A summary of today's developments
- Passengers travelling home for Christmas have been hit with disruption worldwide after airline companies cancelled more than 2,000 flights on Friday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
- The U.S. will next week lift the travel ban imposed on several southern African nations when the Omicron variant of Covid was first detected, AFP reports.
-
France reported a record 94,124 new daily Covid-19 infections on Friday while the number of people hospitalised for the disease reached a seven-month high at close to 16,200, according to official data.
- One in 35 people in England had Covid last week, new figures show, with 1.7 million people testing positive across the UK – the highest number on record so far.
-
South Africans without Covid symptoms will no longer have to test or self-isolate if a contact tests positive, the government announced on Friday.
- Additionally, people in South Africa will be offered a booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine from Friday after the health regulator approved its used for the general public.
-
France will require passengers to show negative Covid tests to travel to its overseas territories, with the new measure coming into effect on 28 December.
- The UK Health Security Agency’s chief has suggested the government might decide on whether further restrictions are needed in England based on Omicron’s wider impact, rather than the variant’s severity alone.
- The UK government’s chief scientific adviser has defended Sage against the charges that the group’s modelling was fearmongering, saying it was not their job to “spread gloom”.
- Dozens of officials have reportedly been punished over a virus outbreak in the locked-down city of Xi’an, China’s disciplinary body said on Friday, Agence France-Presse reports.
Some further data from France. Some 16,173 people are currently hospitalised for Covid-19 in the country, with 3,254 of them in emergency care.
Some 122,462 people have died of Covid-19 in France since the start of the pandemic, AFP reports/
Some 76.5 percent of the population have received two vaccine doses, and nearly 21 million people in a country of 67.4 million residents have received a booster shot.
On Friday, health authority recommended that adults receive a booster jab three months after their initial vaccination.
New coronavirus restrictions could be in place until late March under measures examined by UK government scientific advisers.
The modelling by experts from Warwick University considered a package of measures including a ban on socialising with another household indoors and a return to the rule of six outdoors, in line with the Step 2 restrictions in place in April in England.
A consensus paper published on Christmas Eve by the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational sub-group (Spi-M-O) said “rapidly enacted Step 2 measures reduce the peak of hospital pressure to about half its level under Plan B only”, PA reports.
The U.S. will next week lift the travel ban imposed on several southern African nations when the Omicron variant of Covid was first detected, AFP reports.
Countries around the world restricted travel from southern Africa after the variant was detected in South Africa, which reported Omicron to the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 24.
WHO and the United Nations spoke out against the travel bans and officials in South Africa said they were being punished for identifying the strain and being transparent.
White House assistant press secretary Kevin Munoz defended the ban on Twitter, saying, “The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron, (especially) boosted.”
He said the travel ban would be lifted on December 31.
In Bethlehem, hoteliers have been disappointed. After a near-total lockdown last year, Israel has again closed its borders.
Celebrations on Friday were subdued as just several hundred huddled in the city’s Manger Square to watch the Palestinian scouts and bagpipers parade past.
This year, like last, midnight mass on Christmas Eve will be reserved for just a small circle of people by invitation only.
“It is a bit surreal,” American student Hudson Harder told AFP.
“There is a selfish part where it’s like ‘Oh I get to see this place so empty’ but on the other hand you feel for the shops, all the money they are losing, it’s really quite tragic.”
The prospect of a fourth Covid booster jab in the UK is possible as immunity may subside for millions by the new year, the Telegraph newspaper reported.
Protection against getting ill with the Omicron variant is as low as 35 per cent 10 weeks after a booster, according to government data.
Christmas Day will start early at Sydney’s Wayside Chapel in Australia. From about 6am volunteers will be blocking off the street and “rolling out the green carpet”.
“We’re going to cover Hughes Street in astroturf and lay down some picnic blankets, appropriately socially distanced spots reserved for our very important guests,” the Kings Cross charity’s chief executive, Pastor Jon Owen, says, adding: “many of whom will be waking up in the gutter that morning.”
The Wayside Chapel is among many Australian organisations that will open its doors to those with nowhere else to go on Christmas Day, offering a sense of something that has been particularly hard to grasp over the past two years: togetherness.
The UK government will send millions of text messages on Boxing Day urging people to get a coronavirus booster vaccine.
The message, part of the Get Boosted Now campaign, is the latest attempt to reduce the impact of the Omicron variant sweeping the UK.
More than 32 million booster and third doses have already been administered, PA reports.
The message will read: “Get boosted now.
“Every adult needs a Covid-19 booster vaccine to protect against Omicron.
“Get your Covid-19 vaccine or booster.
“See NHS website for details.”
With all of the worrying news emerging from the fields of health and science this year, some of the incredible advances that occurred may have been overlooked. But there have been many weird and wonderful feats in the world of research.
