Travel in and out of Lisbon to be banned after Portugal cases surge; Nepal plea for vaccine doses – as it happened

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Here’s a roundup of the key developments today:

• Wales is delaying further easing of coronavirus restrictions for four weeks after seeing a spike in cases of the Delta variant of the disease first identified in India.
  
• Germany will reopen its borders later this month to non-EU nationals who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, the government announced Thursday.
• AstraZeneca can charge a higher price for its Covid-19 vaccine in dozens of poor countries once the pharmaceutical company decides the pandemic has ended, according to a copy of its contract with Oxford University seen by the Guardian.
• Travel in and out of the Lisbon metropolitan area is to be banned over coming weekends as Portuguese authorities respond to a spike in new Covid-19 cases in the region around the capital, officials announced.
• Nepal significantly reduced coronavirus infections after its worst outbreak, which overwhelmed the country’s medical system, but is in desperate need of vaccines, according to its health minister.
• Denmark will administer Covid-19 vaccines for those aged 12 to 15, broadcaster TV 2 reported, citing sources. Danish health authorities are due to hold a news briefing to about using the vaccines on that age group later today, amid concerns there is limited information about possible side-effects to children who have nothing to gain from such a move.
• Austria announced that revellers will be allowed to hit the dance floor legally again from next month as nightclubs reopen, in line with a broader easing of measures.
• France’s tourism sector is taking a further step toward normality with the reopening of Disneyland Paris, two weeks after the country reopened its borders to vaccinated visitors from across the world.

I’m handing over to my colleagues in Australia now. Thanks so much for joining me this evening.

Wales is delaying further easing of coronavirus restrictions for four weeks after seeing a spike in cases of the Delta variant of the disease first identified in India.

First minister for Wales Mark Drakeford will make the announcement on Friday and is expected to encourage people to go for their second doses of the vaccine, PA news reports.

The nation is aiming to roll out more than half a million doses over the next four weeks.

The change comes after UK prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that the final stage of England’s lockdown road map - which would have seen all restrictions lift and international travel resume on June 21 - would be delayed until July 19 due to a spike in cases.

Latest figures show there are nearly 490 cases of the Delta variant in Wales, while more than four out five new Covid-19 cases are the Delta variant, according to the Welsh government.

Two-thirds of these are not linked to travel or contact with another case, it added.

Drakeford said:

In the space of just a few short weeks, the Delta variant has entered Wales and quickly spread throughout the country. There is sustained and accelerating transmission, not just in north and south-east Wales but in all parts of Wales.

It is now the most dominant variant in new cases in Wales. We are once again facing a serious public health situation.

We have the lowest coronavirus rates in the UK and the highest vaccination rates for first doses. A four-week delay in relaxing restrictions could help to reduce the peak number of daily hospital admissions by up to half, at a time when the NHS is very busy supporting all our healthcare needs - not just treating coronavirus.

The US has issued guidance easing the way for delivery of products such as face masks, ventilators and vaccines to combat the coronavirus pandemic to heavily sanctioned countries like Iran, Venezuela and Syria.

The US Treasury Department issued general licenses related to those three countries aimed at allowing more coronavirus-related transactions and activities, according to a statement, but stopped short of actually lifting any sanctions.

The move comes after Joe Biden, the US president, issued a national security memorandum on his first full day in office in January calling for his administration to undertake a review of US sanctions programs to evaluate whether they were hindering responses to the pandemic.

“Even though we have comprehensive humanitarian general licenses in all our programs, we did see some gaps,” a US treasury official told Reuters, adding that prior to Thursday’s move, obstacles were dealt with on a case-by-case basis that involved delay and cost.

“This is lowering that barrier,” the official said.

The previous administration of Donald Trump had been criticised by human rights groups for resisting any softening of sanctions rules against countries like Iran and Venezuela, which were targeted under “maximum pressure” campaigns, to ease pandemic-related hardship.

17 Jun 202115.57 EDT

Jon Henley

After Russia offered cars, Washington state spliffs, Indonesia live chickens and Hong Kong the chance of a £1.2m apartment, the latest country to reward people who show up for their Covid shots is the Netherlands – with soused herring.

Early batches of Hollandse nieuwe, or new-season Dutch herring, a traditional delicacy consumed to the tune of 75m a year, are being distributed to vaccination centres around the country as an encouragement for people to get their jabs.

The incentive is not, admittedly, quite as big as that in California, whose $116.5m (£83.5m) lottery draw offered 10 top prizes of $1.5m each to winning vaccinees, or New York’s Vax n Scratch, which gave away free state scratchcards with a chance to win a $5m prize.

Also in the US, Ohio ran a draw offering five full scholarships to any of the state’s universities or colleges, Maine gave away 10,000 fishing and hunting licenses and West Virginia tempted reticent recipients with hunting rifles and custom trucks.

In the race to reach herd immunity, some administrations are even more creative. Washington state’s Joints for Jabs scheme, which runs until 12 July, allows licensed pharmacies to reward over-21s who get their a first or second dose with a pre-rolled spliff.

Read the full story here:

Holidaymakers should not pin their hopes on a slew of extra countries being added to the quarantine-free green list when it is updated later this month, government sources have warned.

With ministers monitoring data daily on the spread of the Delta variant, after stage four of the reopening roadmap was postponed by a month to 19 July, Whitehall insiders say the mood remains extremely cautious.

