BEIJING — China appears to have stamped out its latest coronavirus outbreaks centered on the northeast, reporting no new cases of local infection in its latest daily report.
The National Health Commission said Monday that 14 newly confirmed cases had been brought from outside the country but no new cases were registered in the provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin that have seen China’s latest clusters.
While China has relaxed some social distancing rules, extensive testing, electronic monitoring and periodic lockdowns remain in place.
The country has reported 4,636 deaths among almost 90,000 cases since the coronavirus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.
South Korea’s daily new cases drop under 300
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s daily tally of newly confirmed coronavirus cases has fallen below 300 for the first time in more than two months as authorities slightly ease tough physical distancing rules in the country.
Authorities on Monday reported 289 new infections in the past 24-hour period. That is the first time the daily number has been under 300 since Nov. 23.
South Korea’s virus caseload has gradually slowed in recent weeks amid stringent social distancing rules.
On Monday, officials began allowing restaurants, coffee shops, indoor gyms and other facilities outside the densely populous Seoul metropolitan region to stay open an hour longer. Authorities say they’ll maintain a ban on social gatherings of five or more people throughout the Lunar New Year holidays.
South Africa suspends AstraZeneca vaccine plan
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa has suspended plans to inoculate its front-line health care workers with the AstraZeneca vaccine after a small clinical trial suggested that it isn’t effective in preventing mild to moderate illness from the variant dominant in the country.
South Africa received its first 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week and was expected to begin giving jabs to health care workers in mid-February. The disappointing early results indicate that an inoculation drive using the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be useful.
The trial results, which aren’t yet peer-reviewed, suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine “provides minimal protection against mild-moderate COVID-19 infection” among young adults exposed to the South Africa variant.
Oxford University and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg said in a statement that protection against more severe forms of the disease could not be assessed in the trial because those participating were at low risk.
The variant appears more infectious and is driving a deadly resurgence of the disease in the country, currently accounting for more than 90% of the COVID-19 cases, health minister Zweli Mkhize said Sunday night.
California churches reopen their doors after Supreme Court ruling
LOS ANGELES — Some California churches opened their doors to worshippers after the state revised its guidelines for houses of prayer following a Supreme Court ruling that lifted a ban on indoor services during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office issued revised guidelines that limit attendance at indoor services in areas with widespread or substantial virus spread. In the most significant legal victory against California’s COVID-19 health orders, the high court said the state couldn’t continue a ban on indoor services, but it can limit attendance to 25% of a building’s capacity and restrict singing inside.
The court was acting on emergency requests to halt the restrictions from Pasadena-based Harvest Rock and Harvest International Ministry, which has more than 160 churches across the state, along with South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista.
Che Ahn, Harvest Rock’s senior pastor, told his congregation that the church would defy the ban on singing. Worshippers without masks could be seen on the livestream raising their arms and singing out loud. It wasn’t clear how many people were inside the church, which seats hundreds.
California officials fear Super Bowl’s impact on coronavirus progress
LOS ANGELES — California’s coronavirus picture remains much improved, but officials expressed concern that Super Bowl gatherings could erase gains made over the past several weeks.
The California Department of Public Health urged residents not to gather for the big game.
The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 slipped below 11,670 statewide, a drop of nearly 35% in two weeks. The 15,064 new confirmed cases on Sunday represent a drop of more than 30% from the mid-December peak.
Deaths also are starting to fall but remain alarmingly high, however, with a daily average of 511 over the past two weeks. There were 295 deaths reported Sunday.
Pope greets public again in St. Peter’s Square
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has resumed greeting the public in St. Peter’s Square, seven weeks after he interrupted the Sunday noon ritual to discourage crowds from gathering during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smiling broadly, Francis appeared at an Apostolic Palace window overlooking the square and greeted a couple of hundred people standing a safe distance apart in the cobblestone square. Most held umbrellas on a drizzly, windy day.
“In the square again!” Francis said. He appeared on the first Sunday since the Rome area regained Italy’s “yellow zone’’ designation, which carries the least restrictions on movement.
