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Covid live: UK records 207 deaths and 43,941 new cases; Novavax files for UK approval

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Steady stream of patients arriving at a London hospital.
Steady stream of patients arriving at a London hospital. Photograph: Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock
Steady stream of patients arriving at a London hospital. Photograph: Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock

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Thanks for following along with our live Covid coverage.

Here’s a round-up of all the top stories before we return with the blog a little later today.

  • Israel will welcome vaccinated tourists from 1 November.
  • Australia destroys thousands of expired AstraZeneca Covid vaccine doses despite near-record production. A total of 31,833 doses were reported to have been binned despite Australian production of the vaccine continuing at near-record rates.
  • The CDC says the seven day average of Covid cases in the U.S is down 16% to 765,900 per day.
  • The UK recorded 43,941 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday and 207 more people have died within 28 days of a positive test, official figures show.
  • Europe was the only region in the world to report an increase in both Covid-19 cases and deaths this week, according to the WHO’s latest epidemiological update.
  • Covid-19 infections continue to surge across Eastern Europe in particular, with reported cases rising in Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
  • Novavax Inc. has filed for authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the UK.
  • A landmark licensing deal between Merck and the UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool could expand access to the company’s antiviral Covid-19 pill throughout the developing world.
  • New Zealand’s South Island records first Covid cases in major city in over a year.

That’s it from me, Samantha Lock, reporting to you from Sydney, Australia.

Keep up with all the latest coronavirus coverage here before I return a little later.

Japan stores millions of unused masks worth $97m at a cost of $5.3m

Tens of millions of masks produced as an anti-coronavirus measure under former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe remain unused and are being kept in a private storage facility at a cost of hundreds of 600 million yen ($5.3 million), according to an official, the Associated Press reports.

About 83 million of the cloth masks are in storage, or nearly one-third of the 280 million procured by the government during a severe shortage of surgical masks last year. The government had planned to distribute two to every household.

Few people actually used the masks. Abe modeled one, which barely covered his nose and mouth. People complained that they were too small and arrived too late, when more effective and comfortable surgical masks were back in stock.

The leftovers currently in storage are worth 11.5 billion yen ($97 million) and their storage cost 600 million yen ($5.3 million) between last August and March this year, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki said at a news conference.

Isozaki said about 130 million were distributed to households but those intended for nursing homes and childcare facilities were delivered in response to requests and a big stockpile remained. He insisted that the mask campaign was “appropriate at that time” when there was a shortage of surgical masks.

New Zealand’s South Island records first Covid cases in major city in over a year

Tess McClure
Tess McClure

Two infections have been detected in Christchurch as Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins says he will not rule out a snap lockdown for the city, the largest in the South Island, if it is needed to contain the spread.

Hipkins said that one of the cases may have been infectious in the community for almost two weeks.

“This is a good reminder to people around the country that cases can pop up and this highlights the importance to get vaccinated,” Hipkins said.

Both of Thursday’s new cases were members of the same household, and one had recently returned from Auckland.

According to the Ministry of Health, 89% of eligible adults in Canterbury, of which Christchurch is the main city, had had at least one dose of the vaccine, and 67% had had both doses. The region would require almost 111,000 people to get both doses before hitting the 90% target set by the government, where most restrictions can be lifted.

Hi there I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be taking over from Nadeem Badshah for the next short while.

I’ll be reporting from Australia to bring you some of the latest news from the Pacific as we’re waking up this morning.

First up, New Zealand’s biggest South Island city has recorded its first Covid case in over a year and Hong Kong answers pleas for easier movement amid harsher rules as it strives for Covid-zero.

The head of the New York City firefighters union said on Wednesday he had instructed unvaccinated members to keep working, even though they feel “insulted” by mayor Bill de Blasio’s order to show proof of a Covid-19 vaccination by Friday or be placed on unpaid leave.

“I have told my members that if they choose to remain unvaccinated they must still report for duty,” Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, told a news conference.

“And if they are told they cannot work, it will be the department and city of New York that sends them home. And it will be the department and the city of New York that has failed to protect the citizens of New York,” Ansbro said.

Last week, de Blasio gave city employees a deadline of 5pm on Friday to submit proof of vaccination against Covid-19. Those who fail to show proof could be sent home without pay, Reuters reports.

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Vaccinated tourists will be allowed into Israel from 1 November, the government said.

Israel was the first country to launch a mass booster campaign, with more than 3.9 million getting a third dose since the summer, AFP reports.

The government said visitors from any country would be able to enter if they can show a vaccine certificate that is less than six months old.

Travellers will also still need to take a virus test before departure and another on arrival.

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Security forces intervene in a protest against a government-imposed mandatory coronavirus vaccine mandate and vaccination certificate in Rabat, Morocco. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
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An advisory panel of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet on 2 November to discuss the use of Covid-19 vaccines in children aged between 5 and 11 years, Reuters reports.
Advisors to the US Food and Drug Administration had on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to recommend that the regulator authorise Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine for younger children. The jab has been authorised for ages 12-15 since May and it was cleared for those aged 16 and above in December last year.

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The US administered 416,154,424 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country as of Wednesday morning and distributed 507,637,305 doses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Those figures are up from the 415,012,026 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by 26 October out of 504,584,715 doses delivered. The agency said 220,936,118 people had received at least one dose while 190,990,750 people are fully vaccinated as of 6.00am ET on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

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