Headlines
• UK unemployment fell from 4.8% in April to 4.7% in May
• Ireland doubles quarantine period for UK travellers to 10 days
• France begins vaccinating 12-17 year olds
• Vermont has vaccinated 80% of eligible population with a single dose
• Corruption in EU nations worsens
World news
• There were 197,000 more people in payrolled employment in the UK last month compared to April, and the unemployment rate fell again to 4.7% in the three months to April, down from 4.8%, according to the ONS.
• Ireland has doubled the quarantine period for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated arrivals from Britain to 10 days.
• The easing of restrictions in Scotland is likely to be pushed back by three weeks to 19 July.
• People aged 23 and 24 in England will be able to book a vaccine from today.
• France is starting vaccinations for 12-17-year-olds today with the Pfizer vaccine.
• Madrid is to reopen nightclubs and cocktail bars until 03:00 from 21 June, two hours later than current regulations. However, capacity will be limited to 50% of usual numbers.
• The number of deaths registered in the UK in the week ending 4 June 2021 was 9,111, 4% below the five-year average. Of these, 108 involved Covid-19, two more than the previous week.
• US airlines have reported about 3,000 cases of passengers ‘in possible violations of law’ to the Federal Aviation Administration this year. 2,300 of the reports related to passengers who refused to wear masks.
• Surge testing is taking place in Leek in Staffordshire after more than 100 people linked to cases across four schools tested positive.
• Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin says there has been an ‘explosive growth’ of cases in the city, with the number of cases increasing by 80% in recent days.
• Wimbledon's men’s and women’s finals will be played in front of capacity Centre Court crowds of 15,000, with the tournament beginning with 50% ground capacity on 28 June.
• The two main hospitals in Afghanistan dealing with the pandemic have had to turn away patients, saying they have no more beds and are short of oxygen and medical supplies.
• South Africa has had to destroy 2m Johnson and Johnson doses because of a potential contamination of ingredients traced back to the US.
• Uganda has nearly run out of both vaccines and oxygen in both private and public treatment centres. Cases have risen 2,800% in a month.
• Israel has lifted its mandate on wearing masks indoors.
• Japan is to send 1m AstraZeneca doses to Vietnam this week.
• Some Russian regions have tightened restrictions.
• In Buryatia in eastern Siberia, public areas including parks, squares, swimming pools, gyms and indoor and outdoor sport facilities are closed until 1 July.
• In the Siberian region of Yugra, authorities have banned large public events of more than 20 people.
• In Murmansk, restaurants are banned from working overnight and a third of state employees have been told to work remotely.
• From Tuesday, crews of non-cargo goods vessels visiting Hong Kong for shipping services, including bunkering and provision supplies, will be exempt from quarantine restrictions.
• The pandemic has seen corruption worsen across the EU, a Transparency International report has found. It surveyed more than 40,000 people in the EU’s 27 member states between October and December 2020. It said citizens have at times needed personal connections to get medical care and that some governments have used the crisis for their own gain. On average, it found that 29% had relied on favours or well-connected friends and family to access public sector health services last year, while 6% of respondents resorted to paying a bribe. Link
• A treatment made from a combination of two antibodies by AstraZeneca has failed in its main goal to treat symptoms in patients exposed to the virus.
• Pakistan has lifted a rule barring the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine for people below 40-years old.
• Vermont has become the first US state to reach its goal of at least partially vaccinating 80% of residents 12 or older and is removing all statewide restrictions.
