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Argentina will relax coronavirus restrictions as infection and mortality rates falls, the government announced.

The South American nation is approaching five million cases with more than 107,000 deaths.

The government said its plan includes an increase in the number of people who can meet in person, the re-opening of schools and an increase in the number of people allowed to enter the country to 1,700 per day from the current 1,000, Reuters reports.

President Alberto Fernandez said in a recorded TV message: “The more we vaccinate and take care of ourselves, the more we can sustain these achievements and advance in sustained and progressive openings.”

Mexico’s health ministry reported 21,563 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country and 568 fatalities.

It brings the total to 2,944,226 infections and 243,733 deaths, Reuters reports.

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Brazil had 42,159 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 1,056 deaths from Covid-19, the country’s health ministry said.

The South American country has now registered 20,108,746 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 561,762, Reuters reports.

One out of two Americans were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of Friday, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The milestone comes roughly eight months after the US launched its mass vaccination drive.

The agency said 165,918,256 people, or 50% of the total population was fully vaccinated.

And 182,368,493 people, or 70.6% of the adult population received at least one dose.

A coalition of Australian peak music bodies have called on the Morrison government to adopt an insurance scheme for live performance similar to the £750m government-backed program announced by the UK this week.

As more than 16 million Australians enter the weekend in lockdown, national music and entertainment industry bodies, including Aria, , Live Performance Australia and the Live Entertainment Industry Forum, issued a joint statement calling for a reinsurance scheme to protect the industry from crippling disruptions and cancellations that show no sign of ceasing in coming months.

The UK joined Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and Estonia on Thursday, brokering a deal with Lloyds to provide a financial buffer for the live music and entertainment sectors against future possible lockdowns.

In Australia however, only the film industry so far has received government reinsurance, through the federal government’s $50m Temporary Interruption Fund announced in June 2020. And that only covers cases where productions are affected by Covid-19 infection, not state-ordered lockdowns.

Amazon has ordered all US employees to wear a mask at work regardless of their vaccination status.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical healthcare professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our buildings are optimized for the safety of our teams,” an Amazon spokesperson said.

Last month, firms including Google and Facebook asked US employees to get vaccinated to step into offices, while Twitter Inc said it was shutting its reopened offices in the country.
Amazon also extended its work-from-home dates for US employees till 3 January, Reuters reports.

Australians living overseas say a federal government rule change that could see them trapped if they return to visit family and friends might force many to abandon trips altogether.

Citizens and permanent residents could apply for an exemption on compassionate and work grounds but certain people didn’t need one.

Citizens who ordinarily lived overseas, as well as foreign nationals who had been living in Australia but were moving elsewhere, could simply pack their bags and jump on a plane.

But now, the government has tightened the rules for visiting Australians who live overseas. On 1 August, the health minister, Greg Hunt, amended a declaration to the Biosecurity Act to remove the ability for them to leave the country without an exemption.

Having Covid-19 increases patients’ risks for heart attack and stroke, a study from Sweden suggests.

Researchers compared 86,742 individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 in 2020 and 348,481 people without the virus.

In the week following a Covid-19 diagnosis, the risk of a first heart attack went up three-to eight-fold, and the risk of a first stroke due to a blood-vessel blockage rose three- to six-fold, the researchers found.

The risks then dropped steadily but remained elevated for at least four weeks, according to the report in The Lancet.

Katharine Murphy has spoken with Prof Jodie McVernon, director of epidemiology at the Doherty Institute in Australia about how lockdowns went from being unacceptable in democracies to front and centre of the pandemic response and she predicts public health measures will remain for some time to come.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister Ralph Gonsalves said he was recovering a day after a protester threw an object at his head during an anti-vaccine rally, leaving him concussed.

The 74-year-old premier of the Caribbean country was attacked as he walked through a group of about 200 protesters to get into parliament, Reuters reports.

“By the grace of God almighty, I’m doing well and on the mend,” he wrote on social media.

He said there was no sign of neurological damage, but his concussion would require weeks of monitoring.

Boris Johnson has said he will not self-isolate after a member of his team tested positive for Covid.

Downing Street said the prime minister did not come into close contact with the civil servant during the trip to Scotland, but a source said the pair had been “side-by-side” on several occasions and also flew in the same small aircraft between Glasgow and Aberdeen.

So what are the rules covering what you should do if you’re notified by a contact-tracing service after being in close contact with someone who has tested positive?