Covid live: Brazil health minister who shook hands with maskless Boris Johnson at UN tests positive

The UK government has announced plans for a “vaccine swap” with South Korea.

The UK will send over 1m doses of its Pfizer/BioNTech stockpile to South Korea in the coming weeks as the country attempts to fully vaccinate 70% of its population by the end of October.

South Korea will then return the same volume of doses back to the UK by the end of this year.

The UK has previously announced a similar deal with Australia.

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, said:

A no-fly zone has been declared over Melbourne, Australia‘s second-largest city, amid a third day of anti-lockdown protests.

Police asked the aviation authority to declare the no-fly zone for operational and safety reasons, reports Reuters.

Groups of protesters roamed the streets and gathered at a city landmark, the Shrine of Remembrance, on Wednesday, despite being urged to remain at home.

“This is a very dynamic situation,” police media official Belinda Batty told the news agency, but did not say how many people had been arrested.

It comes as the city appeared to have escaped widespread damage and with no injuries after being shaken by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake.

Australia‘s tourism minister said the country is on track to reopen its borders “by Christmas at the latest”, reports CNN.

Dan Tehan said on Wednesday during a National Press Club of Australia talk: “I do empathise with the Australians who have been denied the opportunity to travel overseas this year.”

He added: “It’s another reason why everyone should get vaccinated and we have to stick to the national plan that will see our international border open up – at this rate by Christmas at the latest.”

The UK environment secretary George Eustice says the UK will pay “tens of millions” to support a CO2 producer as the country struggles with the ongoing energy crisis.

He told Sky News it is going to cost the UK “many millions, possibly tens of millions” over the next three weeks.

He said there is a “lot of turbulence” in the market following the pandemic as countries come out of lockdown.

If we the government did not act, he said some of the poultry processing plants would have to close.

He said:

He added:

He claimed there had been a “perfect storm” created by two plants in the UK and Norway shutting for maintenance as CF Industries, which supplies much of the CO2 used in food production, suspended operations in two factories as a result of high energy costs.

India’s foreign minister on Tuesday urged Britain to remove a rule requiring Indians visiting there to quarantine even if they are fully vaccinated, Reuters reports.

India’s Covishield vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and manufactured in India by Pune-based Serum Institute, is not recognised by Britain under new rules despite being identical to the doses given to millions of Britons.

The rules, that come into effect next month, have caused anger, with many Indians branding the decision as discriminatory. Britons vaccinated in the UK with the same Indian-made doses are not required to quarantine.

They could also lead to a retaliation from New Delhi, with Indian government sources saying it was likely to take reciprocal steps if the issue is not quickly resolved.

“Urged early resolution of quarantine issue in mutual interest,” foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a tweet after a meeting with his British counterpart Liz Truss in New York, where both are attending the United Nations general assembly.

The British high commission (embassy) in New Delhi said the UK was working with India to resolve the issue.

“We are engaging with the government of India to explore how we could expand UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India,” a spokesperson said.

Brazil’s health minister tested positive for Covid in New York after president Jair Bolsonaro spoke at the UN general assembly on Tuesday.

Brazil’s government said in a statement that Marcelo Quiroga was in good health and would remain in isolation in the US. He got his first shot of coronavirus vaccine in January.

Other members of Brazil’s government in New York tested negative for the virus, the statement said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bolsonaro spoke at the general assembly, flouting the requirement for all attendees to be vaccinated against the virus.

Bolsonaro has said several times over the last week that he remains unvaccinated. He said getting a shot is a personal, medical decision. He contracted Covid last year.

Queiroga was photographed side by side with Bolsonaro on several occasions this week. Tuesday morning he tweeted a picture with first lady Michele Bolsonaro.

Queiroga had breakfast Monday with several employees of investment funds in New York.

Hello and welcome to today’s live coronavirus coverage.

Brazil’s health minister tested positive for Covid in New York after president Jair Bolsonaro spoke at the UN general assembly on Tuesday. Brazil’s government said in a statement that Marcelo Quiroga was in good health and would remain in isolation in the US. He got his first shot of coronavirus vaccine in January.

India’s foreign minister on Tuesday urged Britain to remove a rule requiring Indians visiting there to quarantine even if they are fully vaccinated.

Here are the other key recent developments:

Cambridge University in England has reported that 96% of 12,000 students said that they had received a Covid-19 vaccination, or intended to get one, before arriving in the city for the new academic year.
About 20% of workers in Nigeria have lost their jobs as a result of Covid-19.
US president Joe Biden is betting on millions more rapid, at-home tests to help curb the latest deadly wave of the Covid-19 pandemic
The United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, described the world as getting an “F in ethics” over global vaccine distribution as he spoke at the UN general assembly on Tuesday. He said the inequitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines is an “obscenity”.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned that uneven vaccine distribution globally is affecting economic recovery from the pandemic.
The mass take-up of the UK’s NHS app in order to use the Covid Pass feature has led to a surge in people registering their organ donation preference.
Long Covid patients told a UK parliamentary committee that they are “struggling'” to get help on the NHS.
The EU is expected to accept the NHS Covid pass as proof of vaccination across the union within days.