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Coronavirus live news: Europe herd immunity ‘possible by July’; New Zealand delays Australia travel bubble | World news

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The ban on supermarkets in Wales selling non-essential items is being lifted from Monday as the country slowly moves out of lockdown, PA Media reports.

All non-essential retail was ordered to close on Christmas Eve last year as Wales entered alert level 4, but shops selling essential items such as food could remain open.

It meant supermarkets continued to trade but they were banned from selling anything not deemed essential, such as books, DVDs and toys.

Aisles were taped off to stop customers buying non-essential goods, but this ban is now being lifted.

Garden centres are also now allowed to open for the first time this year.

It is part of a more cautious approach being adopted by the Welsh Government in leaving lockdown due to the emergence of the highly-infectious Kent variant of the virus.

It has warned that if there are strong signs of a growth in infections, relaxations may need to be slowed, paused or reversed.

On March 27 the “stay local” travel requirement will be lifted, which will move Wales from alert level 4 to 3.

Ahead of the Easter holidays, from March 27 self-contained accommodation will be allowed to resume business, libraries will reopen and organised outdoor children’s activities can resume.

From April 12 there will be a full return to schools, colleges and other education settings, all shops will reopen and close contact services will resume.

If infection rates remain stable or continue to fall, ministers will decide on April 22 whether to allow gyms and leisure centres, outdoor attractions, outdoor hospitality, weddings and organised indoor and outdoor activities to resume.

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New Zealand opens 1st big vaccination clinic :: WRAL.com

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By The Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand has opened its first large vaccination clinic as it scales up efforts to protect people from the coronavirus.

The clinic in south Auckland will initially target household members of border workers. New Zealand has stamped out community spread of the virus and considers border workers and their families the most vulnerable to catching the disease from infectious travelers.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said that initially about 150 people a day will get vaccinated at the clinic, although the numbers will be rapidly increased. Health officials plan to open two more clinics in Auckland over the next few weeks.

“I know a lot of our old people are probably scared of getting the vaccine but getting it today, it doesn’t hurt, and it is important for everybody to get it,” said Denise Fogasavaii, the sister of an Air New Zealand employee who has already been vaccinated.

New Zealand this week announced it plans to use the Pfizer vaccine for all inoculations, and it hopes to complete its vaccination program by the end of the year.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

CDC: Fully-vaccinated people can gather without masks. The federal COVID bill will deliver big health insurance savings for many. Dutch prime minister extends country’s pandemic lockdown. — Vaccine rollout offers hope but also prompts envy, judgement and distrust. The long game: Coronavirus changed the way we play, watch, cheer.

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— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

Coronavirus vaccinations in NC

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico is clearing the way for schools to reopen next month as vaccine eligibility is expanding to include shots for all teachers and other educators.

State education officials announced Monday that five-day a week in-class programs would be open to those who want them. Districts also will be required to provide virtual learning options for students who opt out.

As part of the vaccination effort, the state plans to get teachers their first shots by the end of March.

The state is making the move as part of a directive by the Biden administration. State officials have acknowledged that meeting the goal depends on the federal government increasing vaccine shipments.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma health officials plan to start offering coronavirus vaccines Tuesday to workers in a wide range of essential industries, immediately making a vast majority of Oklahomans eligible to receive a vaccine.

Those eligible include child-care workers and students and employees at colleges, universities and vocational schools.

“This is a big step,” said Oklahoma’s Deputy Health Commissioner Keith Reed. “By the time we roll this group in, we’ve practically covered everyone in the state.” He said the expansion should include all but about 500,000 Oklahomans.

Oklahoma’s list of essential industries includes manufacturing, construction, communications, energy, finance, state and federal government, transportation and retail.

Oklahoma currently ranks 10th in the nation with 20.9% of its population having received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national average is 18.1%.

Meanwhile, state health officials on Tuesday reported 165 confirmed new cases of coronavirus and no new deaths. That brings the total number of confirmed infections to nearly 430,000, while the state’s death count remains at 7,219.

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CHEYANNE, Wyo. — Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon says the state will join a handful of others that have lifted mask-wearing mandates to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The changes take effect March 16.

Also being lifted are requirements for bars, restaurants, theaters and gyms, where employees must wear masks and customers not seated in small groups have to keep 6 feet apart.

Gordon cites Wyoming’s declining number of COVID-19 cases and its success in distributing vaccines as reasons to lift the restrictions.

The statewide order in place since December was set to expire next week. States including Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota and Texas also have lifted mask mandates.

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HELSINKI — Estonia’s government has decided on further coronavirus restrictions due to a rapid rise in cases, especially the variant first detected in Britain, and the Baltic country will effectively enter lockdown as of Thursday.

Prime Minister Kaja Kallas unveiled the new measures in an interview with the Estonian public broadcaster ERR late Monday saying “the situation with COVID-19 in Estonia is extremely critical.”