Life-saving tests, treatments and vaccines were developed and rolled-out – including those led by Australian doctors – and a world-first malaria vaccine for children was endorsed by the World Health Organization. A new species of dinosaur was discovered in south-west Queensland, adding to our understanding about how they evolved. We learned from Nasa that the much-feared asteroid, Apophis, won’t hit Earth for at least 100 years, so that’s a relief.
Rebecca Miller is cooking up a Christmas Day feast – even though she can’t taste a thing.
Both Miller and her partner Steven have Covid. They’ve cancelled their plans to go to Tasmania – where they were due to be celebrating her 50th birthday for 3 January, and his delayed 50th from last year. Instead they will spend Christmas at home in Adelaide instead, video-calling family and friends.
“Even though I’ve lost my sense of taste and smell, I’m still cooking up a full vego roast, a big stuffed butternut pumpkin with roast veggies,” Miller said.
In response to figures showing today’s 1,171 Covid hospitalisations in the UK, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the sharp rise was “really worrying” for the NHS.
“Daily hospital admissions with Covid have gone up by over 40% in the last week [815 on 14/12; 1098 on 21/22 - England only] and this is really worrying for health leaders whose teams are working flat out in the context of rising staff absences and wider pressures”, he said. “While the preliminary findings suggest that omicron may be less likely to cause serious illness than other strains, positive cases are increasing and so, we must remember this virus presents a very real risk to daily life and to the NHS.
The NHS will continue to be there for everyone who needs it but the best thing the public can is to continue to behave in ways that can keep themselves and others safe from illness.
“This includes ventilating indoor areas, testing before social gatherings and if eligible, taking up that vital offer of a vaccine or booster.”
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “This rise, and today’s record of daily cases of infections, shows that we must keep watching these hospital numbers very closely. In particular, we need to see what happens as larger numbers of older people start to be infected with the new variant. It is likely the number of older people catching omicron will increase given the amount of inter-generational contact over the next 72 hours of Christmas”
France sees record new daily Covid-19 cases
France reported a record 94,124 new daily Covid-19 infections on Friday while the number of people hospitalised for the disease reached a seven-month high at close to 16,200, according to official data.
The seven-day moving average of new cases, which evens out weekly data reporting irregularities, also reached a new record of 66,417, a total that has tripled in just one month, Reuters reports.
Italy reported a second successive record daily tally of Covid-19 cases on Friday, with new cases hitting 50,599 compared to 44,595 a day earlier, the health ministry said.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths fell to 141 from 168 on Thursday, Reuters reports. Italy has registered 136,386 deaths linked to Covid-19, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 5.57 million cases to date.
Hospital admissions due to Covid have nearly doubled week-on-week in London, the latest figures show.
New data from NHS England shows that 386 Covid-19 admissions were recorded by hospitals in London on December 22, up 92% week-on-week and the highest number for a single day since February 1.
Across England, 1,246 admissions were recorded on December 22, up 55% week-on-week and the highest number for a single day since February 16.
But this is still well below the second wave peak of 4,134 admissions reported on January 12, PA reports.
Global airline carriers cancelled more than 3,000 flights over the Christmas weekend, the FlightAware website said, as a spike in Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant piled on misery for travellers.
The website showed that 2,175 flights around the world had been scrapped on Friday, which is Christmas Eve and a typically heavy day for travel. Around a quarter of those flights were in the U.S..
Another 1,259 Christmas Day flights were called off globally, the website said amid a surge in Covid-19 infections driven by Omicron, Reuters reports.
Ministers could meet as soon as Monday to determine whether new restrictions are needed in England over the new year amid growing concerns that soaring Covid cases could hit public services.
They will be expected to assess new modelling from the University of Warwick, given to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) in documents published on Thursday.
Scientists have looked at the effects of a potential return to step 2 restrictions from 28 December or 1 January, lasting either two weeks, four weeks or three months until 28 March. No 10 said the data had not yet been considered by ministers.
Protesters in Guadeloupe are occupying the local legislature in the French Caribbean overseas territory, in a new standoff with Paris sparked by Covid rules.
There have been tensions in Guadeloupe and the neighbouring island French territory of Martinique during the last weeks over rules including obligatory Covid vaccinations for health workers, which have fed into long-standing local grievances.
Protesters first entered the debating chamber of the regional council while it was meeting on Thursday with several staying the night and deciding to continue their action into Friday. Councillors were able to leave peacefully.
They want to negotiate with Paris over the crisis, but officials have so far indicated that there can be no talks as long as such actions are carried out, AFP reports.
The protesters notably want all sanctions halted against health workers who have refused the Covid jab.
Updated
There were 1,171 Covid-19 hospital admissions in the UK on 20 December, government figures show.
This is up 30% week-on-week and the highest number since 19 February.
During the second wave of coronavirus, UK admissions peaked at 4,583 on 12 January, PA reports.
Updated
Updated
Summary of recent developments
- Passengers travelling home for Christmas have been hit with disruption worldwide after airline companies cancelled more than 2,000 flights on Friday, according to a flight tracking website FlightAware.
- One in 35 people in England had Covid last week, new figures show, with 1.7 million people testing positive across the UK – the highest number on record so far.
-
South Africans without Covid symptoms will no longer have to test or self-isolate if a contact tests positive, the government announced on Friday.
- Additionally, people in South Africa will be offered a booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine from Friday after the health regulator approved its used for the general public.
-
France will require passengers to show negative Covid tests to travel to its overseas territories, with the new measure coming into effect on 28 December.
- The UK Health Security Agency’s chief has suggested the government might decide on whether further restrictions are needed in England based on Omicron’s wider impact, rather than the variant’s severity alone.
- The UK government’s chief scientific adviser has defended Sage against the charges that the group’s modelling was fearmongering, saying it was not their job to “spread gloom”.
- Dozens of officials have reportedly been punished over a virus outbreak in the locked-down city of Xi’an, China’s disciplinary body said on Friday, Agence France-Presse reports.
That’s all from me for today – thanks for reading along and happy Christmas. I’m handing over to my colleague Nadeem Badshah who will be here shortly to take you through the next few hours.
Updated
Mark, 44, will be self-isolating on Christmas Day and plans to spend it relaxing. “I’ve got my two cats with me, a pile of books, and probably catching up on a few things on Netflix in bed as well,” the Church of England priest based in Manchester said.
Meanwhile, Lauren, 31, from London, stressed that she would try to remember that tomorrow was just a day and that there were better days ahead.
My colleague Aamna Mohdin spoke to people who will be stuck in their flats and bedrooms tomorrow about how they’re keeping their spirits up:
A quick line from Reuters about the situation in France, which is dealing with a record number of cases: Emmanuel Macron will hold a Covid-19 meeting on Monday, the presidential palace has announced.
The meeting, scheduled at 1500 GMT, will be followed immediately after by a cabinet meeting.
Updated
The number of Christmas Eve shoppers in British city centres has slumped as people stay in to avoid the risk of being infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant, data suggests.
Central London was hardest hit, with footfall down 30% compared with Friday last week, and 48% compared with Christmas Eve in 2019, according to data covering morning trading from Springboard. Footfall also fell by 10% week on week in other cities.
The government has so far held off on imposing new restrictions on England. However, shopper numbers have fallen dramatically as people avoid crowds to ensure they are able to see family at Christmas.
Footfall was lower than Christmas Eve 2019 across high streets, retail parks and shopping centres – although all categories were also stronger than Christmas Eve 2020, when large parts of England were placed in a surprise lockdown and other parts of the UK put restrictions in place.
Read the full report, by the Guardian’s financial reporter Jasper Jolly, here:
Updated
The number of Omicron cases in Scotland has more than doubled, Scottish government figures show, as nearly has the number of people in hospital confirmed to have the new strain, from 24 on Thursday to 42 on Friday.
As of 5pm on Thursday, 3,832 confirmed cases were reported, taking the total number of cases of the new variant to 6,154.
According to the figures, the increase was caused by a backlog of genotyping results being received by Public Health Scotland that were undertaken in mid-December, PA reports.
In total, the number of cases of Covid-19 increased by 7,076 since Thursday. 10 new deaths were also logged, taking Scotland’s overall number of people who died after having first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days to 9,822.
There were 536 people in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19 on Wednesday, down four on the day before, and 34 people were in intensive care, down four.
So far 4,378,172 people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccination, 4,006,076 have received their second dose, and 2,841,703 have received a third dose or booster.
On Friday, national clinical director Jason Leitch urged Scots preparing to meet loved ones for Christmas to be cautious:
The Omicron variant is coming, but behaviour and vaccines are keeping it at bay a little.
But tomorrow is crucial for that, because if we suddenly throw caution to the wind, then it will find a way to infect individuals who gather.
Try and [meet] carefully, test before you meet other people and get yourself vaccinated.
Updated
A total of 605,561 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were recorded in the UK on Thursday, the lowest daily figure since 13 December.
Nearly 32.3m booster and third doses have now been delivered in the UK, with more than 5.9m in the past seven days.
The figures have been published by the UK’s four health agencies.
New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests that people from Pakistani, Caribbean and African backgrounds have the lowest rates for receiving a booster or third dose of Covid-19 vaccine in England.
Figures suggest the lowest take-up of third doses and booster jabs among people aged 50 and over in England was in the Pakistani (42.2%), black Caribbean (44.4%) and black African (45.4%) groups.