Normally thousands of pilgrims, tourists and locals would turn out in the vast square on Sundays to hear the pope. But Italy isn’t allowing travel between regions in the country, and with stringent measures discouraging arrivals from overseas, tourism and pilgrimages have practically evaporated.
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine targeting South Africa variant may be ready by fall
LONDON— Developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine expect to have a modified jab to cope with the South Africa coronavirus variant by autumn, the vaccine’s lead researcher said Sunday.
Health officials in Britain are trying to contain the spread of the variant first identified in South Africa amid concerns that it is more contagious or resistant to existing vaccines. More than 100 cases of the South African variant have been found in the U.K.
Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher for the Oxford team, told the BBC on Sunday that “we have a version with the South African spike sequence in the works.”
“It looks very likely that we can have a new version ready to use in the autumn,” she added.
Her comments came as Oxford University said that early data from a small study suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine offers only “minimal protection” against mild disease caused by the South Africa variant.
The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, involved 2,000 people, most of whom were young and healthy. The volunteers’ average age was 31.
“Protection against moderate-severe disease, hospitalization or death could not be assessed in this study as the target population were at such low risk,” Oxford University said.
Robin Shattock, a scientist who is leading the coronavirus vaccine research at Imperial College London, urged caution about the study’s early findings. But he said it was “concerning to some extent that we’re seeing that it’s not effective against mild or moderate disease.”
Authorities in England last week went house-to-house to administer COVID-19 testing in eight areas where the South Africa variant is believed to be spreading, after a handful of cases were found in people who had no contact with the country or anyone who travelled there.
The testing blitz is a bid to snuff out the variant before it spreads widely and undermines the U.K.’s vaccination rollout. Public health officials are concerned about the South Africa variant because it contains a mutation of the virus’ characteristic spike protein, which is targeted by existing vaccines.
Britain has seen Europe’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, with over 112,000 confirmed deaths, but it has embarked on a speedier vaccination plan than the neighboring European Union. So far the U.K. has given a first coronavirus vaccine jab to about 11.5 million people.
Study finds U.K. variant spreading rapidly across U.S.
The coronavirus variant that shut down much of the United Kingdom is spreading rapidly across the United States, outcompeting other mutant strains and doubling its prevalence among confirmed infections every week and a half, according to new research made public Sunday.
The report, posted on the preprint server MedRxiv and not yet peer-reviewed or published in a journal, comes from a collaboration of many scientists and provides the first hard data to support a forecast issued last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed the United Kingdom variant becoming dominant in the U.S. by late March.
The variant, known as B.1.1.7, is more contagious than earlier forms of the coronavirus and may also be more lethal, although that is far less certain. It carries a package of mutations, including many which change the structure of the spike protein on the surface of the virus and enhance its ability to bind to human receptor cells. People infected with the variant have higher viral loads, studies have shown, and they may shed more virus when coughing or sneezing.
The authors of the new study urge action to limit the spread of the variant.
“Our study shows that the U.S. is on a similar trajectory as other countries where B.1.1.7 rapidly became the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, requiring immediate and decisive action to minimize covid-19 morbidity and mortality,” the authors write.
Masks and social distancing will continue to limit its spread, and vaccines remain effective against it, disease experts point out.
Florida stands out as the state with the highest prevalence of the variant. The new report estimated the doubling time of B.1.1.7 prevalence in positive test results at 9.1 days.
Florida also leads the nation in reported cases involving B.1.1.7, with 187 infections as of Thursday, followed by much-more-populous California with 145 infections, according to the CDC.
Read the full story here.
U.K. won’t be issuing ‘immunity passports’
LONDON — A British official says the country is not considering issuing so-called “immunity passports” for those who have been given the coronavirus vaccine but they could ask their doctor for written proof of their vaccine status if they need to travel.
Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said Sunday that vaccine passports would be discriminatory and officials did not want getting vaccinated to be “made in some way mandatory through a passport.”
Countries including Greece have said they will waive quarantine requirements for those who have had their jabs.
Zahawi said some 1,000 vaccines were given in an hour on Saturday, as the U.K. races to meet its target of giving all over-70s and frontline health care workers their first dose by Feb.15.
