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Covid case counts may be losing importance amid Omicron
The explosive increase in coronavirus case counts is raising alarm, but some experts believe the focus should instead be on Covid-19 hospital admissions.
US Chief Medical Advisor Dr Anthony Fauci said that with many infections causing few or no symptoms, “it is much more relevant to focus on the hospitalisations as opposed to the total number of cases” while other experts argue that case counts still have value.
Dr Wafaa El-Sadr, director of ICAP, a global health center at Columbia University, said the case count does not appear to be the most important number now and we should be “shifting our focus, especially in an era of vaccination, to really focus on preventing illness, disability and death, and therefore counting those.”
Daily case counts and their ups and downs have been one of the most closely watched barometers during the outbreak and have been a reliable early warning sign of severe disease and death in previous coronavirus waves.
But they have long been considered an imperfect measure, in part because they consist of primarily of laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19, not the actual number of infections out there, which is almost certainly many times higher.
The daily case counts are also subject to wild swings. The number of new cases recorded on Monday topped an unprecedented 1 million, a figure that may reflect cases that had been held up by reporting delays over the holiday weekend. The seven-day rolling average is considered more reliable.
Now, the value of the daily case count is being called into question as never before.
Case numbers seem to yield a less useful picture of the pandemic amid the spread of Omicron, which is causing lots of infections but so far does not appear to be as severe in its effects.
Case counts have lost relevance, said Andrew Noymer, a public health professor at the University of California, Irvine.
“Hospitalisations are where the rubber meets the road,” Noymer said. “It’s a more objective measure.” He added: “If I had to choose one metric, I would choose the hospitalisation data.”
Still, health experts are not prepared to do away with case counts.
“We should not abandon looking at case numbers,” said Dr Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, “but it is important to acknowledge we’re seeing only a portion of the actual number of cases.”
Outrage has erupted over Novak Djokovic’s medical exemption to play in the Australian Open.
The decision to grant Novak Djokovic an exemption from Covid-19 vaccination requirements to play in the Australian Open in Melbourne has been labelled “appalling”, with some players expressing surprise at the late decision.
On Tuesday night, the defending Australian Open champion posted on Instagram that he was coming to Melbourne to participate in the tennis tournament with an “exemption permission”.
All Australian Open participants must either be fully vaccinated or apply for and secure a medical exemption in order to enter Victoria without undertaking the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Tennis Australia said tennis players seeking an exemption went through a two-stage process, with their application first considered by a panel of experts in Tennis Australia, and then an assessment from the Victorian government.
Read the full story here.
Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you on the blog reporting from a very rainy Sydney.
Here’s a quick snapshot of how Covid is unfolding across Australia.
The state of NSW recorded 35,054 cases and eight deaths while Victoria reported 17,636 cases and 11 deaths.
NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has insisted NSW will ‘get through’ the Omicron outbreak as Covid hospitalisations across the state rose to 1,491.
Meanwhile, the decision to grant tennis player Novak Djokovic an exemption from Covid-19 vaccination requirements to play in the Australian Open in Melbourne has been labelled “appalling”, with some players expressing surprise at the late decision.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned people not yet vaccinated against Covid that he would cause them trouble by limiting access to key aspects of life in the country, AFP reports.
“As for the non-vaccinated, I really want to hassle them. And we will continue to do this, to the end. This is the strategy,” he told the Le Parisien newspaper in an interview.
He added that this would mean “limiting as much as possible their access to activities in social life”.
Macron’s comments came as the government seeks to push through parliament legislation that will make vaccination compulsory to enjoy cultural activities, use inter-city train travel or visit to a cafe from 15 January.
No longer will it be possible to have a recent test or a recovery from Covid to qualify for the country’s Covid pass.
But the government was incensed when the opposition joined forces on Monday to hold up the passage of the legislation through parliament.
Updated
The United States government is finalising contracts for 500 million rapid Covid tests it plans to distribute for free to Americans who request them, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.
Reuters reports:
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has swiftly spread across the United States since its detection on 1 December, replacing Delta as the dominant strain and sparking a new wave of infections that pushed recorded daily cases near the 1 million mark on Monday.
Psaki did not share details on how soon the tests will be available. The administration, she said, is in the process of finalising the contracts and expects the first shipment from manufacturers to come soon.
The website to be used to request the free tests will be up and running later this month, she added.
Updated
The Cypriot government is considering whether to introduce new Covid restrictions after recording the world’s highest infection rate per 100,000 people over the previous week.
On Tuesday, Cyprus registered a daily record of 5,457 new cases in a population of around 1 million, surpassing the New Year’s Eve peak of 5,048, which topped five consecutive daily record highs, AFP reports.
According to figures released prior to Tuesday’s data, Cyprus also recorded the world’s highest Covid infection rate per 100,000 people over the past seven days.
It was top with 2,505 cases per 100,000, followed by Denmark (2,117), Ireland (1,946), Greece (1,762) and France (1,680).
The cabinet is expected to announce any new measures on Wednesday.
Further restrictions could be imposed on nightclubs and entertainment venues, which already require proof of a recent negative test or booster shot.
All hospital visits have been banned, and sports stadiums are restricted to 50% capacity, down from 75%.
Updated
Hospitals in Greater Manchester have paused some non-urgent surgery and appointments due to the rising impact of Covid.
A statement by Greater Manchester Combined Authority said the temporary measure, implemented from Tuesday, will not affect cancer and urgent care, including cardiac surgery, vascular surgery and transplantation.
Around 15% of staff are currently absent and, in some hospitals, more than one in five patients have Covid.
Diagnostic services, including endoscopy, and the majority of out-patient services, will continue wherever possible.
The statement reads:
Staff have worked tirelessly to try to maintain services and deliver the highest quality of healthcare to local people.
But Covid admissions are rising sharply (from 126 on 19 December to 359 on 2 January), as are inpatient diagnoses (193 to 738 for the same period), and in some hospitals more than one in five patients have Covid (though this is not translating into critical care pressure at present).
However, the main reason is the high and rising level of staff absence, with around 15% off, either ill with Covid or isolating.
There are also outbreaks in an increasing number of care homes, which is affecting how people are discharged from hospital. The bed modelling suggests these challenges may get worse, not better, in the next week or two.
Patients who are not contacted should assume their treatment is continuing as planned, the statement added.
Updated
US reports global record of almost 1 million new Covid infections on Monday
The United States reported a global record of almost 1 million new Covid infections on Monday, nearly double the country’s previous peak of 505,109 cases just a week ago.
The 987,856 figure includes some cases from Saturday and Sunday, according to Reuters, when many states do not report. It is the highest reported by any country in a single day throughout the pandemic.
In the last week, the number of patients hospitalised with Covid has risen by nearly 50%, now exceeding 100,000, the first time that threshold has been reached since the winter surge a year ago.
The average number of US deaths per day has remained steady throughout December and into early January at about 1,300, according to a Reuters tally, though deaths typically lag behind cases and hospitalisations.
While Omicron appears to cause less severe illness than previous strains of the virus, public health officials have warned that the sheer volume of cases threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
Updated
France reports record 271,000 Covid cases in single day
France reported a record-breaking 271,686 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, as Omicron infections continue to burden hospital staff and threaten disruption to services across the country.
