US, Brazil, India, Mexico and UK account for over half of deaths in Johns Hopkins University tally * Russian army may be called on to build field hospitals * Australians opens borders without quarantine for first time in 583 days * NHS exec says staff vaccine mandate is ‘risk to patient safety’ * France reports the highest daily increase in Covid hospitalisations in six weeks * England offers Covid booster jabs at NHS walk-in clinics * See all our coronavirus coverage SINGAPORE COULD SEE AS MANY 2,000 COVID-19 DEATHS ANNUALLY OVER TIME, MAINLY AMONG THE ELDERLY, BUT IT WAS FOCUSED ON AVOIDING EXCESS MORTALITY, A MINISTER SAID THIS MORNING, AS THE COUNTRY BATTLES ITS BIGGEST SURGE IN INFECTIONS. Reuters report that at 0.2%, Singapore’s Covid-19 case fatality rate is similar to the rate of deaths from pneumonia before the pandemic struck. If we lose staff over the winter period our ability to provide care is compromised. We’ve got a very, very difficult winter coming up and we know the NHS is going to be at full stretch, so it makes sense to set that deadline once that period has passed. If we lose very large numbers of unvaccinated staff, particularly over the winter period, then that also constitutes a risk to patient safety and quality of care. Continue reading...