California governor will issue revised church rules
SAN FRANCISCO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office says it will issue revised guidelines for indoor church services after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the state’s ban on indoor worship during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the most significant legal victory against California’s COVID-19 health orders, the high court told California it can’t continue with a ban on indoor services during the coronavirus pandemic, but it can limit attendance to 25% of a building’s capacity and restrict singing and chanting inside.
Newsom’s office said it will continue to enforce the restrictions the high court left in place.
424 new cases, 8 new deaths in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico on Saturday reported 424 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and eights deaths as the coronavirus outbreak in the state slows.
The latest figures released by the Department of Health increased the state’s pandemic totals to 177,214 cases and 3,386 but rolling two-week averages of daily new cases and daily deaths dropped over the past two weeks.
According to data from The COVID-Tracking Project, the rolling average of daily new cases dropped from about 847 on Jan. 22 to around 571 on Friday and the rolling average of daily deaths dropped from 29 to 18.6.
Rio’s Carnival site hosts drive-thru vaccines
RIO DE JANEIRO — Normally, Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome would be preparing for its greatest time of the year: The world’s most famous Carnival parade.
But a week before the start, the coronavirus pandemic has replaced the pageantry. The celebration is on hold until next year as Rio struggles with a rise in coronavirus cases. The city on Saturday opened a drive-thru immunization station at the Sambadrome, where a line of cars queued up on a broad avenue built for floats.
Health care workers wait for the arrival of elderly people to be vaccinated at a drive-thru vaccination center at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday. Bruna Prado/Associated Press
“This is usually a place of pleasure. Today it is too, because we are exercising an act of citizenship and we are opening the Sambadrome to vaccinate, ” said Paulo Roberto Machado, a 68-year-old nurse who teaches at the Veiga de Almeida University.
Machado has taken part in 40 years of Carnival parades here. But on Saturday, he was coordinating 20 volunteer nursing and medical students to vaccinate people over age 90.
Rio has recorded more than 17,600 confirmed deaths – the most of any city in Brazil, even topping Sao Paulo, which has nearly twice the population.
Read the full story here.
Oklahoma surpasses 400,000 coronavirus cases
OKLAHOMA CITY — The number of reported coronavirus cases in Oklahoma has surpassed 400,000.
The state health department reported 2,053 new cases on Saturday. An additional 51 deaths raised the confirmed death toll to 3,761.
Data from Johns Hopkins University shows Oklahoma was fourth in the nation in the number of new cases per capita, with 855 cases per 100,000 residents. The data shows the seven-day rolling average of deaths in the state fell during the past two weeks from 37 to 34 deaths per day.
More than a half million Oklahoma residents have received the coronavirus vaccine, including 114,208 who have received both doses, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.
Biden vows to get students back into classrooms by spring
WASHINGTON — President Biden vows to get younger students back to the classroom by spring, and some health experts look forward to the U.S. refocusing coronavirus tests to rapid home screenings.
Biden is using the Defense Production Act to scale up supplies needed for rapid tests. On Friday, the White House announced six manufacturers will mass produce the tests, with the goal of providing 60 million by the end of the summer.
Some experts say rapid home tests are cheaper, faster and may improve the chances of identifying sick people during the early days of infection, when they are most contagious.
Dr. Michael Mina, a Harvard University testing specialist, calls the rapid tests a “public health screening test.” An estimated 40% of people infected don’t develop symptoms. Mina says rapid tests have the clear advantage over the predominant genetic lab tests, which are more accurate but can take several days for results and allow for silent spreading of the virus.
Some universities and school systems have used rapid tests to help stay open during the pandemic.
The coronavirus is killing more than 3,000 Americans per day. The nation’s confirmed death toll is 460,000.
California adding mass vaccination sites despite short supply
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is adding mass inoculation sites even as the shortage of coronavirus vaccine has local officials restricting who gets shots, with Los Angeles County saying it will limit new vaccinations to ensure second doses are available to those already in line for them.
