Coronavirus live: England speeds up booster jab rollout, Ukraine reports record daily death toll

Russia reported 41,335 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its highest single-day case tally since the start of the pandemic.

The government’s coronavirus task force also reported 1,188 deaths related to the virus. A week-long workplace shutdown in Russia, designed to curb the spread of the virus, is nearing its end. Some regions are planning to extend restrictions into next week, but many have opted to resume work from Monday.

US pharma giants Merck and Pfizer have announced encouraging results for oral drugs, while an antidepressant has also shown promise in what could open up a new chapter in the fight against the pandemic.

What are these treatments?

They are pills taken orally as soon as the first symptoms of Covid-19 appear, to avoid serious forms of the illness, and therefore hospitalisation. This form of treatment has been sought since the start of the global health crisis.

Early October, Merck said it was seeking authorisation in the United States for its pill molnupiravir, and Pfizer followed suit on Friday with paxlovid. They are both anti-virals that act by reducing the virus’s ability to replicate, slowing down the disease.

Why are they important?

If the efficacy of these drugs is confirmed, it will be a major step forward in the fight against Covid-19. They would add to vaccines to bolster the world’s therapeutic arsenal against the virus.

Treatments already exist, mostly in the form of synthetic antibodies.

But these drugs, which usually target those who already have severe forms of the disease, are injected and therefore more difficult to administer. A pill can be quickly prescribed to a patient who will then take it at home.

What limitations?

It is difficult so far to properly evaluate Merck and Pfizer’s treatments given both groups have only published statements and have not made the data of their clinical trials available.

French infectious diseases specialist Karine Lacombe warned in September that these types of announcements should be treated with “caution” until the studies can be scrutinised. She pointed out that these treatments represent a “potentially enormous” market for pharmaceutical groups.

New Zealand’s 206 new daily community infections on Saturday carried it past the double-hundred mark for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic, as the nation scrambles to vaccinate its population of 5 million.

The most populous city of Auckland, which reported 200 of the new cases, has lived under Covid-19 curbs for nearly three months as it battles an outbreak of the infectious Delta variant, although restrictions are expected to ease on Monday.

The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said she wanted Auckland residents to be able to travel for the southern hemisphere summer and Christmas. “We will not keep Aucklanders isolated to Auckland through that period – we simply cannot do that,” Ardern told a news conference at the national gathering of her Labour party.

Saturday’s cases served to remind people of the importance of vaccination as the number one protection against the virus, the health ministry said in a statement.

It said 78% of New Zealanders aged 12 and above had been fully vaccinated, while 89% had a first vaccine dose by Friday. Once praised globally for stamping out Covid-19, New Zealand has been unable to vanquish the Delta outbreak in Auckland, forcing Ardern to abandon a strategy of eliminating the virus in favour of efforts to live with it.

Australia reached on Saturday a full inoculation rate of 80% of those aged 16 and older, a moment that was dubbed by the country’s prime minister as a “magnificent milestone”.

“Another, magnificent milestone, Australia,” prime Minister Scott said in a video post on Facebook. “That’s four out of five, how good is that? This has been a true Australian national effort.”

While vaccinations remain voluntary on the federal level, Australia’s states and territories introduced mandatory measures for many occupations and workers. The unvaccinated are barred from many activities, such as dining out or concerts.

Mainland China reported 55 new Covid-19 cases on 6 November, down from 78 a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Saturday.

The National Health Commission said in its daily bulletin that 40 of the new cases were locally transmitted, down from 68 the previous day, with 16 in the north-east border province of Heilongjiang.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, stood at 27, down from 42 a day earlier. Mainland China has reported 97,660 coronavirus cases, with 4,636 deaths

Ukraine reported a record daily high of 793 Coronavirus-related deaths, the health ministry said.

It comes as the country grapples with Covid vaccination scepticism. More than a thousand people blocked several streets in the centre of the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday, protesting against vaccine certificates and state-imposed restrictions to control the virus.

The protesters held up signs reading “Say No to Covid passports”, “Say no to Covid genocide”.

In England, people will be able to book their Covid-19 booster jab a month before they are eligible from Monday.

The NHS is changing the booking system to allow people in England to arrange an appointment a month in advance, as the health service aims to ramp up vaccination uptake ahead of a “challenging” winter.

Currently, anyone eligible who had their second dose of a coronavirus vaccine six months ago can only book their top-up once those six months are up.

The update means that people can pre-book an appointment after five months, allowing them to get vaccinated on the day they reach the six-month milestone.

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, said: “Covid-19 vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your family ahead of a challenging winter and this change to the booking system will make it as easy as possible for people to book their booster jabs.”