US President fails to deliver 80m doses by end of June; Thailand toll comes as Phuket reopens for tourism; Australia vaccine rift grows
- Australia ‘at back of the queue’ for Pfizer Covid vaccines, minister admits
- Bolsonaro fires health official who reportedly asked for vaccine deal bribe
- Scientists urge UK to expand official list of Covid symptoms
- Phuket reopens to tourists year after Covid forced Thai borders to close
- Covid tourism freeze could cost global economy $4tn by year end
- See all our coronavirus coverage
The Thai island of Phuket has reopened to some foreign tourists, more than one year after the pandemic forced the country’s borders to close, devastating the economy.
About 400 international tourists were expected to arrive in Phuket on Thursday, through a scheme that officials hope could help to revive the country’s tourism sector.
Related: Phuket reopens to tourists one year after Covid forced Thai borders to close
Adrienne Matei wonders for us this morning, even as things begin to get back to something approaching normal in some countries, is this the end for casual hugging?
For teenage me, physical boundaries were an unfamiliar concept – partly because I was the product of a time and place where casual touch was the norm. But different people grow up with different norms, depending on where they come from and what they’ve experienced. And what’s considered ‘normal’ is always subject to change.
Related: Is the age of casual hugging over?