The figure is the highest of any European country, compared to 218,274 cases in Britain and 30,561 cases in Germany on the same day.
AP reports:
More than 20,000 people are hospitalised with the virus in France, a number that has been rising steadily for weeks but not as sharply as the infection rates.
Covid patients fill more than 72% of France’s ICU beds, and a once-renowned health care system is again showing signs of strain.
Most virus patients in ICUs are not vaccinated, though 77% of the population has had at least two doses.
More than 123,000 people with the virus have died in France, among the world’s higher death tolls.
A growing number of people in France can’t work because they are sick or are close contact cases, which is disrupting some hospitals and forced some regional train cancellations, among other services.
The French government has imposed some restrictions on crowds and re-imposed mask requirements outdoors in some places, in addition to indoor mask requirements. The surge is also forcing candidates for April presidential election to scale back campaign events.
Updated
Summary
Here is a round-up of the day’s main Covid news stories from around the world:
- A fourth dose of Covid vaccine boosts antibodies five-fold a week after the shot is administered, the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, said on Tuesday, citing preliminary findings of an Israeli study.
- More evidence is emerging that the Omicron coronavirus variant is causing milder symptoms than previous variants and resulting in a “decoupling” in some places between soaring case numbers and low death rates, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.
- Confirmed daily Covid cases in the UK have hit another record high, with 218,724 reported in the past 24 hours.
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Italy reported a record 170,844 new Covid cases on Tuesday, compared with 68,052 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of coronavirus-related deaths rose to 259 from 140.
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Greece reported a record 50,126 Covid-related infections on Tuesday, breaking a previous high of 40,560 registered on 31 December.
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Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have tested positive for Covid, the palace said in a statement on Tuesday.
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Sweden set a new daily record for Covid cases, registering 11,507 cases on 30 December, health agency data showed on Tuesday as a fourth wave of the virus spread across the country.
- Tennis star Novak Djokovic looks set to play in the Australian Open after revealing he is heading to the country under a medical exemption.
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Germany has relaxed restrictions on travel from the UK, South Africa and seven other southern African countries that were imposed following the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
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Reinfections should be included in Covid figures for the UK as soon as possible, scientists have said, amid warnings that up to 15% of Omicron cases could be people who have had coronavirus before.
- Authorities in Greece have introduced new price limits for Covid testing following a surge in demand due to a steep rise in infections blamed on the Omicron variant.
- Students at Spanish schools and universities will return to class in-person when the new term begins on 10 January, the country’s health minister said on Tuesday.
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Puerto Rico has imposed new measures to fight a surge in Covid cases that has overwhelmed medical staff in the US territory and led to temporary shortages of testing kits.
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India’s capital Delhi will impose a weekend curfew to try to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus as cases have risen rapidly in the past few days, its deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told a news conference on Tuesday.
- A South Korean court ordered that private educational facilities, including cram schools, should be temporarily excluded from government Covid vaccine pass mandates, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
- Police in Germany have reported sporadic violence at demonstrations against the country’s pandemic restrictions, with one protester in the eastern town of Lichtenstein biting an officer and another attempting to steal a service weapon.
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Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen on Tuesday urged vigilance against the spread of Covid after the island detected its first cases of the Omicron variant spreading in the community.
- The number of new Covid-19 infections in Japan rose above 1,000 on Tuesday for the first time in three months, the Jiji news agency reported.
- The city of Yuzhou in China’s Henan province entered lockdown Monday night after three asymptomatic Covid cases were detected on Sunday, local media reports.
Well, that’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for this evening. I will be back tomorrow morning but for now, my colleague Euan O’Byrne is taking over the global Covid blog. Keep reading for more breaking news from around the world. Goodbye.
Spain’s health ministry reported a record in the national 14-day Covid infection rate on Tuesday, as the figure climbed to 2,433.9 per 100,000 people, from 2,295.8 registered the previous day.
Intensive care occupancy reached 21.3% on Tuesday, a slight increase from 21.2% on Monday but still far below the peak of 45% recorded last February.
The number of Covid sufferers to have died in the last seven days stands at 308, the ministry report showed.
Brazil’s health ministry said on Tuesday that most participants in a public hearing on vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 for Covid disagreed with the need for a doctor’s prescription, but it will still recommend it.
The government of the far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, a vaccine denier, has opposed the vaccination of children, even though Brazil’s health regulator, Anvisa, has authorised the use of vaccines developed by Pfizer, Reuters reported.
Several dozen Bolsonaro supporters demonstrated outside the hearing held at the Pan American Health Organization offices in Brasilia, protesting against the vaccination of children, accompanied by youngsters holding signs. One said: “I am not a guinea pig.”
Experts told the hearing that the vaccines were not experimental and have been approved by Anvisa, which authorised the Pfizer vaccine for children on 16 December. Anvisa did not attend the hearing.
Updated
Reinfections should be included in Covid figures for the UK as soon as possible, scientists have said, amid warnings that up to 15% of Omicron cases could be people who have had coronavirus before.
At present, daily Covid case figures – which reflect the number of infections picked up by testing – do not include reinfections for all countries of the UK.
While figures for Wales do include multiple cases for the same person, provided the positive tests are more than 42 days apart, this is not the case for England, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
However, scientists have said that with the proportion of cases that are reinfections growing, such figures should be urgently updated.
“The reinfection rate was fairly low with Delta, but is higher now, both because prior infection provides little protection against Omicron, and there is a bigger pool of people with prior infection,” said Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter, a statistician at the University of Cambridge.
According to a report released by researchers at Imperial College London last month, the risk of reinfection with Omicron is more than five times higher than with Delta.
Updated
Mauritania’s president, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, was displaying mild symptoms of Covid on Tuesday after testing positive, the presidency said.
Ghazouani, who came to power in August 2019, was found to be infected after having a fever, it said in a statement posted on Facebook, Reuters reported.
Mauritania recorded 490 new coronavirus cases on Monday, its highest daily tally since the start of the pandemic.
The west African country has reported 862 deaths from Covid among its 4.6 million people, while more than 2.3 million vaccine doses have been administered, according to World Health Organization data.
Updated
Italy reports record 170,844 coronavirus cases and 259 deaths
Italy reported a record 170,844 new Covid cases on Tuesday, compared with 68,052 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of coronavirus-related deaths rose to 259 from 140.
Italy has registered 138,045 deaths linked to the virus since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, and has reported 6.57 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with coronavirus – not including those in intensive care – stood at 12,912 on Tuesday, up from 12,333 a day earlier.
There were 153 new admissions to intensive care units, against 103 on Monday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,392 from a previous 1,351.
About 1.23 million tests for Covid were carried out in the last day, compared with a previous 445,321, the health ministry said.
Updated
Confirmed daily Covid cases in the UK have hit another record high, with 218,724 reported in the past 24 hours.
The latest case figures – which reflect infections picked up by testing – continue to be affected by disruptions over Christmas, with figures for Northern Ireland covering a four-day period, and for Wales covering a two-day period.
However, the data shows that 148,725 cases were reported on Tuesday for England alone, up from 137,541 the day before, but below the peak of 162,572 reported on New Year’s Day. These figures do not include cases that are reinfections.