Kallas said Estonia’s pandemic situation needs to be addressed quickly to avoid further escalation and hence “we have decided to lock the country in as much as possible.”

With exception of grocery and other essential stores such as pharmacies, all stores and restaurants throughout Estonia are required to remain closed and all indoor sport activities cease as of Thursday. Restaurants will, however, be able to serve food for take-away and drive-in customers.

Kallas said the new restrictions would be in place for a minimum of one month.

The nation of 1.3 million has seen a rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases n the past few weeks. The country on Monday reported 1,181 new confirmed cases putting total tally to over 76,183 cases with 667 deaths.

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HONOLULU — Hawaii has detected a new COVID-19 variant in the islands, one that first emerged in South Africa.

The state Department of Health said Monday the virus, which has technical name B.1.351 was found in an Oahu resident with no travel history.

Some tests suggest the variant may be less susceptible to antibody drugs or antibody-rich blood from COVID-19 survivors.

Acting State Epidemiologist Sarah Kemble said in a statement that a study conducted in South Africa, where the variant was predominant, showed that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was effective in preventing serious disease requiring hospitalization and in preventing death.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that as of Sunday, 81 cases of the South African variant have been detected in 19 states and Washington, D.C.

Hawaii has already detected eight cases of the U.K. or B.1.1.7 variant, including two more announced Monday in an Oahu resident who traveled to the U.S. mainland and a household contact of that person.

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HARTFORD, Conn. — The first Connecticut resident to be diagnosed with COVID-19 says he is still coping with health problems one year later, but the experience has brought a new optimism to his life.

Chris Tillett, a former Wilton, Connecticut, resident, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 8, 2020, and spent three weeks at Danbury Hospital, including 10 days in a coma and on a ventilator. Doctors used experimental treatments, including anti-malaria and anti-HIV drugs, in efforts to save his life.

Tillett, who was 45 at the time, a husband and father of 4-month-old twin boys, got sick after returning from a professional conference in California.

“This has been a tough year,” Tillett, who now lives in Virginia, told WVIT-TV. “I’m enjoying little aspects of life. Even when things go bad, I just choose to laugh at it now instead of letting it get me angry and upset, and like what is that gonna do for me, right? So I’ve just found, yes, definitely a new lease on life.”

Tillett told Connecticut Public Radio he continues to experience muscle pain, stiffness and swelling in his legs. He also had to begin taking blood pressure medication, and may have to for the rest of his life. He said red spots still cover his feet, a common lingering symptom of the virus.

Exactly one year after Tillett tested positive, more than 285,000 Connecticut residents have contracted the virus and more than 7,700 have died.

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ATHENS, Greece – Greek authorities have registered the country’s youngest COVID-19 victim so far, a 37-day-old baby that had been in the hospital with the virus for the past three weeks.

Athens hospital officials said the baby boy died just before midnight Sunday. He had been brought to the hospital on Feb. 13 with a nose infection and a high temperature and tested positive for the coronavirus. He was taken to an intensive care unit for COVID-19 on Feb. 18 and intubated a day later.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted his condolences to the baby’s family Monday.

“Today, unfortunately, we had the youngest victim to the pandemic in our country,” he wrote. “The virus makes no distinctions, but today the sorrow is very hard to bear.”

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GENEVA — A senior World Health Organization official said that so-called “vaccine passports” for COVID-19 should not be used for international travel because of numerous concerns, including ethical considerations that coronavirus vaccines are not easily available globally.

At a press briefing on Monday, WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said there are “real practical and ethical considerations” for countries considering using vaccine certification as a condition for travel, adding the U.N. health agency advises against it for now.

“Vaccination is just not available enough around the world and is not available certainly on an equitable basis,” Ryan said. WHO has previously noted that it’s still unknown how long immunity lasts from the numerous licensed COVID-19 vaccines and that data are still being collected.

Ryan also noted the strategy might be unfair to people who cannot be vaccinated for certain reasons and that requiring vaccine passports might allow “inequity and unfairness (to) be further branded into the system.”

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CARSON CITY, Nev. — One year into the pandemic, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak is still attempting to strike the right balance between keeping the state’s tourism industry afloat while also containing the coronavirus.

Sisolak said in an interview with the Associated Press he plans to use Nevada’s safety protocols as a selling point to bring tourists, conventions and trade shows back to Las Vegas.

About one in 10 Nevada residents, including the governor, have tested positive for COVID-19 over the past year. More than 5,000 people have died, 63% of whom have been 70 or older.

Sisolak hopes vaccines will prevent future deaths, contain the virus and buoy the economy to pre-pandemic levels.

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GENEVA — One of the Oxford University scientists who helped develop AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine disputed that simply making intellectual property rights freely available would significantly widen access to vaccines.

Agencies, including the World Health Organization, have called for pharmaceuticals to waive patent rights.

At a press briefing on Monday, Sarah Gilbert of Oxford University said freely available IP rights would not get the world “anywhere close to solving this problem” of limited vaccines, saying that “it’s not just the rights to the technology that’s needed.” Gilbert said other essential technical goods were needed, including cell banks and testing reagents.

