Delta variant casts shadow over EU Covid-19 travel pass – latest updates

Thursday, July 1:

Delta variant casts shadow over EU Covid travel pass

An EU-wide Covid certificate for easier travel has come into force, just in time for Europe's busy summer vacation period – but the highly infectious Delta variant is already threatening to curtail its use.

The EU document – essentially a QR code available on smartphones or on paper – shows whether the bearer is vaccinated with one of the European Union's approved jabs (from BioNTech/Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson), or whether they have recovered from an infection or recently tested negative.

Under EU law, the certificate is meant to do away with the need for quarantines or further testing when travelling between the EU's 27 countries or four associated European nations (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein).

All EU member states were connected to the digital certificate system on Thursday except Ireland, which was hit by a cyber-attack targeting its health service in May and plans to have it operational on July 19.

But a surge in the Delta variant, first detected in India and now quickly gaining ground elsewhere, could trigger an "emergency brake" provision suspending the certificate's acceptance.

Germany already has a ban on incoming travellers from Portugal, where the Delta variant has become dominant.

Turkey reports 5,288 new cases

Turkey has registered 5,288 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, including 462 symptomatic patients, according to official figures.

Turkey's overall case tally is now over 5.43 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 49,774, with 42 new fatalities.

The country has so far administered over 50.65 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January.

More than 35.11 million people have received their first doses, while over 15.22 million have been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.

Portugal imposes night-time curfew 

A night-time curfew from 11pm (2200GMT) will be imposed in several Portuguese municipalities, including the capital Lisbon and in the city of Porto, as Covid-19 infections continue to rise, the government announced on Thursday.

"We are not in any circumstances to claim that the pandemic is in control," Cabinet Minister Mariana Silva Vieira told a news conference

Britain's cases up 72 percent in past week

Britain has reported 27,989 new cases of Covid-19, government data showed, the highest number since Jan. 25 and taking the rise in cases between June 25 and July 1 to nearly 72 percent compared with the previous seven days.

A further 22 people were reported as having died within 28days of a positive test for Covid-19, taking the seven-day rise to just under 11 percent.

A total of 44.9 million people had received a first dose of a vaccine against coronavirus by June 30 and 33.0 million people had received a second dose.

South Africa records highest number of cases since Jan 9

South Africa has reported 19,506 Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, health authorities said, the highest daily figure since January 9.

Noting that the new increase in infections represents a 27.6 percent positivity rate, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Wednesday night that the number of cases in the country has risen to 1.97 million.

According to NICD, 383 more people died of the virus in South Africa, bringing the death toll in the country to 60,647.

South Africa is currently experiencing a third wave of infections.


South Africa, with a population of nearly 60 million, has the highest Covid-19 caseload and death toll on the continent.

Austria removes Turkey from Covid-red list

Austria has removed a number of countries, including Turkey, from its red list of countries with travel restrictions imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Those who have received two doses of coronavirus vaccine at least 14 days before entering Austria will not be needed to quarantine, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told a press conference.

Meanwhile, travellers from the EU and other "low-risk" countries will be permitted to enter Austria without being forced to quarantine if they are either vaccinated or have a negative test result.

Brazil, South Africa, India, and the UK still remain on the red list due to the spread of new coronavirus variants.

Russia launches booster shots amid soaring infections

Russian health authorities have launched booster coronavirus vaccination for those who had been immunised more than six months ago, as the country faces a surge in new infections and deaths.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he had received a booster shot and urged city residents to follow suit.

Moscow health authorities on Thursday started offering booster shots with the domestically produced, two-shot Sputnik V vaccine and its one-shot Sputnik Light version. 

Other Russian regions are also starting to offer booster shots.

Pets often catch Covid from humans, study finds

If you think you have Covid-19, it might be best to stay away from your pets, says the author of a Dutch study that found a surprising number of dogs and cats may be getting infected.

"About one out of five pets will catch the disease from their owners," said Dr Els Broens of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, although there are no known cases of the disease spreading from pets to humans.

"Luckily, the animals do not get very ill from it."

