Covid news - live: UK cases decline but experts fear fresh wave
Experts fear another wave of Covid infections could be on the way despite declining cases across most of the UK.
Some 14,000 infections were logged on Wednesday but health chiefs say new variants - BA.5 and BA.4 - may send cases soaring again.
It comes as the number of people admitted to hospital with Covid in England rises.
John Roberts, of the Covid Actuaries group, set up in response to the pandemic, said another wave is possible.
“Yes we could," he told The Independent when asked if another wave is possible. “But how big that wave and how serious it will be in terms of admissions and deaths is very, very difficult to judge at this stage,” he added.
Elsewhere, nearly 3 million people in Shanghai are set to be plunged into another draconian lockdown as Covid cases rise.
Communist Party officials will put an entire district in China's largest city under house arrest to conduct mass testing.
Minhang, in central Shanghai, will be the subject of a "closed management" order on Saturday morning.
Key Points
Shanghai to lockdown 2.7 million people as cases rise
Experts fear fresh wave despite UK cases declining
Experts fear fresh wave despite UK cases declining
11:11 , Matt Mathers
Experts fear another wave of Covid infections could be on the way despite declining cases across most of the UK.
Some 14,000 infections were logged on Wednesday but health chiefs say new variants - BA.5 and BA.4 - may send cases soaring again.
It comes as the number of people admitted to hospital with Covid in England rises.
John Roberts, of the Covid Actuaries group, set up in response to the pandemic, said another wave is possible.
“Yes we could,” he told The Independent when asked if another wave is possible. “But how big that wave and how serious it will be in terms of admissions and deaths is very, very difficult to judge at this stage,” he added.
Our health correspondent Rebecca Thomas reports:
Experts predict increase in Covid hospital admissions and another wave
White House ‘not too worried’ about slow pace of pre-orders of child Covid vaccine
10:45 , Matt Mathers
Pre-orders of vaccines for children under age 5 have been slow, but Biden administration senior officials say they are not alarmed and expect the pace to pick up after federal approvals later this month.
The administration expects vaccinations of young children to begin in earnest as early as June 21, if the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approve the vaccines in separate meetings slated for next week, officials told reporters on Wednesday.
The vaccines will be distributed to paediatricians, children's hospitals, local pharmacies and local health clinics, officials said.
Testing new normal in China
10:30 , Matt Mathers
Thousands of COVID-19 testing sites have popped up on sidewalks across Beijing and other Chinese cities in the latest twist to the country's "zero-COVID" strategy.
Lines form every day, rain or shine, even when the spread of the virus has largely stopped. Some people need to go to work. Others want to shop. All are effectively compelled to get tested by a requirement to show a negative test result to enter office buildings, malls and other public places.
Liu Lele, who works for a live-streaming company, has no problem getting tested regularly but said the daytime operating hours don't always fit his schedule.
"Sometimes I get held up at work," he said after finishing a test Thursday near Beijing's historic Bell and Drum towers. "I wish there were sites open 24 hours or not closing until 7 or 8 p.m."
Regular testing of residents is becoming the new normal in many parts of China as the ruling Communist Party sticks steadfastly to a "zero-COVID" approach that is increasingly at odds with the rest of the world.
Major cities have been told to set up testing stations within a 15-minute walk for all residents. Beijing and Shanghai alone have put up 10,000 or more each. Some are made up of folding tables and chairs under a temporary canopy. Others are enclosed square booths from which gloved workers reach out through openings to take a quick throat swab from the next person in line.
14,000 cases recorded in UK
10:16 , Matt Mathers
Some 14,055 Covid cases were recorded in the UK on Wednesday, figures show.
This was up from 10,237 the day before.
Cases, however, have been steadily declining since around the middle of March.
New lockdown in Shanghai
09:56 , Matt Mathers
Nearly 3 million people in Shanghai are set to be plunged into another draconian lockdown as Covid cases rise.
Communist Party officials will put an entire district in China‘s largest city under house arrest to conduct mass testing.
It comes just days after restrictions in the city of around 25 million were eased following months of shutdown.
