Japan declares emergency in Tokyo ahead of Olympics as UK considers help for India

Perth, in Western Australia, and the neighbouring Peel region will enter a three-da snap lockdown from midnight on Friday after two people tested positive for Covid-19.

The cases are the first of community transmission in the country in a week.

The first case related to a man in Melbourne who likely contracted the virus during his two-week quarantine stay at a Perth hotel, and the second was his close contact in the capital.

Western Australia premier Mark McGowan announced the lockdown in a news briefing. adding: “I know this is hard to take and I wish we didn’t need to do this. But we can’t take any chances with the virus.”

Most public spaces will close, including pubs, restaurants, places of worship, libraries and cinemas. Several sporting events on Friday night will go ahead, with masks mandatory.

Coronavirus infections in India have jumped by a record 332,730 in a single day, as the country’s hospitals struggle with limited oxygen supplies and bed shortages.

The situation in the north and west of the country is particularly acute, with reports showing that medical facilities there are unable to cope with the high rate of hospital admissions.

Our reporter Rory Sullivan has the full story:

Outdoor visitor attractions and close-contact services such as hairdressers and beauty salons can reopen in Northern Ireland after four months of lockdown.

Competitive sport can take place outdoors with numbers limited to 100, but without spectators.

Stormont economy minister Diane Dodds said it is a “good day and an even better day for the economy”.

Mrs Dodds told media during a visit to the Natural Hair Company salon in Lisburn, Co Antrim, that Friday marked “the start of a road back to rebuilding and recovering our economy and a bit of normality”.

“It has been an absolutely torrid year, particularly for our retail, for these close-contact services. The cycle of lockdowns has been really, really devastating,” she said.

“We want to see the economy reopen safely, we want to see it reopen sustainably, and we want to move forward.

“Next week is another momentous week, and we will reopen all of retail, reopen hospitality outdoors and reopen self-contained accommodation. It’s a really big step forward.”

Further restrictions are to be lifted next week, when pubs and restaurants can serve customers in outdoor settings, in groups of six, from no more than two households.

All non-essential retail will return, and takeaways and off-licences will have curfews lifted.

Self-contained tourist accommodation, such as caravans and rented holiday homes, will be allowed to operate.

Gyms and swimming pools will reopen for individual activities.

The limit on outdoor gatherings in domestic gardens will increase to 15 people from no more than three households.

More restrictions are set to be lifted on May 24, although these are subject to review.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said he hoped the coronavirus situation in India gave the UK Government “real pause for thought” about reopening international travel on 17 May.

Mr Drakeford told the PA news agency: “We have cases of the Indian variant in Wales, as we’ve had cases of the South African variant.

“The UK Government has a very important decision to make about 17 May and the reopening of international travel.

“I really hope that what we’ve seen in India in the last week will give them real pause for thought, and that we don’t run the risk of opening up international travel too quickly on too broad a front, and that results in the virus coming back into Wales.”

A Norwegian climber has become the first person to test positive for Covid-19 at Mount Everest base camp.

Erlend Ness was flown by helicopter to Kathmandu, where he was admitted to hospital. He tested positive for the virus on 15 April, reports the Associated Press.

Mr Ness said another test on Thursday was negative and he is now staying with a local family in Nepal.

There are fears that the virus could spread among hundreds of other climbers, guides and helpers now camped on the base of Everest.

Mountain guide Lukas Furtenbach said any outbreak could prematurely end the climbing season and everyone must be checked immediately and safety measures be put in place.

“We would need now most urgently mass testing in base camp, with everyone tested and every team being isolated, no contact between teams,” he said.

“That needs to be done now, otherwise it is too late.”

Mr Furtenbach said there could be more than one case as Mr Ness had lived with several others for weeks. But a Nepalese mountaineering official denied there were any active cases on the mountains at the moment.

The UK’s live music and events sector have given their support for the government’s proposal of Covid status certification to enable mass indoor events to resume from 21 June.

Venues, organisers and associations - including Olympia London, the Association of Event Organisers, Manchester Central, ExCel London, Royal Albert Hall, Ticketmaster, The O2, and many more - signed a joint statement backing the plans on a temporary, industry-wide basis.

The statement reads: “The live events and music industry which includes exhibitions; conferences; music arenas; festivals; theatres and indoor sporting events, welcomes the establishment of the Events Research Programme and the safe return of live events as part of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown.

“The industry is committed to working with the Government to ensure a swift delivery of the Event Research Programme’s pilot events and stands ready to establish protocols based upon the information and guidance they provide.”

The government’s roadmap out of lockdown aims to allow some indoor business and music events to resume from 17 May, with social distancing guidelines and limited visitor numbers in place.

But the restrictions on capacity will be “far from sufficient to end the sector’s financial crisis”, said the statement, and will have “grave economic impacts on sectors that every live event supports”.

“We would support a blanket, industry-wide introduction of COVID-status certification on a temporary basis, to permit the full relaxation of capacity limits from 21 June,” it continues. 

“Implementation would be subject to the provision of clear and timely guidance from the Government, it being simple to understand and be of little cost to businesses.

“We would expect that any certification is imposed fairly across the economy, reviewed regularly, and removed when it is safe to do so.”

The Tokyo Motor Show has been cancelled for the first time in 67 years, as coronavirus infections rise in Japan.

Japan declared a third state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo on Friday, which will last from 25 April to 11 May.

The state of emergency comes just a month after an earlier emergency ended in the Tokyo area.

The Tokyo Motor Show started in 1954 and is usually held every two years. It was due to take place in October this year.

The last show was held in 2019 and attracted around 1.3 million visitors, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Akio Toyoda, chairman of the association and president of Toyota, said the event was cancelled because “it is difficult to offer our main programme in a safe and secure environment”.

However, plans for the Summer Olympics are expected to go ahead in July.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has warned of the increasing availability of fake Covid shots, with the first cases reported in Mexico and Poland.

The firm told The Wall Street Journal of the cases on Wednesday, which reported that dozens of people have been arrested in the scheme.

My colleague Gino Spocchia reports:

The percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 in the week to 16 April has fallen in three UK nations, and remained level in one, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Around one in 610 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to 16 April, down from one in 480 the previous week, according to the latest estimates.

An estimated 90,000 people within the community population in England had Covid-19, said the ONS, marking the first time it has dropped below 100,000 since the week to 10 September 2020, when it stood at 59,800, equivalent to around one in 900 people.

In Scotland, the percentage of people testing positive continued to decrease in the week ending 16 April, with an estimated 9,300 people in Scotland having Covid-19 - equivalent to around one in 560 people.

In Northern Ireland, the percentage also decreased in the two weeks to 16 April, with an estimated 2,800 people having Covid-19 - around one in 660 people.

In Wales, the percentage appeared level, with an estimated 3,600 people in Wales infected - around one in 840 people.

Health authorities in Australia have said that three cases of rare blood clots are “very likely linked” to the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration said the suspected cases of the blood clotting disorder were found in a 35-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man and an 80-year-old man.

The regulator said in a statement on Friday night that symptom onset ranged from nine to 26 days after vaccination. There have now been six reports of the rare blood clotting disorder following the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia.

“All three patients are clinically stable, have responded well to treatment and are recovering,” said the regulator.

“The VSIG concluded that the events were TTS (thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome) very likely linked to vaccination because of the consistency of the cases with the current working definition for TTS, and the absence of known alternative risk factors and causes for the events.”

However, it added that some details about patient’s medical histories, imagine and blood test results have yet to be completed and will be referred to the regulator for consideration if any significant information arises.