In Broens' study, presented this week in a paper at the European Congress of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 156 dogs and 154 cats from 196 households were tested in homes where humans were known to have had a coronavirus infection.

About 17 percent of the animals, 31 cats and 23 dogs, had antibodies for Covid-19, suggesting they had been infected.

In addition, six cats and seven dogs, or 4.2 percent of the animals, had an active infection as shown by a PCR test.

Later testing showed those animals recovered quickly and did not pass it on to other pets in the same household, Broens said.

WHO warns of third coronavirus wave in Europe

Crowds at Euro 2020 football stadiums and in pubs and bars in host cities are driving the current rise in coronavirus infections in Europe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

A 10-week decline in new coronavirus infections across the region has come to an end and a new wave of infections is inevitable if football fans and others drop their guard, according to WHO.

Last week, the number of new cases rose by 10 precent, driven by mixing of crowds in Euro 2020 host cities, travel and easing of social restrictions, WHO said.
“We need to look much beyond just the stadiums themselves,” WHO’s senior emergency officer, Catherine Smallwood, told reporters.

Pakistan suspends 70 paramilitary personnel for refusing vaccine

A Pakistan province has suspended 70 paramilitary troops without pay after they refused to receive Covid-19 vaccines, officials said.

The group were suspended in southern Balochistan province on Wednesday "after repeated written warnings and verbal requests" to get the jabs, said Habib Ahmed Bangalzai, a senior local official.

"They will also not get their salaries," Bangalzai added.

Fiji's outbreak surges as gov't resists lockdown

Fiji has reported a record 431 new daily coronavirus cases as an outbreak of the highly contagious delta variant continued to grow.

Health authorities have reported nearly 5,000 cases and 22 deaths since the outbreak in the South Pacific nation began two months ago.

The government of the island nation of nearly 1 million people has resisted calls for a full lockdown as leaders try to protect an economy that last year contracted by 19 percent as international tourism evaporated.

Israel scrambles to curb jump in infections

Israel, a world leader in vaccinations, has reported its highest daily infection rate in three months as it scrambles to contain the spread of the new delta variant.

Authorities are racing to vaccinate children and are considering tighter travel restrictions at the country's main airport.

The Health Ministry on Thursday reported 307 new cases on Wednesday, the highest in nearly three months and a rise from 293 newly-diagnosed cases a day earlier. The health ministry reportedly expects those numbers to jump in coming days, raising concerns that Israel is plunging back toward a crisis.

Russia posts record virus deaths for third day running

Russia has reported 672 virus deaths over the past 24 hours, according to a government tally, setting a pandemic high of fatalities for the third day in a row.

The country is battling a surging outbreak driven by the highly infectious Delta variant and worsened by a lagging jab drive, with President Vladimir Putin urging Russians on national television Wednesday to get vaccinated.

The daily death toll released Thursday topped Wednesday's record of 669 and Tuesday's of 652.

Bangladesh army patrols streets in strict lockdown

The Bangladesh army and police have patrolled empty streets as a strict week-long Covid-19 lockdown began, with people confined to their homes except for emergencies and to buy essentials.

The government has said the South Asian nation of 168 million people is seeing an "alarming and dangerous" rise in cases, blamed largely on the highly infectious Delta variant.

Hospitals are struggling, particularly in areas bordering India where the strain was first detected. Some rural towns have recorded infection rates of 70 percent.

Tourists land in no-quarantine Phuket despite Thailand the surge

The first international travellers havetouched down in the holiday hotspot of Phuket under a quarantine-free scheme, as Thailand tries to reboot its battered tourism industry while also enduring its worst coronavirus outbreak.

Tourism makes up almost a fifth of the Thai economy, and the pandemic has led to its worst performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

The kingdom is pinning hopes for a much-needed revival on the so-called "Phuket sandbox" – a model that will allow vaccinated travellers to visit without quarantine.

Japan likely to extend curbs in Tokyo as infections rise

Japan is likely to extend by two weeks or more coronavirus containment measures in the greater Tokyo area, four government sources said, as infection numbers creep up less than a month before the Summer Olympics start.

