The front page of Thursday’s Guardian in the UK: An update from the governor of California in the US: Israel’s government announced a bailout of its airlines to help them weather the coronavirus crisis and maintain operations in the midst of a year-long halt to international travel. Reuters reports: As part of a financial assistance program overseen by the finance ministry, the government will buy $210 million-worth of flight tickets in advance from flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines and its low fare subsidiary Sun Dor. The tickets are for the airline security personnel posted at airports that its carriers will fly to over the next 20 years, the finance ministry said in a statement. The sum will stay the same even if security requirements change. The government plans to offer ticket purchase arrangements to other Israeli airlines that fly Israeli aviation security personnel in the coming days, the ministry said. Israel’s government had drawn criticism for previous aid offers that would have backed loans to airlines but stopped short of giving direct financial assistance. Other global carriers, like Germany’s Lufthansa, received government bailouts as far back as last summer. Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli, one of Africa’s most prominent Covid-19 sceptics, has died after a two-week absence from public life which prompted speculation that he had contracted the disease. Magufuli’s death was announced on Wednesday by the country’s vice-president Samia Suluhu, who said the president died of heart failure. He was 61. “The president of the United Republic of Tanzania, the honourable Doctor John Pombe Joseph Magufuli … (has) died of a heart condition, at hospital Mzena in Dar es Salaam, where he was receiving treatment,” she said on state broadcaster TBC. Magufuli had not been seen in public since 27 February and rumours swirled online that he was sick and possibly incapacitated from illness. Government officials had insisted Magufuli was working normally and citizens should ignore rumours from outside the country. Last week, the country’s opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, told the BBC that Magafuli was critically ill in a hospital in Kenya after contracting Covid-19. AstraZeneca’s scheduled deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines to Britain are unaffected and its supply chain in the country is not experiencing disruption, the company said. Reuters reports: It comes after Britain said vaccine supplies would dip at the end of March. “Our UK domestic supply chain is not experiencing any disruption and there is no impact on our delivery schedule,” an AstraZeneca spokesman said. Brazil suffers new daily record of cases Brazil on Wednesday registered an unprecedented 90,303 new coronavirus cases, a day after the country reported a fresh record for deaths related to the virus, Reuters reports. Infections now total 11,693,838. Deaths rose by 2,648, the second highest tally after the record reported on Tuesday, bringing the total to 284,775. France saw the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units (ICU) fell slightly, the first decline in nearly two weeks, easing by 20 to 4,219,Reuters reports. The Paris region, which had 1,177 people in ICU on Tuesday, is under heavy pressure and has had to evacuate patients to elsewhere in the country. The number of deaths in hospital rose by 247 to 91,437 on Wednesday. A summary of today"s developments The UK will see a significant reduction in the amount of vaccines available from the end of March due to a cut in supply, a letter sent around the state-run health service said. National Health Service trusts in England were informed by the UK government’s vaccines task force that there will be “a significant reduction in vaccine supply” from 29 March, “meaning volumes for first doses will be significantly constrained.” Pfizer Inc said it was on track to meet its delivery targets for Covid-19 vaccines in the UK in line with an agreed monthly schedule. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US has received requests for Covid-19 vaccines from both Mexico and Canada and is considering them carefully, Reuters reports. Mexico has registered 6,455 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and 789 additional deaths, Reuters reports. It brings the total in the country to 2,175,462 cases and 195,908 deaths, health ministry data showed on Wednesday. The British foreign minister, Dominic Raab, said on Wednesday that the European commission’s threat to ban exports of Covid-19 vaccines cut across previous assurances, adding that the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, needed to explain herself. Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, has announced a tough new nationwide lockdown amid surging infections. The country’s health minister said shopping centres, theatres, cinemas and hotels will close from Saturday, while schools will have to switch to online learning. A World Health Organization vaccine safety panel said on Wednesday that it considers the benefits of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue. Norway is experiencing a third wave of coronavirus infections, health minister Bent Høie said. From 16 March tougher measures came into force in Oslo and the whole of Viken county, affecting about 1.2 million residents in a region where 82% of the country’s coronavirus infections are clustered, according to Høie. Tanzania"s president John Magufuli has died Tanzania’s vice president Samia Sulhu Hassan has announced the death of President John Magufuli on state television, Reuters reports. Hassan said: “The President of the United Republic of Tanzania, the honourable Doctor John Pombe Joseph Magufuli, ... (has) died of a heart condition, at hospital Mzena in Dar es Salaam, where he was receiving treatment. Magufuli, one of Africa’s most prominent coronavirus sceptics, had not been seen in public since Feb. 27, sparking speculation that he had contracted Covid-19. Opposition politicians earlier this week said Magufuli was in a serious condition after contracting Covid-19 and had been flown abroad for treatment. Public health officials have “even more confidence in the vaccines” after new data showed both jabs being used in the UK provide “good protection” against coronavirus among elderly people. PA reports: People aged over 70 who have had one dose of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines are 60% less likely to catch Covid-19, according to a Public Health England (PHE) report. The jabs also reduce the risk of hospital admission among people aged over 80 by 80%, and the Pfizer vaccine is 85% effective at preventing deaths among this age group. Health secretary Matt Hancock said: “After a single dose of either vaccine, protection against Covid-19 is around 60%, that’s protection against getting it. “Protection against hospitalisation is around 80% and protection against death is around 85%.” Labour has thrown its weight behind calls for a full-blown public inquiry to learn the lessons of the Covid pandemic in the UK. Rachel Reeves, who shadows the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, told the Guardian the government should start preparing now, to allow an inquiry to begin in earnest over the summer. “We’re supposed to be out of the roadmap by 21 June,” said Reeves. “Let’s get ready for it now, and from 21 June this inquiry can really get started and use the summer months where we should be better protected, and the vaccine has been rolled out to most adults.” Pfizer Inc said it was on track to meet its delivery targets for Covid-19 vaccines in the UK in line with an agreed monthly schedule, after Britain warned of a significant reduction in its available supplies of vaccines. Reuters reports: We can confirm that Q1 deliveries remain on track and continue to progress in line with the monthly schedule,” a spokeswoman for Pfizer said. Britain is rolling out Pfizer’s vaccine along with one made by AstraZeneca. “We will work closely with the Government to ensure this remains the case; our overall projected supply for Q2 remains unchanged and we are on course to continue to deliver a steady supply of vaccines to the UK, April through to June, in line with our contractual commitments,” the Pfizer spokeswoman said. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday the US has received requests for Covid-19 vaccines from both Mexico and Canada and is considering them carefully, Reuters reports. “I don’t have any update for you on whether they will be granted and a timeline for that,” Psaki said. Psaki added there is “no question” that the Trump administration’s rhetoric on the coronavirus pandemic has elevated threats against Asian-Americans. Former Republican President Donald Trump has been repeatedly accused of racism over his use of labels such as the “Chinese virus” when referring to the pandemic.