Tokyo records 54 new cases of Covid-19

Tokyo has confirmed 54 new cases of the coronavirus, with the number staying at its highest since early May.

Japan lifted a seven-week pandemic state emergency in late May, and social and business activity has since largely resumed.

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said although the new daily cases remain high, but capital is not facing a second wave of infections.

She said the rate of infection was not increasing rapidly as in late March, and that Tokyo’s hospitals and health system are able to cope.

Ms Koike said experts are now working to compile a new “caution scale” that better fits social and economic activities in the ongoing phase of living with the virus.

Most of the latest cases are people in their 20s and 30s. Ms Koike said many recent cases are linked to workplaces and nightclubs and transmitted to family members.

Tokyo has had 5,997 cases and 325 deaths, about one-third of the national total.

The Trump administration has told the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that has provided more than 20 million Americans with health insurance amid the Covid-19 pandemic,
reports Gino Spocchia.

The administration submitted the 82-page document late on Thursday arguing that the ACA was unconstitutional after Congress, then under Republican control, eliminated tax penalties for not purchasing health insurance in 2017.

Joel White, a Republican strategist, told The New York Times that he considered it “pretty dumb to be talking about how we need to repeal Obamacare in the middle of a pandemic.”

Read more below:
 

Germany meat factory to carry out daily tests after major outbreak
 

A German meat company says it plans to perform daily coronavirus tests on all 5,000 workers involved in the production process amid concerns about a series of outbreaks at slaughterhouses in the country.
 

Westfleisch, one of Germany’s biggest meat processing companies, said Friday that it is already conducting weekly tests on the workers but from next week wants to perform them daily.
 

Westfleisch suffered a Covid-19 outbreak involving hundreds of workers at its plant in the western town of Coesfeld in May, but that has since passed.
 

Rival firm Toennies Group is at the center of an outbreak in the nearby region of Guetersloh that has led to a partial lockdown as authorities try to prevent the spread of the virus to the wider community.
 

Four in 10 feel parts of life changed for better since pandemic, study finds

More than four in 10 adults in Britain feel some parts of their lives have changed for the better since the coronavirus outbreak, official figures suggest.

Of the 43 per cent who reported positive lifestyle changes, more than half (56 per cent) said they were able to spend more quality time with loved ones they live with, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Exactly half said they were enjoying a slower pace of life, while 47 per cent said they were spending less time travelling.

The outbreak has also prompted 28 per cent of adults to plan “big changes” in their lives once the nation has fully recovered.

The ONS analysed responses from 1,920 adults questioned between 18 and 21 June as part of its Opinions and Lifestyle Survey on the impact of Covid-19.

It found 47 per cent of 1,200 16 to 69-year-olds had experienced positive lifestyle changes, compared with 24 per cent of 720 respondents aged 70 and over.

Some Britons showing reluctance to co-operate with tracers, WHO warns

Some Britons show a “real reluctance” to co-operate with the UK Government’s contact tracers, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.

The organisation’s Covid-19 special envoy, Dr David Nabarro, said making a success of systems like NHS Track and Trace is essential to avoid a second spike of virus cases.

The latest figures show that 24 per cent of people (5,062) who tested positive for Covid-19 between 28 May and 17 June, and who had been transferred to the tracing system, were not reached.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “When I saw the early figures I thought ‘this is a great start but there’s more to be done’.

“Then I’ve seen, actually the numbers have stayed pretty static for the last three weeks.

“And if I was in charge of the contact-tracing system I would be really asking myself, why is it proving so hard to find all those who have got the disease and to get to their contacts?

“It does appear there is still a real reluctance among some British people to be open about their contacts, and perhaps they feel it’s an intrusion into their privacy.

“And I say here and now, when you’re trying to get rid of this virus, contact tracing is absolutely critical.”

Australia vows to continue easing social distancing restrictions despite outbreak

Australia will continue easing social distancing restrictions despite an outbreak of coronavirus in one state, prime minister Scott Morrison said on Friday.

The country’s second-most-populated state, Victoria has seen 10 straight days of double digit new cases. It has about 200 of the country’s total of 270 active cases.

Although authorities are scrambling to contain the virus, including embarking on a massive testing regime and calling in military support, Mr Morrison said states and territories on Friday had agreed to remove more social distancing curbs.

“All states are committed to continue on with the various plans that they have and they’re making,” he told reporters in Canberra.

Australia has pledged to remove the bulk of the country’s social distancing restrictions by the end of July, although each state and territory are determining their own pace.

