Headlines
• Germany to begin vaccinating over 12s
• Spain opens borders to vaccinated tourists
• 60% of UK suppliers had import delays in May
• Delhi & Mumbai lift some restrictions
• UK house prices up 9.5% in May, Halifax reports
World news
• Over 60% of British suppliers have experienced import delays in the past month, according to customs clearance platform KlearNow.
• Spain is opening its borders for all vaccinated tourists from today.
• Slovakia is due to roll out Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine today.
• Germany is allowing anyone over the age of 12 to receive a vaccine from today.
• EU lawmakers are to meet in person in Strasbourg for the first time in more than a year.
• In Delhi, the metro resumed operations on today at half its capacity, and the city’s shops will take turns to open on alternate days. In Mumbai, shops and restaurants can reopen, but malls and cinemas remain shut. Local trains will only run for a few hours each day.
• According to the latest ONS research, “among people who received a first dose of a vaccine by 15 March 2021, 96.0% had received a second dose by 9 May 2021.” However, those from Pakistani (82.4% second doses) and Bangladeshi (82.7% second doses) backgrounds had the lowest rates of receiving a follow-up vaccine.
• All outdoor hospitality reopens in the Republic of Ireland today. A distance of one metre is required between tables outdoors, with a maximum of six people aged over 13 at a table, or 15 if the group includes children.
• Uganda has shut schools and suspended public gatherings for 42 days. Public transport between districts will not be banned until Thursday, to allow students who are in schools to return home. Bars, cinemas and theatres have also been closed.
• Taiwan’s government has announced it will extend its level 3 lockdown measures imposed on the island since mid-May for another two weeks until 28 June. The extension means all schools will stay closed for the rest of the semester, public venues will remain shut and gatherings of more than five people indoors and 10 outdoors will remain banned.
• House prices leapt another 9.5% in the year to May, boosted by the government’s stamp duty holiday, which ends this month. The Halifax says prices rose by more than £22,000 to an average of £261,743.
• Poland has started to vaccinate 12 to 15-year-olds with the Pfizer vaccine.
• On the Isle of Man, an additional three months of financial support is being given to hospitality businesses.
• A normal tram service has resumed in Edinburgh. Edinburgh Trams says the additional services will help meet growing demand and ensure passengers can still stick to physical distancing.
• Malta has registered no new cases for the first time in 11 months.
• The single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine has been approved for use in the Republic of the Congo.
• Norway is shortening the interval between vaccine doses from the current twelve weeks to nine weeks.
• The Indian government has announced it will provide vaccines free of charge to all over 18s from later this month.
Company news
Support services
• IWG – “Whilst we have continued to see strong recovery in some of our markets since our first quarter trading update, including positive occupancy momentum in the US, the overall improvement in occupancy across the whole group has been lower than previously anticipated as a result of the prolonged impact of Covid-19, including continuing lockdown restrictions and the emergence of new variants of the virus in some markets. Accordingly, this will delay the anticipated recovery in our business and, given the operational gearing of the group, is expected to have a significant impact on the group’s results for 2021, with underlying Group EBITDA for 2021 now expected to be well below the level in 2020.”
Tech
• Apple – Employees have launched a campaign to push back against Tim Cook’s plans for a widespread return to the office.
