Covid news: Anti-vax mob targets UK opposition leader; Sweden eases travel curbs

Staying with the UK for the moment, Boris Johnson has come under fresh pressure over the Jimmy Savile smear he aimed at Keir Starmer after the Labour leader had to be rescued by police from a mob of anti-vaxxers near parliament.

Starmer faced baseless allegations of “protecting paedophiles” and chants about the sex offender from protesters before being bundled into a police car for protection, the Press Association reported.

Johnson tweeted that the “behaviour directed” at the Labour leader was “absolutely disgraceful” but did not address the nature of the abuse.

The behaviour directed at the Leader of the Opposition tonight is absolutely disgraceful. All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable.

I thank the police for responding swiftly.

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) February 7, 2022

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The behaviour directed at the Leader of the Opposition tonight is absolutely disgraceful. All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable.
I thank the police for responding swiftly.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) February 7, 2022

Officers stepped in to protect the opposition leader as the group, some protesting against Covid measures, followed him from outside Scotland Yard.

On at least two videos posted to social media, a man and a woman were heard shouting about Savile to the Labour leader, as he walked with the shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy.

At least one person was heard repeatedly shouting about “protecting paedophiles”.

Last week, an under-pressure Johnson accused Starmer of having “used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile” while director of public prosecutions (DPP).

Keir Starmer being taken away in a police car after being confronted by conspiracy theorists. Photograph: Conor Noon/PA

That’s it from me, Helen Livingstone, for now. Please join us a little later for a new live feed where we will continue to cover the coronavirus crisis.

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You can also keep up with the top headlines here.

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

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Protesters against Covid vaccine mandates for truckers have defied government calls for them to end an 11-day occupation of Canada’s capital, a day after Ottawa’s mayor declared a state of emergency and promised to “get the city back”.

In the UK, MPs from all sides angrily rounded on Boris Johnson and accused him of whipping up political poison after the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, was set upon by protesters who accused him of protecting the paedophile Jimmy Savile. Johnson provoked widespread fury last week when he falsely suggested Starmer had protected Savile during his time as director of public prosecutions.

Sweden will lift its travel restrictions for foreign nationals travelling to Sweden from Nordic countries and the rest of the European Union and European Economic Area from Wednesday, the government has announced.

The German government is working on plans to relax coronavirus restrictions after the peak in new cases has passed, most likely by the end of February.

Australia will open its border for fully vaccinated tourists and all visa holders on 21 February, almost two years after borders were first closed.

Democratic leaders in the US Congress are holding a moment of silence on Monday to commemorate the 900,000 American lives lost to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Turkish prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for former Olympic swimmer Derya Buyukuncu over tweets appearing to express relief that president Recep Tayyip Erdogan tested positive for Covid-19.

The number of positive Covid-19 cases in the English Premier League, the most watched sports league in the world, has doubled in a week to 22 cases, but with a far higher number of tests being carried out.

Hong Kong has reported a record 614 cases and many of its residents have begun to crowd supermarkets in an effort to stock up on food and other necessities. One vegetable vendor told Reuters supplies had dropped by 30%.

Prof John Bell, an Oxford scientist who worked on the AstraZeneca vaccine, has accused scientists and politicians of having “probably killed hundreds of thousands of people” by damaging its reputation.

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Brazil recorded 66,583 new coronavirus cases and 428 Covid deaths in the past 24 hours, its health ministry confirmed on Monday.

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Brazil has now registered over 26.6 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 632,621, according to ministry data.

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That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Helen Livingstone will be along shortly to continue bringing you the latest coronavirus news.

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday advised against travel to six countries including Japan, Cuba, Libya, Armenia, Oman and the Democratic Republic of Congo over Covid cases.

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The CDC now lists more than 130 countries and territories with Covid cases as “Level Four: Very High.”

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It lists just over 50 countries as “Level Three: High,” discouraging non-essential travel by unvaccinated Americans.

