Covid news – live: Wales to end Covid passes and masks as a third of young people in cities still unvaccinated
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Your support makes all the difference.Mask-wearing rules and compulsory NHS Covid passes are coming to an end in Wales later this month, the Welsh government announced Friday.
From February 18, there will no longer be a legal requirement to have domestic Covid passes to enter indoor or outdoor events including nightclubs, cinemas, or theatres, but venues will still be able to use them if they want to.
Face coverings won’t be needed in most public spaces from Monday February 28. They will still be required in all shops, public transport, and health and care settings.
It comes as Wales is set to conduct its first three-week review of its zero alert measures.
Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford said that increasing vaccination and booster numbers means Wales “can look forward to brighter times ahead”.
However, new figures show that one in three young adults in some of the biggest cities in England have still not received any doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Some 34.7 percent of 18 to 39-year-olds in Coventry are likely to be unvaccinated, along with 32.0 percent in Birmingham and 31.9 percent in Liverpool. In Nottingham, the figure sits at 30.1 percent while Newcastle and Manchester fare a little better (27.6 and 26.6 percent respectively).
Australians told to get Covid boosters to be considered fully vaccinated
Australian residents will need to receive booster shots to be considered fully vaccinated against Covid-19, although authorities said foreign travellers will continue to need only two shots to enter the country.
Australia’s national cabinet late on Thursday endorsed the revised guidance from the country’s vaccination advisory group to classify “up-to-date” inoculations as including boosters.
A person’s vaccination status will be considered “overdue” if they have not received a booster within six months of their second dose, prime minister Scott Morrison said.
Australian officials have made vaccines mandatory only for some frontline workers, but many private businesses, including major corporations, restaurants and retailers, have made inoculations a requirement for entry.
The country is among the most heavily vaccinated in the world as a result, with 94 per cent of people above 16 double-dosed. Nearly 10 million boosters have been administered so far.
The decision to keep the requirement for visitors to two doses only comes as authorities prepare to fully reopen Australia’s borders, around two years after they were slammed shut to slow the progress of the pandemic.
Like other countries, Australia has been tackling the fast-moving Omicron variant.
A total of 26,000 new infections were reported in the country by midday on Friday, down from about 30,000 on Thursday, with Western Australia and Northern Territory still to report. Forty-eight new deaths were registered. Hospital cases remained on a downtrend, with nearly 3,300 admitted, the lowest tally in more than a month.
Another US state drops mask mandate
Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada has announced that the statewide mask mandate for indoor public settings would lift, joining a growing list of states including New York and California in relaxing restrictions.
“Masks will no longer be required in public places, but there are still some locations where you may be asked to wear a mask,” Mr Sisolak said on Thursday in an address.
While some of the US states have lifted indoor mask requirements already but only for vaccinated residents, Nevada is lifting its mandate for everyone, regardless of vaccine status.
“There’s a certain group of the population, a percentage — and we can debate what that percentage is — that’s not going to get the vaccine,” Mr Sisolak, a Democrat, said in an online news conference on Thursday.
He added, “I don’t want to hold the entire society back, or the entire economy back, as a result of some people that don’t want to get the vaccine.”
The mask mandate will lift for all residents of the state, regardless of vaccination status while any at-risk individuals with underlying health issues have been encouraged to continue wearing masks. Individual businesses will be able to institute their own mask guidance if they choose.
Covid passes and need for face coverings in some venues to be scrapped in Wales
Covid passes are to be scrapped and the need to wear face coverings in certain venues removed later this month as coronavirus cases continue to fall, the Welsh Government has announced.
The changes will be confirmed on Friday during the first three-week review of Wales’s alert level zero measures.
First MinisterMark Drakeford said vaccination levels and decreasing infection rates mean the country can “look forward to brighter times ahead”.
He signalled that face masks could be scrapped completely by the end of March should public health conditions continue to improve.
We are not removing all the measures at once because the pandemic is not over yet
Bronwen Weatherby has more:
Covid passes and need for face coverings in some venues to be scrapped in Wales
First Minister Mark Drakeford said vaccination levels and decreasing infection rates mean the country can ‘look forward to brighter times ahead’.
New Zealand protesters occupy parliament grounds for fourth day
More people arrived outside New Zealand’s parliament on Friday, as protesters calling for an end to a vaccine mandate and tough Covid-19 restrictions refused to end their demonstrations despite arrests by the police.
It’s been four days since several thousand protesters, inspired by truckers’ demonstrations in Canada, occupied the parliament lawns in the capital Wellington, and blocked surrounding streets with their trucks, cars, camper vans and motorcycles.
On Thursday, the police arrested 120 people as they attempted to forcefully remove the protesters, but were seen falling back later in the day as the campers refused to move.
The police said in a statement on Friday that there were no incidents of note overnight at the parliament grounds, although 2 more people were arrested for “alcohol-related behaviour”.
“Police continue to take a measured approach to the protesters, who are trespassing on the grounds of Parliament and have been repeatedly asked to leave,” Superintendent Corrie Parnell said in the statement.