Greece reported a record 50,126 Covid-related infections on Tuesday, breaking a previous high of 40,560 registered on 31 December.
The number of deaths dropped to 61 from 78 on Monday.
As recently as 27 December, only 9,284 new Covid cases were recorded, according to a Reuters tally.
Hospitals in the north of England are experiencing more than double the growth rate in Covid patients compared with London as mounting Omicron pressure on the NHS spreads away from the capital.
Health chiefs are cautiously optimistic that after weeks of rapidly increasing hospitalisations in London – the centre of the outbreak – the huge rises may be slowing and beginning to level off.
However, at the same time, hospitals at the other end of the country are experiencing the fastest growth in Covid occupancy, according to an analysis of official NHS data by the Guardian. It comes as four more NHS trusts in England – all outside London – declared “critical incidents” on Tuesday, amid soaring staff absences, rising numbers of Covid patients and growing pressure on emergency services.
The highest rate of growth in England is in the north-east and Yorkshire, where the number of Covid patients in hospitals has more than doubled – up 122% - in one week. There were 1,975 Covid patients in hospitals on Monday, compared with fewer than half that – 889 – the week before.
Germany has relaxed restrictions on travel from the UK, South Africa and seven other southern African countries that were imposed following the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
The nine nations were removed Tuesday from Germany’s list of “virus variant areas”. Airlines and others are restricted largely to transporting German citizens and residents from countries on that list. All arrivals must self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of vaccination status.
Germany’s national disease control centre had announced on Thursday that it planned to downgrade the countries’ risk status but said at the time that “short-term changes” were possible.
The nine countries have now been added to Germany’s list of “high-risk areas”, which carries much less onerous restrictions. People arriving from such areas who either haven’t recovered recently or been fully vaccinated have to self-isolate for 10 days, which can be cut to five with a negative test.
Updated
Israel has become the first country in the world to embark on a fourth Covid-19 vaccination campaign as part of efforts to stem rapidly rising infection rates caused by the Omicron variant.
People over the age of 60 and healthcare workers who received their third shot more than four months ago became eligible for a second booster of Pfizer-BioNTech on Monday, after a limited rollout began last week for elderly people and those with compromised immune systems.
Officials had previously said they would wait for further data on the efficacy of a fourth shot before making it more widely available. The Israeli health ministry said on Tuesday, however, that even though it believes the threat posed by Omicron is minimal, it had been forced to act more quickly in the face of skyrocketing infection rates.
Updated
Authorities in Greece have introduced new price limits for Covid testing following a surge in demand due to a steep rise in infections blamed on the Omicron variant.
The country’s trade ministry said Tuesday that PCR tests at private facilities will be priced at a maximum of €47, including a €12 handling fee. The previous cap had been set at €60, the Associated Press reported.
New confirmed infections have risen to record levels in the past week, as health officials say omicron is now dominating new cases.
The centre-right government recently expanded its testing programme, with additional home kits made available for free, but says it does not have the capacity to implement a request by the country’s leftwing opposition to reimburse private PCR tests.
Updated
US government health officials will issue a clarification on the role of Covid testing related to a shortened five-day quarantine period for those testing positive for the virus, surgeon general Vivek Murthy said on Tuesday.
Murthy told CNN he expected the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue the clarification in the next couple of days but did not elaborate.
As the super-spreading Omicron variant raged across the country, the CDC last week shortened the recommended isolation time for Americans with asymptomatic cases of Covid to five days from the previous guidance of 10 days.
The quarantine period should be followed by strict mask use for an additional five days, the CDC said, but it did not recommend testing at that point in its guidelines.
“They have certainly received feedback and questions about the role of testing in shortening that quarantine period and they’re actually working right now on issuing a clarification on that,” Murthy told CNN.
“They’re going to speak to the role that testing can play in a situation like reducing isolation,” Murthy said.
US government infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that health officials were considering asking people to get tested after a five-day quarantine period.
Swedish king and queen test positive for Covid
Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have tested positive for Covid, the palace said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The King and Queen, who are fully vaccinated with three injections, have mild symptoms and are feeling well, given the circumstances,” the palace said in a statement.
Students at Spanish schools and universities will return to class in-person when the new term begins on 10 January, the country’s health minister said on Tuesday.
Cases have hit new highs since the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus was detected some two months ago, raising concerns that children would not be able to go back to school after the Christmas holidays.
The Omicron variant accounted for around 43% of cases in the week before Christmas, Spanish health authorities said on Monday.
But officials from the 17 Spanish regions, which set their own health policy, all voted in favour of a return to the classroom on Tuesday in a rare display of unanimity in a country riven by stark political differences.
“It’s about the physical attendance of all our students from next 10 January throughout the country,” health minister Carolina Darias told reporters after the regional meeting.
Masks will be mandatory at all times and schools must guarantee adequate ventilation, while regional administrations will work to cover any teacher absences due to infection, she said.
Updated
Puerto Rico has imposed new measures to fight a surge in Covid cases that has overwhelmed medical staff in the US territory and led to temporary shortages of testing kits.
All private businesses that cater to the public must close from midnight to 5am, no alcohol will be sold during those hours and gatherings of more than 250 people are banned.
The measures will remain in place until 18 January and come as the island of 3.3 million people reports a more than 30% positivity rate, the highest since the pandemic began.
The Associated Press reported:
The government has reported more than 201,000 confirmed cases and more than 3,300 deaths. Officials note that a third of all cases reported since the pandemic began have occurred in the past month, with many linked to a two-day outdoor concert held in December. The number of daily cases per 100,000 reported in Puerto Rico rose from three to 225 in just three weeks, according to statistician Rafael Irizarry. More than 500 people are hospitalised.
Almost 85% of people in Puerto Rico have received the first dose and more than 70% have received the second one. However, at least 40% have not received a booster shot.
The increase in cases has caused temporary shortages of home testing kits, with people taking to social media to share places where they’ve run out or are still available, while some government-run testing sites have closed early after exhausting testing kits for the day. Meanwhile, the Association of Hospitals of Puerto Rico urged people to stop visiting emergency rooms to request tests because the demand was overwhelming and preventing staff from treating urgent cases.
Sweden set a new daily record for Covid cases, registering 11,507 cases on 30 December, health agency data showed on Tuesday as a fourth wave of the virus spread across the country.
The daily infection figures are typically revised somewhat as any delayed records of additional cases are added to the national total for a given day. The previous record of 11,376 cases was set in late December 2020.
The fresh wave of cases, in part driven by the more contagious omicron variant, hit Sweden later than its Nordic neighbours, but has in recent weeks resulted in a sharp rise in cases and, increasingly, hospitalisations.
WHO sees more evidence that Omicron causes milder symptoms
More evidence is emerging that the Omicron coronavirus variant is causing milder symptoms than previous variants and resulting in a “decoupling” in some places between soaring case numbers and low death rates, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.
“We are seeing more and more studies pointing out that Omicron is infecting the upper part of the body. Unlike other ones, the lungs who would be causing severe pneumonia,” WHO incident manager Abdi Mahamud told Geneva-based journalists.