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Sweden will lift its travel restrictions for foreign nationals travelling to Sweden from Nordic countries and the rest of the European Union and European Economic Area from Wednesday, the Swedish government has announced.

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The travel bans, which were introduced to slow the spread of the coronavirus, will be lifted on the same day that Sweden is due to lift pandemic restrictions that had been extended last month.

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On Monday, the UK recorded a further 57,623 coronavirus cases and 45 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

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These figures brings the total number of coronavirus deaths within 28 days of a positive test to be 158,363, while there as been a total of 17,866,632 total cases.

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The mayor of Canada’s capital has declared a state of emergency, AP reports, as protesters opposed to Covid-19 restrictions continued to paralyse Ottawa’s downtown. Jim Watson said the declaration highlighted the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government. It gives the city some additional powers around procurement and how it delivers services, which could help purchase equipment required by frontline workers and first responders.

The prime minister of Papua New Guinea tested positive for Covid arriving in Beijing last week for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. James Marape was immediately given medical treatment, missed Friday’s ceremony and returned home on Sunday night, according to a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.

An Oxford scientist who worked on the AstraZeneca vaccine has accused scientists and politicians of having “probably killed hundreds of thousands of people” by damaging its reputation. Prof John Bell told the BBC: “They have damaged the reputation of the vaccine in a way that echoes around the rest of the world.”Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said Omicron has caused “really high levels of staff absence” – and that the problem is ongoing. She said that most recently around 70,000 staff had been absent across the NHS – 40% of whom were absent as a result of either Omicron of coronavirus measures.

Sajid Javid, the UK health secretary, has said he believes the NHS waiting list is going to grow even more due to 8-9 million people who have stayed away during the pandemic. Speaking on Sky News, he urged those who have stayed away to “please come forward”. He said “it’s hard to know” how long it’s going to take for the NHS to recover following Covid.

Nigeria has received 2m doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine from Finland, Greece and Slovenia, with more EU donations set to arrive in the coming weeks, government officials said on Monday.

Russia has reported 171,905 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, and a further 609 deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, the country has now seen over 12.6 million cases and 329,000 deaths.

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The prime minister of Papua New Guinea tested positive for Covid arriving in Beijing last week for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. James Marape was immediately given medical treatment, missed Friday’s ceremony and returned home on Sunday night, according to a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.

Northern Ireland has reported a significant increase in young people in mental health crisis seeking hospital help during the pandemic. Referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) from hospital emergency departments went up by 24% between 2019-20 and 2020-21, reports the BBC.

Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said Omicron has caused “really high levels of staff absence” – and that the problem is ongoing. She said that most recently around 70,000 staff had been absent across the NHS – 40% of whom were absent as a result of either Omicron of coronavirus measures.

An Oxford scientist who worked on the AstraZeneca vaccine has accused scientists and politicians of having “probably killed hundreds of thousands of people” by damaging its reputation. Prof John Bell told the BBC: “They have damaged the reputation of the vaccine in a way that echoes around the rest of the world.”

Sajid Javid, the UK health secretary, has said he believes the NHS waiting list is going to grow even more due to 8-9 million people who have stayed away during the pandemic. Speaking on Sky News, he urged those who have stayed away to “please come forward”. He said “it’s hard to know” how long it’s going to take for the NHS to recover following Covid.

The mayor of Canada’s capital has declared a state of emergency, AP reports, as protesters opposed to Covid-19 restrictions continued to paralyse Ottawa’s downtown. Jim Watson said the declaration highlighted the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government. It gives the city some additional powers around procurement and how it delivers services, which could help purchase equipment required by frontline workers and first responders.

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Handing over the blog to Tobi Thomas now. Thanks for reading.

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The prime minister of Papua New Guinea tested positive for Covid when he arrived in Beijing last week for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, reports the Associated Press.

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James Marape was immediately given medical treatment, missed Friday’s ceremony and returned home on Sunday night, according to a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.

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He held a meeting with Chinese premier Li Keqiang via video link while he was in Beijing, the spokesperson said. Marape’s current condition is unknown.

