Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to key eventsSkip to navigation

Portugal bans all UK flights – as it happened

This article is more than 3 years old

This blog is now closed. We’ve launched a new blog at the link below:

 Updated 
Thu 21 Jan 2021 18.57 ESTFirst published on Wed 20 Jan 2021 18.51 EST
Key events
Women wearing masks walk past the closed Opera de Paris in the French capital
Women wearing masks walk past the closed Opera de Paris in the French capital. Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images
Women wearing masks walk past the closed Opera de Paris in the French capital. Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images

Live feed

Key events

Japan’s government has privately concluded the Tokyo Olympics will have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus, The Times has reported, citing an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition.

The government’s focus is now on securing the games for Tokyo in the next available year, 2032, the newspaper said.

French president Emmanuel Macron said France will make PCR tests compulsory for all travellers into France from Sunday, including from fellow EU countries, Reuters reports.

Cross-border workers and land transportation will be exempt from that obligation, the French presidency added. The test will have to be carried out no later than 72 hours before departure.

Summary

Here is a quick recap of the latest coronavirus developments across the globe:

  • Biden warns Covid will ‘get worse before it gets better’ as he unveils strategy. Joe Biden began his first full day as president confronting a host of major crises facing his fledgling administration, starting with a flurry of actions to address his most pressing challenge: the raging Covid-19 pandemic. At a White House event on Thursday afternoon, Biden unveiled a new “wartime” strategy to combat the coronavirus, vowing “help is on the way.”
  • PM Johnson raises fears of lockdown in England continuing into summertime. Boris Johnson raised fears that tough Covid restrictions could continue well into the spring and beyond as ministers refused to be drawn on plans for any potential easing of lockdown.
  • France to recommend wearing of surgical masks in public. The French government will recommend that people wear surgical masks in public because fabric masks do not provide enough protection from Covid-19 transmission, health minister Olivier Véran said.
  • No way to hold Rio carnival in July, the city’s mayor says. It will not be possible to host carnival celebrations in July, Rio de Janeiro’s new mayor has said, as Brazil’s second wave of coronavirus infections spreads, and with vaccine supplies still scarce.
  • Hungary breaks ranks with EU to license Russian vaccine. Hungary has licensed Russia’s coronavirus vaccine, breaking ranks with other EU countries and ignoring calls to stick to a common European vaccine policy.
  • Portugal bans all UK flights to tackle rapid spread of new Covid-19 variant. Portuguese prime minister António Costa said all flights to and from Britain will be suspended from Saturday onwards as Portugal scrambles to tackle the rapid spread of the new variant of the coronavirus.
  • Austrian mayors who got leftover Covid vaccines accused of ‘queue-jumping’. Local government officials in Austria have been accused of jumping the queue for Covid-19 vaccinations at care homes for elderly people, prompting a clarification of guidelines for handling leftover doses.
  • Pfizer cuts vaccine deliveries to some EU countries in half. Pfizer has slashed in half the volume of Covid vaccines it will deliver to some EU countries this week, government officials said, as frustration over the US drugmaker’s unexpected cut in supplies grows.
  • Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa tests positive to Covid-19 at Australian Open. Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa has become the first player to test positive to Covid-19 while in hard quarantine ahead of the Australian Open.

Hotspots of Covid-19 infections in the European Union will be labelled “dark red” zones, and travellers from those areas will be required to take a test before departure and undergo quarantine, the chief of the bloc’s executive said.

“A dark red zone would show that in this zone, the virus is circulating at a very high level,” European commission president Ursula von der Leyen said after a meeting of EU leaders, Reuters reports.

“Persons travelling from dark red areas could be required to do a test before departure, as well as to undergo quarantine after arrival.” This system would apply to travel within the EU, she said.

Von der Leyen said that with infections rising and contagious variants of the virus spreading fast, non-essential travel should be “strongly discouraged” within the EU but essential workers and goods must be able to cross borders smoothly.

Matilda Boseley
Matilda Boseley

Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa has become the first player to test positive to Covid-19 while in hard quarantine ahead of the Australian Open.

