Families reunited as travel rules eased in England; China battles Delta outbreak; Macron takes to Tik Tok to push Covid vaccines

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday took to Tik Tok and Instagram to try counter misinformation about vaccines following a third weekend of demonstrations over a controversial Covid health pass.

Macron discarded his customary dark suit and tie for a black t-shirt in a short video from the presidency’s holiday residence in southern France, in which he repeated that vaccines were the "only weapon" that could beat back a fourth wave of coronavirus.

"Some of you have been hearing false rumours, some of it rubbish it has to be said," he said in the selfie video, in which he urged the vaccine-shy to put their questions and concerns directly to him.

He was speaking after an estimated 200,000 people demonstrated across France on Saturday. The protests were the biggest since Macron last month announced that people would have to furnish proof of vaccination, a negative Covid test or recent recovery from Covid to gain entry to most museums, cinemas and sports venues. The rules will be extended to bars, restaurants, long-distance trains and shopping centres on August 9.

Opponents accuse Macron of running a health "dictatorship", saying the measures impinge on freedom of choice. In scenes reminiscent of the "yellow vest" anti-government protests of 2018-2019, tens of thousands have staged protests, some of which have ended in rioting.

Macron, who is expected to seek re-election next year, has been the chief target of the demonstrators’ ire. On Saturday night, a vaccine centre on the French Caribbean island of Martinique was set alight, while in the southern city of Montpellier demonstrators rounded on a pharmacist conducting Covid tests, accusing him of being a "murderer" and a "traitor".

So far, 42.6 million people in France have received at least one vaccine shot, representing 63.2 percent of the population. Of these, 35.7 million are fully vaccinated. A further 19,600 infections were recorded on Sunday, up from under 5,000 in mid-June -- an increase blamed largely on the spread of the Delta variant.

The government’s Covid advisory committee president Alain Fischer said Monday he believed the 90-percent vaccine coverage among over-12s needed for herd immunity could be achieved by "the start of the autumn". Nearly 112,000 people have died in France since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, families wept as they were reunited at London’s Heathrow Airport on Monday, with fully vaccinated passengers arriving in England from the US and EU no longer required to quarantine.

Tight controls on foreign travel have been in place in Britain for over a year, leaving families separated during the coronavirus pandemic. But restrictions in England and Scotland eased on Monday, leading to emotional scenes at Heathrow, Britain’s busiest hub.

"We’re feeling very excited, almost overexcited," said Michael Blake, 71, as he waited with wife Sue to see their son Eliot and 8-year-old grandson for the first time in 18 months. "It’s been such a big chunk of (our grandson’s) life that he hasn’t seen any grandparents," Sue told AFP, as she waited for the 6:20 am (0520 GMT) flight from New York. On sight of her son, Sue ducked under the barrier at arrivals and embraced her grandson, wiping tears from her eyes.

Her family were one of the first to take advantage of the new policy, which came into force in England and Scotland from 4:00 am.

Under the new rules, people fully jabbed with a vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency can travel from any country on the British government’s "amber" traffic light list without having to self-isolate at home for 10 days. They still need to do a pre-departure test and take another test on day two after arriving.

Separate rules will continue to apply for those arriving from France due to the government’s concern over the "persistent presence" of the Beta variant, which is believed to be more resistant to vaccines. Those who are not fully vaccinated will still have to quarantine on arrival.

Britain is in the midst of another wave of the virus due to the Delta variant, although case numbers appear to be stabilising, while its vaccine drive has seen more than 70 percent of adults fully jabbed. While England and Scotland have loosened their quarantine requirements, the previous rules still apply in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Embattled airline bosses called the rule changes a positive step but said industry recovery efforts were being hampered by continued international restrictions. Heathrow Airport chief executive John Holland-Kaye told BBC radio that the industry would not "get back to normal" until the US opens its borders to people travelling from Britain.

Industry leaders also warned the government against introducing another category to its traffic light list, designed to warn travellers of the possibility that countries with rising cases could be put onto the red list at short notice.

"It would be a disaster to bring in an amber watchlist on top of the amber list, the green list, the red list," Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, told ITV. In a related development, millions of people were confined to their homes in China on Monday as the country tried to contain its largest coronavirus outbreak in months including seven positive tests found in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in late 2019.

China reported 55 new locally transmitted cases on Monday as an outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta variant reached over 20 cities in more than a dozen provinces. The Wuhan cluster came after the official daily tally was released, but it was confirmed by state media which said the infections had been traced to a train station.

"The seven were identified as migrant workers," Xinhua reported, citing Covid-19 prevention and control officials. Major cities including Beijing have now tested millions of residents while cordoning off residential compounds and placing close contacts under quarantine.

Authorities in the capital met and agreed on the need to "raise vigilance, take strict precautions and defend (the city) to the death, sparing no expense," in comments put out by the Beijing government.