Iran’s daily virus deaths top 600 in new high; Greece sees first fully vaccinated Covid death

England ends self-isolation for Covid contacts

Ag AFP

London: Fully vaccinated people in England will from Monday (today) no longer be required to self-isolate if they have had close contact with a coronavirus case, as restrictions continue to be eased.

Instead of self-isolating, those double jabbed and the under 18s will be advised to get a free polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test if they are identified as being in close contact with a case.

The change was announced last month, as part of step four of the government’s plan to open up after more than a year of rolling lockdowns.

Anyone who tests positive following the PCR test will still be legally required to self-isolate.

Britain is still battling another wave of the virus, with the emergence of the Delta variant.

Although cases are down around 50 percent from their peak, the number of people catching the disease has been rising slightly over the last two weeks, with around 100 people a day dying from the disease.

Britain has been one the countries worst hit by the virus, recording more than 130,000 fatalities, but has been able to ease restrictions thanks to a successful vaccine rollout, with 75 percent of adults receiving both doses.

Before Monday, people who were "pinged" by the National Health Service app, warning them that they had come into close contact with a positive case, were required to self isolate for 10 days.

England officially fully opened up again on July 19, but millions were subsequently contacted by the country’s test-and-trace scheme, forcing them to stay away from family, friends and the workplace.

The so-called "pingdemic", which even grounded Prime Minister Boris Johnson, severely disrupted businesses and critical services, hampering efforts to kickstart the ailing economy.

"Asking the close contacts of people with Covid-19 to self-isolate has played a critical role in helping us get this virus under control, and millions of people across the UK have made enormous sacrifices by doing this," said health minister Sajid Javid.

"Getting two doses of a vaccine has tipped the odds in our favour and allowed us to safely reclaim our lost freedoms, and from Monday we can take another huge step back towards our normal lives," he added.

Removing self-isolation for under 18s comes three weeks before thousands of pupils and students return to school and college, and they will no longer be required to socially distance.

Meanwhile, Iran on Sunday reported over 600 daily Covid deaths for the first time, ahead of tightened curbs to contain the spread of the virus.

The country also registered 36,736 new infections in 24 hours, taking the total since the pandemic started to 4,425,821, the health ministry said.

The latest 620 deaths raised the total number of fatalities to 97,828, it added.

Health authorities acknowledge the official figures underestimate the country’s real toll.

The Islamic republic is struggling to contain what officials have called a "fifth wave" of the virus driven by the highly infectious Delta variant.

Numbers have broken daily records several times this month.

Authorities have mandated government offices, banks and non-essential businesses to close countrywide from Monday until the end of next Saturday.

A ban on car travel between provinces started on Sunday and is due to run until August 27.

Iran has avoided imposing a full lockdown on its 83-million-strong population, instead resorting to piecemeal measures such as temporary travel bans and business closures.

Authorities have tried to speed up the country’s inoculation campaign amid criticism that it began too late and as Iran’s exhausted health system struggles to cope with rising Covid cases.

Choked by US sanctions that have made it difficult to transfer money abroad, Iran says it has struggled to import vaccines.

More than 15 million people have received a first vaccine dose, but only around 4 million have had the required second jab, the health ministry said Sunday. As well as China’s Sinopharm, Iran is administering Russia’s Sputnik V, India’s Bharat Biotech and the AstraZeneca vaccines, according to the health ministry.

Authorities have also approved the emergency use of two locally made vaccines, but the only mass-produced one, COVIran Barekat, is in short supply.

In a related development, Greece has recorded the first death of a fully vaccinated patient from Covid-19 without underlying symptoms, an official at one of the country’s leading hospitals said Sunday.

"We have the first death of a fully vaccinated patient... it was the first among (about) 13,000 deaths in Greece," Nikos Kapravelos, director of one of the intensive care units of Thessaloniki’s Papanikolaou hospital, told Open TV.

The man, described by Greek media as a 70-year-old dentist, had no underlying health symptoms, Kapravelos said.

The man had followed all precautions and his wife and children had also been vaccinated, he said.

Over 13,200 people have died of the virus in Greece, with an average age of 78 years.

There is concern that the return of hundreds of thousands of vacationers to cities in the autumn will spark a fourth pandemic wave in the country.

New Covid-19 cases have jumped this past week, hitting over 4,000 on Wednesday from around 2,800 the previous week.

Some infection spikes have been noted in Greek islands. Mykonos went into curfew in July after a flurry of cases. Similar restrictions were imposed in Zakynthos and in two cities in Crete in recent days.