The world No 67 was one of 72 players forced to isolate in their hotel rooms after passengers on three separate charter flights to Melbourne tested positive.

The 23-year-old took to Twitter late on Thursday night, stating that she had tested positive on the seventh day of her isolation. Authorities have not confirmed where she contracted the virus.

“I have some bad news. Today I received a positive COVID-19 test result. I’m feeling unwell and have some symptoms, but I’ll try to recover as soon as possible listening to the doctors,” she said.

“I’ve been taken to a health hotel [medi-hotel] to self-isolate and be monitored.”

pic.twitter.com/9SLzW46HuZ

— Paula Badosa (@paulabadosa) January 21, 2021

Originally all players travelling to participate in the Australia Open were meant to enter a bubble where, after testing negative upon arrival, they would be allowed to leave their room for five hours a day to train at specially designated tennis courts.

But this plan was complicated when three international charter flights had passengers test negative to Covid-19 prior to taking off, but positive upon arrival in Melbourne, suggesting they may have been contagious while flying.

Portugal bans all UK flights to tackle rapid spread of new Covid-19 variant

Portuguese prime minister António Costa has said all flights to and from Britain will be suspended from Saturday onwards as Portugal scrambles to tackle the rapid spread of the new variant of the coronavirus.

Only repatriation flights will be allowed between both countries, Costa told a news conference.

He described the measure as a move to reduce the “risk of contagion” due to the new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain, which is spreading across Portugal.

Anthony Fauci, the top infectious diseases expert in the US, has spoken of a “liberating feeling” of being able to speak scientific truth about the coronavirus without fear of “repercussions” from Donald Trump.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, endured a tortuous relationship with the former president and was increasingly sidelined from public briefings.

But the 80-year-old returned to the White House podium on Thursday after Joe Biden released a national Covid-19 strategy and signed 10 executive orders to combat a pandemic that has now claimed more than 400,000 lives in the US.

“One of the things that we’re going to do is to be completely transparent, open and honest,” Fauci told reporters. “If things go wrong, not point fingers, but to correct them. And to make everything we do be based on science and evidence.

“That was literally a conversation I had 15 minutes ago with the president and he has said that multiple times.”

'A liberating feeling': Fauci critiques Trump administration – video

Asked if he would like to amend or clarify anything he said during the Trump presidency, Fauci insisted he had always been candid, noting wryly. “That’s why I got in trouble sometimes.”

Fauci and other public health advisers were forced to walk a delicate line as the president used coronavirus taskforce briefings to downplay the virus, push miracle cures and score political points.

Fauci also said that, based on seven-day averages, the coronavirus may be plateauing in this US but warned there can always be lags in data reporting. “One of the new things about this new administration: if you don’t know the answer, don’t guess,” he said.

Share
Updated at 

The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has raised fears that tough Covid restrictions could continue well into the spring and beyond, as ministers refused to be drawn on plans for any potential easing of lockdown.

While the vast majority of Tory MPs have toed the line since the new variant of the virus sent cases soaring, Downing Street’s reticence is already causing anxiety among a few backbenchers, who are urging an easing of the restrictions if vaccination rates stay on target.

Downing Street is committed to reviewing the current England-wide lockdown in mid-February, by which point all people in the four top target groups for vaccinations should have been offered at least their first injection.

But with 1,290 more UK coronavirus deaths recorded on Thursday, fears that infection rates in England might not even be falling, and the continued spread of the new, more infectious variant of Covid-19, Johnson was notably more cautious about lifting lockdown than he previously has been.

“I think it’s too early to say when we’ll be able to lift some of the restrictions,” he told reporters during a visit to flood-hit Didsbury in Greater Manchester, when asked about the mid-February target.

After Johnson’s spokesman declined to rule out lockdown remaining in place until the summer, Priti Patel, the home secretary, was similarly cautious at the No 10 Covid press conference on Thursday afternoon.

“It’s far too early to even contemplate where we go with restrictions,” she said, when asked about timings. Patel instead announced beefed-up fines to better enforce social distancing rules, with guests found at house parties of more than 15 people liable to incur fines of at least £800.

