UK death toll rises by 104 – as it happened – The Guardian

• The UK has recorded 32,058 coronavirus cases a further 104 deaths in the latest 24-hour period, government figures show.
• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a total of 37,583,545 coronavirus cases as of yesterday, a rise of 157,450 new cases.
• Brazil recorded 28,388 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 698 deaths, the country’s health ministry said on Saturday. Brazil has registered more than 20 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 574,209 , Reuters reports.
• France’s interior ministry said around 175,500 people in total demonstrated on Saturday – down from roughly 215,000 last weekend although numbers could increase as people return from summer holidays. They demonstrated across France for a sixth consecutive weekend on Saturday against a Covid-19 health pass required for daily activities, Reuters reports.
• Vietnam reported record infections for the second day running, with 11,321 Covid-19 infections on Saturday, an increase of almost 700. Vietnam has now had 336,700 cases and at least 7,540 deaths.
• Residents of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City have been panic buying, emptying shelves of food and supplies after the city’s authorities announced a lockdown from Monday. It has been the epicentre of the surge in cases Vietnam has suffered after having escaped serious outbreaks earlier in the pandemic.
• British virologist Dr Chris Smith told BBC Breakfast that the UK government should deploy booster vaccines “strategically”. He said the pandemic needed to be ended all over the world but also the UK could not allow the effectiveness of vaccines to wane.
• Russia recorded 797 deaths and 21,000 new cases over the past 24 hours, with Moscow and Saint Petersburg having the most cases.
• Hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters clashed with riot police in Australia. Police in Melbourne used pepper spray as large crowds surged, while in Sydney they were are able to prevent protesters from forming a mass demonstration.
• Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi said tackling Covid-19 infections was the main priority for the new cabinet he presented to parliament, calling his new health minister “a figure who can rally forces in the fight against coronavirus”.

You can follow the latest Covid developments in Australia in our dedicated blog –

Australia Covid news live update: fears anti-lockdown rallies will worsen spread, Victoria in statewide lockdown

Mexico’s health ministry reported 20,307 new cases of Covid-19 and 847 more deaths on Saturday, Reuters reports.

It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country since the pandemic began to 3,217,415 and the death toll to 252,927.

A conservative radio host from Tennessee who was critical of vaccination efforts and mask mandates died on Saturday after weeks in a Nashville hospital battling Covid-19.

Phil Valentine’s death was reported by his station, SuperTalk 99.7 WTN, on Saturday afternoon.

“We are saddened to report that our host and friend Phil Valentine has passed away,” the station said in a tweet. “Please keep the Valentine family in your thoughts and prayers.”

According to WKRN, an ABC-affiliated Tennessee news outlet: “Several of Valentine’s co-workers and close friends announced they had spoken with Valentine’s brother Mark, who confirmed the 61 year old had passed away earlier in the afternoon.”

The station said hosts would discuss Valentine’s “life and legacy” on air.

Before contracting Covid-19, Valentine’s comments on the pandemic included performing a song called Vaxman, to the tune of Taxman, George Harrison’s Beatles number against government taxation.

Tennessee radio host who criticised vaccine efforts dies of Covid-19

Afghanistan is facing an “absolute catastrophe” involving widespread hunger, homelessness and economic collapse unless an urgent humanitarian effort is agreed in the wake of the US withdrawal, world leaders are warned today. Covid rates are also high.

Afghans face catastrophe without urgent aid, UN warns

A governor’s efforts to combat Covid-19 in the US state of Kentucky suffered a legal defeat on Saturday as the state’s high court cleared the way for new laws to rein in his emergency powers.
In a landmark separation-of-powers case, the Kentucky Supreme Court said the legislature wields policy-making authority to limit the emergency powers granted to the governor by state law, Associated Press reports. The ruling ordered a lower court to dissolve an injunction that for months had blocked the Republican-backed laws from curbing Democratic governor Andy Beshear’s executive authority. The order could alter the state’s response to the pandemic at a time when virus cases and hospitalisations have surged because of the Delta variant. The Supreme Court order will dissolve Kentucky’s pandemic-related state of emergency, Beshear spokesperson Crystal Staley said
The next step is to determine whether lawmakers are willing to extend the state of emergency in a potential special session, she said.