California’s Santa Clara County and the San Francisco 49ers football team said they will open the state’s largest vaccination site at Levi’s Stadium early next week, eventually capable of injecting up to 15,000 people each day as supplies allow. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar, File)
Santa Clara County and the San Francisco 49ers said Friday they will open California’s largest vaccination site at Levi’s Stadium early next week. It eventually will be capable of injecting up to 15,000 people a day.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, announced troops will start arriving in a little over a week to run a new site at California State University, Los Angeles opening Feb. 16. Other federal employees will head to a second 6,000-shots-a-day site at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum.
In California, however, the problem isn’t vaccination capacity, it’s limited vaccine supply that is forcing rationing. For example, while the state has said anyone 65 and over can get vaccinated, until Friday Southern California’s Riverside County was only serving people 80 and over at the sites it operates.
In Los Angeles County, home to 10 million residents, starting next Tuesday the five mass vaccination sites it runs will only give second doses.
Officials beg Super Bowl fans to gather virtually, not in crowds
Kansas City Chiefs superfan Ty Rowton hugged strangers in the streets of Miami last year after watching his team win the Super Bowl and then joined hundreds of thousands of fans back home at a victory parade, thinking little of a mysterious virus that his buddies were beginning to talk about.
The championship seems like a lifetime ago. Now the Chiefs are preparing to play in the Super Bowl again, and the virus has morphed into a once-in-a-century pandemic that has health officials on edge as fans congregate at parties and bars for the game.
People wait in line Thursday for an exhibit at the NFL Experience in Tampa, Fla. The city is hosting Sunday’s Super Bowl football game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Charlie Riedel/Associated Press
The nation’s top health officials sounded the alarm this week about the Super Bowl being a potential superspreader event, and they urged people to gather with friends over Zoom, not in crowds.
“I’m worried about Super Bowl Sunday, quite honestly. People gather, they watch games together. We’ve seen outbreaks already from football parties,” said Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “So I really do think that we need to watch this and be careful.”
The Super Bowl comes as the nation sees a dramatic drop in new virus cases – a sign that the infection spike from holiday gatherings is easing. The virus has killed more than 459,000 people in the U.S., but the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases went from 180,489 as of Jan. 22 to 125,854 as of Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Health officials fear the game could seed new cases at exactly the wrong time. Just this week, the new coronavirus strain that spread quickly in the United Kingdom was confirmed in Kansas after turning up in several other states. Other highly contagious variants also have scientists worried. States are in a race to vaccinate before the newcomers become widespread and additional strains emerge.
Read tthe full story here.
Unwilling to wait, poor countries seeking vaccines on their own
NEW DELHI — With coronavirus cases still climbing, Honduras got tired of waiting to get vaccines through a United Nations program, so the small Central American country struck out on its own, securing the shots through a private deal.
Honduras “cannot wait on bureaucratic processes or misguided decisions” to give citizens “the peace of mind” offered by the COVID-19 vaccine, said Juan Carlos Sikaffy, president of the Honduran Private Business Council, which helped complete the purchase by providing a bank guarantee.
A Nepalese doctor receives the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine Wednesday at Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. Thousands of health workers lined up across Nepal to get the coronavirus vaccine Wednesday as the Himalayan nation began its campaign to get the population vaccinated within three months. Neighboring India gifted Nepal 1 million doses of the vaccine manufactured under license by the Serum Institute of India. Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press
Other nations are getting impatient too. Unlike past disease outbreaks, where less wealthy countries have generally waited for vaccines to be delivered by the U.N. and other organizations, many are now taking matters into their own hands. Experts are increasingly concerned that these go-it-alone efforts could undermine a U.N.-backed program to get COVID-19 shots to the neediest people worldwide.
Countries including Serbia, Bangladesh and Mexico recently began vaccinating citizens through donations or commercial deals – an approach that could leave even fewer vaccines for the program known as COVAX, since rich countries have already snapped up the majority of this year’s supply.
Read full story here.
Coronavirus cases drop at U.S. nursing homes and long-term facilities
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Coronavirus cases have dropped at U.S. nursing homes and other long-term care facilities over the past few weeks, offering a glimmer of hope that health officials attribute to the start of vaccinations, an easing of the post-holiday surge and better prevention, among other reasons.
