Covid latest news: New travel rules for vaccinated tourists as Prince Charles tests positive again

Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada has announced that the statewide mask mandate for indoor public settings would lift, joining a growing list of states including New York and California in relaxing restrictions.

“Masks will no longer be required in public places, but there are still some locations where you may be asked to wear a mask,” Mr Sisolak said on Thursday in an address.

While some of the US states have lifted indoor mask requirements already but only for vaccinated residents, Nevada is lifting its mandate for everyone, regardless of vaccine status.

“There’s a certain group of the population, a percentage — and we can debate what that percentage is — that’s not going to get the vaccine,” Mr Sisolak, a Democrat, said in an online news conference on Thursday.

He added, “I don’t want to hold the entire society back, or the entire economy back, as a result of some people that don’t want to get the vaccine.”

The mask mandate will lift for all residents of the state, regardless of vaccination status while any at-risk individuals with underlying health issues have been encouraged to continue wearing masks. Individual businesses will be able to institute their own mask guidance if they choose.

Covid passes are to be scrapped and the need to wear face coverings in certain venues removed later this month as coronavirus cases continue to fall, the Welsh Government has announced.

The changes will be confirmed on Friday during the first three-week review of Wales’s alert level zero measures.

First MinisterMark Drakeford said vaccination levels and decreasing infection rates mean the country can “look forward to brighter times ahead”.

He signalled that face masks could be scrapped completely by the end of March should public health conditions continue to improve.

Bronwen Weatherby has more:

More people arrived outside New Zealand’s parliament on Friday, as protesters calling for an end to a vaccine mandate and tough Covid-19 restrictions refused to end their demonstrations despite arrests by the police.

It’s been four days since several thousand protesters, inspired by truckers’ demonstrations in Canada, occupied the parliament lawns in the capital Wellington, and blocked surrounding streets with their trucks, cars, camper vans and motorcycles.

On Thursday, the police arrested 120 people as they attempted to forcefully remove the protesters, but were seen falling back later in the day as the campers refused to move.

The police said in a statement on Friday that there were no incidents of note overnight at the parliament grounds, although 2 more people were arrested for “alcohol-related behaviour”.

“Police continue to take a measured approach to the protesters, who are trespassing on the grounds of Parliament and have been repeatedly asked to leave,” Superintendent Corrie Parnell said in the statement.

There are a range of different causes and motivations among the protesters, making it difficult to open clear and meaningful lines of communication, the police said, adding that misinformation, particularly on social media, has been identified as an issue.

The protesters ignored calls from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to “move on”. The continuing standoff is mounting political pressure on Ms Ardern, whose approval ratings taking a hit in recent opinion polls.

Despite garnering plaudits for keeping the country virtually virus-free over the last two years, the strict restrictions that are still in place have become unpopular.

A message on the prince’s official Twitter page said: “This morning The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now self-isolating.

The news comes hours after Prince Charles and wife Camilla rubbed shoulders with home secretary Priti Patel and chancellor Rishi Sunak at a British Asian Trust event hosted at the British Museum last night.

It is the second time the 73-year-old has contracted coronavirus after testing positive in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. He displayed mild symptoms and was said to be in good health at the time of the infection.

Thomas Kingsley has more:

Under the new rules, which are now in effect, fully vaccinated travellers do not have to undergo Covid test on arrival.

Unvaccinated travellers heading for the UK must take a pre-departure test and, after arrival, a PCR – but will no longer need to self-isolate for 10 days.

The minister, Grant Shapps, said on Thursday afternoon that the change was “a landmark moment for international travel” – adding that the UK is becoming “one of the most open countries in the world”.

He tweeted: “After nearly two years of necessary but complex travel arrangements, these changes will make it cheaper and easier for families to travel, taking advantage of the UK’s high levels of vaccination, and keeping us all safe.” More details here:

Covid restrictions in the UK are set to end a full month earlier than expected, Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.

“It is my intention to return on the first day after the half-term recess to present our strategy for living with Covid,” Mr Johnson said at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

“Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions – including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive – a full month early.”

Ashley Cowburn has all the details here

Official data on deaths showed that the fatalities remained below the five-year average in January even as a fresh wave of Omicron-led cases swept the country.

Nearly 5,000 fewer people were reported dead across England and Wales in the last month, which is less than the predicted deaths pushed by the toll from coronavirus.

The five-year average for deaths in England and Wales in the first four weeks of 2022 remained at 55,13, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed,

However, the numbers of death registered last month were reported to bee 50,740.

Covid-related deaths have accounted for 11.2 per cent of all the fatalities in the final week of January recorded by the ONS, official data showed,

Thomas Kingsley reports on this here:

Boris Johnson has been accused of not giving “appropriate notice” ahead of his latest decision to lift the existing local Covid rules, ministers in Scotland said, adding that they need more clarity.

“The UK Government failed to provide devolved nations with appropriate notice to consider implications ahead of the announcement by the Prime Minister,” said a spokesperson for the Scottish government.

The spokesperson added that the Scottish ministers are urgently seeking clarity from the UK Government to consider any implications its announcement could have for Scotland.

“Regardless of decisions made by the UK Government, it is vital that Scotland can continue to access funding to support the policy decisions taken in Scotland in response to Covid-19,” the spokesperson said.

Katherine Hay has the full report here

Boris Johnson’s plan to end self-isolation and asking people to live with the virus has left the clinically vulnerable and care-givers bracing themselves for a tough time.

Health charity worker Georgina Sait in Suffolk is concerned about the safety of her family as well the financial impact on care workers.

“They haven’t thought about how it’s going to impact people who are still vulnerable to Covid,” she said.

“It’s very frustrating that we have just been left out of the planning and the conversation.”

Similarly, one parent of a clinically vulnerable 23-year-old feels she has been “left out of the conversation” as England moved to scrap the self-isolation requirement.

People will not be required to self-isolate in the coming few weeks, announced Mr Johnson on Wednesday, as he prepares to tell people to live with Covid when Parliament resumes on 21 February.

Read the full story here:

Prime minister Boris Johnson has been accused of playing ‘fast and loose with people’s health’ as he moved to end Covid-19 restrictions as early as this month’s end, contrary to plans of ending them in March.

Scientists who have questioned the move are calling the decision an experiment that could go on to be either “very brave or very stupid”.

Dr Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, called the move “an experiment which will either be shown to be very brave or very stupid – but nobody knows for sure what the result will be”.

Only the guidelines which require people to stay home after testing positive — akin to after contracting any infectious disease —will be in place, in the new set of guidelines.

This will not be legally enforceable.

My colleagues Samuel Lovett and Ashley Cowburn have the full report here.