Last year, WHO began a patent pool that asked companies to share their COVID-19 technology and know how for vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. Not a single company has yet joined and Gilbert said she had never heard of the initiative, despite Oxford University’s pledge to make its vaccine available to countries globally.

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MILAN — Italy surpassed 100,000 dead in the pandemic, a year after it became the first country in Europe to go on lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The Italian Health Ministry on Monday said 318 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 100,103, the second highest in Europe after Britain.

Italy recorded its first virus death on Feb. 21, 2020, when 78-year-old retired roofer Antonio Trevisan from a winemaking town west of Venice who had been hospitalized with heart issues died.

Italy’s total virus cases surpassed 3 million last week, with a new surge powered by the highly contagious variant that was first identified in Britain.

Nearly 14,000 new positives were recorded Monday as the number of people in ICUs rose to 2,700 — 95 more than a day earlier. Italy imposed a draconian nationwide lockdown last March 9, which continued for seven weeks and included a shutdown of all non-essential manufacturing.

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will deliver his first primetime address to speak to the nation on Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that Biden would note the sacrifices and losses suffered by Americans during the last 12 months. More than 525,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus.

It was March 11, 2020 when the pandemic hit home for many Americans and lockdowns began. That was the night the NBA suspended play, actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson announced they had tested positive and then-President Donald Trump addressed the nation.

The anniversary comes as the administration has bolstered vaccine supply, and some states have begun reopening even as worries remain about virus variants.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico on Monday expanded eligibility for vaccinations to all school teachers, early childhood educators and other staff with the goal of getting the group its first shots by the end of March.

The state is making the move as part of a directive by the Biden administration to get more schools reopened as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins said last week that the ability of New Mexico to meet the timeline will depend on the federal government increasing vaccine supplies.

Collins said the state was in discussions with the White House last week about how the directive would affect vaccinations for other groups in the state. Under the plan, the state will start with educators outside of the Albuquerque area this week. The second week will involve those in the metro area, likely at a mass vaccination site.

The state already has vaccinated more than 15,000 educators as some were eligible as part of New Mexico’s first phases of the vaccine rollout.

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PHOENIX — Arizona is reporting a daily number of new COVID-19 cases below 1,000 for the first time in months along with no new deaths.

State health officials on Monday said there are 783 new confirmed cases of the virus. With that latest figure, the state’s pandemic total number of cases is now at 827,237. The death toll remains 16,328.

The number of vaccine doses administered around Arizona was up to 2.1 million with more than 1.3 million people having received at least one shot. That’s more than 19% of the state’s population.

The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients hospitalized statewide dipped to 919, the fewest since Nov. 1. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients fell to 256, the fewest since Nov. 6.

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Auckland emerges from strict weeklong Covid lockdown | New Zealand

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Auckland has come out of a weeklong lockdown imposed after a community cluster of the more contagious UK coronavirus variant.

There were no new local Covid-19 cases recorded on Sunday, health officials said, allowing for the restrictions to ease. If no community cases are confirmed during the rest of Sunday it would make a full seven days since the last community case.

There are still limits on public gatherings in the city of nearly two million, however, and masks are obligatory on public transport.

Footage on TVNZ showed people lining up at coffee shops on Sunday morning with many saying they were feeling relieved.

The government said it might ease restrictions in Auckland further on Friday to bring them to the same level as in the rest of New Zealand.

The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said on Friday that she stood by New Zealand’s decision to pursue an elimination strategy, but acknowledged it came with costs, from job losses to school camp cancellations.

She said the government was right to impose the seven-day lockdown, only weeks after lifting three days of snap restrictions, due to the more transmissible and unpredictable nature of the UK variant.

“Level three provided us with an extra layer of security while we addressed the unknowns and reduced the risk,” she said.

Rule breaking under level three, contributing to spread in the Auckland cluster in late February, had been a flashpoint for criticism this week – and sparked calls for the government to do more in terms of community outreach.

Ardern said that she did not believe anyone who broke level-three restrictions set out deliberately to do wrong, but that she had not seen any benefit in continuing a “back-and-forth” over individual cases over this past week.

Swift public health measures combined with aggressive contact tracing, border closures and compulsory quarantine for travellers have been credited with making both New Zealand and Australia highly successful in keeping the pandemic from spreading.

Both countries saw their economies recovering speedily in the second part of 2020. New Zealand has reported just over 2,000 cases of the coronavirus and 26 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

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New Zealand 8.1-magnitude earthquake triggers tsunami warning

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The 8.1-magnitude quake was the third to strike the area on Friday morning local time, according to the New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency. The quake also triggered a “tsunami watch” for Hawaii and a tsunami warning in American Samoa.
People near the coast must “move immediately to the nearest high ground, out of all tsunami evacuation zones, or as far inland as possible. Do not stay at home,” the New Zealand agency states on its website.