“It can be a good news, but we really require more studies to prove that.”
Since the heavily mutated variant was first detected in November, WHO data shows it has spread quickly and emerged in at least 128 countries, presenting dilemmas for many nations and people seeking to reboot their economies and lives after nearly two years of Covid-related disruptions.
However, while case numbers have surged to all-time records, the hospitalisation and death rates are often lower than at other phases in the pandemic.
Updated
Israeli study finds fourth vaccine dose boosts antibodies five-fold
A fourth dose of Covid vaccine boosts antibodies five-fold a week after the shot is administered, the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, said on Tuesday, citing preliminary findings of an Israeli study.
“A week into the fourth dose we know to a higher degree of certainty that the fourth dose is safe,” Bennett said at Sheba Medical Centre, which is giving second booster shots in a trial among its staff amid a nationwide surge in Omicron variant infections.
“The second piece of news: we know that a week after administration of a fourth dose, we see a five-fold increase in the number of antibodies in the vaccinated person,” he told reporters.
“This most likely means a significant increase against infection and ... hospitalisation and (severe) symptoms,” Bennett said in English.
Updated
The French government has heavily criticised opposition MPs after parliamentary debate over the proposed introduction of a “vaccine pass” was unexpectedly suspended on Monday night after members of the Assemblée nationale voted with a show of hands to go home.
The move came after seven hours of often-heated exchanges as ministers clashed with critics over the controversial measure due to be introduced on 15 January, but now postponed.
Government spokesperson Gabriel Attal on Tuesday accused opposition MPs of playing politics and halting the adoption of what he said were “essential measures … in an urgent situation”. He said the government would push on with the legislation.
The proposal is to turn the current “health pass” requiring either vaccination, recovery from Covid or a negative Covid test into a “vaccine pass” requiring people to be fully vaccinated if they wish to access restaurants, bars, museums, cinemas, theatres, long distance trains, hotels and many other public places. Hospitals and health establishments would not require a vaccine pass.
The debate, which began on Monday afternoon, was due to continue into the early hours of Tuesday and there were more than 500 amendments still to be debated when the parliamentary session was suspended shortly before midnight.
Updated
Tennis star Novak Djokovic looks set to play in the Australian Open after revealing he is heading to the country under a medical exemption.
The defending champion has previously refused to reveal if he has been vaccinated against Covid-19, a requirement to play in Melbourne unless an exemption is granted.
The world number one pulled out of the Serbia team competing at the ATP Cup in Sydney without explanation, adding to speculation that the nine-time champion and vaccine sceptic would not play in the season’s first grand slam.
However, the Australian Open chief, Craig Tiley, revealed this week that some unvaccinated players have been granted exemptions to play, and it seems Djokovic is among them.
Djokovic wrote on Instagram and Twitter: “Happy New Year, everybody! Wishing you all health, love, and happiness in every present moment and may you feel love and respect towards all beings on this wonderful planet.
“I’ve spent fantastic quality time with my loved ones over the break and today I’m heading Down Under with an exemption permission. Let’s go 2022!!”
Updated
A South Korean court ordered that private educational facilities, including cram schools, should be temporarily excluded from government Covid vaccine pass mandates, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
The injunction is one of the first legal obstacles to South Korea’s vaccine mandates, which require passes or testing for entry to facilities including restaurants, cafes, gyms, and bars, as well as privately-run schools, Reuters reported.
A Seoul administrative court ruled that the mandate at private education facilities such as tuition centres, libraries and study cafes should be blocked while it considers a legal challenge filed against the Ministry of Health by federations of private education and parents’ groups, the ministry said.
The ruling said mandates effectively limit “the rights (of unvaccinated people) to use cram schools and study facilities”, said Yonhap news agency. It first reported the exemption, which the ministry confirmed.
The health ministry said the mandate should be expanded to protect unvaccinated people and reduce the number of critically ill patients, and it will shortly decide whether it will appeal against the injunction in cooperation with the justice ministry.
The passes are required for people aged 17 and older and there is a plan to extend the requirement to children over the age of 12, but will not apply to public schools.
Updated
The number of daily Covid infections more than doubled in Romania on Tuesday following an easing of restrictions during the winter holidays, and officials estimate the fifth wave of the pandemic could result in twice as many cases as the previous one.
Romania is the European Union’s second-least vaccinated state, with roughly 40% of the population fully inoculated amid distrust in state institutions and poor vaccine education, Reuters reported.
New infections in the preceding 24 hours stood at 3,900, more than double Monday’s number, but still far off a record high of 18,863 daily cases seen in October, official data showed. Some 47 people died of the virus within the last 24 hours. With school children now back in class, the number of cases is expected to rise further.
“We will probably witness a more rapid growth of cases around 15 January,” the health minister, Alexandru Rafila, told private television station Antena 3 on Monday.
“It remains to be seen how many cases we will have in the fifth wave, we estimate a doubling of the number of cases.”
Updated
Police in Germany have reported sporadic violence at demonstrations against the country’s pandemic restrictions, with one protester in the eastern town of Lichtenstein biting an officer and another attempting to steal a service weapon.
Tens of thousands of people in total took to the streets in scores of German towns and cities for weekly marches that have organisers have labelled “strolls” in an attempt to bypass restrictions on public gatherings. Counter-protests were also held in towns including Rostock and Trier, the dpa news agency reported.
Most of the rallies passed peacefully, though many broke rules on social distancing, prompting officers to intervene.
Police in the eastern state of Saxony said the incident late on Monday in Lichtenstein, about 20km (12 miles) west of Chemnitz, occurred when officers tried to pull about 60 rowdy people out of a march to check their identities. Several of the protesters attacked police and sprayed them with chemical irritants.
“One person attempted to seize an officer’s service weapon and another police officer suffered a bite wound from a participant of the gathering,” Saxony police said in a statement.
In Bautzen, further east, some participants of a 600-strong march attempted to break through a police cordon. Officers responded with pepper spray and batons. In Magdeburg, the capital of neighboring Saxony-Anhalt state, protesters hurled bottles and fireworks at police. No officers were injured, police said.
The protests took place before a meeting Tuesday of Germany’s pandemic expert panel, which is expected to submit new recommendations to the government for how to respond to the outbreak. A meeting of state and federal leaders is scheduled for Friday.
Updated
Covid has been recorded on the death certificates of more than 5.4 million people worldwide since the pandemic began two years ago.
As countries brace for further waves of infections driven by the Omicron variant, the families of 14 people who lost their lives tell of incalculable loss as they pay tribute to their loved ones.
Hello. Tom Ambrose here. I’ll be bringing you all the latest Covid news from around the world throughout the day.
We start with the news that Xi’an, a Chinese city almost two weeks into a lockdown, is demanding officials “strictly and properly” implement Covid curbs, as new local cases among its 13 million residents have started to grow at a slower pace.
Xi’an, which on 23 December imposed strict curbs on travel within the city and leaving town, reported 95 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed clinical symptoms for Monday, up slightly from 90 a day earlier, official data showed on Tuesday.
Monday also marked the second consecutive day for which Xi’an reported fewer than 100 local cases since 24 December, Reuters reported.
“The various work that needs to be done must only be strengthened,” said Liu Guozhong, provincial head of the Communist party in Shaanxi, of which Xi’an is its capital. The epidemic control effort is at a pivotal moment, Liu said.
The latest infections brings the tally of local cases to over 1,700 since 9 December in Xi’an’s latest outbreak.
Updated
More evidence is emerging that the Omicron variant is affecting the upper respiratory tract, causing milder symptoms than previous variants, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.
Asked about whether an Omicron-specific vaccine was needed, WHO incident manager Abdi Mahamud said it was too early to say but stressed that the decision required global coordination and should not be left to the commercial sector to decide alone.
Pressed on whether fourth Covid vaccines were a good idea, Mahamud said the world should instead aim to reach vaccination levels of at least 70% globally.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO, said on Twitter on Tuesday that he looked forward to working with Karl Lauterbach, the German healthy minister, during Germany’s G7 presidency which started on 1 January, “to end the pandemic, ensure [vaccine equity] and vaccinate 70% of people in all countries by July”.
However, Mahamud added that Omicron’s high transmissibility means it will become dominant within weeks in many places, posing a threat in countries where a high portion of the population remains unvaccinated.
Mahamud also sounded a note of caution, calling South Africa an “outlier” whose Covid data might not be representative for other places due to its young population, among other factors.
Updated
Germany’s joblessness rate fell slightly in December despite the return of pandemic restrictions to tackle a new wave of coronavirus infections, official figures published Tuesday showed.
AFP reports:
The seasonally adjusted rate dropped to 5.2% from 5.3% the previous month, the BA federal labour agency said, the equivalent of 23,000 fewer unemployed people.
“The recovery seen in recent months continued in December,” agency head Detlef Scheele said in a statement.
In raw figures, the number of unemployed sat just under 2,330,000, down around 378,000 since December 2020.
Unemployment in Europe’s top economy climbed as high as six percent in the months following the rapid spread of the coronavirus through Europe in the first half of 2020.
Germany has relied heavily on subsidised short-term work schemes to help businesses and workers whether the pandemic storm, with nearly 6 million Germans placed on reduced hours at the peak of the crisis in April 2020.
The scheme was still supporting 710,000 people according to the latest available figures from October, the BA said.
An uptick in applications made for the short-term work scheme at the end of the year showed the “uncertainty” caused by rising numbers of coronavirus cases and the emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, the BA said.
About 286,000 people were signed up to the programme in December, up from 104,000 the month before.
The overall improvement in the job market over 12 months was “encouraging” but “the new virus variant will be a difficult test for the German economy,” said Fritzi Koehler-Geib, chief economist at public lender KfW.
Updated
Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen on Tuesday urged vigilance against the spread of Covid after the island detected its first cases of the Omicron variant spreading in the community.
“With the emergence of domestic cases, everyone must stay vigilant,” Tsai said in a post on Facebook, adding that epidemic prevention measures had been tightened at the airport.
“Most importantly, please get a vaccination as soon as possible.”
Taiwan initially kept the pandemic well under control because of early and effective prevention, including largely closing its borders.
Most cases of its cases have been imported from abroad, though the island struggled with an outbreak of domestic infections in the middle of 2021, showing the government failed to fully prepare a pandemic response or vaccination rollout.
Taiwan this week reported its first two cases of the Omicron variant, both linked to a quarantine hotel, Reuters reports.
Another person, a cleaner working at the island’s main international airport, was “likely” to be infected with the Omicron variant, health minister Chen Shih-chung said.
Chen added the new cases had put “a lot of pressure” on the government’s efforts against the pandemic.
Taiwan has vaccinated about 70% of its 23.5 million people and the government is offering incentives such as shopping coupons to boost the uptake.
Updated
Thailand to offer fourth vaccine dose to frontline workers and risk groups
Thailand’s health ministry on Tuesday called on people to come forward to get booster vaccinations after reporting cases of the Omicron variant had more than doubled over the holiday period.
A fourth dose will be given to medical personnel, frontline workers and risk groups three months after their third shots.
Reuters reports:
The south-east Asian country has recorded 2,062 cases of the Omicron variant so far, health official Supakit Sirilak told a news conference, up from 740 cases before the holidays.
Health authorities have warned of the risk of a surge of infections after the holidays when people travelled home and gathered at restaurants for celebrations.
Of the Omicron infections, 1,105 were among foreign arrivals with the remainder in those who had come into contact with arrivals, he said.
Up to now, Thailand has vaccinated 64.1% of an estimated 72 million people in the country with two doses, government data shows, while officials said only 9.8% had received a third booster shot.
[...]
Alarmed by the spread of Omicron, Thailand last month suspended its “Test & Go” travel scheme that allowed vaccinated tourists to skip quarantine and an official said people who had previously registered for the scheme must enter by 10 January.
A so-called “sandbox” programme, which requires visitors to remain in a specific location for seven days but allows them free movement outside of their accommodation, was also suspended in all places except for the resort island of Phuket.
Thailand has reported a total of 2.2 million infections and 21,750 coronavirus-related fatalities.
Updated
The number of new Covid-19 infections in Japan rose above 1,000 on Tuesday for the first time in three months, the Jiji news agency reported.
Japan had recorded fewer cases in recent months, but experts had warned of a potential sixth wave of infections during the winter.
The number of new cases in Tokyo rose above 100 on Monday for the first time in about three months, fuelling concerns over a gradual surge in infections in Japan because of the Omicron variant.
Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday he won’t be visiting the US and Australia for in-person summit talks before the start of a regular parliamentary session in mid-January and will focus on the Covid-19 response at home instead, the Kyodo news agency reports.
Kishida said he had been seeking to meet with US president Joe Biden and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison in a bid to step up summit diplomacy this year.
“In light of the domestic and overseas spread of the novel coronavirus, I have decided not to make overseas trips before the regular Diet session this month,” Kishida said in his new year press conference.
Updated
Prof Sir Andrew Pollard added it is not yet certain that future strains of Covid-19 “will be causing mild disease”, and that more time is needed to evaluate whether the virus will become milder.
He said:
If indeed we do have ongoing problems with more severe disease, updated vaccines for the new variants may be one of the ways that we manage living with the virus in the future.
Pollard said the UK is not yet completely over Omicron but “generally the news is relatively good from an overall perspective in that it does seem to be causing milder disease”, but that this does not mean the NHS can cope with a continuing increase in cases.
Updated
Oxford University professor and director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, Sir Andrew Pollard, told Sky News there are “very large numbers of cases in the community but still very good control of severe disease as a result of vaccination”, but that the idea of giving people globally a fourth vaccine dose was “not affordable, sustainable or deliverable”.
Asked if he is worried about complacency in the UK, he said:
No, I don’t think we are being complacent at all, actually.
Today we’re in a situation where there’s very good monitoring – much better than it was before globally – trying to understand how best to make sure that everyone in the world is protected as well as is possible, and now we’re in this new period of transition to work out, now that there’s very high levels of immunity in countries like ours, how do we transition to the situation where society is open, and we maintain protection of the vulnerable in the population?
He said that has been managed so far with third doses of vaccines, adding that learning how to live with the virus is “going to be the critical next step”.
Asked whether people will be vaccinated every six months, he said:
Well, it’s just not – from a global perspective – affordable, sustainable or deliverable to give fourth doses to everyone on the planet every six months.
Remember that, today, less than 10% of people in low-income countries have even had their first dose, so the whole idea of regular fourth doses globally is just not sensible.
Now, it may be that, as the science evolves, that we can work out who the most vulnerable are in populations and target future boosters to those individuals to maintain their protection, but for the vast majority of people who are vaccinated, the risk now is extremely low of severe Covid, for those who have had three doses, and it’s likely that we’ll reach a point where we’re focusing those booster doses on those who most need them.
And of course, at this moment, we don’t know what that looks like. Does that mean that we need updated vaccines each year like we do with flu? We need more data to make those decisions.
Updated
Delhi imposes weekend curfew as Omicron cases rise "rapidly"
India’s capital Delhi will impose a weekend curfew to try to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus as cases have risen rapidly in the past few days, its deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told a news conference on Tuesday.
He also said most offices would have to make half their employees work from home, including all government officials except for those engaged in essential services.
Delhi has reported about 11,000 positive cases in the past eight to 10 days, of which around 350 patients are in hospital, with 124 patients need ing oxygen and seven being on a ventilator, the Times of India reports.
Updated
A top UK infectious disease expert said he was “cautiously optimistic” that Covid cases are beginning to plateau in London, and that he was expecting cases to come down in regions outside of the capital within one to three weeks.
Prof Neil Ferguson, who specialises in the patterns of spread of infectious disease, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
I think I’m cautiously optimistic that infection rates in London in that key 18-50 age group, which has been driving the Omicron epidemic, may possibly have plateaued. It’s too early to say whether they’re going down yet.
I would say that with an epidemic which has been spreading so quickly and reaching such high numbers, it can’t sustain those numbers forever, so we would expect to see case numbers start to come down in the next week, maybe already coming down in London, but in other regions a week to three weeks.
Whether they then drop precipitously or we see a pattern a bit like we saw with Delta back in July – of an initial drop and then quite a high plateau – remains to be seen, it’s just too difficult to interpret current mixing trends and what the effect of open schools again will be.
Updated
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said hospital admissions seem to have “perhaps plateaued in London or there may be a second peak after the new year now, but it’s rising across the rest of Britain”.
He told Times Radio that, often, for many hospitals “the most pressing element of all” was the number of staff who are absent due to Covid.
He said that even without Covid, the NHS is 100,000 staff short, “so we have a long-term failure in terms of workforce planning and resourcing”.
He added:
The problem with staff absence is that it is unpredictable and lumpy in the sense that you don’t know where somebody is going to get sick and, when somebody does get sick, it’s then more likely that other people in that team will get sick and hospitals and healthcare systems are complex, they’re inter-dependent, so [...] if you lose paramedics then the ambulance can’t go out, and if ambulances can’t go out then that means there’s more pressure on other services.
So, those interdependencies and the unpredictability of staff absence means NHS leaders having to work around the clock just thinking about how they can deploy their resources best to deal with the most urgent and pressing needs.
Even using all their imagination and creativity, it is becoming almost impossible, which is why we see hospitals declaring critical incidents.
Updated
Minister for vaccines and public health Maggie Throup said she was “not sure” how many Britons were in self-isolation.
She told Sky News:
I’m not sure of that [actual] figure, but I think what’s shown over Christmas is that a lot of people have caught the disease, the Omicron variant is very transmissible, but what is good news, it doesn’t seem to be resulting in severe diseases as some of the other variants did.
Not everybody declares that they’re self-isolating, I think that’s one important thing, that it’s something that they do because they’ve tested positive or they’ve been in contact with somebody whose tested positive, they don’t have to report that in.
The vaccine is working and that’s the best way to stop the transmission, and to stop hospitalisations and for our life to get back to normal.
Updated
France’s lower house of parliament suspended debates over a bill that would require people to show proof of vaccination to go to a restaurant or cinema or take the train with discussions set to continue on Tuesday.
Tense discussions of the new law, which would remove the option of showing a negative test result instead of having the inoculations, were halted after midnight on Monday after a majority of deputies voted to suspend the session.
The heads of the various parliamentary groups must now set a new date for debates to resume, the vice-president of the national assembly, Annie Genevard, said.
Once voted in the national assembly, the new law needs to be voted in by the senate before it comes into force on 15 January.
Updated
Summary
Here’s a brief rundown of the latest Covid developments from across the world:
Europe:
- The UK reported 157,758 new Covid cases today and 42 additional deaths.Cases rose by 50% between 28 December and 3 January compared with the week before. Deaths rose 17% during the same period compared with the previous seven days.
- Multiple NHS trusts have declared “critical incidents” amid soaring staff absences caused by Covid. Parts of the health service are in “crisis”, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation said.
- The Omicron variant is better at circumventing vaccinated people’s immunity than the Delta variant, but is very likely to be milder, according to a Danish study.
- France reported 67,641 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, a figure much lower than a couple of days ago, when daily additional infections were over 200,000.
- Spain reported a new record in the national 14-day Covid infection rate on Monday, as the figure climbed to 2,295.8 per 100,000 people from 1,775.27 registered last Thursday.
Asia:
- The city of Yuzhou in China’s Henan province entered lockdown Monday night after three asymptomatic Covid cases were detected on Sunday, local media reports.
- Delhi’s chief minister tested positive for Covid as India’s daily new cases hit their highest levels in months.
- The Philippines will expand Covid restrictions in Manila from Wednesday to include more than 11 million people living near the capital as cases surge.
- Hong Kong will require at least one vaccine dose against Covid-19 to enter restaurants, gyms, schools, cinemas, public leisure facilities and recreational venues before the lunar new year from 24 February.
- In Thailand, the government is urging people to work from home for two weeks, and the health ministry is proposing to continue suspending quarantine-free travel through the end of January,
US:
- More than 1 million people in the US were diagnosed with Covid-19 on Monday, setting a new global daily record.
- Thousands of schools delayed a scheduled return to classrooms following the holiday break or switched to remote learning.
- President Joe Biden has urged Americans to get vaccinated, describing the process as “your patriotic duty” in a series of tweets on Monday.
- The US food and drug administration (FDA) has authorised the use of a third dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid vaccine for children aged 12 to 15.
Oceania:
- Australia’s Covid cases reached a new high on Tuesday amid an Omicron surge in its two most populous states, as hospitalisations in New South Wales, home to Sydney, surpassed the record numbers hit during the Delta outbreak.
- New Zealand will reduce the interval between second Covid-19 vaccine doses and boosters from six months to four months from Wednesday.
Middle East:
- Israel is also set to allow foreigners with presumed Covid-19 immunity to enter from medium-risk countries from 9 January, the health ministry said.
Updated
Here is a quick visual recap of where the world stands in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Data is obtained from Johns Hopkins University and Our World in Data.
Updated
The toll of reporting on Covid in China
A report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released last month detailed a worsening “nightmare” for journalists under the rule of Xi Jinping, with 128 known to be behind bars or disappeared. More than 70 are Uyghur journalists, and at least 10 people were arrested for reporting on the Covid outbreak and lockdown in Wuhan.
Cedric Alviari, RSF’s east Asia bureau director, said the 128 detained journalists and press freedom defenders is the biggest count in five years. It includes 71 Uyghur journalists, and at least 10 who face impending death if not immediately released, according to RSF.
Alviari said the crackdown is driven by Xi, who has “declared a war on independent journalism” after tightening controls on traditional media.
Everything he and the CCP have been doing over the past eight years … has been to suppress independent voices.
The Chinese people, like every person on earth, crave information on what’s happening around them.”
Read the full story from our reporter Helen Davidson here.
US sets global record of 1m daily Covid cases
More than 1 million people in the US were diagnosed with Covid-19 on Monday, setting a new global daily record.
A total of 1.06 million people across the US tested positive with the virus, a figure driven largely by the Omicron variant, data from Johns Hopkins University reveals.
Monday’s number is almost double the previous record of about 590,000 set just four days ago in the US, which itself was a doubling from the prior week.
Many Americans are relying on tests they take at home, with results that aren’t reported to official government authorities, leading some to suggest the new record is a significant under-estimate.
However delays in reporting over the holidays may have also played a role in the rising rates.
Updated
Two of New Zealand’s most prominent Covid experts are taking legal action against their employer, the University of Auckland, over what they say is its failure to respond adequately to “harassment from a small but venomous sector of the public” that is becoming “more extreme”.
Siouxsie Wiles, an associate professor of medical science, and Shaun Hendy, a professor of physics, have filed separate complaints to the Employment Relations Authority, which last week ruled that they should proceed directly to the Employment Court due to the “high public interest” in their Covid commentary.
According to the ruling, the scientists say that as a result of their work they have “suffered vitriolic, unpleasant, and deeply personalised threats and harassment” via email, social media and video sharing platforms which has had a “detrimental impact” on their physical safety as well as their mental health.
Read the full story here.
Fiji has reopened schools for in-person learning for students in years 8 to 11 from today with younger years set to resume on 10 January.
A government statement released on Tuesday read:
UNICEF and WHO have advised the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Medical Services that it is safe to reopen schools because the latest evidence shows that schools do not drive the spread of Covid-19 in the community.
As per UNICEF Pacific Representative Jonathan Veitch, Covid-19 does not pose as high a risk to children as it does to adults, and as long as Covid-safe measures are followed in schools, children are actually more at risk of getting Covid in the community than they are in schools.”
New Zealand will reduce the interval between second Covid-19 vaccine doses and boosters from six months to four months from Wednesday.
People aged 18 or older who have had second shots of the vaccine at least four months ago will be eligible for a booster shot, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
A total of 4,494 booster shots were administered on Tuesday, a jump of more than 1,500 on the day before, the ministry said.
Delhi’s chief minister has tested positive for Covid as India’s daily new cases hit their highest levels in months.
Arvind Kejriwal, who spoke at an election rally on Monday without wearing a mask, announced the news in a Twitter post saying he is isolating at home.
He also urged those who had come in contact with him in recent days to do similar and get tested for the virus.
I have tested positive for Covid. Mild symptoms. Have isolated myself at home. Those who came in touch wid me in last few days, kindly isolate urself and get urself tested
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 4, 2022
Updated
The Philippines to expand Covid restrictions in Manila
The Philippines will expand Covid restrictions in Manila from Wednesday to include more than 11 million people living near the capital as cases surge, the government has said.
Daily infections have spiked to a two-month high in January as the health department warns of higher caseloads in the coming days following the detection of local cases of the Omicron variant.
The provinces of Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal surrounding Manila have been placed under the third highest alert “due to a sharp increase of Covid-19 cases”, presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said in a statement Tuesday, Agence France-Press reports.
Under the tighter restrictions, which will be in place until mid-January, unvaccinated residents will need to stay at home unless buying essentials or exercising.
Restaurants, parks, churches and beauty salons will operate at lower capacity while in-person classes and contact sports are suspended.
The health department has deemed the entire country of 109 million at “high risk” following a spike in cases in recent days, even as hospitalisations remain under control, health undersecretary Rosario Vergeire told CNN Philippines.
The Philippines has recorded over 2.8 million infections and more than 51,000 deaths.
Veering all the way over to South America now as Brazil registers another 11,850 additional Covid cases and 76 deaths on Monday, according to data released by the nation’s health ministry.
The South American country has now registered a total of 619,209 coronavirus deaths and 22,305,078 total confirmed cases.
Updated
Back to Asia again as India reports another 37,379 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours.
The health ministry says it is the highest number since early September as the Omicron coronavirus variant overtakes Delta in places such as the capital New Delhi.
Deaths rose by 124 to reach a total of 482,017 and total infections stand at 34.96 million.
Over to Europe and Germany is reporting another 30,561 new coronavirus cases and 356 deaths, according to recently released data from the Robert Koch Institute.
South Korea has just released its daily Covid report.
The Asian nation recorded another 3,024 confirmed coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, a figure much lower than recent weeks.
A further 51 deaths were also recorded with 973 people in critical condition, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A total of 86.2 % of the eligible population have received at least one Covid vaccine dose and 83.1 % have received at least two.
🔊코로나19 국내 현황(1.4.)
— 대한민국 질병관리청 (@KoreaDCA) January 4, 2022
일 1차접종 39,839명(누적 1차접종 44,239,358명/86.2%)
일 2차접종 78,260명(누적 2차접종 42,621,496명/83.1%)
일 사망자 51명(누적 사망자 5,781명)
일 재원 위중증 973명
일 신규입원 329명
일 확진환자 3,024명(누적 확진 645,226명) pic.twitter.com/Q11XG6T8S9
Hong Kong expands vaccine bubble
Hong Kong will require at least one vaccine dose against Covid-19 to enter restaurants, schools, public leisure facilities and recreational venues before the Lunar New Year in a bid to expand the city-state’s vaccine bubble.
Cinemas, gyms, indoor sports grounds, public libraries, museums and concert halls are included in the expanded vaccine bubble, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan said at a press briefing on Friday. Staff at these venues will also be required to get vaccinated, with exemptions made for those with a certified medical condition.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam confirmed the new rules would begin 24 February during a press briefing on Tuesday.
Under the new arrangement more venues will require people to receive at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccination before entering.
Prof Chan said:
The Government is progressively expanding the vaccine bubble to more places now.
We are not saying that one dose of vaccination is enough, but we also have to be practical while we want to implement this measure, the vaccine bubble, to all these scheduled premises under Cap 599 as soon as possible.”
Chan explained that the vaccine bubble scope will be expanded before Chinese New Year because people will attend gatherings during the festival. As such, she urged citizens to maintain awareness of epidemic prevention.
“We want to appeal to people to be very, very vigilant about their own daily activities and also mask-wearing, and secondly, be aware of the notices that the Government is sending out so that they know whether they are one of the people who require compulsory testing or not.”
Updated
In Thailand the Omicron situation continues to worsen.
The government is urging people to work from home for two weeks, and the health ministry is proposing to continue suspending quarantine-free travel through the end of January, local media report.
The Public Health Ministry will propose that the government continue the suspension of the Test & Go entry programme for air travellers, in light of the continuing spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Monday.