Brazil recorded 28,388 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 698 deaths, the country’s health ministry said on Saturday.

Brazil has registered more than 20 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 574,209 , Reuters reports.

Several parents in the company of their children and supporters participate in a march to ask for the return to the classrooms, in Lima, Peru. Face-to-face classes were suspended at the start of the school year in March 2020 and the Peruvian government has not announced plans for their return due to Covid-19 fears. Photograph: Paolo Aguilar/EPA

The majority of Australians aged 18 and over are now eligible for a Covid vaccination if they are willing to consider the AstraZeneca vaccine, and provided they do not have a history of some specific health conditions.

In addition to the government’s official eligibility checker, which lists some clinics near your location which might have vaccination appointments available, there are a number of other helpful resources that can help you to find somewhere that has appointments open.

Where can I get vaccinated? Resources to help you find a Covid vaccine appointment in Australia

Everyone in Australia’s many locked-down communities wants to know the answer to one question: when will life start returning to normal? For the millions of parents juggling their work commitments with home-schooling their children, a return to normal means a return to the classroom.

Whenever the school gates reopen it’s likely that many students, particularly those in primary school, will walk through them unvaccinated.

At the same time, children account for a significant proportion of infections. In Victoria, 45% of infections are in children and teenagers, while people aged 19 and under make up 30% of those infected in New South Wales.

The combination of continuing infections in children, and a low vaccination rate, means the school experience children return to could be different from the one they left.

‘We need to do something now’: the urgent push to prepare schools for the return of students

• The UK has recorded 32,058 coronavirus cases a further 104 deaths in the latest 24-hour period, government figures show.
• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a total of 37,583,545 coronavirus cases as of yesterday, a rise of 157,450 new cases.
• France’s interior ministry said around 175,500 people in total demonstrated on Saturday – down from roughly 215,000 last weekend although numbers could increase as people return from summer holidays. They demonstrated across France for a sixth consecutive weekend on Saturday against a Covid-19 health pass required for daily activities, Reuters reports.
• Vietnam reported record infections for the second day running, with 11,321 Covid-19 infections on Saturday, an increase of almost 700. Vietnam has now had 336,700 cases and at least 7,540 deaths.
• Residents of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City have been panic buying, emptying shelves of food and supplies after the city’s authorities announced a lockdown from Monday. It has been the epicentre of the surge in cases Vietnam has suffered after having escaped serious outbreaks earlier in the pandemic.
• British virologist Dr Chris Smith told BBC Breakfast that the UK government should deploy booster vaccines “strategically”. He said the pandemic needed to be ended all over the world but also the UK could not allow the effectiveness of vaccines to wane.
• Russia recorded 797 deaths and 21,000 new cases over the past 24 hours, with Moscow and Saint Petersburg having the most cases.
• Hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters clashed with riot police in Australia. Police in Melbourne used pepper spray as large crowds surged, while in Sydney they were are able to prevent protesters from forming a mass demonstration.
• Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi said tackling Covid-19 infections was the main priority for the new cabinet he presented to parliament, calling his new health minister “a figure who can rally forces in the fight against coronavirus”.

France’s interior ministry said around 175,500 people in total demonstrated on Saturday – down from roughly 215,000 last weekend although numbers could increase as people return from summer holidays.
They demonstrated across France for a sixth consecutive weekend on Saturday against a Covid-19 health pass required for daily activities, Reuters reports. “This health pass divides French people. I think that is clear. And unfortunately, I believe we should abolish it,” said civil servant Sophie Soulas at the Paris protest.

Here is more on the story that a high-ranking Roman Catholic cardinal and vaccine skeptic hospitalised after contracting Covid-19 was off a ventilator and being moved out of intensive care in the US.

Vaccine-skeptic US cardinal off ventilator after contracting Covid-19

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a total of 37,583,545 coronavirus cases as of yesterday, a rise of 157,450 new cases.

People gather to stage a protest against the vaccination requirement for some professions and the implementation of the Covid-19 health license as well as government’s policy with the battle against the pandemic at Chatelet Square in Paris, France. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

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