Share
Updated at 

No way to hold Rio carnival in July, the city's mayor says

It will not be possible to host carnival celebrations in July, Rio de Janeiro’s new mayor has said, as Brazil’s second wave of coronavirus infections spreads, and with vaccine supplies still scarce.

On Twitter, Eduardo Paes said he was aware of the economic and cultural benefits the world-famous party, originally scheduled for next month, brings to the city. But he said there was no way it could be held even in the middle of the year.

I have never hidden my passion for carnival and the clear vision I have of the economic importance of this cultural event for our city. However, it seems pointless to imagine at this point that we will be able to hold the carnival in July.

This celebration requires a great deal of preparation on the part of public bodies and of samba associations and institutions, something impossible to do at that moment. Thus, I would like to inform you that we will not have carnival in the middle of the year in 2021.

Nunca escondi minha paixão pelo carnaval e a visão clara que tenho da importância econômica dessa manifestação cultural para nossa cidade. No entanto, me parece sem qq sentido imaginar a essa altura que teremos condições de realizar o carnaval em julho. pic.twitter.com/B932v233En

— Eduardo Paes (@eduardopaes_) January 21, 2021

The latest delay to this year’s celebrations is not a surprise. Brazil is reeling from a brutal second wave in a pandemic that has claimed more than 200,000 lives, the second highest total in the world after the US. Meanwhile, the government is under growing pressure over the slow pace of its vaccine rollout.

Share
Updated at 

France to recommend wearing of surgical masks in public

The French government will recommend that people wear surgical masks in public because fabric masks do not provide enough protection from Covid-19 transmission, health minister Olivier Véran has said.

France already requires masks to be worn in public places, but until now has not made recommendations about the type of masks that should be worn in that setting.

Véran, speaking to French broadcaster TF1, also said it was unlikely restrictions on ski resorts would be lifted next month, effectively ruling out a return to skiing in time for the February school holidays.

He said the government could not rule out a tightening of coronavirus restrictions if virus transmission accelerates, Reuters reports.

Share
Updated at 

Spanish health minister Salvador Illa will resign next week to campaign in regional elections in Catalonia, an official from his party said, while national authorities reported a record 44,357 new daily coronavirus cases.

From Reuters:

“By Thursday of next week at 12 midnight, he will have given up his portfolio,” said Miquel Iceta, the secretary of the Catalan Socialist Party.

Illa, who has overseen Spain’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, had said he would step down when campaigning got underway for the election, which is set to take place on 14 February.

Spain has been routinely reporting record daily coronavirus infections since the end of December, but a top health official said the recent surge appeared to be stabilising.

“The increases we are seeing are getting smaller every day, which implies that we have reached an inflection point,” Fernando Simón, the country’s health emergency chief, said.

Despite that optimism, the nationwide incidence of the virus as measured over the past 14 days climbed to a new high of 796 cases per 100,000 people on Thursday from 736 cases the previous day.

Simon warned that pressure on hospitals would likely continue into at least the next week.

The latest figures brought the cumulative total of coronavirus cases in Spain to 2,456,675, while the death toll increased by 404 to 55,041.

The Czech parliament has extended the country’s state of emergency until 14 February, a week less than the government had wanted as it seeks to keep in place measures to tamp down coronavirus infections.

Reuters reports:

The extension, pushed through with support of the Communist party, provides the government with a legal basis for some measures such as limits on assembly and movement, or temporarily shuttering businesses.

The country of 10.7 million has been one of the worst-hit globally with 14,973 deaths so far and over 150 deaths most days this month as many hospitals are filled to capacity.

Health minister Jan Blatný has called on the public to observe limits on social interactions to help break the trend, with the aid of stricter social distancing rules and the closure of most shops that came into force on 27 December.

Officials have also said the number of those hospitalised with Covid-19 needs to fall by more than half to below 3,000 patients for the government to consider lifting some restrictions.

The European Union has promised to help Ukraine obtain coronavirus vaccines as soon as possible, the county’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office has said, Reuters reports.

Zelenskiy received assurances of support in a letter from European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel, Zelenskiy’s office said in a statement.

