Coronavirus live news: North Korea rejects Covax offer; Australia secures vaccine swap with UK | World news

Dominic Raab has said he wants to see Pakistan come off the Government’s red list for travel restrictions.

The Foreign Secretary told a press conference in Pakistan – where he is in talks about the future of Afghanistan – that he would work with the government to ‘find a way through’.

He said: “We do understand that this is a sensitive issue and a difficult issue. We base our decision on the technical evidence. I understand that is often contested, which is all the more reason why it’s good that the Pakistan special adviser to Prime Minister Khan will be holding expert level talks with UK public health authorities.

“We want to find a way through, no-one wants Pakistan off the red list more than I do, but we take these decisions at a technical level. I think the smart thing for us to do is work together to enable that to happen as soon, as safely and as responsibly it can be done.”

Call to end Covid restrictions on young people in custody

Rights groups have written to the UK justice secretary, Robert Buckland, asking him to end harsh Covid regulations that restricted family visits and access to education for young people in prison.

In a letter published this morning the groups Article 39 and the Howard League say children in custody have “suffered greatly” during the pandemic.

They write: “[L]egal protections for children in custody were last year watered down overnight without any consultation or parliamentary debate. With the majority of coronavirus restrictions lifted within the community, vaccinations now available for teenagers aged 16 and 17, and schools reopening, we write to ask that the statutory instruments made in May and July 2020 be revoked, and children’s entitlements to education and family visits be reinstated. Children in prison have suffered greatly during the pandemic and should be guaranteed to receive the statutory minimum requirement for education from now on.”

They go on to note that children in custody already have far lower levels of literacy than the general population.

They also criticise the government for allowing the solitary confinement of under-18’s during lockdown.

Some Balkan countries with low vaccination rates are delaying the start of the school term. In a report looking at different approaches to Covid protection in schools around Europe, Associated Press reveals that both Kosovo and Albania have postponed the beginning of the school year.

The weekly average of new cases rose by tenfold between July and August in Kosovo where children have a delay of two weeks before they can get back to the classroom. In Albania teachers are now facing mandatory vaccination. Only a third of the population there has been vaccinated with rates even lower in Kosovo.

Across the world, authorities are taking a variety of approaches to try and keep children in school and avoid another academic year of disruption. The UK has ended the system of isolation of Covid contacts for children while other countries including France will keep the measure.

Earlier this week the World Health Organization and Unicef warned of the “catastrophic” disruption that Covid has caused to children’s learning. They listed precautionary measures that they hoped would let all European schools remain open including better ventilation and regular testing.

Sajid Javid has said the delivery of 4m vaccines from the UK to Australia will help the country “supercharge” its vaccine rollout.

Earlier we reported that the doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines were sent in a swap deal. The UK health secretary said: “Vaccines have built a strong wall of defence in the UK and we want to support nations around the world in recovering from Covid-19 and improving access to vaccines.”

Ministers ‘preparing to extend emergency Covid laws’

The FT is reporting unnamed UK government insiders saying that the extension of legislation later this autumn will be necessary. The measures must be voted on every six months and the story reports that the government will renew them because cases across the UK are running high, hospitalisations are rising and a difficult flu season is expected.

The insider says: “The Coronavirus Act is going to be one of the trickier bills to pass. We’re gearing up for a fight with our own MPs, who are going to be reluctant to support it.”

The story quotes the Tory MP Steve Baker, who has consistently opposed stringent Covid laws, as saying: “We are going to have to learn to live with this virus, and retaining sweeping powers of detention in the Coronavirus Act is not consistent with this. What justification can there be for extending these measures?”

Fellow Tory MP Mark Harper argued that any unforeseen events could be covered with existing legislation. “Parliament can already give the police emergency powers under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, but these regulations only last up to 30 days, require almost immediate parliamentary approval and involve judicial oversight.”

Labour has in the past backed the laws and would be likely to do so again.

Covid jab tech will help fight cancer

Scientists have been talking this morning about the news that the technology behind the Covid vaccine could help fight cancer.

Researchers have designed a two-dose vaccine they hope can target tumours in humans. In order to create the treatment, scientists designed their vaccine to target proteins that are present on the surface of many types of cancer cells.

When tested in mice, the vaccine increased the numbers of anti-tumour T cells that attack cancerous growths, helping to increase survival rates.

The team at Oxford University now have the go-ahead to do human trials.

Prof Benoit Van den Eynde told Sky News: “The vaccine technology based on viral vector is extremely powerful. In recent years we have had a new approach to treat cancer … immunotherapy … it has had remarkable results. But some patients immune system doesn’t respond. So … the idea here is to use a vaccine based on the Oxford technology to really to teach the immune system how to recognise cancer cells.”

Schools in France reopened to 12 million students this week with all children over the age of six wearing masks. Associated Press reports this morning that the measures are seen as key to keeping schools open.

The vaccine is available in France to over 12s, with consent needed from one parent for under 16s. The vaccination programme is going well, with more than 63% of teenagers aged 12-17 having received at least one shot, and 47% fully vaccinated.

In French primary schools, if one child tests positive for the virus, the class closes for seven days. In middle and high schools, children who test positive and those who aren’t vaccinated and have been in contact with them will be placed into isolation for at least one week. Those fully vaccinated will be allowed to keep going to school.

