Health News at Your Fingertips

That’s all from the Guardian’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic for today. Please join us a little later for a new live feed where we will continue to cover the coronavirus crisis.

You can also keep up with the top headlines here.

I leave you with a summary of the latest developments from the past 24 hours:

• New Zealand has announced it will reopen its border to visitors in stages, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron. The country’s borders have been closed, apart from a short-lived travel bubble with Australia, for nearly two years.
• Serbia’s state prosecutors on Wednesday rejected suggestions that Novak Djokovic used a fake positive test for Covid-19 to try to enter Australia and compete in the Australian Open.
• In the UK, Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson has sparked a backlash this morning after arguing on ITV that breaching Covid rules is equivalent to parking on a double-yellow line.
• Italy will soon announce a timetable to roll back its Covid curbs, prime minister Mario Draghi said today. It comes as the surge in cases fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant started to show signs of slowing.
• Germany has recorded over 10 million total Covid cases, after detecting 208,498 new infections in the past 24 hours. Ministers said they hope to lift restrictions in March.
• Police in Ottawa, Canada, have seen signs that guns have been brought into a
  truckers’ protest against vaccine mandates that has paralysed the Canadian capital, the police chief said.
• The chairman of The Ivors Academy has called for “major reform” so musicians are treated with “dignity and respect” amid criticism of Spotify over Covid misinformation on the platform.
• The US Virgin Islands has lifted a requirement that visitors present a negative Covid test taken no more than 72 hours ahead of their trip.
• UK Covid infections have stopped falling, with levels holding steady or climbing, the ONS said. For England one in 20 people had Covid in the week ending 29 January.
• Russia broke its record Covid tally, with 141,883 new infections over the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
• In Japan, Tokyo detected a record-breaking 21,576 new cases, topping the previous record of 17,631, as the country battles Omicron.
• France will begin to lift some restrictions today, including mandatory outdoor mask-wearing.
• In the US, Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking approval to inoculate children under five, the last group of Americans still ineligible for vaccines against Covid.
• Lithuania will scrap its Covid certificate needed to enter public spaces from Saturday, saying they are ineffectual to stopping the spread of Omicron, despite a near-peak wave.
• Exposure to a single nasal droplet is sufficient to become infected with Covid-19, according to a landmark trial in which healthy volunteers were intentionally given a dose of the virus.

Czechs will no longer have to submit vaccination certificates at restaurants, cultural and sports events from next week despite record high coronavirus infections, the prime minister has said, according to AFP.

Since November 2021, only vaccinated Czechs and those who have had Covid-19 in the last six months have been allowed access to bars, restaurants, hotels and other services.

“The government will cancel the requirement to show a vaccination certificate or proof of recovery when entering restaurants, services, cultural, sports and similar events as of February 9,” prime minister Petr Fiala told reporters.

He added Czechs would still have to wear face masks indoors and the number of participants in mass events would be limited.

An EU member of 10.7 million people, the Czech Republic reported a record-high daily caseload of 57,195 infections on Tuesday as the highly contagious Omicron strain prevails in the country.

The increase brought the total tally of confirmed cases since the Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020 to 3.1 million with over 37,000 deaths.

But only 2,653 people were in hospital with the illness on Tuesday, far less than during a peak of more than 9,500 in March 2021.

The Czech Republic in early 2021 and again last autumn topped AFP’s global tally of Covid-19 infections and deaths per capita.

Long Covid can last anywhere from four weeks to months – although definitions vary – and, while it presents differently based on developmental stage, doctors say it can affect virtually any age, even infants.

In a piece for Guardian US, Hallie Golden explores what is happening to the increasing number of children who are reporting symptoms of long Covid across the country.

“There did not seem to be a pattern to her symptoms,” said Javanese Hailey, a middle and high school math teacher whose 9-year-old daughter Haley Bryson reported severe stomach pains among other symptoms.

“Some days were worse than others. Some days she couldn’t even get out of the bed because her stomach hurt so much.”

Read more here:

Hello, this is Helen Livingstone taking over from Tom Ambrose. To start with, the US army says it will immediately discharge soldiers who refuse to get a Covid-19 vaccine, maintaining the move is critical to maintain combat readiness.

The army’s order applies to regular army soldiers, active-duty army reservists and cadets unless they have approved or pending exemptions, it said in a statement.

The discharge order is the latest from a US military branch removing unvaccinated service members amid the pandemic after the Pentagon made the vaccine mandatory for all service members in August 2021.

Read more here:

Here is a round-up of the latest Covid headlines from the day:

• New Zealand has announced it will reopen its border to visitors in stages, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron. The country’s borders have been closed, apart from a short-lived travel bubble with Australia, for nearly two years.
• Serbia’s state prosecutors on Wednesday rejected suggestions that Novak Djokovic used a fake positive test for Covid-19 to try to enter Australia and compete in the Australian Open.
• Italy will soon announce a timetable to roll back its Covid curbs, prime minister Mario Draghi said today. It comes as the surge in cases fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant started to show signs of slowing.
• Germany has recorded over 10 million total Covid cases, after detecting 208,498 new infections in the past 24 hours. Ministers said they hope to lift restrictions in March.
• Police in Ottawa, Canada, have seen signs that guns have been brought into a truckers’ protest against vaccine mandates that has paralysed the Canadian capital, the police chief said.
• The chairman of The Ivors Academy has called for “major reform” so musicians are treated with “dignity and respect” amid criticism of Spotify over Covid misinformation on the platform.
• The US Virgin Islands has lifted a requirement that visitors present a negative Covid test taken no more than 72 hours ahead of their trip.
• UK Covid infections have stopped falling, with levels holding steady or climbing, the ONS said. For England one in 20 people had Covid in the week ending 29 January.
• Russia broke its record Covid tally, with 141,883 new infections over the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
• In Japan, Tokyo detected a record-breaking 21,576 new cases, topping the previous record of 17,631, as the country battles Omicron.
• France will begin to lift some restrictions today, including mandatory outdoor mask-wearing.
• In the US, Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking approval to inoculate children under five, the last group of Americans still ineligible for vaccines against Covid.
• Lithuania will scrap its Covid certificate needed to enter public spaces from Saturday, saying they are ineffectual to stopping the spread of Omicron, despite a near-peak wave.