Japan's capital and three neighbouring prefectures are among areas under a 'quasi' state of emergency set to run through July 11, but a recent uptick in infections has officials leaning towards keeping restrictions in place - a move that could affect the number of spectators allowed int o Olympic venues, the sources said.

India reports 48,786 cases

India has reported 48,786 new cases during the past 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed, with the active caseload at 523,257.

Meanwhile the South Asian country reported 1,005 more deaths from the disease.

Indonesia reports record cases and deaths

Indonesia has reported 24,836 new virus infections and 504 deaths, both record daily highs.

Indonesia's total cases and deaths are 2,203,108 and 58,995 respectively.

Germany's confirmed cases rise by 892 – RKI

The number of confirmed virus cases in Germany has increased by 892 to 3,729,033, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed. The reported death toll rose by 63 to 90,938, the tally showed.

Biden falls short on goal of sharing 80M vaccines

President Joe Biden came up well short on his goal of delivering 80 million doses of vaccines to the rest of the world by the end of June as a host of logistical and regulatory hurdles slowed the pace of US vaccine diplomacy.

Although the Biden administration has announced that about 50 countries and entities will receive a share of the excess vaccine doses, the US has shipped fewer than 24 million doses to 10 recipient countries. 

The White House says more will be sent in the coming days and stresses that Biden has done everything in his power to meet the commitment.

It's not for lack of doses. All the American shots are ready to ship, the White House said. Rather, it's taking more time than anticipated to sort through a complex web of legal requirements, health codes, customs clearances, cold-storage chains, language barriers and delivery programs. Complicating matters even further is that no two shipments are alike.

One country requires an act of its Cabinet to approve the vaccine donation, others require inspectors to conduct their own safety checks on the US doses, and still others have yet to develop critical aspects of their vaccine distribution plans to ensure the doses can reach people's arms before they spoil.

Highly contagious Delta variant gaining ground in US

The highly transmissible Delta variant, first identified in India, has become the most prevalent variant among new cases in the United States, according to California-based genomics company Helix. 

The company's computer models indicate that Delta now accounts for around 40 percent of new US cases, Dr. William Lee, vice president of science at Helix, said in a statement.

The models, based on 27,717 virus samples from 687 counties across the US, also indicated that the worrisome Gamma variant, first identified in Brazil, accounts for about 15 percent of new cases. 

Helix researchers have noted occasional cases of an "offspring" variant of Delta called Delta-plus, but they "aren't seeing any evidence suggesting that these are driving the growth of Delta around the country yet," Lee said. 

Earlier in June, the researchers reported on the medical website medRxiv ahead of peer review that the percentage of new cases due to the variant first identified in Britain, known as Alpha, had dropped from 70 percent in mid-April 2021 to 42 percent six weeks later.

Now, Lee said, Alpha "is down to around 20 percent." 

He added that his team has submitted an update to the previous medRxiv preprint and is waiting for approval.

World Bank boosts vaccine funding for developing nations

The World Bank announced it has increased its vaccine fund for developing countries to $20 billion.

In addition, the bank's private financing arm secured a $710 million package for a South African vaccine manufacturer to ramp up production, the institution announced.

"Together the actions announced today on vaccine production, deployment and financing will save lives, boost economic recovery and help ensure the people in the developing countries have a chance to prosper," World Bank Group President David Malpass told reporters.

The $20 billion is available through 2022 to finance vaccine distribution as well as cold chains and training health workers, the bank said in a statement.

As of Wednesday the bank had distributed $4.4 billion to 51 developing nations, half of which in the form of grants or low-cost loans.

CureVac vaccine records only 48 percent efficacy in final trial

Germany's CureVac announced that final trial results showed its vaccine had an efficacy rate of just 48 percent, far lower than those developed by mRNA rivals BioNTech and Moderna.

The poor outcome had been expected after disappointing interim results were released earlier this month. 

CureVac said its vaccine did slightly better among people aged 18 to 60 than among older age groups, with efficacy climbing to 53 percent.

The company said its trial was complicated by the prevalence of numerous variants.