Germany sending aid to Portugal, Austria easing: COVID-19 bulletin

TOP HEADLINES

• England has begun door-to-door testing on up to 80,000 people in parts of the country amid growing fears over the spread of the virus variant first discovered in South Africa.

• **France hopes to begin rolling out the AstraZeneca vaccine by mid-February **after the jab was approved by the European Commission last week.

• Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended her government after it received criticism over the apparent slow roll-out of its vaccine , saying"there were good reasons for this."

• Russia has extended its flight ban to and from the UK until February 17 , amid fears over the variant first detected in Britain.

• The European Union has toughened its restrictions on visitors arriving from countries outside of the bloc, with travelers only allowed to enter freely from countries with low case rates and where the new variants are not present.

• Germany is to send 26 healthcare workers, 150 field beds, 50 ventilators and 150 infusions machines to Portugal, where hospitals are struggling to cope with a surge in infections.

• **Austria is to begin easing its lockdown from February 8, **with schools, museums and shops set to reopen, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has said.

• The UK's junior education minister, Michelle Donelan, has said it is unrealistic to quarantine all international arrivals in hotels to help prevent the spread of the virus.

• Russia has reported a further 16,643 new cases in the past 24 hours , while a further 539 fatalities were recorded, bringing the nationwide death toll to 74,158.

• Tokyo's Olympic Games President Yoshiro Mori said the competition will go ahead this summer regardless of the pandemic situation and is working closely with the International Olympic Committee to make it happen.

We support our friends in Portugal who find themselves in an especially dramatic situation

• Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Germany's defense minister

ACROSS EUROPE

Toni Waterman in Brussels

Belgium

Brussels' first public coronavirus vaccination center officially opens on Tuesday in the city center. Healthcare personnel who do not work in hospitals or care homes will be given first priority.

The center expects 1,000 people in the first week but will be able to administer 900 jabs a day once up and running. Officials say four other facilities are ready to open their doors, but have been "postponed due to the lack of vaccines."

They are expected to open in the coming weeks, but at a limited capacity. According to the European Center for Disease Control's new vaccine tracker, 2.7 percent of the Belgian population has received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The EU

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be grilled by lawmakers tonight over the EU's contract with AstraZeneca, the slow roll-out of immunizations and the botched introduction of new vaccine export controls.

The bloc has faced mass condemnation for imposing export curbs in the middle of a global pandemic. But ‌in‌ ‌an‌ ‌interview‌ ‌with‌ ‌European‌ ‌papers‌ ‌on Monday‌ ‌night,‌ ‌Von der Leyen‌ ‌said‌ she believed the European vaccination strategy was the right one‌ and swatted‌ ‌away‌ ‌criticism‌ ‌over‌ ‌vaccine‌ ‌prices‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌amount‌ ‌of‌ ‌time‌ ‌it‌ ‌took‌ ‌to‌ ‌seal‌ ‌contracts.‌ ‌

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Andrew Wilson in the UK

Around 80,000 people can expect door-to-door testing this week as the government goes after the variant first discovered in South Africa, following 105 cases identified, with 11 of those linked to community transmission.

The testing will focus on eight specific local postcode areas of England.

Widespread concerns about the dangers of the new variant were partially eased by NHS advisers, who said they expect vaccines to be effective against it – particularly in reducing hospitalization and death.

New variants are now the greatest threat against government hopes that every adult in the UK will have had the first jab by the start of May. Over-65s are expected to start being invited for shots next week.

Ross Cullen in Paris

Pharmacists are going to be able to vaccinate people in France, a government spokesman has announced. Gabriel Attal says that because the AstraZeneca vaccine is easier to handle and conserve, high-street drug stores will be able to handle inoculations once the stocks of the newly approved injection arrive.

The French authorities say that AstraZeneca vaccines will be available from mid-February. The country's High Authority for Health is going to present its analysis on the vaccine on February 2.

The health secretary says he will base the government's strategy for the AstraZeneca vaccine on the analysis. Meanwhile, on February 1, France recorded 455 fatalities – the highest number of hospital deaths in 24 hours since late November 2020.

England has begun door-to-door testing on up to 80,000 people across the country on Tuesday. /AP

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