Coronavirus live news: US cases increase 14% in one week, France to reopen UK border | World news

A mass Covid-19 testing programme for British truck drivers is to get under way to relieve congestion at British ports following an agreement to reopen the border between France and the UK.

The UK Department for Transport made the announcement late on Tuesday, hours after Paris said passengers from Britain could enter France following a 48-hour blockade aimed at stopping the spread of a new coronavirus variant that left thousands of HGVs stranded outside UK ports before Christmas.

Rail, air and sea services would resume from Wednesday morning, the DfT said, with all people travelling from the UK into France required to show proof of a negative test taken within the previous 72 hours.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said lateral flow tests, which take about 30 minutes, could be used to test those eligible to cross the French border, but urged hauliers not to travel to Kent until the testing programme was operational.

You can read our full story below:

China reported 15 new Covid cases on 22 December, the same as a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Wednesday.

The National Health Commission, in a statement, said 14 of the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas. The commission also reported one local transmission in Liaoning province.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, fell to 14 from 17 cases a day earlier.

The total number of confirmed cases in China now stands at 86,882, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

We are crossing live to Australia where the premiere of New South Wales is giving an update on how Christmas will run for greater Sydney, after a serious outbreak on the northern beaches of the city.

Gladys Berejiklian says the current restrictions for greater Sydney will stay the same over Christmas – which is that you can only have 10 visitors to your home. However, premier Gladys Berejiklian says there is one “small tweak”, which is children under 12 are not counted. That applies for December 24, 25, 26 and 27.

“Can I stress, you cannot have different groups of 10 people during the day. It’s one group of 10 and you have to stick that group of 10, plus kids under 12.”

“But come 27 December for Greater Sydney, we go back to just 10 per household full stop,” Berejiklian says.

“Every other restriction remains in place but for that addition over the Christmas period,” she says.

Sydney recorded eight new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, with me, Alison Rourke.

The World Health Organization says weekly cases of coronavirus to 20 December were the highest since the start of the pandemic. New cases rose by 6%, or by 4.6m, the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological update. New deaths rose by 4% or around 79,000 in the same period. Europe accounted for the highest number of new deaths or over 36,000 which was nearly half of the weekly global total, the WHO said.

Other key developments include:

• Britain is to begin mass testing truck drivers as France reopens border. A mass Covid-19 testing programme for lorry drivers is to get under way to alleviate congestion at British ports following an agreement to reopen the border between France and the UK. The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said lateral flow tests, which take about 30 minutes, could be used to test those able to cross the French border.
• Relatives of Italian Covid victims to file lawsuit against leading politicians. Relatives of coronavirus victims in Italy are taking legal action against the prime minister, health minister and the president of the Lombardy region for alleged criminal negligence over their handling of the pandemic.
• Biden will seek new Covid-19 relief package next year and says “darkest days” are ahead. US president-elect Joe Biden said his administration will put forward another Covid-19 relief package next year, including a new round of stimulus payments. “Here is the simple truth: our darkest days in the battle against Covid are ahead of us, not behind us,” he said.
• South Africa struggles to contain second Covid wave with new variant. South Africa is struggling to contain a second wave of Covid-19 infections which appears to be driven by a new and more infectious variant of the disease, similar to that in the UK.
• NHS leaders raise concerns over pace of Covid vaccine rollout. NHS leaders in England have raised concerns about the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, with more than half of hospital trusts and two-thirds of GPs yet to receive supplies amid growing alarm over the new fast-spreading variant.
• Covid could shorten US life expectancy by up to three years, experts say. The US could see a decline of two to three years in life expectancy in 2020 due to the coronavirus, the steepest drop since the second world war and with Covid-19 poised to become the third-leading cause of death in America.
• California records half a million Covid cases in two weeks. The state could be facing a once-unthinkable scenario of nearly 100,000 hospitalisations within a month, overwhelming emergency rooms across the state.
• Weekly Covid-19 cases hit record fuelled by Americas. Weekly Covid-19 cases rose by the highest amount since the pandemic began, the World Health Organization said, with the Americas accounting for half of them.
• Nicola Sturgeon apologises for breaching Covid rules. Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has apologised after she breached Covid rules by taking off her face mask at a funeral wake.
• AstraZeneca says its vaccine should be effective against new coronavirus variant. British drugmaker AstraZeneca told Reuters its Covid-19 vaccine should be effective against the new coronavirus variant, adding studies were underway to fully probe the impact of the mutation.

