Health News at Your Fingertips

Singapore reported 3,112 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, compared to 4,248 the previous day, and a further 14 deaths, Reuters reports.

Italy has registered 132,074 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after the UK.

The country has reported 4.77 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with Covid-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 2,707 on Saturday, up from 2,658 a day earlier, Reuters reports.

There were 20 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 18 on Friday. The total number of intensive care patients decreased to 346 from a previous 349.

Some 477,352 tests for Covid-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 474,778, the health ministry said.

Italy recorded 4,878 coronavirus cases on Saturday and a further 37 deaths, Reuters reports.

The CNN anchor Jake Tapper reached across the political aisle on Friday to support Neil Cavuto, a Fox News host in the US who received death threats after pleading for viewers to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

Speaking to camera, Tapper said: “We don’t often mention our competitors but the Fox channel anchor opposite us from 4 [pm] until 5 eastern, Neil Cavuto, has been in the news.

“… Neil is a survivor. He has multiple sclerosis, he’s had open heart surgery, he beat stage four cancer and he’s now fighting Covid.

“Neil recently talked about the importance of vaccines on air, precisely to protect people like him who have compromised immune systems.

The UK has recorded 41,278 coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 9,019,962, government figures show.

There were a further 166 deaths, bringing the total to 140,558.

Today’s key developments so far:

• Theories that the coronavirus was created as a biological weapon are based on “scientifically invalid claims” and disseminated by proponents “suspected of spreading disinformation”, according to a study by US intelligence agencies.
• Tonga – formerly one of the last countries in the world to have remained Covid-free – has recorded its first coronavirus case. The prime minister, Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa, warned residents that the main island of Tongatapu could face lockdown next week.
• Russia has reported 40,251 Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its largest daily case tally since the onset of the pandemic.
• The Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater has tested positive for Covid-19, just hours before the start of the critical Cop26 climate summit.
• China’s local daily cases reached a six-week high on Friday, with most new cases concentrated in its northern provinces.
• Authorities in Thailand have issued a ban on rallies and other events considered a risk of spreading Covid as the country prepares to open for international tourists.
• The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has warned against the return of a “certain recklessness” as she said Germany’s increasing coronavirus hospital admissions “worry me a lot”.
• Bulgaria, which has some of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe, has the highest number of Covid-related deaths per capita globally. The only other European country in the top five is Romania, in third place with a rate of 237.73 deaths.
• The UK will send 20m Covid vaccine doses to developing countries by the end of the year, Boris Johnson will announce to world leaders as they gather in Rome.

That’s all from me for today – thanks for reading and getting in touch. I’m handing over to my colleague Nadeem Badshah who will keep you updated for the next few hours.

Vietnam registered 5,224 new local Covid-19 cases on Saturday, a rise of 335 against Friday’s figure, the country’s ministry of health said.

With 1,042 infections, Ho Chi Minh City accounts for the most cases, followed by Dong Nai with 679 and Binh Duong at 665, according to the online newspaper VnExpress.

There were a further 64 deaths on Saturday, health authorities confirmed, including 30 in HCMC, taking the nation’s cumulative death toll to 22,030.

A total of 23.9 million of Vietnam’s population of 97.3 million have been fully vaccinated while 56.6 million have received at least one dose.

Child poverty rose in Romania last year for the first time in five years, a report by an international children’s charity has found, with the pandemic seriously affecting the most vulnerable children.

The risk of poverty and social exclusion increased by 0.5% among Romanian children to 36.3%, with the rate of severe material deprivation rising from 17.7% to 21.4% in 2020, according to a report in Romania Insider. Among children under six, this rose from 16% to 22%.

The report identified children with disabilities, especially those in rural areas and Roma children, as being at higher risk of social exclusion, including in terms of education.

The Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater has tested positive for Covid-19, just hours before the start of the critical Cop26 climate summit.

The MSP for the Lothian region, who is double-vaccinated, said she had “cold-like symptoms” and would be self-isolating.

The party co-leader’s positive test means she will miss events at the UN climate summit, which begins in Glasgow on Sunday.

Authorities in Thailand have issued a ban on rallies and other events considered a risk of spreading Covid as the country prepares to open for international tourists.

The new order comes just days before the 1 November reopening of 17 provinces, allowing quarantine-free entry to fully vaccinated tourists, the Bangkok Post reports.

Under the order issued by emergency decree by the chief of defence forces, Gen Chalermpol Srisawat, rallies and “risky” activities, are prohibited unless relevant authorities give their permission, with stringent enforcement expected in the 17 provinces designated for tourism reopening.

According to the new order, those who violate the ban may be handed a two-year jail sentence and/or a maximum fine of 40,000 baht.

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has called for Covid-19 vaccines to be treated equally and mutually recognised, according to the official Xinhua agency.

China has provided more than 1.6bn Covid vaccine doses to the world, Xi told the 16th G20 leaders’ summit by video link, adding that the country was working with 16 nations on the cooperative manufacturing of doses.

Two Chinese vaccines, one from Sinovac Biotech and one from Sinopharm, have been included in the WHO’s emergency use list.

Angela Merkel has warned against the return of a “certain recklessness” as she said Germany’s increasing coronavirus hospital admissions “worry me a lot”.

AFP reports that the outgoing chancellor told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that the rising admissions “should worry all of us” and that she is “very saddened” that 3 million Germans aged 60-plus have not been vaccinated.

“It could make a difference, for these people and the whole of society,” said Merkel, who is soon stepping down after 16 years in office.

On Saturday the Robert Koch health institute recorded 21,543 new cases in Germany and 90 more deaths.

So far nearly 67% of the country’s population of 83 million have been fully vaccinated.

More from China (see also 08:46) where a health official has said the Covid outbreak is “developing rapidly.”

Reuters reports National Health Commission (NHC) figures showing that there were 377 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms between 17 and 29 October. China has maintained a zero tolerance approach to Covid (see also 10:21).

“Within the past 14 days, 14 provincial areas have reported new locally transmitted cases or asymptomatic carriers,” Mi Feng, an NHC spokesperson, said. “The outbreak is still developing rapidly, and the virus control situation is severe and complicated.”

Another NHC official, Wu Liangyou, said the outbreak has “exposed the laxity of mind among some local authorities.”

Hi, it’s Miranda here covering for Clea for a while. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk

Some businesses in Moscow have ignored new lockdown restrictions imposed on Thursday to tackle rising cases and remained open amid a lack of robust state support.

Reuters reports that hospitality venues are only permitted to operate takeaway and delivery service, while only essential shops like supermarkets are allowed to remain open.

But some business owners said they had to make ends meet, and without state funding, they would have to remain open. An administrator at a Moscow beauty salon told Reuters: “To hell with them … we’re going to work. We’ll just put up curtains … During the last lockdown we sat there for almost a month and there was almost no help. We have to survive somehow.”

Although the government has pledged some help and cheap loans to small businesses, business associations say more is needed.

Bulgaria, which has some of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe, has the highest number of Covid-related deaths per capita globally.

The country has registered 338.83 deaths per 100,000 residents, with Brazil recording the second-highest rank with 287.46 fatalities, according to data from Johns Hopkins. The only other European country in the top five is Romania, in third place with a rate of 237.73 deaths.

Just one-fifth of Bulgaria’s nearly 7 million people are fully vaccinated.

“Each day Bulgaria loses the equivalent of one plane crash. It is really horrendous,” Ruzha Smilova, the programme director at the Centre for Liberal Strategies, told Euronews.