Australia’s international borders will remain closed, but the country’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, said Canberra would strengthen requirements on people returning from overseas.

Doctors plead with holidaymakers to heed social distancing as restrictions ease

Doctors have pleaded with holidaymakers to practice social distancing ahead of the tourism industry reopening next weekend.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has set out guidelines for people in England, who will be allowed to visit hotels, bed and breakfast facilities and campsites from 4 July.

It comes as thousands have flocked to beaches and beauty spots on Thursday – the hottest day of the year so far – prompting a major incident to be declared in Bournemouth.

The BMA has advised people not to travel if they are ill or have any Covid-19 symptoms, including a cough, temperature or loss of smell or taste.

The doctors’ union has also said holidaymakers should be prepared to self-isolate for 14 days if anyone in their “bubble” develops symptoms or is told to do so by the NHS Test and Trace service.

Those who take prescribed medicines should make sure they have enough to last their trip and everyone should practice social distancing and hand washing on holiday.

The BMA has also encouraged people to wear a face covering when mixing with people from outside their “bubble” indoors.

Lack of access to rapid coronavirus tests leaves surgeons unable to operate

Surgeons are calling for access to same-day coronavirus testing as one third revealed they had been unable to restart patient operations.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England said more than one million people were waiting in excess of 18 weeks for hospital treatment.

Despite this, its survey of 1,741 UK surgeons found that 32.5 per cent said elective or planned surgery had not been possible at their hospital trust at any time in the past four weeks.

A third of those who reported being unable to restart surgery (33.4 per cent) said a lack of access to rapid Covid-19 tests for patients was to blame.

It comes just a month after NHS England outlined how elective surgery should safely be able to resume during the pandemic.

Professor Derek Alderson, president of The Royal College of Surgeons of England, said the speed at which test results can be returned was a “crucial factor” in enabling more elective survey to take place.

He said: “The aim should be for surgeons to have access to same-day test results, so that they can test patients both before and on admission, and again upon discharge – nine in ten surgeons we asked agree.”

New Zealand tourism on a slippery slope as Ardern launches ski season

New Zealand’s tourism industry is suffering, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday as she launched the ski season in the absence of foreign visitors, who are being kept out to keep Covid-19 at bay.

Ms Ardern has urged New Zealanders to travel at home and is considering more holidays to get people out, but operators say they won’t make up for the missing foreigners who bring about half of the industry’s NZ$16.1bn (£8.33bn) annual income.

Ms Ardern launched the ski season in the South Island winter-sports hub of Queenstown and said the enthusiasm of residents and domestic tourists was a sign of hope but she acknowledged the pain.

“There is no denying that this region, with our borders closed, will feel a significant impact,” she told reporters.

New Zealand this month declared it was free of community transmission of the coronavirus and lifted all curbs except for the ban on foreign arrivals, which has been in place for about three months.

Ms Ardern announced a new NZ$85m (£44.3m) infrastructure package for Queenstown, part of NZ$400m (£322m) allocated for affected tourism businesses in the budget unveiled last month.
 

Thousands may be struggling with long-term Covid symptoms, say experts
 

People recovering from mild-moderate levels of Covid-19 are struggling for weeks with symptoms, health charities have warned.
 

Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation fear their initial findings mean there is not enough care and support for sufferers who were not hospitalised with the illness.
 

The charities are building up a snapshot of the impact of the coronavirus through an ongoing survey which has so far been filled in by almost 1,000 people. More than 800 people who answered the survey said they had dealt with the illness at home.
 

Breathing and sleep problems through to changes in mood, anxiety or depression are among the new symptoms troubling the former Covid-19 sufferers on a daily basis.
 

Alison Cook, of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, believes there is now a risk of “a huge unmet need” being created if the government and NHS do not support those with post-Covid respiratory complications.
 

Breathing problems was named by 90 per cent of those questioned as their top symptom, along with 64 per cent who said they now suffer from extreme tiredness.
 

Sleep problems, a cough, changes in mood, anxiety or depression were each named by 22 per cent as a major issue.

More Yemeni children face malnourishment amid aid shortage, Unicef warns

The number of malnourished children in Yemen could rise to 2.4 million by the end of the year due to a big shortfall in humanitarian funding, according to Unicef.

A Unicef report has warned of a rise of 20 per cent in the number of malnourished children under the age of five – almost half of all of that age in the country.

“If we do not receive urgent funding, children will be pushed to the brink of starvation and many will die,” said Unicef Yemen representative Sara Beysolow Nyanti. “We cannot overstate the scale of this emergency.”

