The opening ceremony may not be until Friday, but the much-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics are officially under way, with women’s softball and opening women’s football matches scheduled for today. Hosts Japan got off to a win in their softball battle with Australia in an empty stadium in Fukushima..
- Japanese players celebrate a run score by Minori Naito during the softball game between Japan and Australia. Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP*
Reuters report that Tokyo 2020 organisers disclosed a further seven other Covid infections among attendees on Wednesday, bringing the total to 75. Chilean taekwondo competitor Fernanda Aguierre has become the first athlete to withdraw from the Olympic Games after testing positive.
Updated
at 7.51am BST
Australia’s PM defends Covid vaccine rollout as half of population awakes in lockdown
Helen Sullivan
Here’s Helen Sullivan again with a round-up of latest developments in Australia:
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has refused to apologise for his government’s handling of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, amid testy exchanges during a radio interview as more than 13 million Australians – or half of the population – awoke in lockdown conditions.
Morrison carried out a whistle-stop tour of radio stations on Wednesday as Covid measures spread further into the state of New South Wales, while Victoria reported a record one-day increase in cases and South Australia began its first full day of a week-long lockdown.
The opposition Labor party has ramped up its pressure on the government, saying the latest restrictions were only necessary because of a lack of vaccine supplies.
Despite repeatedly being pushed to apologise for the “nightmare” vaccine rollout during an interview on Kiis FM, Morrison refused, saying only that the government was focused on “fixing the problems”. To date, just over 11% of Australians are fully vaccinated.
“We have had our problems, there is no doubt about that, and they are problems that are not always things within our control, that is the nature of Covid 19,” Morrison said.
The host, Jason Hawkins, said: “I’m not trying to have a go, I think it is just frustration, we are in lockdown. Can you just say ‘sorry Jase’? It will make me feel so much better and then I feel like I can move on.”
Later, that frustration was not helped by a request that only vaccinated reporters attend the prime minister’s afternoon press conference.
Read more of Helen Sullivan’s report here: Australia’s PM defends Covid vaccine rollout as half of population awakes in lockdown
Updated
at 7.52am BST
So, one bit of Covid questioning for UK home office minister Victoria Atkins this morning on Sky News was about the overnight polling figures from YouGov on the usage of the NHS test and trace app. They reported overnight:
New YouGov data finds that one in ten online Brits (10%) have deleted the app, having previously installed it. This is on top of the 31% who have never downloaded it despite owning a smart phone and the 9% who don’t have the technology to download anyway. “App deserters” are more likely to be in the younger age group, with 17% of those aged 18-24 deleting the app having previously installing it.
Asked about this, the government minister told Kay Burley:
We don’t have those figures within the system itself. In fact, hundreds of thousands of people have joined it recently. In terms of the app itself, I know it’s frustrating when people have been pinged, and they have to self isolate if they’ve been in contact with someone who has Covid. And I really do understand the pressures this is placing on people and on businesses. But we’re now in this new stage about solutions for the pandemic, and the test and trace up is one of the key tools that we have. Isolation is one of the key tools we have to try to slow the spread of this virus.
That’s very much a contrast to minister Paul Scully, who got slapped down yesterday for saying on his morning media round that getting “pinged” by the app was just advice for people to make their own decisions.
Asked about expanding exemptions to self-isolation to key workers, as has been done to some NHS staff, but using the list of key workers the government defined last year, Atkins said:
It’s a different exercise from the exercise of last year, in terms of key workers who can return to their place of work. It’s a slightly different exercise because the scientists will have to be calculating how many people equals risks in terms of spreading the virus around the country. So it is a complicated exercise, but it is very much being worked on.
Polina Nikolskaya has been in Vladimir in Russia for Reuters, speaking to people about vaccinations. She reports that about 12% of the 1.4 million people in the Vladimir region 200km (125 miles) east of Moscow had been vaccinated by 12 July. Some people said the sudden rise in demand for shots was due to a spate of government policies.
These included a week-long regional requirement to prove vaccination against, or recent recovery from, Covid with QR codes to enter cafes and other venues. The policy was cancelled amid an outcry from business and shortages of vaccine.
