[4 February 2022 11:45 · Eleanor Sly]

Who is responsible for tracking new variants as they emerge around the world?

ith the world already grappling with the highly infectious Omicron variant of Covid, the discovery of a new sub-lineage at the end of last year gripped the attention of scientists and health officials.

Identified as BA.2, this sub-lineage of Omicron has so far been found in at least 40 countries, including scores of cases in the US. In the UK it now accounts for more new cases than Delta — around 300 in the last week.

The emergence of BA.2 highlights both the importance of tracking new variants and the inconsistency with how they are handled. The sub-lineage has formally been identified as a “variant under investigation” by the UK’s Health Security Agency, but it has so far not been classified as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Read more here:

[4 February 2022 12:27 · Eleanor Sly]

These countries are still Covid-free

The pandemic has seen coronavirus spread to all corners of the globe – but there are still a handful of destinations that have managed to remain Covid-free two years on.

There are officially five sovereign states still declaring zero cases of the virus, though there are serious doubts over North Korea and Turkmenistan’s claims as neither country has a free press, but tales of lockdowns and outbreaks have been leaked nevertheless.

That just leaves Nauru, Tuvalu and Micronesia, all tiny island nations in Oceania, set in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to the north-east of Australia.

Helen Coffey reports:

[4 February 2022 13:10 · Eleanor Sly]

The risk of death from Covid 93 per cent lower with vaccine

The risk of death involving Covid-19 is 93 per cent lower for people who have had a booster or third dose of vaccine compared to those who have not had a vaccine, new research suggests.

Mortality rates for deaths from coronavirus were found to be “consistently lower” across all age groups for those who had received an extra dose of a Covid vaccine compared with those who had received no doses at all, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The research used age-standardised mortality rates. This takes into account differences in age structure and population size, to allow for comparisons between vaccination groups

[4 February 2022 13:43 · Eleanor Sly]

Austrian vaccine mandate to take effect

A mandate requiring most adults in Austria to get vaccinated against Covid-19 is ready to take effect, however, few other countries look likely to go as far as attention turns to loosening restrictions.

The Austrian law for residents who are aged18 and over to get vaccinated — the first of its kind in Europe — cleared its final legislative hurdle on Thursday when it was approved by the Austrian parliament’s upper house.

Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein called the move “a forward-looking and active step” before the president signed the legislation Friday.

It’s expected to become law in the coming days it isn’t currently clear when or even whether the toughest part of the plan will actually take effect.

[4 February 2022 14:20 · Eleanor Sly]

35 Covid-linked deaths in latest weekly update

Thirty-five deaths linked to Covid-19 have been recorded in Northern Ireland in the latest weekly update.

The figure has remained at the same level across January in the data compiled by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).

The latest deaths, registered in the week ending 28 January, take the total number of coronavirus-linked fatalities recorded by Nisra to 4,181.

Read more here:

[4 February 2022 15:15 · Eleanor Sly]

Scottish government to cut bottom off classroom doors to fight Covid

The Scottish government plans to fight Covid by cutting the bottom off classroom doors in schools, as a means of improving ventilation.

Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said an estimated 2,000 doors classrooms could benefit from being “undercut to increase air flow”.

The proposal is part of a £4.3m package to make schools safe for Covid-19.

Jon Stone has more:

[4 February 2022 16:00 · Eleanor Sly]

Joe Rogan resumes Spotify podcast after unexplained seven day hiatus amid misinformation row

A new episode of The Joe Rogan Experience has gone live on Spotify after an unexplained seven-day hiatus amid the row over the spread of misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines.

Other than host Joe Rogan’s apology, which was posted to the platform on 31 January, there had been no new episode since 27 January when the host sat down UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Juliana Peña.

In the new episode, Rogan speaks with Andy Stumpf, a retired Navy Seal, who is billed as a record-setting wingsuit pilot, Base jumper, public speaker, and host of the popular podcast Cleared Hot.

Read more here: