Here are the morning headlines for Thursday, January 6, as ministers meet to discuss the latest restrictions in Wales amid a huge rise in cases.
First Minister Mark Drakeford will announce the next review of Covid restrictions tomorrow (Friday, January 7), with increasing calls from the hospitality sector for change. Bars are closing, blaming Wales' restrictions, and a nightclub boss has warned of bankruptcies and job losses.
At the same time, the number of coronavirus cases is soaring and there are huge issues with staff absences in many sectors, including up to 75% of staff in the care home sector being off sick. See the latest Covid stats for your area here.
Boris Johnson has confirmed that England will have no further Covid rules for another three weeks, meaning far fewer restrictions across the border.
But health leaders have warned the NHS is facing a "staffing crisis" as more than 20 trusts across the UK were on the highest level of alert.
The NHS Confederation said a number of hospitals were reporting up to 10% of staff were either in self-isolation due to Covid or were off sick for other reasons, just as the numbers of people in hospital with coronavirus soared.
And in comments first made to The Guardian, the organisation's chief executive Matthew Taylor said: "The Prime Minister's attempts to reassure the public that the NHS is not being overwhelmed will not chime with the experience of staff working in some parts of the NHS."
Government figures also showed a total of 17,276 people were in hospital in the UK with Covid-19 as of January 4, up 58% week-on-week. Read more about the good news from Wales' hospitals despite the number of patients growing.
The figure is the highest number since February 19 last year, although far below the peak of almost 40,000 in January 2021.
Earlier, the Prime Minister's official spokesman admitted more than 20 NHS trusts had now declared a critical incident - the highest level of alert which means there are fears priority services cannot be safely delivered.
But he insisted this was "not a good indicator" of the pressures the health service was under.
In the Commons, Boris Johnson said hospital admissions were "doubling around every nine days" and "we're experiencing the fastest growth in Covid cases we've ever known".
Cases were doubling every week among the over-60s, he added.
But he said the Plan B measures were "helping to take the edge off the Omicron wave", slowing the spread, easing pressure on the NHS and buying time for the booster campaign to take effect. Take a look here at the Mark Drakeford's options being discussed today.
Pupils return to school in Wales today
Pupils have been warned to expect disruption to face-to-face learning for first few weeks of term, education minister Jeremy Miles said as he gave an update on the return to school.
Mr Miles issued a statement ahead of most schools in Wales returning to face-to-face teaching today (January 6) after two planning days the Welsh Government had asked schools to put in the calendar at the start of term.
He said remote learning should be kept to a minimum and urged schools to focus on supporting children in exam years. Planned school Estyn inspections due to take place this month have also been cancelled thanks to the added pressure caused by the Omicron variant.
A number of schools had volunteered to take part in the pilot for new inspection arrangements but that will no longer happen, the minister confirmed.
The minister said in a written statement: "While we anticipate periods of disruption to face-to-face learning for some over the next few weeks, we have reiterated to schools and colleges that any periods of remote learning should be kept to a minimum." Read more here.
The three issues hitting hospitals
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health trusts across the UK, said hospitals were being hit with three issues at once - the rising numbers of hospitalisations, staffing, and non-Covid issues which existed before the pandemic.
He said the NHS was "stretched like never before".
And Mr Taylor said: "We urge the Government (in England) not to allow its optimism to lead to complacency given the rapidly changing situation we are seeing on a daily basis.
"It is for the Government to review the data to see if further restrictions are needed and we urge ministers to take the right decisions in light of the emerging evidence."
An estimated 3.7 million people in the UK had Covid-19 in the week ending December 31, up from 2.3 million in the week to December 23 and the highest number since comparable figures began in autumn 2020, the ONS said.
Changes to testing
Plans are being implemented across the UK to end the requirement for confirmatory PCR tests for people with no symptoms who tested positive using a lateral flow device (LFD).
The changes in testing procedures are aimed at freeing up laboratory capacity for PCR tests, with the requirement for confirmatory tests suspended in asymptomatic people until the current high levels of infections subside.
The change was being introduced in Wales and Scotland from today and in England from January 11.
People who have Covid-19 symptoms should still get a PCR test, Wales health minister Eluned Morgan said. Read more about the rules here.
She added: "There is huge pressure on our testing at the moment and we have to take measures to make sure testing is available.
"The lateral flow tests are very accurate. If you do have symptoms do take a PCR test."
Ministers also approved changes to the travel regime for England, with the requirement for pre-departure tests scrapped from 4am on Friday. Ministers in Wales announced later they were reluctantly following the decision. Read more here.
The requirement to self-isolate on arrival until receipt of a negative PCR test was also being ditched, returning instead to the system in place in October last year, where travellers needed to take a lateral flow test no later than the end of day two after arriving in England, with a PCR test if they were positive.
Omicron fears dampened last-minute Christmas retail boost
Hopes for a last-minute Christmas boost for UK retail destinations were dampened by the rise of Omicron, working from home and consumer nervousness about missing out on festivities, footfall figures out today confirm.
Footfall across all UK retail destinations in December was 18.6% below the 2019 level, the worst result since August and a significant drop off from November which fell 14.5% below 2019, Springboard data shows.
Footfall was clearly affected by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant and the introduction of Plan B guidance by the Government from the third week of the month, Springboard said.
This meant that the usual increase in shoppers in the run-up to Christmas did not materialise, due to a blend of consumer nervousness around the rapid rise in infections and the risk of missing out on Christmas, households isolating due to infection and the re-introduction of working from home.
The greatest fall was on the high street, where the gap in footfall from the 2019 level widened to a drop of 22.2% from 15.8% in November.
In shopping centres, visitor numbers were 24.1% lower than 2019 but the deterioration from November, when it was 22% lower, was more modest.
The bright spot of the month was in the fourth week, beginning December 19, when the fall from 2019 narrowed to 13.8% lower across all UK retail destinations from 19.1% down in the week before.
However, the result was partially distorted by Christmas Day falling on a Wednesday in 2019, leaving only three full trading days versus five trading days in 2021.
Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard, said: "Footfall was impacted by an increase in consumer nervousness around the rapid rise in infections and the risk of missing out on Christmas, households isolating due to infection and the re-introduction of working from home
"The biggest challenge for the retail sector in the weeks to come will be the ongoing working from home guidance that suppresses footfall, combined with increasing staff shortages due to isolation and the great return of goods purchased over the Christmas period."
Italy requires coronavirus vaccines for people 50 and older
The Italian government has approved a measure requiring people older than 50 to be vaccinated against coronavirus as the country struggles with nearly daily new records of fresh infections fuelled by the Omicron variant.
Earlier in the day, 189,000 new infections were confirmed in the country of some 59 million people.
"We want to put the brakes on the growth of the curve of contagion and push Italians who are still not vaccinated to do so," Prime Minister Mario Draghi was quoted by an official in his office as telling his ministers at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening.
The Cabinet voted unanimously to impose the mandate, which Public Administration Minister Renato Brunetta said puts Italy in the vanguard in Europe in cracking down on those who refuse to be vaccinated and who now account for the majority of patients in Italy's rapidly filling ICU beds.
Some 78% of Italy's population is fully vaccinated against coronavirus. So far, about 36% have received a booster shot, which experts say is a crucial instrument in reducing the possibility that an infection will necessitate intensive care or be fatal.
Mr Draghi said the decision to require vaccination for older persons was taken out of concern that they are at more risk of hospital admission and "to reduce the pressure on hospitals and save lives".
It was not immediately announced what if any penalty non-vaccinated older persons might face. But Health Minister Roberto Speranza told reporters that anyone 50 or older will be checked to see if they have a "super green pass" before they enter their workplaces.
Also adopted was a requirement that anyone working or obtaining services in beauty parlours and similar establishments have a negative virus test if they are not vaccinated or have not recently recovered from Covid.
The same rule will apply to stores in shopping malls and to banks and post offices. Those working or patronising pharmacies or food stores will be exempt.
Staggering number of cases in France
Officials announced a staggering 332,252 daily virus cases in France on Wednesday, as hospitals prepared drastic measures to brace for patient surges and the government strained to avoid a new lockdown.
With Europe's highest-ever single-day confirmed infection count, France is facing an Omicron-driven surge that is dominating the race for April's presidential election and increasingly disrupting workplaces, schools and public life.
But the country also has one of the world's most-vaccinated populations, so the government is hoping the sweeping infections will not hit hospitals as badly as at the start of the pandemic, and is pushing the small minority of unvaccinated people to get inoculated fast.
France's weekly average of virus cases has doubled in the past 10 days, with more than 1,800 people out of 100,000 testing positive over the past week, according to the government health agency.
The number of virus patients in hospitals has been on an upward trajectory for two months, and more than 72% of French ICU beds are now occupied by people with Covid-19.
The surge has prompted authorities to allow healthcare workers who are infected with the coronavirus to keep treating patients rather than self-isolate, to ease staff shortages at medical facilities.
Meanwhile parliament is debating a bill that would deny unvaccinated people access to restaurants, regional trains and planes and many other public places.
Health officials say it is needed to save lives and protect hospitals. French President Emmanuel Macron heightened tensions with an explosive remark that prompted widespread criticism and was seen as a campaign ploy.
The vaccine push has also prompted tensions in France's overseas territories. Dozens of anti-vaccination protesters in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe attacked a hospital director and other medical staff following recent violent demonstrations against Covid-19 restrictions and long-running grievances.
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