Covid live: England reports another record rise in cases; UAE to ban non-vaccinated from travelling abroad

My colleague Emma Graham-Harrison reports on how much longer China can keep up its zero-Covid policy.

Desperate residents in China’s western Xi’an city are running out of food after they were barred from grocery shopping in a fierce lockdown. In the southern province of Guangxi, people who broke Covid laws were recently publicly shamed by being paraded through the streets in Hazmat suits with placards round their necks.

The rest of the world is learning, slowly and with some difficulty, to live with Covid-19, but in China, authorities are doubling down on their “zero-Covid” policy: trying to stamp out the disease whenever it appears, and at any cost. A single case in a border town led to 200,000 people being locked down late last month.

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Children aged six and above must wear masks on public transport in France, according to a new government order.

Masks had already been compulsory from the age of 11, but new rules have been announced in response to the spread of the Omicron variant.

The new restrictions will come in from Monday. Operators will not be able to sell food or drink on services from the same date, according to AFP. Rules will apply on the channel-crossing Eurostar service.

Another 232,200 cases were confirmed on Friday, breaking the country’s previous record.

Italy has reported another 141,262 Covid cases, meaning that more than 1 million people in the country currently have the virus.

Saturday’s case figures were a drop on the previous day, when tests confirmed 144,243 new infections. The Italian Ansa news agency said it meant 1,021,697 now had the virus.

The country’s latest death count, 111, was also down compared with Friday’s total of 155.

Almost 3,000 passengers on a cruise ship had to spend New Year’s Eve ashore in Lisbon because of Covid, after an outbreak of infections among the crew.

The 53 cases among the 1,353 staff meant the German-owned Aida Nova and its passengers had to stay in the Portuguese capital, rather than go to Funchal in Madeira to watch a firework display. None of the ship’s passengers tested positive, the German news agency DPA reported.

The infected crew members were taken to hotels in Lisbon. The ship is now waiting for replacement staff so it can carry on to the Canary Islands.

England has broken its record for confirmed new Covid infections, after 162,572 were reported on Saturday. The previous highest total was set on Friday, the final day of 2021, when 160,276 were registered.

It’s the fifth day in a row on which confirmed infections have risen in England.

Figures for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be published after the new year weekend.

A further 154 people have died within 28 days of a positive test, down from 178 in England the day before.

Good evening, Harry Taylor here bringing you the latest coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world as we round off the first day of 2022.

If you have any comments, tips or suggestions, drop me an email or get in touch via Twitter @HarryTaylr, where my DMs are open.

The United Arab Emirates will ban unvaccinated citizens from travelling abroad from 10 January, the state news agency WAM reported on Saturday, citing the foreign ministry and the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority.

The report said that vaccinated citizens would also require a booster shot to be eligible to travel. The ban will not apply to those with medical or humanitarian exemptions.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser to the government says he is “really pleased” to see scientists being recognised in the new year honours list.

England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, and his deputy, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, have been given knighthoods, along with the chief medical officers for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, and Scotland, Dr Gregor Smith.

There are also damehoods for Dr Jenny Harries, who leads the UK Health Security Agency, and Dr June Raine, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Around a fifth of those recognised have been involved in the fight against Covid.

The annual New Year’s Day parade in central London has returned after being cancelled last year due to Coronavirus restrictions.

The scaled-back event is just getting under way with this year’s event down to just 600 people in a ticketed arena.

It was a contrast to the 600,000 people that would have normally lined the two-mile route from Piccadilly to Whitehall.

Germany wants to use its presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) to support the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, has said.

In a tweet, Lindner, party leader of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), junior partner in Olaf Scholz’s three-way ruling coalition said: “Germany has taken over the G7 presidency for 2022 – the G7 countries stand for freedom, democracy and progress.

“With this in mind, we must overcome the pandemic and drive the global economic recovery,” he added.

He also called for a strengthening of efforts to improve climate protection, Reuters reports.

A leading diabetes doctor who was also among the first to identify the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on ethnic minority groups has been recognised with a royal honour, PA reports.

Prof Kamlesh Khunti, a University of Leicester scholar, Sage member and GP, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the new year honours list.

Alongside Prof Melanie Davies CBE, Prof Khunti established the globally-recognised Leicester Diabetes Centre, which employs more than 170 researchers.

He has also improved the health of ethnic minority people by leading a body of research throughout the pandemic, and working as chairman of the Sage ethnic sub-panel.

Khunti described being recognised by Buckingham Palace as a “huge honour”, and paid tribute to his colleagues and his family.