“It is emphasised that Ukraine can count on the solidarity of the European Union in obtaining a vaccine against coronavirus. The EU is taking steps to ensure Ukraine’s access to vaccines as soon as possible,” the statement said.

The first batches of Covid vaccine under the Covax scheme could arrive in Ukraine in the first half of February, television channel Ukraine-24 quoted a senior Ukrainian lawmaker as saying earlier on Thursday.

Ukraine, which has a population of 44 million and has registered around 1.2 million coronavirus cases along with 21,499 deaths, has already agreed to buy some vaccines from China.

Share
Updated at 

Ireland’s Covid death rate is at its highest level since the start of the pandemic with an average of 44 deaths per day in the past week, a senior health official has said, Reuters reports.

“The number of deaths confirmed per day over the last seven days, 44, is the highest we have seen at any point during the pandemic,” Philip Nolan, head of the government’s Covid modelling unit, told a news conference.

The infection rate, however, has fallen sharply from a pandemic high registered earlier in January. There were an average of 2,430 new cases over the past five days, down from a five-day average of 4,473 reported a week ago.

The January spike followed an easing of public health restrictions in December. The growth was also fuelled by a new more transmissible variant of the virus that first emerged in Britain. The variant now accounts for around 60% of transmission in Ireland, chief medical officer Tony Holohan told journalists.

Ireland on Thursday reported 2,608 new cases of Covid-19 and 51 deaths. A total of 2,818 have died from the disease in Ireland, which has a population of 5 million. Ireland on Tuesday reported a record 93 deaths.

Share
Updated at 

Hungary has licensed Russia’s coronavirus vaccine, breaking ranks with other EU countries and ignoring calls to stick to a common European vaccine policy.

Its foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, was on his way to Moscow on Thursday to discuss the purchase, after Hungary’s medical body gave the Sputnik V vaccine emergency approval.

Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s rightwing prime minister, has been strongly critical of the slow speed of the EU vaccine distribution programme. His chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said on Thursday: “If vaccine shipments arrive at this rate from Brussels, we can only get vaccines from other, alternative sources.”

So far abut 140,000 people in Hungary have been vaccinated, with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Officials are also in Beijing for talks over the approval of China’s Sinopharm vaccine.

Surveys show Hungarians are among the biggest vaccine sceptics in Europe, with fewer than half prepared to be vaccinated.

Share
Updated at 

The UN’s cultural agency has called on France to do more to stop the Musee de l’Eventail in Paris becoming the cultural world’s latest coronavirus victim, AP reports.

The museum classed as a historical monument has until Saturday to pay up over 117,000 euros in rent arrears — stemming mainly from losses during lockdowns, otherwise it will close. And with it will go the savoir-faire of its workshop. The studio that teaches design and restoration to a new generation of fan-makers was placed on France’s intangible heritage list last year.

In a rare intervention, Unesco called on France to honour the implementing of “safeguarding measures identified for this particular living heritage,” noting in response to AP’s reporting that Paris’ decision to place this knowhow on the list was taken already “while the pandemic was starting to expand at a fast pace.”

“It is a tragedy. I can’t believe Parisians will let a part of their heritage die. I have a problem, because I always believed there would be a miracle,” the museum’s 74-year-old director, Anne Hoguet, said.

The Belle Époque hall of the fan museum is pictured in Paris on Wednesday. Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
Share
Updated at 

The US House of Representatives is planning to bring a coronavirus relief bill to a vote in the first week of February, the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has said. “We will be doing our committee work all next week so that we will be completely ready to go to the floor when we come back,” she said, according to Reuters.

Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 bill that would provide enhanced jobless benefits and direct cash payments to households struggling amid the economic fallout from the virus.

Though Biden’s Democratic party holds narrow majorities in the House and Senate, the legislation will likely need bipartisan support to clear procedural hurdles and emerge out of the Senate.

Some Republicans have raised questions about shovelling out more direct payments on the heels of last month’s enactment of a coronavirus aid bill. Many of them also oppose aid to state and local governments, a top priority of Democrats.

Share
Updated at 

Most viewed

Most viewed