Coronavirus live news: UK records a further 156 deaths; thousands protest in Turkey against Covid measures

Brazil reported 14,335 new coronavirus cases and 712 additional Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the country’s health ministry said on Saturday.

More than 585,000 people have died from the virus in Brazil, with nearly 21 million cases.

Mexico recorded 12,511 confirmed coronavirus cases and 675 more deaths from the virus on Saturday, according to health ministry data.

It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the Latin American nation to 3,506,743 and the overall death toll to 267,524, Reuters reports.

Boris Johnson is due to set out the UK government’s plan to tackle coronavirus over the coming months, with a reluctance to impose further lockdowns and a focus on vaccination.

The prime minister will host a press conference next week, as a decision is expected on how to roll out a booster jab programme, PA reports.

Johnson is expected to say that vaccines will continue to be the first line of defence over the autumn and winter, a high-risk time for coronavirus as other respiratory illnesses circulate.

And in a move away from locking down the country, a number of powers allowing the government to shut down sections of the economy in England are set to be repealed including those allowing the closing down of the economy, the imposing of restrictions on events and gatherings, the power to temporarily close or restrict access to schools, and powers to detain infectious people.

Hundreds of people marched on Saturday in a North Macedonia town to remember the 14 people killed in a fire at a Covid-19 field hospital earlier this week.

People marched in silence through central Tetovo and kneeled in front of the destroyed hospital. They also placed a wreath and flowers at the site, Associated Press reports.

The fire broke out late Wednesday, destroying the facility within a few minutes, killing 12 patients and two visiting relatives. Twelve people were also injured.

The blaze is believed to have started by accident, although an investigation is still underway.

On 30 June 2020, Victoria’s Covid cases were doubling. Within a week the state would be in its second lockdown.

That same day Pfizer wrote to the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, with a clear sense of urgency, wanting to discuss a vaccination deal.

Act fast, they hinted – other nations are signing deals.

Almost four months and hundreds of deaths later, Victoria’s lockdown ended. Two more weeks after that, Australia finally signed the Pfizer contract.

More than 120,000 people demonstrated across France on Saturday, according to official figures, to protest against the coronavirus health passports they say discriminate against the unvaccinated.

The health pass, or a recent negative Covid test, is required to enter cafes, restaurants and many other public places, AFP reports.

The interior ministry said 121,000 had demonstrated in France, 19,000 of them in the capital Paris where police arrested 85 people after clashes broke out.

Three members of the police were slightly injured during the protests, the ministry added.

This was the ninth consecutive weekend of protests.

A zoo in Atlanta, US, said at least 13 western lowland gorillas have tested positive for Covid-19, including 60-year-old Ozzie, the oldest male gorilla in captivity, Associated Press reports.

Employees said the gorillas had been coughing, had runny noses and showed changes in appetite.

Plans for Covid vaccinations for 12- to 15-year-olds across the UK are to be announced by the government this week, with a mass inoculation programme beginning in schools within two weeks, the Observer has been told.

New proposals for a Covid booster programme are also expected to be set out on Tuesday, but it is thought ministers may be backing away from plans for Covid passports in confined settings such as nightclubs amid opposition from some Tory MPs.

It is believed that vaccinations for children will begin on 22 September. NHS leaders are understood to have been briefed on the plans after schools were told to be ready to introduce the programme.

When asked to confirm the plan, a Department of Health source said ministers had not received final advice from the CMOs and did not want to prejudge them.

Following the Guardian’s interview with Prof Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, who said general practitioners are finding it difficult to “maintain a safe service” to patients due to the amount of pressure they are under, the British Medical Association has responded.

Marshall said a combination of a drop in staff numbers and an increase in demand for services from GPs, including complex consultations and the vaccination programme as well as demand from a growing population, has made things difficult for doctors.

Dr Richard Vautrey, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, pointed out that even before the pandemic started there were already too few family doctors, a limited wider workforce, inadequate spaces and unmet government promises, PA reports.

Vautrey said: “Government pledges to deliver more GPs remain unmet and as workload pressures now increase at an alarming rate due to the pandemic and the growing backlog of care, it is no wonder that many practices are struggling to provide patients with the good care that GPs want to deliver, and that patients expect and deserve.”

About 5.7 million people in Greece, or 55% of the population, are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and 59% have received one dose, according to the latest official figures.
The country recorded 2,197 confirmed new infections on Saturday and 39 deaths, Reuters reports.

Police in Greece’s second city Thessaloniki fired tear gas at anti-vaccination protesters ahead of a keynote economic speech by prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The police used teargas and a water cannon to keep about 1,000 protesters away from the venue of the speech.

There has been opposition in Greece to the mandatory Covid-19 vaccination of all health workers, who are threatened with suspension if they fail to comply, AFP reports.

Tougher air, sea and rail transport restrictions also come into effect on Monday, with the unvaccinated no longer entitled to free testing.

India’s foreign minister has urged Australia to ease coronavirus travel restrictions for thousands of students who have been unable to get into the country since the pandemic started 18 months ago.

Foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he raised the issue “in some detail” with his Australian counterpart Marise Payne, AFP reports.

“We have heard a lot from the students and I think their frustrations, their feelings, are completely understandable,” Jaishankar told reporters.

“Many of them would like to be at the institutions where they want to study,” adding students were “a very high priority” for his government, which has also faced hurdles with the US and Canada.

“We have been having some problems with some other countries as well. We had initially with the US, we are still having some issues with Canada,” he added.

France has reported a further 46 Covid-19 related deaths in hospital and said 2,131 people are in intensive care with the virus, Reuters reports.

The city-state’s ministry of health on Saturday confirmed 555 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, taking its total case count to 71,167, Reuters reports.

These comprise 486 community cases, 64 dormitory residents cases and five imported cases.