A mass Covid-19 testing programme for British truck drivers is to get under way to relieve congestion at British ports following an agreement to reopen the border between France and the UK.

The UK Department for Transport made the announcement late on Tuesday, hours after Paris said passengers from Britain could enter France following a 48-hour blockade aimed at stopping the spread of a new coronavirus variant that left thousands of HGVs stranded outside UK ports before Christmas.

Rail, air and sea services would resume from Wednesday morning, the DfT said, with all people travelling from the UK into France required to show proof of a negative test taken within the previous 72 hours.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said lateral flow tests, which take about 30 minutes, could be used to test those eligible to cross the French border, but urged hauliers not to travel to Kent until the testing programme was operational.

You can read our full story below:

China reported 15 new Covid cases on 22 December, the same as a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Wednesday.

The National Health Commission, in a statement, said 14 of the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas. The commission also reported one local transmission in Liaoning province.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, fell to 14 from 17 cases a day earlier.

The total number of confirmed cases in China now stands at 86,882, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

We are crossing live to Australia where the premiere of New South Wales is giving an update on how Christmas will run for greater Sydney, after a serious outbreak on the northern beaches of the city.

Gladys Berejiklian says the current restrictions for greater Sydney will stay the same over Christmas – which is that you can only have 10 visitors to your home. However, premier Gladys Berejiklian says there is one “small tweak”, which is children under 12 are not counted. That applies for December 24, 25, 26 and 27.

“Can I stress, you cannot have different groups of 10 people during the day. It’s one group of 10 and you have to stick that group of 10, plus kids under 12.”

“But come 27 December for Greater Sydney, we go back to just 10 per household full stop,” Berejiklian says.

“Every other restriction remains in place but for that addition over the Christmas period,” she says.

Sydney recorded eight new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, with me, Alison Rourke.

The World Health Organization says weekly cases of coronavirus to 20 December were the highest since the start of the pandemic. New cases rose by 6%, or by 4.6m, the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological update. New deaths rose by 4% or around 79,000 in the same period. Europe accounted for the highest number of new deaths or over 36,000 which was nearly half of the weekly global total, the WHO said.

Other key developments include:

• Britain is to begin mass testing truck drivers as France reopens border. A mass Covid-19 testing programme for lorry drivers is to get under way to alleviate congestion at British ports following an agreement to reopen the border between France and the UK. The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said lateral flow tests, which take about 30 minutes, could be used to test those able to cross the French border.
• Relatives of Italian Covid victims to file lawsuit against leading politicians. Relatives of coronavirus victims in Italy are taking legal action against the prime minister, health minister and the president of the Lombardy region for alleged criminal negligence over their handling of the pandemic.
• Biden will seek new Covid-19 relief package next year and says “darkest days” are ahead. US president-elect Joe Biden said his administration will put forward another Covid-19 relief package next year, including a new round of stimulus payments. “Here is the simple truth: our darkest days in the battle against Covid are ahead of us, not behind us,” he said.
• South Africa struggles to contain second Covid wave with new variant. South Africa is struggling to contain a second wave of Covid-19 infections which appears to be driven by a new and more infectious variant of the disease, similar to that in the UK.
• NHS leaders raise concerns over pace of Covid vaccine rollout. NHS leaders in England have raised concerns about the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, with more than half of hospital trusts and two-thirds of GPs yet to receive supplies amid growing alarm over the new fast-spreading variant.
• Covid could shorten US life expectancy by up to three years, experts say. The US could see a decline of two to three years in life expectancy in 2020 due to the coronavirus, the steepest drop since the second world war and with Covid-19 poised to become the third-leading cause of death in America.
• California records half a million Covid cases in two weeks. The state could be facing a once-unthinkable scenario of nearly 100,000 hospitalisations within a month, overwhelming emergency rooms across the state.
• Weekly Covid-19 cases hit record fuelled by Americas. Weekly Covid-19 cases rose by the highest amount since the pandemic began, the World Health Organization said, with the Americas accounting for half of them.
• Nicola Sturgeon apologises for breaching Covid rules. Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has apologised after she breached Covid rules by taking off her face mask at a funeral wake.
• AstraZeneca says its vaccine should be effective against new coronavirus variant. British drugmaker AstraZeneca told Reuters its Covid-19 vaccine should be effective against the new coronavirus variant, adding studies were underway to fully probe the impact of the mutation.