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It comes as Papua New Guinea, where less than 4% of the population is vaccinated, is seeing a surge of Omicron cases.

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GMT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1644231612000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”11.00 GMT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1644231612000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”11.00 GMT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”11.00″,”title”:”PM of Papua New Guinea tested positive for Covid arriving in Beijing for Winter Olympics”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Mon 7 Feb 2022 23.59 GMT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Mon 7 Feb 2022 05.20 GMT”},{“id”:”6200d8c08f0893d19d16d1f5″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said Omicron has caused “really high levels of staff absence” – and that the problem is ongoing.

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She said that most recently around 70,000 staff had been absent across the NHS – 40% of whom were absent as a result of either Omicron of coronavirus measures.

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“That’s a very high level of staff away from their frontline jobs,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today. And said that the problem with absence “persists”.

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She said it was important that NHS leaders see the full government plan to tackle the backlog “as quickly as possible” to tackle the “very long waiting lists which built up during the pandemic”.

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Sajid Javid, the UK health secretary, has said he believes the NHS waiting list is going to grow even more due to 8-9 million people who have stayed away during the pandemic.

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Speaking on Sky News, he urged those who have stayed away to “please come forward”.

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He said “it’s hard to know” how long it’s going to take for the NHS to recover following Covid.

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“I want them all to come back because I want them to know the NHS is there, it’s open for them,” he said.

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He said there was no issue with the Treasury and that delays were a result of Omicron.

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Javid said patients will be able to check waiting times for their trust online through the “my planned care” service.

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“The waiting list is going to continue to rise for a while before it starts to fall.”@SajidJavid announces an online service which will allow patients to track their place on NHS waiting lists.#KayBurley: https://t.co/3V4jduW7W0
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, and Freeview 233 pic.twitter.com/yuDcSpPg23
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 7, 2022

n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1490585766728290305?s=20&t=VMKr7debGl3bekVtb7ta1w”,”id”:”1490585766728290305″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”2441dce4-3d90-4fce-9a02-03c926f27f74″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Hi, I will be looking after the global Covid blog for the next few hours. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk

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That’s it from me, Helen Livingstone, I’m handing you over to my colleague Miranda Bryant.

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Before I go, here’s a roundup of the latest Covid developments around the world:

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The mayor of Canada’s capital has declared a state of emergency as protesters opposed to Covid-19 restrictions continued to paralyse central Ottawa. Jim Watson said the declaration highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government.

Hong Kong is expected to report a record of around 610 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, broadcaster TVB has reported, in the biggest test yet for the city’s zero-Covid strategy as it grapples to contain a growing outbreak.

More than 17 million Vietnamese students are due to return to school for the first time in about a year, the health ministry has said, as authorities announced plans to start vaccinating children from as young as five against Covid-19.

Indonesia will tighten social restrictions in the capital Jakarta and the holiday island of Bali as coronavirus cases rise sharply while foreign tourists have temporarily been banned from entering the country through Jakarta’s airport.

The Chinese city of Baise in Guangxi, population 3.57 million, has been locked down because of a Covid outbreak. The outbreak is tiny by global standards, but the curbs, including a ban on non-essential trips in and out, follow a national guideline to quickly contain any flare-ups.

That news comes as China’s chief epidemiologist, Wu Zunyou, says that as long as there’s no other way to contain the spread of the virus, the country won’t adjust its “dynamic Zero Covid” pandemic control policy.

Australia’s borders will open to all remaining visa holders on 21 February – if they’re double vaccinated. Prime minister Scott Morrison said “events earlier in the year”, assumed to be a reference to tennis star Novak Djokovic, would have made Australia’s position on vaccination clear.

Xiomara Castro, the president of Central American country Honduras, has tested positive for Covid-19. In a tweet, she said she had mild symptoms.

Authorities in India have approved Russia’s one-jab Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine. It will be the second Russian-developed jab to be approved by the country, after Sputnik V was allowed in April 2021.

