GLOBAL RESPONSE FRENCH URGED TO OBSERVE STRICTER SOCIAL DISTANCING

France

France is seeing a “clear worsening” of the Covid-19 outbreak, the prime minister warned yesterday, issuing a “solemn” appeal to the country to observe stricter social distancing but steering clear of announcing any fresh lockdowns.

“The virus is circulating more and more in France,” warned Jean Castex following a defence council meeting, adding that the infection rate had risen to 72 per 100,000 people against 57 a week ago.

Of particular concern, he said, was the rising number of hospital admissions, which had gone up for the first time in many weeks. Those in intensive care are mainly old people the same group as in March, he said.

Mr Castex singled out Marseille, Bordeaux and the overseas departement of Guadeloupe, where hospital intensive care wards risked bottlenecks if the number of serious cases continued to rise.

National French strategy remained unchanged, he said: “To fight the virus while avoiding having to put on hold our social, cultural economic life, the education of our children and our ability to live normally”.

“Yes the virus is here for a few more months and we must succeed without allowing ourselves to be dragged again into ... a blanket lockdown,” he said.

Instead, he placed the onus on regional authorities to choose whether extra restrictions were necessary. Henry Samuel

Israel

Israel is set to impose a three-phase lockdown that officials hope can be gradually pared back as the country grapples with a coronavirus infection rate of around 4,000 cases per day.

With the High Holidays season approaching, ministers have agreed to return to lockdown and stop citizens from spreading the disease during the celebrations, such as Jewish New Year.

Israel will begin in mid-september with a full lockdown that will be eased in early October if the number of infections falls to manageable levels. Then, in the third phase of midoctober, a “traffic system” will be introduced to allow safe towns to leave lockdown.

In a full lockdown, Israelis are banned from travelling 500 yards beyond their homes, except for essential reasons, while schools, non-essential businesses and offices are closed.

Though the death toll in Israel remains comparatively low, 1,077 deaths in a country of eight million, the number of seriously ill patients is steadily increasing.

There is a severe outbreak in the West Bank, with 200 deaths. In the Gaza Strip, there have been more than 1,000 cases and 10 deaths. James Rothwell

China

Chinese regulators have given the all-clear for a human trial to test a vaccine that is delivered via a nasal spray, rather than an injection.

The immunisation, which has been co-developed by researchers at Xiamen University, Hong Kong University and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise, is the 10th Chinese candidate to proceed to phase one trials in humans. They are due to start in November

The nasal spray is the first using this delivery method to enter clinical trials in China, but the technology has previously been used in flu vaccines.

The spray contains a weakened flu virus carrying genetic segments of Sars-cov-2’s spike protein, which the virus uses to latch on to and enter human cells.

Researchers hope that delivering the inoculation through the nose will mimic natural infection of the virus and trigger a systemic immune response, to generate antibodies that circulate in the blood, and a local immune response.

According to Science and Technology Daily, a government-affiliated paper, the local response will enable the body to fight the virus in the nose or throat before systemic immunity kicks in.

Some experts believe this could also prevent an infected individual from passing the virus on to others, amid some concerns that injected vaccines may only ward off severe illness. Sarah Newey

Latvia

Latvia yesterday restricted the entry conditions on people coming from Estonia, bursting a travel bubble that had allowed free movement between the two Baltic countries and Lithuania.

The Latvian Foreign Ministry said that starting today, anyone entering from Estonia will self-quarantine for two weeks. The ministry cited the increased infection rate in the neighbouring country. Exceptions apply to diplomats and those who need to cross the border for work.

On May 15, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia lifted pandemic travel restrictions on each other, with some conditions, creating a Baltic bubble.