France is one of the countries around the world that has maintained the highest rate of in-person classes during the Covid-19 crisis. The country closed its schools completely or partially for 12 weeks between March 2020 and July this year, compared with 38 weeks in neighbouring Germany and 58 weeks in the US, according to Unesco figures.

Parents consent could be required for 12-15s to have jab

The Times is reporting this morning that parents will need to give their written permission for under 15s to get the Covid vaccination. Previous suggestions had been that children would be able to decide for themselves if they wanted the jab.

The development is reported to be part of attempts to bring parents onboard with the plans to vaccinate younger teens. Sajid Javid, the health secretary, is said to wants schools to follow procedures used for routine childhood immunisation programmes. This would mean schools sending out consent forms and not vaccinating unless they are returned.

The Times quotes Prof Helen Bedford of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health saying that this was likely to defuse the potential for rows, with nurses phoning parents who did not return forms to discuss concerns. She says: “In practice, most [vaccinations] are given by school nurses and it’s very unlikely, if you know for certain the parent doesn’t want it, that you would go ahead.”

A decision is yet to be made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on whether children aged 12-15 will be vaccinated.

That’s it from me, Helen Livingstone for today. I’m handing over to my UK colleague, Harriet Grant.

Before I go, here’s a brief roundup of Covid-related news from the past 24 hours:

• Australia has secured 4m doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines in a swap deal with Britain, the prime minister Scott Morrison has said, as he attempts to convince states and territories to stick to a national reopening plan.

• New Zealand has reported 28 new cases of coronavirus in the community, a drop of 21 compared with the previous day, in an “encouraging” sign that the country’s lockdown is working, deputy prime minister Grant Robertson has said.

• The US plans to invest $3bn (£2.2bn) in the vaccine supply chain as it continues to work to position the US as a leading supplier of vaccines for the world, Reuters reports.

• The European Union has agreed to send millions of coronavirus vaccine doses made in South Africa back to the continent, AFP reports.

• Schoolchildren in France returned from their summer holidays to be told to get vaccinated by headteachers and the French president Emmanuel Macron.

India has reported 45,352 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Friday, with 366 deaths.

Total infections have now risen to 32.9 million and deaths to 439,895.

In case you missed it, Guardian Australia has been running a new series that aims to give a voice to people from all walks of life who are adapting to changing circumstances in the coronavirus pandemic. In this latest dispatch, reporter Mostafa Rachwani spoke to a supermarket manager and a postman:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered officials to wage a tougher epidemic prevention campaign in “our style” after he turned down some foreign Covid-19 vaccines offered via the UN-backed immunisation program, according to the Associated Press.

During a Politburo meeting on Thursday, Kim said officials must “bear in mind that tightening epidemic prevention is the task of paramount importance which must not be loosened even a moment”, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday.

KCNA said Kim “called for fully providing material and technical means necessary for strengthening epidemic prevention, enhancing the professional qualifications and roles of the officials in the field of epidemic prevention and further rounding off our style epidemic prevention system.”

Kim had previously called for North Koreans to brace for prolonged Covid-19 restrictions, indicating the nation’s borders would stay closed despite worsening economic and food conditions.

Since the start of the pandemic, North Korea has used tough quarantines and border closures to prevent outbreaks, though its claim to be entirely virus-free is widely doubted.

Australia has secured 4m doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines in a swap deal with Britain, prime minister Scott Morrison has said, as he tries to speed up the country’s re-opening efforts.

“The plane is on the tarmac now. It will be leaving tomorrow … this will enable us to bring forward significantly the opportunity for Australia to open up again,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra, days after announcing a smaller vaccine swap agreement with Singapore.

Morrison has been criticised for failing to initially secure an adequate supply of vaccines and for a slow roll out which has seen initial vaccination targets delayed by months.

State governments say their vaccination programmes are being hindered by a lack of supply of the Pfizer vaccine needed to inoculate the younger population.

The announcement came as the state of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, reported its worst day of the pandemic, with a record 1,431 cases and 12 new deaths.

State premier Gladys Berejiklian warned residents to brace for a spike in numbers as the next two weeks would “likely to be our worst in terms of the number of cases”.

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Livingstone.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered officials to wage a tougher epidemic prevention campaign in “our style” after he turned down some foreign Covid-19 vaccines offered via the UN-backed immunisation program.

Australia has secured 4m doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines in a swap deal with Britain, the prime minister Scott Morrison has said, as he attempts to convince states and territories to stick to a national reopening plan.

Here’s what else has been happening over the past 24 hours:

• New Zealand has reported 28 new cases of coronavirus in the community, a drop of 21 compared with the previous day, in an “encouraging” sign that the country’s lockdown is working, deputy prime minister Grant Robertson has said.

• The US plans to invest $3bn (£2.2bn) in the vaccine supply chain as it continues to work to position the United States as a leading supplier of vaccines for the world, Reuters reports.

• The European Union has agreed to send millions of coronavirus vaccine doses made in South Africa back to the continent, AFP reports.

• Schoolchildren in France returned from their summer holidays to be told to get vaccinated by headteachers and the French president Emmanuel Macron.