More than a quarter of people of black Caribbean ethnicity are estimated to not have received a first Covid vaccine dose up to 12 December – the highest proportion of all ethnic groups, the ONS said.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, council chair at the British Medical Association, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One:
This is deeply worrying because in many ways I fear a repetition of what happened in the first wave, where ... we saw this rather alarming and disturbing disparity in illness and deaths amongst ethnic minorities from Covid.
What we know now of course is that the patients, people who are becoming seriously ill, who are being hospitalised, are those who have not been vaccinated and those who have not had their boosters.
Eighty percent of patients in some ICUs are those who have not been vaccinated.
The ONS also said that take-up was lower among people with disabilities, people living in more deprived areas, those who have never worked or are long-term unemployed, those without qualifications and those who do not own their own home, compared to more advantaged groups.
Updated
Hello, I’m Jedidajah Otte and I’ll be taking over for the next hour while my colleague Clea Skopeliti has a break. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have anything to flag you think we should be covering. I’m on Twitter @JedySays or you can email me.
Updated
In the UK, the chief of the Office for National Statistics has said there are “some indications” of people engaging in “safer behaviour” in response to the Omicron wave.
However, Sir Ian Diamond told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “At the moment I think it’s far too early to suggest that we will see anything other than a a continued rise.”
Diamond denied being “shaken” by the speed of the rise in cases, saying: “I think we were gearing ourselves up for them”.
“But at the same time, clearly they are really big increases, and that’s why it was incredibly important, we felt, to get them out into the public domain as soon as possible.”
His comments come after figures showed that 1.7 million people in the UK had Covid last week, including one in 20 people in London.
Updated
Airlines’ social media feeds have been filled with frustrated passengers asking for assistance after a spate of cancellations on Christmas Eve due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.
More than 2,000 flights were cancelled globally on Friday as the Omicron variant took a toll on airline carriers’ staff.
“@Delta really?! You cancel my Christmas Eve flight at 12:30am?? I got up at 2am to get to the airport with my baby and husband and don’t see the cancellation till I’m at the airport to get my bags checked,” one passenger tweeted at the airline on Friday – one of several similar messages directed at carriers that have had to call off flights.
There have been 458 cancelled flights within, into, or out of the United States, where Omicron now makes up more than 70% of new Covid cases.
Updated
More than 2,000 flights cancelled on Christmas Eve
Passengers travelling home for Christmas have been hit with disruption worldwide after airline companies cancelled more than 2,000 flights on Friday, according to a flight tracking website.
The surge of Christmas Eve cancellations comes as the rapidly spreading Omicron variant means carriers are unable to staff their flights.
The bulk of the cancellations came from five firms, with China Eastern cancelling 474 journeys, while Air China scrapped 188. United has cancelled 180 flights, Air India 160 and Delta has called off 127, figures from FlightAware show.
At time of writing, the the flight tracking firm said the current number of Christmas Eve flights cancelled globally is 2,031. The figure includes 448 cancelled in the United States, where Omicron now accounts for more than 70% of new cases.
“The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation. As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” United said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Delta said it has “exhausted all options and resources – including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying – before cancelling around 90 flights for Friday.”
The airline attributed the impact of the Omicron variant and weather conditions for the cancellations.
In response to the pre-holiday chaos, airlines have called for the relaxation of quarantine rules for vaccinated staff. Delta’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, asked the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to cut the self-isolation period for vaccinated people experiencing breakthrough infections from 10 to five days. Airlines for America and JetBlue have seconded the request.
The request comes amid a relaxation of self-isolation rules in England, allowing people to end quarantine after seven days if they test negative on two tests 24 hours apart. Similarly, the CDC in the US cut the isolation period to seven days for asymptomatic people who test negative, but only for health workers.
Updated
Officials in the north-western Chinese city of Xian are facing punishment after a Covid-19 outbreak led to the lockdown of its 13 million residents.
All domestic flights out of Xian and most trains from the city scheduled for Friday were cancelled, while the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said that 26 people were being held accountable for the failure to control the outbreak.
Unvaccinated people in the UK should be offered a free taxi ride to their local clinic, the Liberal Democrats have said, adding that hospitals are “largely [filling] with people who are unvaccinated”.
The party called for the creation of a “vaccine tracing” service to identify unvaccinated people and offer them an appointment slot, with help to get there if needed. Those who are unable to afford or access public transport should be ferried in a taxi, they said.
A similar policy is already in place some parts of the country, including in Manchester.
Lib Dem health spokeswoman Daisy Cooper said: “The booster programme is critical to protecting us all against Omicron. But the Ggvernment needs to also step up efforts to persuade and support the unvaccinated to get their jabs, to protect themselves and the NHS in the longer term.”
She accused the government of targeting the unvaccinated in a “blame game”, which she said “risks being counterproductive and alienating communities whose trust in this government is already low”.
1.7 million people in the UK had Covid last week
One in 35 people in England had Covid last week, new figures show, with 1.7 million people testing positive across the UK – the highest number on record so far.
The figure rises to one in 20 people for London, which has seen the highest number of Omicron cases detected, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
In Wales, around one in 45 people had Covid that week, while Scotland’s rate was one in 65 and Northern Ireland’s was one in 40.
The data includes people who tested positive outside of hospital or a care setting in the week ending 19 December.
Russia has reported 24,703 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 horus, Reuters reports.
The country has also registered 998 deaths in the same period of time.
Unions have raised safety concerns about changes to ambulance staffing as an extra 90 military personnel are drafted in to support Scottish health boards.
The contingency plan, first reported by the Courier, would see more ambulances staffed by only one trained medic and a driver, potentially a military one, with breaks also be cut.
The Scottish ambulance service insisted the changes would only happen in “times of extremis only”, but GMB Scotland said staff and the public should be worried.
The military personnel will help NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Grampian and NHS Lanarkshire from January.
Kieran Whitford, a paramedic working in Aberdeen, wrote on Twitter that the changes made staff “feel like we are worth nothing”.
Updated
People at risk of becoming seriously ill from coronavirus will have their options for treatment expanded from January after the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first two antiviral pills against Covid.
Full report by Eric Berger:
Updated
South Africa ends self-isolation for asymptomatic contacts
South Africans without Covid symptoms will no longer have to test or self-isolate if a contact tests positive, the government announced on Friday.
The move is part of a shift from containment to mitigation measures, with the health ministry changing the rules to require asymptomatic individuals to monitor their symptoms for five to seven days and avoid attending large gatherings after contact with a positive case.
Only those who develop symptoms must get tested, the statement continued, adding that those with mild symptoms should isolate for eight days and severe cases for 10 days.
The shift also sees the end of quarantine in facilities other than the home. Contact tracing will also be scrapped except in cases like cluster outbreaks.
The ministry attributed the change in policy to the following factors: the emergence of highly infectious variants like Omicron; estimates that at least 60% of the population have some protection from vaccination or infection; and new information including on the high level of asymptomatic cases and small number of actual cases diagnosed.
Updated
France will require passengers to show negative Covid tests to travel to its overseas territories.
The new measure will come into effect on 28 December and affect travellers both from mainland France and abroad, the health ministry said.
It comes after the country recorded a daily record of 91,608 Covid cases on Thursday (23 December), with Omicron spreading rapidly across the country.
Bhutan has begun administering booster vaccine doses to older citizens and priority groups in a bid to fight the spread of the Omicron variant, health ministry officials have said.
People aged 65 and above, overseas travellers, health workers, chronically ill people, and all adults living in “high risk” areas were eligible, the officials said.
With a vaccine stock exceeding 250,000 doses, Bhutan plans to inoculate more than 228,000 people in a week, according to the Kuensel newspaper. “As we did for the second dose, mix and match is recommended even for the booster, given its higher efficacy,” Sonam Wangchuk, an official of the Royal Centre for Disease Control, told the newspaper.
More than 93% of over-12s have been vaccinated with two doses in the nation of some 750,000 people.
The kingdom has recorded just three Covid deaths since the pandemic began, while government data shows its tally of infections to stand at 2,659.
Updated
The Office for National Statistics has the latest figures on take-up of booster doses in England by occupation.
Around a third of sports players in England (34.1%) are estimated to have received a booster or third dose of Covid-19 vaccine as of 12 December.
Other specific occupations with low take-up of extra doses include plasterers (33.3%), waiters and waitresses (33.4%), chefs (35.0%), bar staff (36.6%), fork-lift truck drivers (37.6%) and vehicle technicians and mechanics (38.2%).
The figures may reflect the order in which people became eligible for a booster or third dose of vaccine, with jabs initially prioritised for older and vulnerable people before being extended to younger age groups.
Austria should offer a fourth vaccine dose to some healthcare staff and other key workers, the National Vaccination Board has said in the wake of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.
However, there was not enough evidence to recommend it for the general public, the board said.
“In view of an imminent Omicron wave, (a fourth vaccination) can be offered in high-risk areas (eg exposed healthcare personnel) and in systemically critical areas from six months after the third vaccination,” the board said.
It comes after Austria on Wednesday announced it would bolster restrictions once more from 27 December to deal with the rising tide of Omicron cases. Several hundred have been identified so far in the country, which had its fourth lockdown in November.
Updating its guidelines, the board said that fourth shots could be given “off label” to some groups of key workers following medical consultation. “There is still no evidence that this additional vaccination can prevent infections. However, it can be it can be assumed that serious illnesses can be prevented,” it said.
Updated
New UK restrictions not based only on Omicron severity, says Harries
The UK Health Security Agency’s chief has suggested the government might decide on whether further restrictions are needed in England based on Omicron’s wider impact, rather than the variant’s severity alone.