Yemen has been wracked for more than five years by a war pitting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement which controls much of the country and a Saudi-led coalition which supports the internationally-recognised government based in the south.

Tens of thousands of people have died, many of them civilians, and the ensuing humanitarian crisis has been called the worst in the world.

Unicef is appealing for £371m for its humanitarian response, which is currently only 39 per cent funded, and £42m for its Covid-19 response which is only 10 per cent funded.

At least 2,500 people recruited to test home Covid-19 antibody kits

At least 2,500 volunteers are being recruited to test the reliability of Covid-19 home-based antibody testing kits, the government has said.

The Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England (PHE) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are recruiting people from the NHS and other key workers to test a finger-prick blood test.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: “We are working with Public Health England and the MHRA to recruit volunteers from the NHS and wider public service for a study exploring the potential of home-based antibody tests.

“No reliable home test has yet been found, and we do not know whether antibodies indicate immunity from reinfection or transmission.

“This research is part of our ongoing surveillance work to increase our understanding of how to tackle this virus.”

As research finds that new couples are committing to one another faster than ever, culture writer
Olivia Petter examines why the pandemic has turbo-boosted relationships

 

“This place was deluged and social distancing went out the window and that’s why a major incident was declared, because the local authority and indeed the police couldn’t cope,” he told BBC Breakfast.
 

“The beach should have been closed down, or at least shut down to prevent further people from entering it.
 

“We need to learn from this and recognise that if we’re going to be serious about tackling this pandemic then we need to be swifter in being able to provide support to local authorities who are unable to cope.”

Tesco delivers bumper sales as shoppers move online

Tesco sales have surged over the past three months, after rapidly expanding its online business amid increased demand for grocery deliveries in the face of coronavirus.

The supermarket group said group sales jumped by 8 per cent to £13.4 billion in the three months to May.

It said this was particularly driven by a 48.5 per cent jump in UK online sales for the period, with online sales soaring by more than 90 per cent in May.

Tesco said it doubled its online capacity over a five-week period to help support vulnerable customers unable to go to its stores due to the outbreak.

The figures came during the final update by current chief executive Dave Lewis, who will be replaced by Ken Murphy at the end of September.

He told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t personally get really concerned when I see people outside in the open, because as you have just said, transmission is less likely to occur there.
 

“But it’s what happens out of sight that I’m more worried about. People going to the toilet and being in a queue and perhaps there being transmission there.
 

“Or particularly the person who is cleaning the toilet being exposed to lots of folk with disease, people getting on the public transport and exposing bus drivers and the like.
 

“That’s where I get nervous because I actually feel this vast amount of movement that’s going on – that is absolutely essential for people to come out and enjoy themselves again – does come at a risk.
 

“And I just ask everybody, don’t just think of yourself. Think of the other person who you might be exposing to the virus because sometimes they don’t have a choice.”

10 times more Americans may be infected

Government experts believe more than 20 million Americans could have contracted the coronavirus, 10 times more than official counts, indicating many people without symptoms have or have had the disease, senior officials said.

The estimate, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is based on serology testing used to determine the presence of antibodies that show whether an individual has had the disease, the officials said.

The estimate comes as government officials note that many new cases are showing up in young people who do not exhibit symptoms and may not know they have it.

The US, which counts the most infections in the world, is seeing daily jumps in Covid-19 cases nearing the peak reached during late April.
 

UK preparing to relax quarantine travel measures, says Eustice

The UK is working on an a plan to relax its quarantine for international travellers with some countries where there is a lower risk of contracting Covid-19, environment secretary George Eustice confirmed on Friday.

“I know that Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, is giving this a lot of consideration so that the quarantine provisions that we have got in place can perhaps start to be relaxed with certain countries where the risk is low,” he told the BBC on Friday.

“I don’t know exactly when further information will be announced but I know that it is something the government is working on,” he said. “I know it is being considered.”

Businesses that are already open will not be shut – but, for example, capacity limits in bars and restaurants will not be eased yet.
 

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, said: “The last thing we want to do as a state is go backwards and close down businesses.
 

“This temporary pause will help our state corral the spread until we can safely enter the next phase of opening.”
 

The back-pedalling is not just in Texas, where Mr Abbott is now urgently telling people to stay home. Arizona governor Doug Ducey, also a Republican, did the same, declaring the state “on pause” as hospitals accelerate toward capacity.
 

The numbers “continue to go in the wrong direction,” Mr Ducey said on Thursday.