Cases of the Delta variant are rising rapidly in the UK, with 11,007 new infections reported on Thursday – the highest figure since 19 February.

Portugal was the only mainstream European holiday destination on the original green list, and it was then removed on 3 June as the Delta variant spread.

The government has promised to update the list again by 28 June, with details likely to be announced next week to give travellers and holiday firms time to adjust their plans.

“My sense is that we’ll continue to be very cautious in thinking about how we take any steps that could increase transmission,” said a government source.

Read more by my colleagues Heather Stewart and Aubrey Allegretti:

A total of 41,143 people tested positive for Covid-19 in England at least once in the week to June 9, up 63% on the previous week, according to the latest Test and Trace figures.

It is the highest number of people testing positive since the week to March 3, PA news reports.

Germany will reopen its borders later this month to non-EU nationals who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, the government announced Thursday.

Beginning on June 25, non-EU nationals may enter Germany for whatever reason, such as tourism or studying in a university, the interior ministry said.

Currently, only those with exceptional reasons are allowed into the country, AFP reports.

But travellers will have to have been completely vaccinated at least 14 days prior to their arrival with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency.

Travellers from countries where the circulation of the coronavirus is rampant will be barred, however.

Germany has seen a sharp drop in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks.

• AstraZeneca can charge a higher price for its Covid-19 vaccine in dozens of poor countries once the pharmaceutical company decides the pandemic has ended, according to a copy of its contract with Oxford University seen by the Guardian.

• Kuwait announced it is to allow foreigners who have been fully vaccinated against Covid to enter the country from 1 August, amid warnings that Covid passports will inevitably “disproportionately discriminate” based on race, religion, age and socio-economic background.

• Travel in and out of the Lisbon metropolitan area is to be banned over coming weekends as Portuguese authorities respond to a spike in new Covid-19 cases in the region around the capital, officials announced.

• The US embassy in Kabul had to shut down almost all its operations because of a Covid-19 outbreak that has killed one staffer, and left 114 infected and quarantined.

• The UK’s medicine regulator extended the emergency use approval (EUA) for Innova’s lateral flow Covid-19 tests, saying it was satisfied with a review of the tests after its US counterpart issued a warning about them.
  

• Nepal significantly reduced coronavirus infections after its worst outbreak, which overwhelmed the country’s medical system, but is in desperate need of vaccines, according to its health minister.

• Denmark will administer Covid-19 vaccines for those aged 12 to 15, broadcaster TV 2 reported, citing sources. Danish health authorities are due to hold a news briefing to about using the vaccines on that age group later today, amid concerns there is limited information about possible side-effects to children who have nothing to gain from such a move.
  

• Austria announced that revellers will be allowed to hit the dance floor legally again from next month as nightclubs reopen, in line with a broader easing of measures.
  

• France’s tourism sector is taking a further step toward normality with the reopening of Disneyland Paris, two weeks after the country reopened its borders to vaccinated visitors from across the world.
  

Kuwait has announced it is to allow foreigners who have been fully vaccinated against Covid to enter the country from 1 August, after a months-long suspension.

AFP reports that the Gulf country in February banned the entry of non-citizens in a bid to limit the spread of the virus, but has started to ease some of its Covid-19 restrictions in recent weeks.

Government spokesman Tareq al-Mizrem said foreign travellers will need to have been fully inoculated with one of the four vaccines that the Gulf country has approved - Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

Passengers must also hold a negative PCR test conducted a maximum of 72 hours before travel, and undergo another test during a seven-day quarantine in the country, Mizrem told a press conference.

Covid passports have been criticised as devices which will inevitably “disproportionately discriminate” based on race, religion, age and socio-economic background.

Meanwhile, only Kuwaiti citizens who have been fully vaccinated will be allowed to travel abroad from 1 August, he said, although some exceptions would be made, such as for pregnant women. Previously, Kuwaitis were required to have had at least one jab in order to travel.

Mizrem also announced that Kuwait would allow access to large shopping malls, gyms and restaurants from 27 June only for those who have been fully inoculated. Kuwait has officially recorded 1,800 Covid-related deaths.

EU states must use all the vaccine options available to fight Covid, and it is too early to tell if a particular type is best, the European Medicines Agency said.

The comments come as several countries limit the use of so-called viral vector jabs like AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson due to a link with rare blood clots, and opt instead for Messenger RNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna.

“We are still in a pandemic, and it’s very important that in this fight against this pandemic we use all the options we have available,” said Marco Cavaleri, EMA head of vaccines strategy. It is “up to member states how they use them in the best interest of public health”.

The EMA earlier this week denied that Cavaleri had suggested in an interview with an Italian newspaper dropping the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, even for people over 60 to whom it is currently limited in a number of states.

Cavaleri said the episode was “rather unfortunate and essentially was a misunderstanding on many aspects”. However, a full explanation and breakdown of how exactly the misunderstanding arose has not appeared to be forthcoming.

The EMA expert added it was “very difficult to say” which type of vaccine technology might prove the most dominant in future, and that all existing jabs had “already been saving thousands and millions of lives”.

“Whether in the future there will be a certain type of vaccine like the messenger RNA that will remain the main one or not, whether other platform technologies ... will remain as ancillary vaccine that could play an important role in controlling this coronavirus, is difficult to say right now,” he said. “We are just glad to have so many options.”

Earlier this month, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, claimed that Europe had been slow to approve his country’s Covid vaccine because of a “battle for money” and that commercial interests were being put ahead of the welfare of European citizens.