The Kermadec Islands are 500–620 miles northeast of New Zealand’s North Island. The East Coast of the North Island from the Bay of Islands to Whangarei, from Matata to Tolaga Bay including Whakatane and Opotiki and Great Barrier Island are all included in the Pacific nation’s tsunami warning.

“The earthquake may not have been felt in some of these areas, but evacuation should be immediate as a damaging tsunami is possible,” the agency statement reads.

“People in all other areas who felt a long or strong earthquake that makes it hard to stand up, or lasted longer than a minute, should move immediately to the nearest high ground, out of all tsunami evacuation zones, or as far inland as possible.”

The statement adds that the evacuation notice overrides Covid-19 advisories.

The earthquake is the largest to strike anywhere in the world since August of 2018, when an 8.2-magnitude quake struck much deeper underground, also in the South Pacific, near Fiji.

Only around one or fewer earthquakes of 8.0-magnitude or greater occur each year.

This is a developing story. More to come.

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New Zealand to Roll Out Free Period Products to All Students

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A study led by Dr. Donovan found that students from New Zealand’s Maori and Pacific Island immigrant communities, who are statistically more likely to be affected by poverty, were also more likely to be unable to afford period products. Fifteen percent of Maori students and 14 percent of Pacific students have missed school because they did not have menstrual items, the study showed.

Sanitary products can cost as much as 15,000 New Zealand dollars, or $10,800, over a person’s lifetime, said Miranda Hitchings, co-founder of Dignity NZ, a for-profit organization that provides free sanitary items to schools, youth and community organizations.

“That is a significant cost that could be part of a student loan, or a house deposit,” she said. “But because of the gendered cyclical nature of poverty, it’s another thing that puts women, or people with periods, on the back foot.”

Before local news reports in 2016 shined a light on the extent of period poverty in New Zealand, there was relatively little public awareness of the problem, Ms. Hitchings said.

“We went and talked to schools and found that not only was it real, but it was incredibly prevalent,” she said. “We also found that local people individually, like nurses and teachers at schools, were purchasing products for their students out of their own pockets.”

There has also been a sharp increase in period poverty since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, she said.

A campaign for free period products gained steam in late 2019, when Ms. Hitchings, her co-founder, Jacinta Gulasekharam, and other campaigners submitted a petition with 3,000 signatures to the country’s Parliament calling for free period products for all students.

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New Zealand puts Auckland into lockdown over three COVID-19 cases

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New Zealand put its largest city into lockdown Sunday — after just one family tested positive for COVID-19.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered the three-day lockdown for Auckland after a couple and their daughter tested positive in the nation widely hailed for virtually eliminating the spread of the contagion.

The new community cases make just four in the last three months — with the lockdown the first in New Zealand in six months.

“We have stamped out the virus before and we will do it again,” Ardern told a news conference in the capital, Wellington.

The level 3 restrictions require everyone to stay home except for essential shopping and essential work. It will also force a delay in America’s Cup sailing regatta.

“Three days should give us enough time to gather further information, undertake large-scale testing and establish if there has been wider community transmission,” Ardern said. “That is what we believe the cautious approach requires and its the right thing to do.”

Airlines were alerted because the woman in the infected family works for an airline catering company, LSG Sky Chefs, where she mostly works in laundry facilities, officials said. She had not been going aboard planes.

Her unidentified family was the first confirmed infection since a traveler returning from Europe tested positive on Jan. 24, which was the first case in two months.

New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, has reported a total of just over 2,330 cases and 25 deaths since the pandemic started.

Scientists are carrying out genome sequencing to see whether they are variants, and also to see whether they match with any infected passengers, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.

“New Zealand has kept COVID-19 contained better than almost any other country,” Hipkins said of the nation that closed its international borders and introduced strict social distancing early in the pandemic.

“But as we have kept saying, there is no such thing as no risk.”

With Post wires

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Rawiri Waititi Wins Tie War in New Zealand Parliament

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AUCKLAND, New Zealand — A Maori politician who says a necktie is “a colonial noose” showed up in New Zealand’s Parliament without one this week. He was promptly booted from the chamber, highlighting the tension between the vestiges of New Zealand’s colonial history and its Indigenous culture.

The politician, Rawiri Waititi, co-leader of the center-left Maori Party, instead wore a hei-tiki, a traditional pendant, around his neck in the chamber on Tuesday. In a heated exchange about the official dress code with Trevor Mallard, the speaker of the House, Mr. Waititi said he was wearing “Maori business attire.”

As he left the room, Mr. Waititi told Mr. Mallard: “It’s not about ties — it’s about cultural identity, mate.”

The whole episode, which resonated beyond New Zealand’s borders, prompted a subcommittee led by Mr. Mallard on Wednesday evening to debate whether the hei-tiki constituted business attire, and to consider abandoning the tie rule.