- People line up to receive vaccine at a centre in the Globus shopping mall in Vladimir, Russia. Photograph: Polina Nikolskaya/Reuters*
The region also ordered some public sector and service sector businesses to inoculate at least 60% of their employees with one dose by 15 August. Cafe owners Dmitry Bolshakov and Alexander Yuriev said word-of-mouth recommendations came earlier.
Third-time lucky vaccine recipient Alexander, who gave only his first name due to the sensitivity of the issue, said he had queued for the shot of his own accord after his local clinic said it could not offer one until late August.
But nine out of 12 people approached by Reuters at the city’s vaccination centres said they did not want to be vaccinated but had been pressured by their employers.
- People line up to receive a vaccine at the ZZZed cafe in Vladimir, Russia. Photograph: Polina Nikolskaya/Reuters*
In one Vladimir café called ZZZed, owner Yuriev had, along with officials, set up a centre for vaccinations, starting with the city’s restaurant workers. People filled out their consent forms sitting at the bar, under a disco ball.
“We have a queue now of about 1,000 people,” Yuriev said. With demand up, shortages of shots are the next obstacle. “We are limited by the lack of vaccines in the region,” he said.
The acting head of the local health watchdog, Yulia Potselueva, told reporters on 16 July that the problem of vaccine supply would be solved in the near futur
Updated
at 7.27am BST
In the UK, it is Victoria Atkins who is doing the morning media round for the government, she is parliamentary under-secretary of state for safeguarding. She has started on Sky News, but at the moment most of the questions are about immigration. I’ll bring you the key quotes if she says anything about Covid.
Updated
at 7.10am BST
Good morning, it is Martin Belam here in London. Here are the latest Covid figures from the UK government dashboard.
- Hospitalisations stand at 4,567 patients, with 611 people needing ventilation. 745 people were admitted to hospital in a single day for the last day there is data – 14 July. Hospitalisations have risen 38.4% week-on-week.
- Cases have risen by 46,588 on the day the latest data is available – which is 20 July. There have been 332,068 cases in the last seven days, which equates to a week-on-week rise of 40.7%.
- There were 96 deaths recorded on 20 July. That’s a week-on-week rise of 60.6%.
Updated
at 7.11am BST
67% in India have Covid antibodies, survey finds
A survey in India has found that 67% of the country has coronavirus antibodies, compared with 24% when the last survey was conducted in December-January, the Times of India reports.
Indian officials hopeful that antibody positivity rate means majority of country less vulnerable but have cautioned that the rates differ state to state.
Updated
at 7.09am BST
South Korea reports record daily cases
South Korea reported a daily record of 1,784 coronavirus cases for Tuesday, breaking a mark set last week, as the country grapples with Delta-driven outbreaks, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Wednesday.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
South Korea reported a daily record of 1,784 coronavirus cases for Tuesday, breaking a mark set last week, as the country grapples with Delta-driven outbreaks, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a survey in India has found that 67% of the country has coronavirus antibodies, compared with 24% when the last survey was conducted in December-January, the Times of India reports.
More on these stories shortly. In the meantime here are the other key recent developments:
- A democracy campaigner and confidant of the deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi died after contracting Covid-19 in prison, authorities said.
- New infections in France are increasing at an unprecedented rate due to the Delta variant, after 18,000 cases were reported for the previous 24 hours, according to the health minister Olivier Véran.
- The chief of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee did not rule out cancelling the Olympics if Covid-19 cases rise sharply, as more athletes tested positive for the virus and sponsors ditched plans to attend Friday’s opening ceremony.
- Fox News host Sean Hannity had a message for viewers of his primetime show on Tuesday night: “Please take Covid seriously.” The influential host, a close ally of Donald Trump, also said: “I believe in science, I believe in the science of vaccination.”
- A man in Perth, Australia, escaped mandatory quarantine in a hotel by scaling down a rope made of tied-together bedsheets from a fourth-floor window, police have said**.**
Updated
at 7.10am BST