Anutin said he supported the recommendation made by health experts on Monday and will ask the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to continue the suspension of the one-night quarantine scheme until the end of this month, the Bangkok Post reports.
We have decided to propose that the reopening of Test & Go should be deferred for the safety of the people in this country,” Anutin said.
No applications for entry to Thailand under the Test & Go scheme have been accepted since 11 December. Entry is only through the Phuket Sandbox, and its quarantine system, due to fears over the rising number of Omicron-variant Covid-19 cases worldwide.
The CCSA is scheduled to review the suspension of Test & Go at its meeting on Tuesday.
A further 3,091 coronavirus cases and 12 deaths were recorded on Monday.
🇹🇭 ยอดผู้ติดเชื้อโควิด-19 📆
— ศูนย์ข้อมูล Covid-19 (@Covid19Thailand) January 4, 2022
วันอังคารที่ 4 มกราคม 2565
รวม 3,091 ราย
ผู้ป่วยสะสม 2,206,713 ราย (ตั้งแต่ 1 เมษายน)
หายป่วยกลับบ้าน 2,688 ราย
หายป่วยสะสม 2,152,895 ราย (ตั้งแต่ 1 เมษายน)
ผู้ป่วยกำลังรักษา 33,505 ราย
เสียชีวิต 12 ราย#ศูนย์บริหารสถานการณ์โควิด19 pic.twitter.com/VriAtyZsTn
The number of new infections in Tokyo and other parts of Japan has edged up in recent days, although the numbers pale beside those being reported in the US, Britain and parts of Europe.
They are also lower than those that have previously prompted the government to call states of emergency that include restrictions on restaurant and bar opening hours.
There is concern, however, over a sharp rise in cases in Okinawa, home to more than half the 47,000 US troops in Japan. The prefecture’s government reported 130 new cases on Monday, the first time they had exceeded 100 since late September, the Kyodo news agency said.
Local officials attributed the rise in cases among the civilian community to recent outbreaks at US military bases, according to Kyodo, including a record 235 new cases among American servicemen and women reported on New Year’s Day.
US military forces on the island have been criticised for sharing only patchy information about the outbreaks, while residents have complained that unmasked troops are still leaving their bases and mingling with local people.
The Okinawa governor, Denny Tamaki, blamed the US military for allowing the Omicron variant to spill over into the civilian population.
I am outraged because the sharp increase in the number of infections among US military personnel suggests that their management is insufficient,” Tamaki told reporters at the weekend.
Tokyo has reported more than 100 new cases of Covid-19 for the first time in almost three months, while the governor of the southern Japanese island of Okinawa has blasted the US military for failing to contain a recent outbreak that has since spread to the civilian community.
Tokyo confirmed 103 new infections on Monday - up from 84 the previous day - amid concern that the highly transmissible Omicron variant is fuelling a rebound in cases in the Japanese capital. After infections soared to over 5,000 a day in the summer, new cases had stayed below 100 since 9 October.
The city’s governor, Yuriko Koike said 25 people had been confirmed to be infected with the Omicron strain, including 11 who had no recent history of overseas travel.
Japan imposed strict border control measures late last year after Omicron was first identified in South Africa.
US president Joe Biden has urged Americans to get vaccinated, describing the process as “your patriotic duty” in a series of tweets on Monday.
“Get vaccinated and get boosted,” the president said.
“It’s free. It’s convenient. It saves lives. And it’s your patriotic duty.”
Get vaccinated and get boosted.
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 3, 2022
It’s free. It’s convenient. It saves lives. And it’s your patriotic duty.
China is reporting 175 new coronavirus cases for Monday, up from 161 a day earlier, the country’s health authority said on Tuesday.
Of the new infections, 108 were locally transmitted, according to a statement by the National Health Commission, down from 101 a day earlier.
Most of the new local cases were in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, where the capital city Xian has been under a strict nearly two-week lockdown.
Zhejiang and Henan provinces also reported new cases.
China reported 54 new asymptomatic cases, which it classifies separately from confirmed cases, compared with 35 a day earlier.
There were no new fatalities, leaving the death toll unchanged at 4,636. Mainland China had 102,841 confirmed cases as of Monday.
Thousands of US schools delay opening
Thousands of US schools delayed a scheduled return to classrooms following the holiday break or switched to remote learning as the Omicron variant pushes Covid-19 cases to record levels.
Cities including Milwaukee, Cleveland and Detroit either implemented online instruction or cancelled school altogether this week for tens of thousands of students, citing both staff shortages and Omicron concerns.
In New Jersey, which has seen some of the highest case rates in recent weeks, most urban school districts have implemented virtual classes to start the new year, including Newark, the state’s biggest city.
Nationally, there are more than 2,750 school closures so far this week, according to Burbio, a website that tracks school disruptions, Reuters reports.
Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you on the blog reporting from sunny Sydney.
Let’s kick off with some news from China.
The city of Yuzhou in China’s Henan Province entered lockdown Monday night after three asymptomatic Covid cases were detected on Sunday, local media reports.
More than 1 million citizens are now required to stay at home while public transportation, in-person education and public gatherings have been suspended.
The city’s downtown area was reportedly locked down with all personnel unable to enter or exit the area.
Shops and supermarkets have been ordered to suspend all business activities except “guaranteeing the supply of daily life materials”, according to a government notice.
The emergency measures follow the lockdown of 13 million in Xi’an after 127 people contracted the virus.
Israel is also set to allow foreigners with presumed Covid-19 immunity to enter from medium-risk countries from 9 January, the health ministry has said.
Foreign travellers from 199 “orange” countries will be admitted if they can prove they are vaccinated or have recovered from the virus.
Here’s a quick rundown of the day’s key developments:
- Thousands of US schools delayed a scheduled return to classrooms following the holiday break or switched to remote learning as the Omicron variant pushes Covid-19 cases to record levels.
- In Florida, Covid-19 cases have risen by 948% in just two weeks.
- Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, and his wife, Isaura, have tested positive for Covid-19 and are isolating, the president’s office said on Monday.
- The UK reported 157,758 new Covid cases today and 42 additional deaths.Cases rose by 50% between 28 December and 3 January compared with the week before. Deaths rose 17% during the same period compared with the previous seven days.
- Multiple NHS trusts have declared “critical incidents” amid soaring staff absences caused by Covid. Parts of the health service are in “crisis”, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation said.
- Canada’s most populous province of Ontario announced new restrictions - including closing down schools and shops operating at 50% capacity - as officials warned of a “tsunami” of new Covid cases.
- The US food and drug administration (FDA) has authorised the use of a third dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid vaccine for children aged 12 to 15.
- Starbucks will require its US workers to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or undergo weekly testing in order to comply with new federal mandates, the company said in an update sent to employees on Monday.
- India vaccinated over 3.8 million 15- to 18-year-olds on Monday as the country expanded its vaccination drive.
- The Omicron variant is better at circumventing vaccinated people’s immunity than the Delta variant, but is very likely to be milder, according to a Danish study.
- Israel will allow foreigners with presumed Covid-19 immunity to enter from medium-risk countries from 9 January, the health ministry said on Monday.