Nations in the region have wrestled with Indigenous issues for years, with some seeking to walk back or repair discriminatory policies encoded in their laws and traditions.

To acknowledge that it is still struggling with a shameful past and the mistreatment of Indigenous people, Australia tweaked its national anthem last year to cut the word “young” from the phrase “for we are young and free” — a nod to the implicit exclusion of the Indigenous presence before the country’s founding. But the country still celebrates Australia Day, which commemorates the arrival of the British in 1788, while Indigenous people refer to it as Invasion Day.

New Zealand has taken an assertive approach to engaging with its colonial past, and is one of the few countries with a treaty governing Indigenous land redistribution.

For decades, New Zealand’s Indigenous people were prevented from honoring their traditions. But the Maori language — which New Zealand’s Indigenous people were long barred from speaking — is undergoing something of a renaissance. Maori greetings are now common in public broadcasting; road signs are increasingly bilingual; and many young Maori have enrolled in government-supported Maori language courses in a bid to reclaim their heritage.

But archaic rules and mores are still embedded in many aspects of politics.

In 2016, Nanaia Mahuta was the first woman in Parliament to display a moko kauae, a sacred facial tattoo. When Ms. Mahuta became the country’s foreign minister last year, a conservative New Zealand author, Olivia Pierson, criticized the tattoo as inappropriate for a diplomat, calling it “the height of ugly, uncivilized wokedom.” Ms. Pierson’s comments were swiftly condemned, and her books were pulled from at least one major New Zealand retailer.

Maori make up about 21 percent of the 120-member Parliament across five parties. With his signature cowboy hat and a traditional full-facial tattoo known as ta moko, Mr. Waititi — one of two members of the Maori Party elected to Parliament last year — is a visible Maori presence in New Zealand’s halls of power. During his first speech to Parliament in December, he was asked to leave the chamber after he made a point of removing his tie, saying, “Take the noose from around my neck so that I may sing my song.”

Under parliamentary rules, male politicians have to wear jackets and ties in the debating chamber. Mr. Waititi was warned that he could be ejected again if he continued to violate the dress code.

In an op-ed article published on Wednesday in The New Zealand Herald, Mr. Waititi further cast his choice as a marker of resistance. “I took off the colonial tie as a sign that it continued to colonize, to choke and to suppress” Maori rights, he wrote. He did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The requirement that men wear ties in the chamber dates to Britain’s colonial rule of New Zealand. The equivalent rule was effectively scrapped in Britain in 2017.

Mr. Mallard, a member of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s governing Labour Party, had been asked late last year to ditch the rule. But after consulting with members, Mr. Mallard told the local news media that there was “very little support for a change,” even though he “personally loathed” the practice.

Ms. Ardern has distanced herself from the neckwear dispute.

“It’s not something I have a particularly strong opinion on,” she told reporters on Tuesday. “There are much more important issues. I’m sure this can be resolved. I don’t think most New Zealanders care about ties.”

The necktie, which has its origins in the 17th-century cravat once worn as military garb, appears to be falling out of fashion in many parts of the world. In 2006, the Men’s Dress Furnishings Association, a 60-year-old trade group representing American tie makers, announced that it would be disbanding amid declining sales.

By Wednesday afternoon, a temporary truce appeared to be in place when Mr. Mallard, the House speaker, allowed Mr. Waititi to ask questions in Parliament without a tie around his neck.

Later that evening, Mr. Mallard announced that the tie rule was no more.

“The committee did not reach a consensus, but a majority of the committee was in favor of removing the requirement,” Mr. Mallard wrote in a statement. He concluded: “As Speaker, I am guided by the committee’s discussion and decision, and therefore ties will no longer be considered required as part of ‘appropriate business attire.’”

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New Zealand virus quarantine flaw exposed

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The woman who took a flight back to New Zealand was supposed to avoid all physical contact with others for 14 days as she went into mandatory quarantine. The man working at the quarantine hotel was supposed to be the last line of defense.

But the two started passing notes to each other, including one written on the back of a face mask. Then she ordered a bottle of wine, which he delivered to her room. When he didn’t return 20 minutes later, a security manager sent to investigate found the pair together in what authorities are describing as an inappropriate encounter, one in which physical distancing wasn’t maintained.

The incident earlier this month, which came to light Friday, has highlighted a very human weak point in New Zealand’s coronavirus elimination procedures, in a country which has stamped out community spread of the virus. It is similar to lapses in Australia that may have contributed to a major outbreak last year in Melbourne.

“We’re dealing with human beings,” said COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins. “We ask everybody to adhere to the standards that we put in place. I cannot control the actions of every individual.”

Hipkins said the pair’s behavior was totally unacceptable and he’d asked for a thorough inquiry.

Brigadier Jim Bliss, the head of managed isolation and quarantine, said the worker was immediately sent home and told to self-isolate. He was later fired. The returning traveler, meanwhile, was given a formal written warning by the police. Authorities breathed a sigh of relief after both returned negative coronavirus tests.

