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Saturday’s coronavirus news: Russia defends Sputnik V vaccine; Britain’s weekly cases at highest since July

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Police officers on patrol in St Kilda, Melbourne, which has emerged from the world's longest lockdown.
Police officers on patrol in St Kilda, Melbourne, which has emerged from the world's longest lockdown. Photograph: Daniel Pockett/EPA
Police officers on patrol in St Kilda, Melbourne, which has emerged from the world's longest lockdown. Photograph: Daniel Pockett/EPA

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Key events

A summary of today's developments

  • The UK has recorded 44,985 new coronavirus cases and a further 135 deaths in the last 24-hour period, government figures show. The total number of cases is now 8,734,934 and the death toll is 139,461.
  • A prominent Covid adviser to the UK government has said he is “very fearful” there will be another Christmas lockdown as he urged the public to do everything possible to reduce transmission of the virus.
  • In a wide-ranging interview with The Times newspaper, the UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has said shops, pubs and restaurants must not shut again as the vaccine rollout meant there could be “no more lockdowns”.
  • Russia reported a further 1,075 Covid deaths on Saturday, its fifth straight daily record, as authorities prepare to shut workplaces across the country and lock down Moscow.
  • The whole world must be vaccinated to stop new Covid variants from developing, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
  • Local public health chiefs in England have broken from the government’s official guidance to recommend plan B measures to combat a surge in coronavirus cases.
  • Unvaccinated people in Austria could face new lockdown restrictions if coronavirus case numbers continue to rise, the country’s chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, has said.
  • Health officials should have known about major failings at a private UK Covid testing lab within days of the problem arising, rather than taking weeks to shut down operations at the site, senior scientists say.
  • Six Romanian Covid-19 patients have been transported to the central Polish city of Lodz for treatment, Polish authorities said. Romania has reported record numbers of daily coronavirus deaths and infections this month and the hospital system is stretched to breaking point.
  • The Romanian government is to re-introduce a night curfew and make health passes mandatory for entry to most public venues from Monday.
  • The senior official credited with the early success of the Covid vaccine rollout in England is returning to the NHS to resume her role overseeing the programme, months after leaving to become the head of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street delivery unit.
  • New Zealand reported 104 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, including the first community case of the virus in the country’s South Island in nearly a year, health officials said.
  • Namibia will suspend the use of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid vaccine, its health ministry said on Saturday. The decision comes days after the drugs regulator in neighbouring South Africa raised concerns about its safety for people at risk of HIV.
  • Sri Lanka has announced plans to offer booster shots to frontline workers followed by the elderly as it prepares to further ease Covid restrictions.
  • Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city, began its first weekend out of the world’s longest string of Covid lockdowns with spontaneous street parties, live music and packed pubs, bars and restaurants.
  • China reported 50 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday compared with 43 on Friday, according to the country’s health authority.

Brazil registered 318 new deaths due to Covid-19 and 11,716 confirmed cases of the virus, according to data released on Saturday by the country’s health ministry.
Brazil has now reported 605,457 Covid-19 deaths, the second highest in the world after the US.

Mexico’s health ministry on Saturday reported 306 more deaths due to Covid-19 in the country, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 286,259.

It has previously said the numbers are likely significantly higher than those reported, Reuters reports.

New evidence has emerged that the government is paving the way to implement “plan B” measures in England to combat the spread of Covid-19, amid warnings from health chiefs that a “vortex of pressures” is encircling the NHS.

In the clearest sign to date that Whitehall is actively considering additional measures, the Observer has learnt that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) contacted local authorities on Friday to canvass their level of support for the “immediate rollout of the winter plan – plan B”.

The disclosure comes as senior doctors warn that operations are already being cancelled due to NHS staffing shortages and scientists warn of “a triple whammy” of respiratory illnesses this winter, with Covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes cold-like symptoms but can be serious for children and older adults.

People should get booster Covid jabs when they are offered during what will be a “tough winter”, NHS national medical director in England Professor Stephen Powis has warned.

He wrote in the Sunday Telegraph: “To maximise the impact of the vaccination programme we must all continue to act responsibly. The more of us that come forward for our booster jab, and the more we keep our resolve in helping to limit the spread of infection, then the greater chance we all have of staying well.”

Prof Powis said this time last year there were more than 6,800 people in hospital with Covid, and this weekend the figure is 6,405, but in 2020 the nation was still six weeks away from the world’s first vaccination.

“So, when your time comes, take up the offer, book your booster and protect the freedom and Christmas that we have all earned and deserve to enjoy,” he said.

After Namibia suspended its rollout of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, the Gamaleya Research Institute, which developed Sputnik V, has claimed the decision was not based on any scientific evidence or research.

Sputnik V remains one of the safest and most efficient vaccines against Covid-19 in use globally, the Gamaleya institute told Reuters.

It said more than 250 clinical trials and 75 international publications confirmed the safety of vaccines and medicines based on human adenovirus vectors.

“While adenoviruses, including ad-5, are one of the most frequent causes of light common flu ..., there is no evidence of increased risk of HIV infection among human population after (the) common cold,” the institute added.

“These inaccurate speculations that have since been refuted relate to unsuccessful clinical trials of another HIV vaccine by another manufacturer that simply did not seem effective enough.”

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The US administered 412,856,169 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 503,521,625 doses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Those figures are up from the 411,963,025 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Friday out of 501,613,665 doses delivered.

The agency said 220,145,796 people had received at least one dose, while 190,402,262 people are fully vaccinated as of 6am ET on Saturday, Reuters reports.

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More than 300 schools across New South Wales and Victoria in Australia have closed down in the last three weeks due to Covid outbreaks, with the majority of students still due to return to classrooms.

Between the start of term four on 4 October and 22 October, there were 234 closures at government schools in Victoria, figures from the Department of Education show.

At least 20 private schools in Victoria were forced to shut in the same period, but the exact number is unknown because a list is not kept by either the department or Independent Schools Victoria.

In the same period 67 schools in NSW were forced to shut. Of those, 48 were public schools and 19 were nongovernment schools, the NSW education department said.

It’s no secret that on the work front, the Covid narrative has predominantly been a negative one, with two-thirds of Australian businesses reporting a hit to revenue in 2020 and underemployment hitting a historic high of 13.8%, impacting 1.8 million people.

Despite this, lockdowns have brought growth to certain sectors, with Australians spending big in areas such as beauty, hobbies and home furnishings. This increased desire for little luxuries is sometimes called the lipstick index. So what does it feel like to be an outlier in a downturn? We asked four business owners to share their experiences.

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