The risk of hospitalisation is up to 70% less for people with Omicron compared to those infected with Delta, according to the first UK government study of its kind.
Monday is expected to be the first day the government could consider any further restrictions after Boris Johnson said no further measures would be brought in before Christmas.
Asked whether the government will have the information on Monday to make key decisions, Dr Jenny Harries told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Ministers will look at all of the data that we have available - and that isn’t simply what the epidemiology is saying, it’s how it’s impacting society.
“So, for example, we have very high rates of individuals off sick - we know that particularly in London, around one in 35 have currently got Omicron.
“Now that’s having an impact on the workforce. So these are not simply about hospitalisation rates.”
She added that ministers are being kept updated on a daily basis and that will continue throughout the Christmas period. “I don’t think we do know yet that this is going to be a significantly less serious disease for the population – the older population – that we are normally most concerned about in relation to serious disease and death.”
Updated
NHS staff are struggling with a “very, very depleted workforce”, the head of the Royal College of Nursing has warned, saying that staff want a course of action that allows them to care for patients safely.
Pat Cullen told BBC Breakfast that nurses and other healthcare workers are “quite ill from the spin-off with Covid”.
“[They] continue to be simply because their internal and personal resources are low going into this because of the number of hours that they’re working and the shifts they’ve been working on a very, very depleted workforce working in a fragile service leading up to this current wave,” she said.
Cullen said staff want leaders to act to “support the health service” in order to allow them to “care for their patients safely … If that means tighter measures, that’s for political leaders to decide based on the scientific evidence.”
Updated
South Africans offered booster doses
People in South Africa will be offered a booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine from Friday after the health regulator approved its used for the general public.
While both J&J and Pfizer’s vaccines had been approved for use as boosters, they had previously only been offered to health workers.
“From 24 December 2021 the National Vaccination Programme will provide J&J booster vaccinations to anyone who received their last dose at least 2 months prior,” the health department’s statement said, adding ideally it would also be within six months of their initial shot.
Meanwhile, people who had their second Pfizer dose at least six months ago will be able to get a booster dose of the vaccine from 28 December.
According to figures from earlier this month, 44% of South African adults have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine – a figure well shy of the country’s target.
Updated
While Mongolia’s vaccine take-up was excellent for the first two doses, the country’s booster drive has lagged behind.
More than 90% of adults in the sparsely-populated nation of three million took up their initial vaccine doses, but only half of this figure have had the booster so far, due to a combination of online misinformation and the difficulties of reaching remote populations, according to AFP. About one-third of the country is nomadic.
In order to bring up the country’s booster coverage, health workers are travelling to remote areas to offer herders a third vaccine dose.
“During the first wave, people were queuing outside (for vaccines) and I was working until 9pm,” said nurse Sodkhuu Galbadrakh. “There were days I didn’t go home. Now, only five to six people come to get the booster shot per day.”
He said he calls herders daily to try and arrange the third shot but often can’t get through, especially with poor phone reception in pastureland.
However, Batbayar Ochirbat, the official leading the vaccination programme, told AFP that confidence in the booster is slowly growing after a fall in cases.
After daily cases reached more than 3,000 in September, figures have fallen to an average of 200 daily cases, which he attributes partly to boosters. “People started to build trust after they saw vaccinated people have booster shots, develop no symptoms, and not get sick,” he said.
Updated
UK's chief scientific adviser defends Omicron modelling
The UK government’s chief scientific adviser has defended Sage against the charges that the group’s modelling was fearmongering, saying it was not their job to “spread gloom”.
Sir Patrick Vallance said it was not the responsibility of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) “to take a particular policy stance or to either spread gloom or give Panglossian optimism”.
The remarks followed criticism of epidemiological modellers’ response to the Omicron outbreak. In a piece for the Times, Vallance said those participating in the debate “need to consider all the data in the round, not only those parts that fit an argument while ignoring the rest”.
“That is not science, even though it might sometimes make an entertaining read,” he said. Instead, he wrote, science must be “self-correcting”.
It comes after a statement from the SPI-M-O, a group of scientists who report to Sage, warned last week that hospitalisations could peak at between 3,000 and 10,000 a day and deaths at between 600 and 6,000 if no new restrictions were introduced.
Updated
Two people have died in a fire in the the intensive care unit of a Russian Covid-19 hospital in the southern city of Astrakhan, according to the Tass news agency.
Russia’s emergencies ministry said in a statement that there were casualties, but gave no further details. Investigators said they have launched an investigation into the case.
A number of Russian hospitals have dealt with accidental fires since the onset of the pandemic, chiefly due to ageing infrastructure and low safety standards, AFP reports.
In August, nine coronavirus patients died after an oxygen pipe ruptured at a hospital in Vladikavkaz.