“The actions of the two people involved in this incident are incredibly irresponsible and extremely disappointing,” Bliss said. “There is absolutely no room for complacency.”

Bliss said the actions of the staffer at the Grand Millennium Auckland hotel weren’t reflective of the 4,000 people working at quarantine hotels who each day “selflessly put themselves between us and this virus.” He said an investigation is underway to consider whether additional security measures are needed.

The identities of the two people involved have not been disclosed by authorities.

New Zealand’s successful response has resulted in just 25 people dying from the virus in a nation of 5 million. The only new cases are those originating from returning travelers, 100,000 of whom have flown in over the past year. Authorities and people around the country remain highly tuned to any breaches at the border.

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More rules for returning New Zealand travelers

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Travelers returning to New Zealand will face stricter rules at quarantine hotels as health authorities investigate how up to three people got infected with the coronavirus while isolating at Auckland’s Pullman Hotel.

The people were released before testing positive and were potentially contagious, but so far testing has shown no evidence the virus has spread in the community. New Zealand has managed to stamp out community transmission of the virus.

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said Thursday that as an interim measure, travelers would need to stay in their hotel rooms for the final days of their 14-day mandatory quarantine, and would also face stricter controls around leaving their rooms at other times.

Health authorities believe the three people at the hotel caught the virus from another returning traveler, who had the South African variant.

Meanwhile, Australia has extended its suspension on quarantine-free travel from New Zealand for another three days. Australia is requiring New Zealanders to quarantine for 14 days in hotels upon arrival.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

The Biden administration is projecting as many as 90,000 Americans will die from the coronavirus in the next four weeks. The 27-nation EU is coming under criticism for the slow rollout of its vaccination campaign. AstraZeneca and EU to meet in Brussels to talk over vaccine production delays. U.S. boosting vaccine deliveries amid complaints of shortages. IOC, Tokyo Olympics to unveil rule book for beating pandemic.

— Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

BEIJING — China saw a slight drop in cases of domestic transmission, although clusters remain stubbornly persistent in the country’s frigid northeast.

The World Health Organization experts who have been in quarantine since their arrival in Wuhan two weeks ago are expected soon to conduct field visits as part of a worldwide investigation into the origins of the coronavirus that was first detected in the central Chinese industrial center in late 2019.

The National Health Commission said Thursday that 41 new cases of domestic transmission had been reported over the previous 24 hours, down from 55 on Wednesday 69 the day before.

A total of 1,820 people were in treatment for COVID-19 and another 988 being observed in observation after testing positive but displaying no symptoms of the virus. China has reported a total of 4,636 COVID-19 deaths from among 89,326.

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Note this version has been corrected with details on the WHO team’s quarantine.

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BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia will ban flights from Brazil effective Friday over concerns of a variant of the coronavirus that is circulating in that country.

Colombia President Ivan Duque on Wednesday announced the 30-day measure. No flights will take off from Colombia to Brazil either.

In addition, anyone who arrived from Brazil to Colombia between Jan. 18 and Wednesday will have to quarantine for 14 days.

The Brazil P.1 variant was first identified in four travelers who were tested at an airport outside Tokyo. It contains a set of mutations that may affect its ability to be recognized by antibodies, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The emergence of variants is linked to ongoing surges since infections give viruses the chance to mutate and spread. It’s another reason experts stress the importance of mask wearing and social distancing.

Colombia has recorded more than 2 million cases and over 52,100 deaths of COVID-19.

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama health officials said Wednesday that the more highly transmissible COVID-19 variant seen in the United Kingdom has been found in the state.

The Alabama Department of Public Health said the variant is thought to be more contagious. It is the first time the variant has been identified in the state, although it has been detected in at least 24 other states, including Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina.

The variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in late 2020.

Health officials said the variant was found in two children and one adult in Alabama. Two cases are in Montgomery County and one is in Jefferson.

This variant is associated with increased person-to-person transmission of COVID-19, but state health officials said it “has not definitively been linked to worse outcomes of the disease.”

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SANTA FE, N.M. — Health officials in New Mexico said Wednesday that schools may have to make do with aggressive virus testing and limited vaccinations for elderly teachers, if they want to begin reopening soon.

New Mexico Health Secretary Tracie Collins said that schools can find some safety assurances by adding rapid-result tests that look for COVID-19 proteins, called antigens.

“Regarding schools reopening, you know we’re going to prioritize teachers getting a vaccine who are 75 and older,” Collins told a panel of state legislators Wednesday. “As far as the testing piece, we do have options for rapid antigen testing that we can combine. … We’ve got some things we can do to reopen these schools with a little more security behind us.”

She and Human Services Secretary David Scrase say the vaccine bottleneck is at the federal level in the supply chain, as local hospitals clamor for doses to inject at mass inoculation clinics.

“All schools can still open but if you’re in what we’re calling a red county, you would be tested much more often than you would in a yellow or green,” Scrase said, referring to color codes for infection rates.

