The number of furloughed workers in the UK is expected to more than double this month to as many as 5.5 million as the government places England into national lockdown and expands its emergency Covid-19 wage support schemes.
Economists said businesses were set to claim for billions of pounds of additional state support from the furlough scheme over the coming weeks, amid the enforced closure of non-essential venues for the second time this year:
Having kept Covid-19 from its shores for more than 10 months – remaining coronavirus-free until October – Solomon Islands has just recorded another five cases, bringing the national total to 13.
The prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, said all five cases were detected in passengers on a repatriation flight, four had ultimately come from the UK, the other case from Korea.
“All five new cases have been transferred to the national referral hospital isolation units. These five new cases bring the total number of cases from the flight from Auckland to nine. The total number of cases registered in Solomon Islands now is 13,” he said.
Sogavare also sought to reassure the Solomons public that all cases had been contained within the isolation stations in Honiara and the threat of community transmission was low.
The Pacific remains the least Covid-infected region on the planet, aided by remote geography and early and strict border closures. But Pacific economies, already fragile and having been cut off from the outside world for months, are suffering acutely.
Globally, only the small and remote island nations and territories of Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Niue, Norfolk Island, Pitcairn Island, Tokelau and Vanuatu are believed to be still free of the virus.
One of Tokyo’s most popular tourist attractions has reopened, eight months after it was forced to close due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Just 18 people, selected by lottery, watched the early-morning tuna auction at Toyosu market, which replacedthe fabled, but ageing, Tsukiji market two years ago.
The visitors had their temperatures taken, and were required to wear masks and provide contact information, before watching the 30-minute auction unfold from a viewing deck on Monday. Traders at the market were also wearing masks.
The daily auctions drew 120 people a time before the pandemic, but capacity has been cut to 27.
“There weren’t so many people watching, so I could enjoy it without worrying too much about the virus,” a Tokyo woman who had taken her two young sons to the auction told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
The auctions of enormous tuna were a must-see for many foreign tourists before the pandemic prompted Japanto impose sweeping travel restrictions, reducing visitor numbers to practically zero.
While domestic tourism has been boosted by the heavily subsidised Go To Travel campaign, Japan’s government is still pinning its hopes on a resumption of mass inbound tourism to promote economic growth. The prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, said this month he had not abandoned the country’s target of attracting 60 million visitors by 2030.
China reports 49 new cases
China reported 49 new Covid-19 cases for 2 November, up from 24 a day earlier, the national health authority reported on Tuesday.
The National Health Commission said in a statement 44 of the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas.
The commission also reported 61 new asymptomatic cases, compared with 30 a day earlier. Of the total new asymptomatic cases, 13 came from the northwestern Xinjiang region. Authorities in the region conducted large scale testing after a recent outbreak.
China does not classify symptomless patients as confirmed Covid-19 cases.
The total number of confirmed cases in China now stands at 86,070, while the death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.
Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has dealt with 194 coronavirus-related incidents involving hostile states and criminal gangs, which led to the overall number of serious hacker attacks reaching an all time record of 723 over the past year.
The intelligence unit said that while Russia and other states – such as China – had targeted British vaccine research, it was criminal gangs who frequently targeted other parts of the NHS, often to attempt online fraud.
A frequent method of attack used by both groups was spear phishing, creating plausible emails targeted at key individuals designed to encourage them to click on a link to malware or to obtain more information by deception.
“Nation state actors are using Covid as a theme, sending what appear to be news articles from popular media outlets in an attempt to encourage targets to click on what are dangerous links,” warned Paul Chichester, director of operations:
Panama president self-isolating
Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo has began self-isolating after a close coworker tested positive for the coronavirus, the presidency said on Monday, without revealing the name or position of the person who was infected.
Cortizo has taken two coronavirus tests, which were both negative, but will continue isolating “until he repeats the tests in a few days”, the presidency said on Twitter.