Updated
Hello, I’m Clea Skopeliti and I’ll be bringing you the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic for the next few hours. If you’d like to get in touch with any suggestions for coverage, my Twitter is @cleaskopeliti, or you can send me an email. Thanks in advance.
Updated
China punishes dozens of officials for 'insufficient rigour' of Xi'an lockdown
Dozens of officials have reportedly been punished over a virus outbreak in the locked-down city of Xi’an, China’s disciplinary body said on Friday, Agence France-Presse reports.
China is on high alert for new infections as it prepares to hold the Winter Olympics in February in the capital Beijing and is continuing to pursue a strict zero-Covid approach.
Xi’an recently plunged into a strict lockdown where its 13 million residents have been told to stay home from Thursday, shuttering businesses and launching several rounds of mass testing.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on Friday that 26 Communist party officials had been punished for “insufficient rigour in preventing and controlling the outbreak”.
Chinese officials who are deemed to have failed at controlling the virus in their region are regularly sacked or reprimanded.
The statement said inspections had revealed there had been a lax approach to testing and an uncoordinated response that hindered contact tracing in Xi’an.
Authorities would clamp down on “bureaucratic issues in disease control work such as shirking responsibility, not taking action, passing the buck and dealing with things in a negative way”, a party discipline official said.
Updated
Thailand has reported its first domestic cluster of coronavirus infections from the Omicron variant in Kalasin province in northeastern Thailand, officials said on Friday, Reuters news agency reports.
“From the Kalasin cluster, there are 21 new infections,” said the country’s Covid-19 taskforce spokeswoman, Apisamai Srirangsan.
The infections stem from a couple who travelled from Belgium through the country’s Test & Go scheme that waived quarantine for vaccinated arrivals, she said.
Both had tested negative for infections before travelling and after arrival in Thailand in early December. By 15 December, they started having symptoms and tested positive and were later confirmed to have the Omicron variant, she said.
The announcement comes as Thailand’s capital city Bangkok cancelled government-sponsored New Year activity, including midnight prayers.
Fireworks and countdown events organised by malls were still going forward and would require proof of vaccination and antigen test results.
Updated
Summary
If you’ve just joined us welcome to our live Covid blog covering all the latest coronavirus developments.
Here’s a brief snapshot of how Covid is unfolding around the world ahead of the holiday season.
- Boris Johnson has invoked the teaching of Jesus Christ to urge the public to get a Covid booster jab. In a recent video, he celebrated members of the public for “getting jabbed not just for themselves, for ourselves, but for friends and family and everyone we meet … That, after all, is the teaching of Jesus Christ, whose birth is at the heart of this enormous festival – that we should love our neighbours as we love ourselves.”
- NHS England has said there are 200,000 vaccination appointments available on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day and urged anybody due a booster to consider coming forward “to get the gift of a jab”.
- In England around 1.2 million people were infected with Covid last week, or one in 45 of the population – a pandemic record. London estimated one in 30 people were infected last week.
- Airlines in the US and Australia have announced cancellations to hundreds of flights ahead of Christmas.
-
Australia cuts the Covid booster interval to four months after their second dose, then the wait will be shortened again.
- Ecuador has declared Covid vaccination will be mandatory after a marked rise of infections.
- New York City will scale back New Year’s Eve celebrations after mayor Bill de Blasio announced new restrictions for the city’s planned event in Times Square.
- An Oxford University lab study on AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Vaxzevria, showed that after a three-dose course of the vaccine, neutralising levels against Omicron were broadly similar to those against the Delta variant after two doses.
- Italy is planning to tighten restrictions including making mask wearing mandatory outdoors. The country has also banned public New Year’s Eve celebrations.
- The Spanish region of Catalonia will introduce a night curfew on Thursday.
- Nightclubs in Scotland are to close from 27 December for three weeks.
- Denmark will require foreigners entering the country to provide a negative Covid-19 test from 27 December, regardless of vaccination status
Updated
NHS urges people to get ‘gift of a jab’
NHS England has said there are 200,000 vaccination appointments available on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day and urged anybody due a booster to consider coming forward “to get the gift of a jab”.
Staff and volunteers will continue to deliver jabs in some locations on 25 and 26 December, as the NHS tries to meet Boris Johnson’s target of giving everybody eligible a booster by the end of the year amid a surge in the number of Covid cases.
Vaccination centres that were open “over the festive period” included Redbridge town hall in north-east London from 10am to 5.50pm and Grim’s Dyke golf club in Pinner, Middlesex, the NHS said. Walk-in appointments can be obtained in Eastbourne, Dewsbury and Hartlepool.
Dr Emily Lawson, the head of the NHS Covid vaccination programme, praised those willing to work over the Christmas weekend and argued that people should consider getting a booster as a last-minute present to family members.
Updated
Hello, it’s Samantha Lock with you on the blog this Christmas Eve. I hope everyone is well.