New Mexico’s governor announced this week that all schools have the option to reopen classroom teaching on Feb. 8. The vast majority of students are confined to online learning currently.

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TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister says the President of the European Commission has reassured him any vaccine export controls the EU enacts won’t impact shipments of Canada’s doses from Europe.

Trudeau says he spoke to EU President Ursula von der Leyen who he says told him transparency measures taken by the EU will not affect Canada’s Pfizer and Moderna vaccine deliveries from Europe.

The EU has threatened to impose export controls on vaccines produced within its borders, and warned pharmaceutical companies that have developed coronavirus vaccines with EU aid that it must get its shots on schedule. All of Canada’s Pfizer and Moderna vaccines come from Europe.

Canada isn’t getting any deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine made in Europe this week, shipments are set to resume next week.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma State Department of Health will receive an approximately 16% increase in coronavirus vaccine per week during the next three weeks, deputy state health commissioner Keith Reed said Tuesday.

The announcement comes on the same day the health department reported a new one-day record of 65 deaths due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

The increase in vaccines is in line with President Joe Biden’s announcement that the U.S. is ramping up deliveries of the vaccine to provide enough doses for 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall. Oklahoma expects to receive just more than 103,000 doses per week from the federal government, an increase from just under 85,000 last week, Reed said.

“This allows us to take a look at what’s going to happen the next three weeks, it helps us to understand how much vaccine supply we have that we can support bringing on some other pandemic providers,” such as local pharmacies, to provide vaccinations, Reed said.

The record increase of 65 deaths is three more than the previous one-day record reported on Jan. 6, according to health department records. The health department also reported 2,686 new virus cases Wednesday for totals of 3,388 deaths and 379,110 cases since the pandemic began.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday extended a trio of executive orders allowing for curbside alcohol sales, a halt to evictions and a requirement for people to remain at home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

North Carolina’s modified stay-at-home directive that was set to expire on Friday will now remain in place until Feb. 28, while the eviction moratorium and allowance for the sale of “to-go” or delivery of mixed beverages remains in place through March 31.

The Democratic governor’s extensions come as prominent state Republicans expressed their frustrations over a new coronavirus vaccine distribution strategy from Cooper’s administration that critics argue has prioritized speed over equity.

During a news conference, Cooper reiterated his desire to distribute the doses received by President Joe Biden’s administration quickly and equitably.

“The top priority in our state is getting vaccines to people as quickly and as equitably as possible,” Cooper said. “As of today, North Carolina has administered 99.8% of all the first doses that we have received from the federal government.”

Top Republican lawmakers on Wednesday signaled more scrutiny of the vaccine rollout.

Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters it makes no sense why state officials couldn’t distribute doses to ensure vaccine appointments occur as scheduled. Instead, Berger said, some older residents whose appointments were canceled may have to wait a month longer to obtain a shot.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan and the Washtenaw County Health Department asked students Wednesday to avoid leaving their residences to slow the spread of COVID-19 and a more contagious variant.

There have been 175 COVID-19 cases in the student population since the new semester started on Jan. 19 and 14 of those cases have been a variant, according to a news release from the Washtenaw County Health Department.

The stay-in-place recommendation is effective immediately and will run through Feb. 7. The university and county health department are asking students to limit leaving their residence to going to classes, getting food, work and other necessary in-person activities.

The health department said in the news release that if the case counts continues to rise, stricter measures will have to be applied.

The recommendation came just days after the state health department recommended the university pause all athletics after several individuals linked to athletics tested positive for COVID-19 and the university complied.

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MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin will become one of only 10 states without statewide mask mandates if the Assembly votes as scheduled Thursday to overturn Gov. Tony Evers’ order, but masks will still be required in some of its largest cities thanks to local ordinances.

More than two dozen public health organizations, as well as state and local health officials, have urged the Republican-controlled Legislature to reconsider the scheduled vote. Wearing masks is one of the pillars of recommendations from health experts worldwide to slow the spread of the coronavirus, along with physically distancing and avoiding crowds.

The move comes as Wisconsin lags in distribution of coronavirus vaccines, health officials warn about the spread of contagious new variants and total deaths due to COVID-19 near 6,000.

Republican lawmakers contend that Evers exceeded his authority by issuing multiple health emergencies, and mask orders, rather than coming to the Legislature for approval every 60 days.

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the President of the European Commission has reassured him any vaccine export controls the EU enacts won’t impact shipments of Canada’s doses from Europe.

Trudeau says he spoke to EU President Ursula von der Leyen who he says told him transparency measures taken by the EU will not affect Canada’s Pfizer and Moderna vaccine deliveries from Europe.

The EU has threatened to impose export controls on vaccines produced within its borders, and warned pharmaceutical companies that have developed coronavirus vaccines with EU aid that it must get its shots on schedule. All of Canada’s Pfizer and Moderna vaccines come from Europe.