That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, but my colleague Helen Livingstone will be along shortly to continue bringing you all the latest Covid news. Goodbye for now.

Police in Ottawa, Canada, have seen signs that guns have been brought into a truckers’ protest against vaccine mandates that has paralysed the Canadian capital, the police chief said.

“We have had an indication around firearms coming into this jurisdiction as part of this demonstration as much as a week and a half ago,” chief Peter Sloly told a briefing.

He said there was evidence of “a significant element from the United States in the funding and organising” of the protest.

Dozens of truck drivers protesting about Covid vaccine mandates have blocked central routes in the city for six days. Residents have been getting angrier at perceived inaction by the police, who have largely stood to one side.

The protesters say they have no intention of leaving until the government scraps the vaccine mandates.

Police have declined to end the protest, citing the risk of aggravating tensions. They say they are investigating reports of criminal offences, including hate crimes and desecration of public property, and have made three arrests so far.

“We’re looking at every single option, including military aid,” Sloly said. “Mixing them into a population in the downtown core in a highly volatile demonstration … may mitigate some risks and may create and escalate a whole bunch of other risks.”

The chairman of The Ivors Academy has called for “major reform” so musicians are treated with “dignity and respect” amid criticism of Spotify over Covid misinformation on the platform.

Prominent musicians including Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have criticised the streaming giant over its decision to continue hosting the popular Joe Rogan podcast.

The presenter has sparked outrage for repeatedly spreading Covid conspiracy theories and for promoting the use of ivermectin to treat Covid symptoms – an anti-parasitic medicine which treats humans and, in some formulations, is used on horses and has not been proven to be effective for treating coronavirus.

Ivors Academy chairman Tom Gray, of the Mercury Prize-winning band Gomez, said companies should not assume musicians consent to their material appearing alongside misinformation.

He said in a statement to the PA news agency:

The balance of power in music is shifting to where it should be – to fans, artists, songwriters and composers.

No company, no matter how big, can ignore that or assume that musicians will be OK with their music appearing alongside misinformation.

If Spotify and the major labels haven’t already noticed, lots of artists are very unhappy.

There needs to be major reform so that songwriters and musicians get properly paid for their work and are treated with dignity and respect.

The government are listening and committed to reform, I hope the industry is too.

The US Virgin Islands has lifted a requirement that visitors present a negative Covid test taken no more than 72 hours ahead of their trip.

Lieutenant governor Tregenza Roach said travellers can now show either proof of vaccination or a negative test taken within five days of their date of travel.

He also said the government will award $250 to children ages 5 to 17 who live in the US territory if they get their second vaccine dose by mid-March, the Associated Press reported.

Roach noted that only 23% of youth in the US Virgin Islands is vaccinated.

“It is a healthy start, but nowhere near where we need to be,” he said.

The three-island territory of more than 106,000 people has reported more than 14,900 confirmed cases and more than 100 deaths.

Serbia’s state prosecutors on Wednesday rejected suggestions that Novak Djokovic used a fake positive test for Covid-19 to try to enter Australia and compete in the Australian Open.

The prosecution office said in a statement that it had received a request for criminal proceedings against unnamed individuals who allegedly forged two PCR certificates, which were later used by Djokovic to apply for a medical exemption from vaccination when entering Australia.

“The prosecution acted according to the regulations, checks were performed, and it was determined that Novak Djokovic was tested several times and that the certificates on the test results from 16 December 2021 and 22 December 2021 are valid,” the statement said.

Outlets including Der Spiegel and the BBC have reported discrepancies in the serial numbers of the tests Serbian authorities administered to Djokovic ahead of his trip to Australia, suggesting possible irregularities in the way they were issued.

Hello. Tom Ambrose here. I’ll be bringing you all the latest Covid news from around the world over the next couple of hours.

Let’s begin with the news that Italy will soon announce a timetable to roll back its Covid curbs, prime minister Mario Draghi said today.

It comes as the surge in cases fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant started to show signs of slowing, Reuters reported.

Italy has recorded more than 147,000 deaths linked to coronavirus and 11.23 million cases since the pandemic set in two years ago.

Many restrictions, including those on transport, bars and restaurants, have already been eased for the vaccinated, while tough curbs remain in place for those who are not inoculated. Mask wearing is mandatory outdoors.

“In the coming weeks, we will continue on this path of reopening. Based on scientific evidence… we will announce a timetable for lifting the current restrictions,” Draghi was quoted as saying by his office at a cabinet meeting.

The government’s vaccination campaign has been broadly successful, with more than 80% of people having received two jabs, while more than 57% have received a third booster dose.