More than 153,000 residents of the country’s nursing homes and assisted living centers have died of COVID-19, accounting for 36% of the U.S. pandemic death toll, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Many of the roughly 2 million people who live at such facilities remain cut off from loved ones because of the risk of infection. The virus still kills thousands of them weekly.
The overall trend for long-term care residents is improving, though, with fewer new cases recorded and fewer facilities reporting outbreaks. Coupled with better figures for the country overall, it’s cause for optimism even if it’s too early to declare victory.
Nursing homes have been a priority since vaccinations began in mid-December, and the federal government says 1.5 million long-term care residents have already received at least an initial dose.
Researchers and industry leaders say they are seeing marked improvements after months in which some nursing homes lost dozens of residents to the disease and had to keep others in semi-isolation for protection. Some 2,000 nursing homes are now virus-free, or about 13% nationally, according to an industry group, and many are dealing with far fewer cases than before.
Read the full story here.
Pentagon deploys troops to help staff COVID-19 vaccination centers
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will deploy more than 1,100 troops to five vaccination centers in what will be the first wave of increased military support for the White House campaign to get more Americans inoculated against COVID-19.
President Biden has called for setting up 100 mass vaccination centers around the country within a month. One of the five new military teams will go to a vaccination center opening in California. Other centers are expected to be announced soon.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked the Pentagon to supply as many as 10,000 service members to staff 100 centers. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the initial five teams, but the others will be approved in separate tranches as FEMA identifies the other site locations.
Acting FEMA Administrator Robert Fenton told reporters that two vaccination sites that will be “predominantly” federally run will open in California on Feb. 16, one at California State University, Los Angeles, and the other in Oakland.
Military troops will staff one of the two California centers, FEMA and Pentagon officials said. Personnel from other parts of the federal government will be at the other one. More sites will open around the country as more doses of vaccine become available.
The military deployment comes as the nation is in a race against a virus that is spawning mutations which may make it spread more easily and inflict deadlier disease.
Only about 2 percent of Americans have received the required two-dose vaccination regimen that confers optimum protection with the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines currently available. To reach widespread, or “herd” immunity, the U.S. must vaccinate 70 percent to 85 percent of its population, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert.
That would be roughly 230 million to 280 million people, compared to 6.9 million who are currently fully immunized with two shots.
More help could be on the way soon. Johnson & Johnson announced this week it is seeking emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its vaccine, which requires only one shot.
Each of the Pentagon’s five military teams includes 222 personnel, including 80 who will give the vaccines, as well as nurses and other support staff. The teams would be able to provide about 6,000 shots a day.
The five teams represent a growing use of the active duty military to a vaccination campaign that already involves nearly 100 National Guard teams in 29 states across the country. National Guard leaders told The Associated Press that they are now considering training additional Guard members to give shots, so that they can also expand vaccinations in more remote and rural portions of their states.
Biden to use Defense Production Act for gloves, COVID-19 vaccines
The White House COVID-19 task force announced Friday that the Biden administration plans to use the Defense Production Act to ramp up manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines, surgical gloves and at-home testing kits as part of an effort to increase supplies and reduce long-term dependence on foreign suppliers.
The administration said it will use the DPA to contract with six more COVID-19 at-home test suppliers, which should result in more than 60 million at-home tests becoming available by the end of the summer. This news comes just days after the administration announced a $231.8 million deal with at-home COVID-19 test-maker Ellume to produce 100,000 test kits per month for the United States from February to July, with a goal of ramping that number up to 19 million tests per month by the end of the year.
The COVID-19 task force did not yet disclose who makes the tests or how much the tests will cost, as the contracts aren’t final. COVID-19 Response Team Supply Coordinator Tim Manning said the U.S. would work with these companies to construct new domestic plants and production lines.
The administration also plans to help Pfizer ramp up its COVID-19 vaccine production by expanding the priority rating on Pfizer’s vaccine production contract to ensure the drugmaker gets first dibs on specific products and materials it needs to produce vaccines. This will now include filling pumps and tangential flow filtration skid units, two critical components of vaccine manufacturing. This action should have an immediate impact, officials said.
This move could help Pfizer reach its production goals of delivering 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the U.S. by May. Since Jan. 20, the new administration has increased vaccine supplies to states by more than 20 percent. Right now, one of the factors restraining manufacturing is limited equipment and ingredients, Manning said.