There are a range of different causes and motivations among the protesters, making it difficult to open clear and meaningful lines of communication, the police said, adding that misinformation, particularly on social media, has been identified as an issue.
The protesters ignored calls from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to “move on”. The continuing standoff is mounting political pressure on Ms Ardern, whose approval ratings taking a hit in recent opinion polls.
Despite garnering plaudits for keeping the country virtually virus-free over the last two years, the strict restrictions that are still in place have become unpopular.
Prince Charles tests positive for the second time
Prince Charles has tested positive for Covid a second time, Clarence House has said.
A message on the prince’s official Twitter page said: “This morning The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now self-isolating.
The news comes hours after Prince Charles and wife Camilla rubbed shoulders with home secretary Priti Patel and chancellor Rishi Sunak at a British Asian Trust event hosted at the British Museum last night.
It is the second time the 73-year-old has contracted coronavirus after testing positive in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. He displayed mild symptoms and was said to be in good health at the time of the infection.
Thomas Kingsley has more:
Prince Charles tests positive for Covid for second time
Charles spoke at an event for the British Asian Trust hours before his positive Covid result
Arrival testing ends for fully vaccinated travellers to the UK
Eighteen days after the transport secretary said the post-arrival test for fully vaccinated travellers to the UK had “outlived its usefulness”, the requirement has been scrapped from early morning 4 am today.
Under the new rules, which are now in effect, fully vaccinated travellers do not have to undergo Covid test on arrival.
Unvaccinated travellers heading for the UK must take a pre-departure test and, after arrival, a PCR – but will no longer need to self-isolate for 10 days.
The minister, Grant Shapps, said on Thursday afternoon that the change was “a landmark moment for international travel” – adding that the UK is becoming “one of the most open countries in the world”.
He tweeted: “After nearly two years of necessary but complex travel arrangements, these changes will make it cheaper and easier for families to travel, taking advantage of the UK’s high levels of vaccination, and keeping us all safe.” More details here:
Arrival testing ends for fully vaccinated travellers to the UK
‘A landmark moment for international travel,’ says transport secretary Grant Shapps,
ICYMI: UK Covid restrictions to end a month early, says PM
Covid restrictions in the UK are set to end a full month earlier than expected, Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.
“It is my intention to return on the first day after the half-term recess to present our strategy for living with Covid,” Mr Johnson said at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
“Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions - including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive - a full month early.”
Ashley Cowburn has all the details here
Boris Johnson announces plan to end all domestic Covid restrictions this month
Legal requirement to self-isolate expected to be scrapped
Monthly deaths lower than forecast in England, Wales: Data
Official data on deaths showed that the fatalities remained below the five-year average in January even as a fresh wave of Omicron-led cases swept the country.
Nearly 5,000 fewer people were reported dead across England and Wales in the last month, which is less than the predicted deaths pushed by the toll from coronavirus.
The five-year average for deaths in England and Wales in the first four weeks of 2022 remained at 55,13, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed,
However, the numbers of death registered last month were reported to bee 50,740.
Covid-related deaths have accounted for 11.2 per cent of all the fatalities in the final week of January recorded by the ONS, official data showed,
Thomas Kingsley reports on this here:
Monthly deaths 5,000 lower than forecast in England and Wales despite Omicron surge
New figures come as Boris Johnson announces end to Covid restrictions
PM did not give appropriate notice over Covid restrictions, say Scottish ministers
Boris Johnson has been accused of not giving “appropriate notice” ahead of his latest decision to lift the existing local Covid rules, ministers in Scotland said, adding that they need more clarity.
“The UK Government failed to provide devolved nations with appropriate notice to consider implications ahead of the announcement by the Prime Minister,” said a spokesperson for the Scottish government.
The spokesperson added that the Scottish ministers are urgently seeking clarity from the UK Government to consider any implications its announcement could have for Scotland.
“Regardless of decisions made by the UK Government, it is vital that Scotland can continue to access funding to support the policy decisions taken in Scotland in response to Covid-19,” the spokesperson said.
Katherine Hay has the full report here
Clinically vulnerable and carers excluded from PM’s self-isolation plan
Boris Johnson’s plan to end self-isolation and asking people to live with the virus has left the clinically vulnerable and care-givers bracing themselves for a tough time.
Health charity worker Georgina Sait in Suffolk is concerned about the safety of her family as well the financial impact on care workers.
“They haven’t thought about how it’s going to impact people who are still vulnerable to Covid,” she said.
“It’s very frustrating that we have just been left out of the planning and the conversation.”
Similarly, one parent of a clinically vulnerable 23-year-old feels she has been “left out of the conversation” as England moved to scrap the self-isolation requirement.
People will not be required to self-isolate in the coming few weeks, announced Mr Johnson on Wednesday, as he prepares to tell people to live with Covid when Parliament resumes on 21 February.
Read the full story here:
Clinically vulnerable and carers ‘left out’ of plan to end self-isolation laws
Georgina Sait, whose son is clinically vulnerable and requires daily care, said she ‘cannot get her head around’ the plan to axe self-isolation laws.
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