The UK further relaxes COVID restrictions, the US considers third shots, Australia has its worst day, Germany gives the go-ahead for youths to be vaccinated, plus other pandemic news from around the planet…

UK

People in England who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or are under 18 years of age, will no longer have to self-isolate if they come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus. The change, which came into effect on Monday, and rules applies to those who received their final dose at least 14 days prior to contact with a positive case, has been welcomed by businesses, many of which have suffered staff shortages as a result of the requirement for people to spend 10 days in quarantine if they have been a contact of a positive case.

People are still advised, though not compelled, to take a PCR test if they find out they have been in contact with a positive case. People who test positive will still be legally required to self-isolate. Elsewhere in Britain – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are taking, or have taken, similar steps. Nearly 77% of people in the U.K. aged over 18 have received two jabs.

GERMANY

Germany’s standing committee on vaccination, the Stiko, has given the go-ahead for all young people above the age of 12 to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The country’s disease control agency says data, especially from the US where almost 10 million adolescents have been vaccinated, shows that the benefits of the vaccines outweigh the risks for children and teenagers.

The Stiko said that vaccinations are now also recommended because the committee expects that children are at a higher risk of catching COVID-19 during the current fourth wave of infections with the dominant and quickly spreading delta variant in Germany.

AUSTRALIA

Australia’s most populous state on Monday reported its worst day of the pandemic with 478 new COVID-19 infections and seven deaths. The previous record daily tally in New South Wales was 466 new cases reported on Saturday. Two of the dead had taken a single dose of a two-shot vaccine. The rest were unvaccinated, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. Only 26% of Australians aged 16 and older had been fully vaccinated by Saturday. Australia has one of the slowest vaccine rollouts among wealthy countries, which is making the delta variant outbreak particularly dangerous.

IRAN

The official IRNA news agency said Monday that 655 patients died in the previous 24 hours, and health workers found some 41,194 new cases over the same period. On Sunday, Iran reported 620 deaths. The report came as the country imposed a five-day lockdown starting Monday. It includes a travel ban on personal cars crossing between provinces.

The new surge has been fuelled by the contagious delta variant. Iranian authorities say less than 40% of the population follows measures such as wearing face masks and social distancing. Iranian health officials have regularly warned that hospitals in the capital, Tehran, and other major cities are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. This is the fifth wave of coronavirus infections as the country struggles to vaccinate its people. Some 4% of Iranians have been fully vaccinated.

RUSSIA

Daily coronavirus deaths in Russia exceeded 800 for the fourth straight day on Sunday, with the authorities reporting 816 new fatalities. The daily tally surpassed 800 for the first time in the pandemic on Thursday and has remained at that level ever since. New confirmed cases soared from around 9,000 a day in early June to 25,000 a day in mid-July, but have since decreased slightly to about 21,000 daily.

Officials are working to boost vaccine uptake, which has remained lower in Russia than in many Western countries. As of Aug. 6, more than 39 million Russians – or 26.7% of the 146-million population – had received at least one dose, while over 30 million, or 20%, was said to be fully vaccinated.

UGANDA

At a COVID-19 vaccination site in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, tempers flared among those waiting for scarce AstraZeneca jabs, with some accusing others of trying to jump the queue. Nurses intervened, telling them the accused had been waiting since the previous day and averting violence in what has become a tense atmosphere as Ugandans jostle for vaccinations. In the aftermath of a brutal wave of infections driven by the delta variant, many Ugandans seeking a first dose of vaccine are competing with hundreds of thousands who have waited months for a second dose. But the country now has only 285,000 shots donated by Norway.

Dr. Alfred Driwale, the top official with Uganda’s immunization program, said the small number of doses will do little to remedy the situation as the 5 million Ugandans eligible for vaccination — everyone from soldiers to health workers — scramble for shots under a first-come, first-serve system. “You can’t make a policy when there is no certainty of supply,” he said.

SRI LANKA

The Sri Lankan government on Sunday banned all public gatherings, its latest move to contain a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases. Also, restaurants are now allowed to accommodate only 50% of their capacity and wedding receptions will be banned beginning Aug. 17. Sri Lanka is witnessing an unprecedented surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths over the last two weeks.

UNITED STATES

The director of the National Institutes of Health says the US could decide in the next couple weeks whether to offer coronavirus booster shots to Americans this fall.

Dr. Francis Collins told “Fox News Sunday” that federal health officials are looking at the US numbers “almost daily” but no decision has been made because cases so far still indicate that vaccinated people remain highly protected from COVID-19, including the delta variant.

He acknowledged, though, that there is concern that the effectiveness of the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson regimen may wane “over months.” If so, Collins says that may necessitate a booster “maybe beginning first with health care providers, as well as people in nursing homes, and then gradually moving forward” with others, such as the elderly.

Hawaii

A new wave of the coronavirus pandemic has Hawaii in “crisis” mode, with the state recording its highest single bump in cases and hospitals putting together overflow plans, Gov. David Ige said. Nearly 1,170 new infections – the vast majority unvaccinated people – were reported Friday. That includes a small number of cases from previous days that were delayed because of a technical glitch, but still represents the largest single increase since the start of the pandemic. “Friday the 13th has never been so frightening. It is real and it is terrifying,” Ige said. “And tragically, it’s preventable.”

Texas

The Texas Supreme Court has blocked mask mandates ordered by two of the nation’s largest counties that defied Republican Gov. Greg Abbott as COVID-19 cases surge and hospitals are stretched thin. Sunday’s order by the state’s highest court — which is entirely comprised of elected Republican justices — halts mask requirements that county leaders in Dallas and San Antonio put in place as new infections soar and students begin returning to school. Texas reported more than 11,500 patients hospitalized with the virus Sunday, the most since January.

The ruling is temporary pending a court hearing, though the timing of a final ruling is unclear. Officials in Houston and Austin, as well as public school districts, had also imposed mask mandates despite Abbott prohibiting local governments from reverting back to pandemic restrictions. White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said last week that Texas and Florida accounted for nearly 40 percent of new virus hospitalizations nationwide.

South Carolina

COVID-19 cases have prompted the largest South Carolina school district already back open to return to virtual lessons as students in more than 60 other districts prepared to return to class. Pickens County school officials made the decision at an emergency meeting Friday, after nine days of in-class learning for its 15,000-plus students, the Greenville News reported. School leaders have said students and teachers are welcome to wear masks, but they can’t mandate them even with another spike in COVID-19 cases. They also can’t require vaccines for students who are eligible for the shots.

New England

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday that every county in the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts are the site of high or substantial transmission of the coronavirus. The rise of transmission in the two states mirrors a nationwide and regional trend. Some health authorities are recommending that even vaccinated people go back to wearing masks indoors in areas of high or substantial transmission. That includes almost all of New England. The CDC reported that every county in the six-state region was the site of high or substantial transmission on Sunday except Orange County, Vermont, and Kennebec County, Maine.