Finally, the administration said it will leverage the DPA to increase the production of surgical gloves, something the country needs more of now. Currently, the U.S. is nearly completely reliant on overseas manufacturers of surgical gloves, Manning said. So, the United States will build plants to produce the raw materials for surgical gloves so they can be produced in the U.S. By the end of the year, the administration hopes to make 1 billion nitrile gloves per month in the U.S, although this will satisfy only half of the country’s demand for surgical gloves.
Read the full story here.
‘A super-spreader just waiting to happen’: Virus outbreaks stoke tensions in some state capitols
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — After only their first few weeks of work, tensions already are high among lawmakers meeting in-person at some state capitols — not because of testy debates over taxes, guns or abortion, but because of a disregard for coronavirus precautions.
In Georgia, a Republican lawmaker recently was booted from the House floor for refusing to get tested for the coronavirus. In Iowa, a Democratic House member boldly violated a no-jeans rule to protest the chamber’s lack of a mask rule.
And in Missouri, numerous lawmakers and staff — some fearing for their health after a COVID-19 outbreak in the Capitol — scrambled to get vaccinated at a pop-up clinic before legislative leaders warned that the shots weren’t actually meant for them. GOP Gov. Mike Parson denounced the lawmakers as line-jumpers.
House Democratic leader Crystal Quade, who got the shot, blamed the lax policies of the Republican-led Legislature for fostering angst.
Lawmakers are “coming every week to a building that doesn’t have precautions, where people aren’t wearing masks, where people are getting a positive test left and right,” Quade said.
“We are essentially a super-spreader just waiting to happen,” she said.
Read the full story here.
Companies are charging hidden ‘COVID fees’ to make up for lost profits. They may be illegal.
Nearly a year into the pandemic’s gutting of the economy, businesses across the country are increasingly charging coronavirus-related fees, ranging from a $5 disinfection charge in a hair salon to $1,200 for extra food and cleaning in a senior living center, which are often undisclosed until the customer gets a bill.
According to a survey by The Washington Post of attorney general offices and financial departments in 52 states and territories, U.S. consumers in 28 states have filed 510 complaints of coronavirus-related surcharges at dentist offices, senior living facilities, hair salons and restaurants.
Hidden fees are a legitimate concern for consumers, especially for economically vulnerable Americans or senior citizens without income, but not every state protects consumers from them. While medical insurance law in some states requires health-care providers to offer refunds to patients who have been unfairly charged for personal protective equipment, other states allow for businesses to tack on extra fees, as long as they’re disclosed upfront.
It’s unclear exactly how widespread coronavirus surcharges are, as anecdotal social media posts of customer receipts and reports filed with attorneys general and state consumer protection departments are the only way to track them. But health-care providers and residential facilities are some of the worst-affected sectors.
Read the full story here.
Britain plans quarantine for those returning from virus hot spots
British residents arriving home from coronavirus hot spots will now face mandatory quarantine at designated hotels beginning Feb. 15.
Britain’s Department of Health announced the new policy Thursday and said that it applies to British nationals and residents returning from 33 “red list” countries where cases involving new virus variants are high.
Travelers will be required to quarantine for 10 days inside their hotel rooms and will be accompanied by security guards if go outside to smoke or for fresh air, according to government documents reviewed by the BBC. They will also be expected to pay for the cost of their accommodation.
Hotel owners in areas surrounding nine airports will be asked to provide rooms for more than 1,000 people every day, the BBC reported. Previous guidance suggested that British residents self-quarantine upon arrival.
The new policy stopped short of a blanket ban on travelers returning to the United Kingdom, prompting criticism from some quarters as the nation battles several contagious variants of the virus.
Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said that the government’s plans around quarantine are in disarray, the Guardian reported.
“Not only do they fail to go far enough — leaving open the door to potential vaccine-resistant strains — they can’t even implement the half-baked plans that have been announced,” he said.
The list of countries designated as hot spots includes Brazil, Portugal, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Britain has recorded nearly 3.9 million total coronavirus cases and more than 110,000 deaths.
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