Coronavirus live: police urge ticketless England fans not to travel to London; Fukushima to ban spectators from Olympic events | UK news

The organiser of an illegal house party of 100 people in the UK has been fined £10,000 for breaking Covid laws.

Police in Essex, England were called to the unlicensed event near Brentwood at around 10.35pm last night.

Officers also fined 39 people £200 each for breaching coronavirus restrictions, which are expected to be removed in the UK on 19 July.

Detective Superintendent Jon Burgess said:

This event was a clear and blatant breach of the government’s Covid-19 regulations so it was absolutely right that we responded to it and shut it down.

We know that the end of lockdown measures is within sight but while they remain in place it’s really important we all continue to do the right thing and follow them.

Vietnam recorded 1,853 coronavirus infections today – a new record daily increase. Reuters says most of the cases were in Ho Chi Minh City, which yesterday started a 15-day period of restrictions.

Malaysia has reported 9,353 daily coronavirus cases – a record high for the second consecutive day.

The Malay Mail reports that it is the third time since the start of the pandemic that daily cases have passed 9,000.

The country’s health director-general, Noor Hisham Abdullah, reportedly said Selangor had the most cases, with 4,277, followed by Kuala Lumpur, where there were 1,398.

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The Met police have urged England fans without tickets for the Euro 2020 final on Sunday not to travel to London as cases continue to rise in the capital and across the UK.

The force also asked football fans not to congregate in large groups amid the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Deputy assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor said that the force has a “significantly enhanced policing operation” in place for the match.

He added: “We want people to be able to enjoy the Euros 2020 final safely and securely, behave responsibly and consider the safety and welfare of others.

“London still remains in a public health crisis. There are government guidelines in place and we ask people to follow these and remain socially distanced. We will enforce legislation proportionately and as appropriate and engage with crowds.

“But I urge people not to gather in large numbers. If you don’t have a ticket to the matches, fan zone or officially booked into a pub, bar or club, my message is clear: please do not come to London – you could end up missing the game.”

Thailand has reported a record daily figure of 91 coronavirus deaths and 9,326 new cases.

According to the Bangkok Post, the previous highest number of fatalities recorded in a day was 75 on Thursday, when the country also logged 7,058 new infections.

The majority of the deaths were in the capital, which also recorded 3,191 of Saturday’s cases.

In the UK, government officials are examining whether fully vaccinated NHS workers could be allowed to forgo self-isolation in order to curb a healthcare staffing crisis amid a rapid spread of Covid infections.

Downing Street said on Friday it was considering whether ending the requirement to self-isolate if “pinged” by the NHS Covid app could be brought forward for NHS staff. The requirement is due to end for all fully vaccinated individuals on 16 August.

It comes amid rising infections in the UK, which are in turn leading to a rise in people being told to self-isolate. This is expected to intensify after England’s final unlocking phase on 19 July, when most restrictions end, including mask requirements.

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Finance chiefs of the G20 large economies are expected today to warn of the threat coronavirus variants pose to the global economic recovery.

It comes as they approved a draft communique at a meeting in Venice that agreed the need for fair vaccine access to poorer countries but did not specify how it should be achieved.

Reuters reports that the draft communique said there have been improvements to the global outlook, but adds:

However, the recovery is characterised by great divergences across and within countries and remains exposed to downside risks, in particular the spread of new variants of the COVID-19 virus and different paces of vaccination.

Infections are rising in 69 countries, according to a Reuters tally.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said the world was facing “a worsening two-track recovery” – in part due to disparities in vaccine availability.

“It is a critical moment that calls for urgent action by the G20 and policymakers across the globe,” she said.

The European Union has delivered enough coronavirus vaccines for at least 70% of adults, the European Commission president announced today.

Ursula von der Leyen said about 500m doses would be distributed across member states by tomorrow as she urged countries to increase vaccinations.

“The European Union has kept its word. This weekend we have delivered enough vaccines to member states to be in a position to vaccinate fully at least 70% of the EU adults this month,” said Von der Leyen, who has been criticised for failing to ensure contracted vaccines were delivered.

But she warned that coronavirus is “not yet defeated”, adding: “We are prepared to deliver more vaccines, including against new variants.”

Fukushima is to ban spectators from Olympic events because of rising coronavirus infections as Japan prepares to host the games in less than two weeks.

It comes after organisers said on Thursday that although there would be no spectators in Tokyo after a state of emergency was declared in the capital, they would be permitted in Fukushima – which is hosting seven softball and baseball games – and other prefectures.

But the governor of Fukushima prefecture, Masao Uchibori, said today that they would not be permitted after all, Reuters reports.

A UK government advisor has warned that high Covid-19 vaccination rates could “challenge the virus” to mutate and make the jab less effective.

Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M) government advisory panel, also warned of the risk of the plan to reopen England – where coronavirus infections are back to what they were in the winter – on July 19.

But he urged people to get the second dose of the vaccine, which he said offers “much higher” protection against Delta.

He said:

Of course the more cases you have, particularly with high levels of vaccine protection, that does then kind of challenge the virus a little bit more and gives more potential for it to mutate into a form where the vaccines are less effective.

Reopening the country could, he said, risk “exposing more people to infection”, but that it “should decrease as we go through August”.

Malta has become the first European Union country to require proof of vaccination for visitors.

From Wednesday, visitors aged 13 and over will have to show a Covid-19 vaccination certificate issued in either Malta, the EU or the UK.

Health minister Chris Fearne said: “Malta will be the first EU country taking this step.”

Children aged 5-12 will instead have to show proof of a negative PCR test and younger children are exempt.

Malta had 46 active cases on 1 July and 252 active cases yesterday. So far, 79% of adults have been fully vaccinated.

Russia reported a record 752 coronavirus deaths today – the most in a single day since the start of the pandemic – and 25,082 new cases. Of the total new cases, 5,694 were in Moscow.

The new figures bring the country’s overall case total to 5,758,300. The total death toll as of Friday was around 290,000, the federal statistics agency said.

South Korea has reported a record number of daily Covid infections for a third consecutive day.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said today there were 1,378 new cases yesterday – breaking the previous record, set on Thursday, of 1,316.

On Monday, coronavirus restrictions will be tightened to the highest level in Seoul and surrounding regions for the first time amid fears that new cases could almost double by the end of the month.

Despite the recent rise in cases, the 1.22% mortality rate and number of severe cases – 148 on Friday – is lower than many other industrialised nations and lower than its previous peak in December.

Under the government restrictions, people are advised to stay at home as much as possible and social gatherings must be limited to two people after 6pm and four in the daytime.

So far only around 11% of the country’s 52 million population has been fully vaccinated.

The White House has accused a Republican governor who tried to block coronavirus vaccination efforts of “literally killing people” as immunisation rates plateau across the US.

For months the Biden administration has held back on criticising Republican officials who downplay the importance of vaccination. But yesterday, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, hit back at South Carolina governor Henry McMaster’s attempt to stop door-to-door vaccinations in his state.

She said: “The failure to provide accurate public health information, including the efficacy of vaccines and the accessibility of them to people across the country, including South Carolina, is literally killing people, so maybe they should consider that.”

Although 67% of American adults have had at least one dose, there are growing fears over geographic disparities in vaccination rates. The highest rates are on the west coast and the north-east, while the lowest are in the south.

A new coronavirus surge in Spain is sending younger patients to hospital as the Delta variant continues to spread.

Infections are being driven by largely unvaccinated younger patients, who have been arriving at health centres and emergency wards, reports AP.

The country has so far fully vaccinated 21 million people, half the adult population, but less than 600,000 of those vaccinated are under 30.

The 14-day contagion rate per 100,000 people rose to 316 yesterday from a 2021 low of 92 on June 22.

The Academy of Royal Colleges has warned that things in England “will get worse before they get better”.

Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There seems to be a misapprehension that life will return to normal from then [July 19], and that we can throw away all the precautions, and frankly, that would be dangerous.”

She added: “We all want to make sure that the public is fully aware that this pandemic is far from over and that when the 19th comes, what we need is a responsible approach and a very cautious approach to relaxing restrictions.”

She also warned that hospitals are seeing more young children being admitted and that GP surgeries and hospitals are coming up against similar demands to mid-winter.

Good morning. I’m looking after the global coronavirus blog today. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk