Coronavirus news live: Local Covid hotspot restrictions ‘can’t be ruled out’

A panel of independent experts who reviewed the World Health Organisation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has said the UN health agency should be granted “guaranteed rights of access” in countries to investigate emerging outbreaks, a contentious idea that would give it more powers and require member states to give up some of theirs.

In a report released today, the panel faulted countries worldwide for their sluggish response to Covid-19, saying most waited to see how the virus was spreading until it was too late to contain it, leading to catastrophic results.

The group also slammed the lack of global leadership and restrictive international health laws that “hindered” WHO’s response to the pandemic.

Some experts criticised the panel for failing to hold WHO and others accountable for their actions during the crisis, describing that as “an abdication of responsibility.”

Lawrence Gostin, of Georgetown University, said the panel “fails to call out bad actors like China, perpetuating the dysfunctional WHO tradition of diplomacy over frankness, transparency and accountability”.

The head of the World Health Organisation has said the agency will discuss with its 194 member states the findings and recommendations of an independent pandemic review panel – which found shortcomings by WHO and by governments.

A Covid-19 pandemic review panel issued its report today, saying a new transparent global system should be set up for probing disease outbreaks, empowering the WHO to deploy investigators at short notice and reveal findings.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus told an event to launch the report: “We look forward to working with our member states to discuss the recommendations of this panel and the other committees to build a stronger WHO and a healthier, safer, fairer future for all of us.”

The International Federation of the Red Cross has said coronavirus cases are exploding in Asia and the Pacific, with more than 5.9 million new confirmed infections in the past two weeks, more than in all other regions combined.

Seven out of 10 countries globally that are doubling their infection numbers the fastest are in Asia and the Pacific, it said.

Laos took just 12 days to see its cases double, and the number of confirmed infections in India has doubled in under two months to more than 23 million, the Red Cross said in a statement.

Red Cross Asia Pacific director Alexander Matheou said: “More people have been diagnosed with the disease in Asia over the past two weeks than in the Americas, Europe and Africa combined.”

Canada’s largest province, Ontario, has announced it will stop offering first doses of the Covid vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, citing evidence that the risk of rare blood clots is higher than previously estimated.

Mayank Aggarwal explains more about this story below:

There are currently about 20 to 30 cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus in Scotland, the country’s national clinical director has said.

The coronavirus variant B.1.617.2 first identified in India has been designated as a “variant of concern” by Public Health England (PHE) because it is thought to be at least as transmissible as the variant detected in Kent last year, known as B117, which is now dominant in the UK.

Professor Jason Leitch, Scotland’s national clinical director, said work is under way to find out more about the strain as he warned a variant worse than Kent “would set us back”.

Health chiefs in Greater Manchester have requested permission to vaccinate everyone over the age of 16 after a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases among young people in Bolton.

Andy Burnham, the region’s mayor, said he and officials had made the plea amid concerns the spike – seemingly driven by the India variant – could grow out of control without decisive action.

Our North of England correspondent Colin Drury has more details:

Germany’s cabinet has approved plans to allow people who have been fully-vaccinated against Covid, recovered or had a negative test to enter Germany without having to go into quarantine, according to a government source.

The changes do not apply to anyone coming from a high-risk or an area with a mutation of the virus.

The easing applies only to people who have had a vaccine approved in the European Union, namely BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

The boss of London City Airport has said business travel will recover from the coronavirus pandemic as companies relying on virtual meetings cannot “thrive”.

Chief executive Robert Sinclair claimed it is “easy to sound the death knell of business travel in the midst of a crisis” – but insisted he is “confident” demand will return.

He told the PA news agency: “While Zoom and Teams have definitely been very helpful in terms of allowing businesses to make do and function, I’m not as convinced that, going forward, it’s going to be the optimal platform for businesses to thrive.

“The fundamentals of human interaction, the desirability of actually being in front of people… will warrant continuation of business travel.”

A cabinet minister has said the government will not rule out re-introducing tougher restrictions for coronavirus “hotspot” areas.

George Eustice, the environment secretary, said: “We can’t rule anything out … the reason we’re being incredibly cautious about exiting lockdown, is we want this to be the last.”

My colleague Adam Forrest has more details below:

Experts have warned some 10 million people in England will need support for their mental health as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, which could continue to have an impact for up to five years.

My colleague Samuel Osborne explains more in this article: