Headlines
• Japan blocks travel from four US states
• Poland to lift lockdown
• Single vaccine shot halves transmission (PHE)
• 50% of UK adults have antibodies
• Mexico to produce Sputnik V
World news
• A single dose of vaccine can halve transmission of the virus according to a new study by Public Health England. The study found that people given a single dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus on to people living in their homes, compared with those who were unvaccinated. The study, which has yet to be fully peer-reviewed, included more than 57,000 people living in 24,000 households.
• Japan said today it will tighten border controls on travellers from the four US states of Tennessee, Florida, Michigan and Minnesota, as well as India and Peru.
• The UK government is working on using the existing NHS app to show that people have received their vaccine in order to facilitate international travel.
• Moderna said today the US government had agreed to increase the contract for the company’s vaccine by $236m to roughly $1.25bn, which also includes reimbursement for costs of late-stage clinical trials.
• Poland announced today that restrictions will be eased next week to allow the reopening of retail outlets and hotels.
• Brazil’s Congress has launched a parliamentary inquiry into President Jair Bolsonaro’s response to the pandemic.
• Two-thirds of people in Spain over the age of 60 have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
• Over 50% of UK adults are likely to have antibodies, a study by the ONS suggests. Based on a sample of blood test results for the week ending 11 April, and range from 57.8% of adults in Scotland to 68.3% in England, with 61.0% for Wales and 62.5% for Northern Ireland.
• Japan has used only about 20% of its imported vaccines so far, government data showed today, and only 1.6% of its population have been given a dose.
• Mexico will produce Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine domestically. State-run vaccine manufacturer Birmex would handle the final packaging and filling of the vaccine.
• Tunisia’s government said today it will impose compulsory quarantine for a week on all visitors from 3 May and keep schools closed until 16 May.
• The Indian variant of the virus has been detected in Fiji.
Indian updates
• India recorded 360,960 new cases in the last 24 hours according to health ministry data, another new daily global record.
• Today all adults over the age of 18 will be eligible to sign up for vaccines in India.
• An earthquake hit the Indian state of Assam. The 6.4 magnitude event caused widespread damage in the north-eastern state.
• Goa announces a strict four-day lockdown. Essential services will remain open, while bars will be shut and restaurants will only be open for deliveries. Tourists will not be allowed out of their hotels for the four-day period.
• A complete curfew is to be imposed in 11 districts of Jammu and Kashmir from tomorrow at 19:00 until Monday 07:00.
• The Serum Institute of India, which produces the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine locally, will reduce the price of its vaccine doses for Indian states from 400 rupees per dose to 300 rupees per dose.
• The Indian Premier League will continue as scheduled, a senior Indian cricket board official has said.
• Singapore has sent two planeloads of oxygen cylinders to West Bengal.
• New Zealand is to give around NZ$1m to the Red Cross for its work in India.