Papua New Guinea’s prime minister James Marape tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in Beijing on Thursday for the opening of the Winter Games and will not be travelling to France next week for an Indo-Pacific summit, his office has said.

UK travellers have been warned to check their half-term holiday plans to make sure they meet Covid vaccination rules when travelling to EU destinations as a growing number of countries impose new restrictions.

Boris Johnson’s desperate efforts to save his premiership have been undermined with one of his most loyal backbench supporters saying it was now “inevitable” that Tory MPs would remove him from office over the “partygate” scandal.

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The mayor of Canada’s capital has declared a state of emergency, AP reports, as protesters opposed to Covid-19 restrictions continued to paralyse Ottawa’s downtown.

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Jim Watson said the declaration highlighted the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government. It gives the city some additional powers around procurement and how it delivers services, which could help purchase equipment required by frontline workers and first responders.

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Thousands of protesters descended on Ottawa again on the weekend, joining a hundred who had remained since last weekend. Residents of Ottawa are furious at the nonstop blaring of horns, traffic disruption and harassment and fear no end is in sight after the police chief called it a “siege” that he could not manage.

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The “freedom truck convoy” has attracted support from many US Republicans including former president Donald Trump, who called the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, a “far-left lunatic” who has “destroyed Canada with insane Covid mandates”.

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Goodbye and summary

That’s it from me, Helen Livingstone, for now. 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:

Protesters against Covid vaccine mandates for truckers have defied government calls for them to end an 11-day occupation of Canada’s capital, a day after Ottawa’s mayor declared a state of emergency and promised to “get the city back”.
In the UK, MPs from all sides angrily rounded on Boris Johnson and accused him of whipping up political poison after the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, was set upon by protesters who accused him of protecting the paedophile Jimmy Savile. Johnson provoked widespread fury last week when he falsely suggested Starmer had protected Savile during his time as director of public prosecutions.
Sweden will lift its travel restrictions for foreign nationals travelling to Sweden from Nordic countries and the rest of the European Union and European Economic Area from Wednesday, the government has announced.
The German government is working on plans to relax coronavirus restrictions after the peak in new cases has passed, most likely by the end of February.
Australia will open its border for fully vaccinated tourists and all visa holders on 21 February, almost two years after borders were first closed.
Democratic leaders in the US Congress are holding a moment of silence on Monday to commemorate the 900,000 American lives lost to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Turkish prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for former Olympic swimmer Derya Buyukuncu over tweets appearing to express relief that president Recep Tayyip Erdogan tested positive for Covid-19.
The number of positive Covid-19 cases in the English Premier League, the most watched sports league in the world, has doubled in a week to 22 cases, but with a far higher number of tests being carried out.
Hong Kong has reported a record 614 cases and many of its residents have begun to crowd supermarkets in an effort to stock up on food and other necessities. One vegetable vendor told Reuters supplies had dropped by 30%.
Prof John Bell, an Oxford scientist who worked on the AstraZeneca vaccine, has accused scientists and politicians of having “probably killed hundreds of thousands of people” by damaging its reputation.

Turkish prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for a former Olympic swimmer over tweets appearing to express relief that president Recep Tayyip Erdogan tested positive for Covid-19.

Erdogan, 67, said he had a “mild” infection on Saturday and was working from home.

He posted several tweets on Monday expressing thanks to leaders and officials who wished him well.

But an account believed by prosecutors to belong to Derya Buyukuncu – a six-time backstroke and butterfly Olympian – posted a tweet saying he was making extra pots of a sweet traditionally handed out at funerals.

The Istanbul public prosecutor’s office issued a warrant for Buyukuncu as part of an investigation into “criminal social media postings” about the president’s infection.

Turkey’s Derya Buyukuncu after the men’s 200m backstroke heats at the London 2012 Olympics. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

The crime of insulting the Turkish president is punishable by up to four years in jail.

The whereabouts of Buyukuncu, who has also starred in a popular Turkish reality TV show, were not immediately clear.