Canada isn’t getting any deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine made in Europe this week, shipments are set to resume next week.

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O’FALLON, Mo. — Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s spokeswoman said Wednesday that the state plans to divert thousands of unused doses of coronavirus vaccine from CVS and Walgreens pharmacies to other state-enrolled vaccinators in Missouri to help the slower-than-expected vaccination process.

Spokeswoman Kelli Jones said the administration has requested the return of 25,000 doses from CVS and Walgreens, which would then be re-routed to county health departments, medical hospitals and clinics and hundreds of other state-approved vaccinators.

CVS and Walgreens were tasked with providing vaccinations at long-term care facilities under a Trump administration plan unveiled in December. Jones said Missouri’s new plan won’t affect shots for workers and residents at those facilities that have been ravaged by COVID-19.

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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is projecting as many as 90,000 Americans will die from the coronavirus in the next four weeks.

That warning came Wednesday as the administration held its first televised science briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic. In the briefing, experts outlined efforts to improve the delivery and injection of vaccines.

The administration is examining additional ways of speeding vaccine production, a day after President Joe Biden announced the U.S. plans to have delivered enough doses for 300 million Americans by the end of summer.

Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says there’s concern about virus variants. But he says vaccines provide a “cushion” of effectiveness, adding the government was working with pharmaceutical companies on potential “booster” shots for the new variants.

The Biden administration is asking citizens to recommit to social distancing measures and mask-wearing, pointing to scientific models that suggest those practices could save 50,000 lives over the coming months.

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LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has indicated that the coronavirus lockdown in England will remain in place until at least March 8.

In a statement to lawmakers, Johnson also confirmed new restrictions for travelers arriving in England from countries deemed to be high-risk. He says the U.K. remains in a “perilous situation” with more than 37,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, nearly double the number during the previous peak in April.

While dashing any hopes that students would return to classrooms after a mid-February school break, Johnson says the March 8 aspiration is based on progress on the vaccination front.

On Tuesday, the U.K. became the fifth country to record more than 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths.

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JOHANNESBURG — South Africa is preparing to roll out its first vaccines to the country’s frontline health care workers.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says a delivery of 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to arrive at Johannesburg’s international airport on Monday. There are plans for shots to be given to doctors and nurses starting in mid-February. Mkhize says South Africa intends to vaccinate 67% of its 60 million people in 2021, starting with the most vulnerable health care workers.

South Africa has 1.4 million confirmed cases and 41,797 deaths, representing about 40% of the cases reported by all of Africa’s 54 countries.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma has reported a new one-day record of 65 deaths from COVID-19.

The previous one-day record of 62 was reported Jan. 6, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

The department also reported 2,686 new cases Wednesday for totals of 3,388 confirmed deaths and 379,110 cases since the start of the pandemic.

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NEW ORLEANS — Coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings are easing a bit in New Orleans, but bars in the city will stay closed through the Mardi Gras season. City officials say a ban on public events will be eased Friday. Indoor gatherings of up to 10 people and outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people will be allowed. Capacity limits on restaurants — and bars that provide restaurant food service — will go from 25% to 50%.

Also, New Orleans education officials said students in kindergarten through eighth grade will begin returning to class on Monday. Most high school students will continue online learning until later in February.

The easing of restrictions comes as local authorities report that the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests has dropped below 5%. Statewide hospitalization numbers also have been falling in recent weeks.

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World

New Zealand coronavirus: borders may stay shut for most of the year Jacinda Ardern says

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Medical authorities, meanwhile, may approve a Covid-19 vaccine as early as next week, Ardern said, as pressure mounts for a start to vaccinations after the country confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus in the community in months.

“Given the risks in the world around us and the uncertainty of the global rollout of the vaccine, we can expect our borders to be impacted for much of this year,” Ardern said at a news conference.

For travel to restart, authorities either needed confidence that those vaccinated don’t pass Covid-19 on to others, which is not yet known, or enough of the population needed to be vaccinated so people can safely re-enter New Zealand.

But both possibilities will take some time, she said.

“In the meantime, we will continue to pursue travel bubbles with Australia and the Pacific, but the rest of the world simply poses too great a risk to our health and our economy to take the risk at this stage.”

The recent community case, in a woman who returned to New Zealand on December 30 and had tested positive for the South African strain of the virus after leaving a two-week mandatory quarantine, led Australia to immediately suspend a travel bubble with New Zealand for 72 hours.

Ardern said the country’s medicines regulator Medsafe was working towards granting provisional approval for the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE vaccine.

The first vaccines are due to arrive in New Zealand by the end of the first quarter, but the government wanted everything is in place in case of an earlier arrival.

A tough lockdown and geographical isolation helped the country of 5 million virtually eliminate the novel coronavirus within its borders.

New Zealand reported 2 new cases of Covid-19 at its managed isolation facilities on Tuesday and no new community cases. The country has 65 active cases, 1,934 confirmed cases in all, and 25 deaths.

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