Prosecutors issued eight arrest warrants on Sunday in connection with posts about Erdogan’s health, detaining four people.

Turkish officials have launched more than 160,000 investigations over alleged insults to the president since 2014, when Erdogan assumed the post after more than a decade as prime minister.

Courts have also handed down 3,625 jail sentences on insult charges.

Last month, well-known television journalist Sedef Kabas was arrested on insult charges for comments she made on air about Erdogan.

Erdogan, who has had three doses of a coronavirus vaccine, said on Twitter his symptoms “remained mild” after a routine doctor’s visit on Sunday.

“My wife – Mrs Emine – and I continue to work from home,” Erdogan wrote.

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar announced on Sunday he had also tested positive for Covid-19 after accompanying Erdogan on a visit to Ukraine last week.

Hello, this is Helen Livingstone taking over the blog from my colleague Tom Ambrose.

Democratic leaders in the US Congress are planning to hold a moment of silence on Monday to commemorate the 900,000 American lives lost to the Covid-19 pandemic, Reuters reports.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will gather on the steps of the US Capitol building at 7 pm ET (0000 GMT), joined by congressional leadership and a bipartisan group of legislators, according to Pelosi’s office.

The US reached the milestone of 900,000 deaths from Covid-19 on Friday, according to data collected by Reuters, totalling 906,017 deaths as of Monday.

The figure marks an increase of more than 100,000 US Covid-19 fatalities since 12 December coinciding with a surge of infections and hospitalisations driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant of the virus.

Brazil reports 66,583 new cases of Covid, 428 more deaths

Brazil recorded 66,583 new coronavirus cases and 428 Covid deaths in the past 24 hours, its health ministry confirmed on Monday.

Brazil has now registered over 26.6 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 632,621, according to ministry data.

People are vaccinated against Covid-19, a disease caused by the coronavirus, at UBS Humaita, in the Bela Vista neighbourhood, in Sao Paulo. — People being vaccinated against Covid-19 at UBS Humaita in the Bela Vista neighbourhood of São Paulo. Photograph: Leco Viana/via Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Helen Livingstone will be along shortly to continue bringing you the latest coronavirus news.

Johnson tweeted that the “behaviour directed” at the Labour leader was “absolutely disgraceful” but did not address the nature of the abuse.

The behaviour directed at the Leader of the Opposition tonight is absolutely disgraceful. All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable.

I thank the police for responding swiftly.

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) February 7, 2022

The behaviour directed at the Leader of the Opposition tonight is absolutely disgraceful. All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable.
I thank the police for responding swiftly.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) February 7, 2022

Officers stepped in to protect the opposition leader as the group, some protesting against Covid measures, followed him from outside Scotland Yard.

On at least two videos posted to social media, a man and a woman were heard shouting about Savile to the Labour leader, as he walked with the shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy.

At least one person was heard repeatedly shouting about “protecting paedophiles”.

Last week, an under-pressure Johnson accused Starmer of having “used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile” while director of public prosecutions (DPP).

Jessica Elgot

In the UK, MPs from all sides angrily rounded on Boris Johnson and accused him of whipping up political poison after the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, was set upon by protesters who accused him of protecting the paedophile Jimmy Savile.

Johnson provoked widespread fury last week when he suggested Starmer had protected Savile during his time as director of public prosecutions. The comments drew criticism from two former Tory chief whips and prompted the resignation of a long-serving aide.

On Monday, Starmer and the shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, had to be bundled into a police car after anti-vax protesters surrounded him near parliament with shouts of “traitor” and “Jimmy Savile”. One witness said a protester carried a hangman’s noose prop, which another protester had joked was for Starmer.

Anti-vax protesters shouting false Savile slurs target Keir Starmer – video

Lammy said it was “no surprise the conspiracy theorist thugs who harassed Keir Starmer and I repeated slurs we heard from Boris Johnson last week at the dispatch box. Intimidation, harassment and lies have no place in our democracy. And they won’t ever stop me doing my job.”

The former chief whip Julian Smith, who has called on Johnson to apologise, described the events as appalling. “It is really important for our democracy and for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.”

The German government is working on plans to relax coronavirus restrictions after the peak in new cases has passed, most likely by the end of February.

Unlike some of its European neighbours, Germany still has many pandemic restrictions in place that exclude unvaccinated people from restaurants, public venues and some stores.

“Perspectives for opening are being developed,” government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann told reporters. She said the measures would be discussed at a meeting of federal and state officials on 16 February, but would only take effect when authorities can be sure that Germany’s health system won’t be overwhelmed.

“According to experts, that could be by mid-to-end February,” she said.

Germany has seen a sharp spike in newly confirmed cases in recent weeks due to the omicron variant.

Pharmacists in the country are scheduled to begin offering vaccinations Tuesday, after parliament changed the rules so that they, dentists and vets could also administer the shoots.

US CDC advises against travel to Japan, Cuba, Armenia over Covid

The CDC now lists more than 130 countries and territories with Covid cases as “Level Four: Very High.”

It lists just over 50 countries as “Level Three: High,” discouraging non-essential travel by unvaccinated Americans.

Tracey Lindeman

Protesters against Covid vaccine mandates for truckers have defied government calls for them to end an 11-day occupation of Canada’s capital, a day after the city’s mayor declared a state of emergency and promised to “get the city back”.

Ottawa police have described the protest as a “siege” on the city, where hundreds of trucks and cars have blockaded the downtown areas. On Sunday, Mayor Jim Watson warned that officials were “losing this battle”, and a civil class-action lawsuit was filed against protesters over the incessant horn blasting and disruption to daily life.

But on Monday morning a 10am deadline – which asked protesters to leave of their own volition or face damages of nearly C$10m (US$7.9m) – came and went with no sign that an end to the protest was at hand.

Dozens of big-rig trucks, RVs and pickups remained parked in front of Parliament Hill and nearby streets, and protesters showed no signs of leaving.

Hello. I’m Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you all the latest Covid news throughout the next few hours.

Let’s start with the news that, in the US, the governors of New Jersey and Delaware have said their states would lift school mask mandates in the coming weeks.

The change signals a desire by at least some Democratic state governors, including New Jersey’s Phil Murphy and Delaware’s John Carney, to take their states off emergency footing and shift toward policies that treat the virus as part of normal life.

By no longer requiring students, teachers and administrators to wear masks in schools to wear masks, the governors are also seeking to blunt one of the most divisive issues of the pandemic, Reuters reported.

Republican leaders in some states, including Florida and Texas, have banned mask mandates in schools, while Democrats have generally encouraged the policy to help stall new infection.

In New Jersey, where the number of new cases have decreased over the past two weeks, Governor Murphy announced the state would lift its school mask mandate on 7 March.

Lorenzo Tondo

The anti-vaccine parents of a boy in need of a blood transfusion, before undergoing a delicate heart surgery, have refused to receive blood for their child from Covid-vaccinated donors. The couple, both from Modena, in the North of Italy, informed the Bologna’s Sant’Orsola Hospital that they were “adamant that our child will only get unvaccinated blood”.

A judge’s ruling is expected by Tuesday, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Meanwhile, in just 1 month, five unvaccinated members of a family from Enna, in Sicily, have died after contracting COVID-19. The victims are the 80-year-old father, who died at the end of December at home, shortly after the arrival of an ambulance, followed by the 78-year-old mother. Their 50-year-old son and his two sisters aged 55 and 52, died a few weeks later, in a hospital in Enna where the rest of the family had been admitted.

France reported on Monday that there are 3,622 patients in intensive care units with coronavirus, an increase by 45 as of yesterday.

The country has also reported a total of 105,520 coronavirus deaths in hospital.

Sweden to ease travel restrictions

The travel bans, which were introduced to slow the spread of the coronavirus, will be lifted on the same day that Sweden is due to lift pandemic restrictions that had been extended last month.