I’ll be bringing you all the latest Covid developments from across the world.
In some disappointing news for those wanting to visit family and friends over the holidays, airlines in the US and Australia have announced cancellations to hundreds of flights ahead of Christmas.
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines say they have been forced to cancel dozens of Christmas Eve flights due to Covid’s toll on its flight crews and other workers.
United cancelled 120 flights for Friday, while Atlanta-based Delta said it has cancelled about 90 flights, Reuters reports.
Meanwhile, thousands of Australians have also had their domestic flights cancelled in the hours leading up to Christmas, as frontline staff were ordered to test and isolate amid a rise in Covid cases.
There were 117 domestic services cancelled on Friday between Sydney and Melbourne.
An Oxford University lab study on AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Vaxzevria, showed that after a three-dose course of the vaccine, neutralising levels against Omicron were broadly similar to those against the Delta variant after two doses.
“As we better understand Omicron, we believe we will find that T-cell response provides durable protection against severe disease and hospitalisations,” Mene Pangalos, the head of AstraZeneca’s biopharmaceuticals R&D said, referring to a critical component of the immune system that respond to fight infection.
Updated
More than 100 Australian flights cut over Covid
Here’s a story that echoes the cancellation of flights happening over the US.
Thousands of Australians have had their domestic flights cancelled in the hours leading up to Christmas, as frontline staff were ordered to test and isolate amid a rise in Covid cases.
There were 117 domestic services cancelled on Friday between Sydney and Melbourne.
A Sydney airport spokesperson told Guardian Australia that 80 of the 500 domestic services scheduled to arrive and depart Sydney on Friday had been cancelled.
Many flights cancelled on Friday are Jetstar services, with the airline unable to staff all of its planned services because employees were sidelined due to Covid testing and isolation requirements.
Read the full story here.
Updated
Vietnam aims to vaccinate all of its adult population with a coronavirus booster shot by the end of the first quarter of next year, the health ministry said on Friday.
The south-east Asian country has seen a surge in daily infections since it lifted most of its movement restrictions in October, but has not reported any cases of the Omicron variant.
“The Covid-19 situation has been evolving in a complicated manner recently, with a rising trend in new infections,” the ministry said in a statement.
The country reported 16,377 infections on Thursday, raising its overall caseload to 1.6 million, with 30,500 deaths.
More than 62% of its population of 98 million have received at least two vaccine shots.
Updated
Australia cuts Covid booster interval to four months
Australians will soon be able to access Covid-19 vaccine booster shots four months after their second dose, then the wait will be shortened again.
The government has said the minimum interval will be cut from five to four months on 4 January, and reduced to three months on 31 January.
The move, announced on Friday, follows calls from state premiers to speed up the shots to better protect against the more infectious Omicron variant.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation said maximising booster coverage – if combined with “enhanced public health and social measures” – may prevent a large surge in case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths.
Read the full story here.
South Korea has just released its daily Covid report.
The east Asian nation reported another 6,233 confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, according to data released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
The figure is a slight drop on the 6,919 cases reported the day before.
A further 56 deaths were also recorded – a significant drop on yesterdays record high of 109 deaths.
A record number of 1,084 people have been admitted to hospital with serious symptoms and in critical condition.
Updated
A controversial New Zealand scheme that offers visas to wealthy foreign investors has resumed operating after a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, prompting concern from overseas New Zealanders who fear it will place additional strain on the country’s overburdened managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) system.
Martin Newell, a spokesperson for the advocacy group Grounded Kiwis, said the scheme’s resumption would prompt “disbelief” among New Zealanders overseas, who may lose out on MIQ spots to the investors.
“The government is abandoning the needs of its citizens in favour of those who have enough money to be able to buy their way into the country.”
Read the full story from our reporter Pete McKenzie in Wellington here.
Hundreds of US Christmas Eve flights cancelled
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines say they have been forced to cancel dozens of Christmas Eve flights due to Covid’s toll on its flight crews and other workers.
United cancelled 120 flights for Friday, while Atlanta-based Delta said it has cancelled about 90 flights, Reuters reports.
Both said they were working to contact passengers so they would not be stranded at airports.
United said:
The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation. As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport.”
Delta said it has “exhausted all options and resources - including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying - before cancelling around 90 flights for Friday.
Delta cited potential inclement weather and the impact of the Omicron variant for the cancellations.
On Tuesday, Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian asked the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to shrink quarantine guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals who experience breakthrough Covid-19 infections, citing the impact on the carrier’s workforce. Bastian asked that the isolation period be cut to five days from the current 10.
That request was echoed both by Airlines for America, a trade group representing major cargo and passenger carriers, which wrote to the CDC on Thursday, and by JetBlue on Wednesday.
China is reporting 87 new confirmed coronavirus cases for Thursday, 23 December.
The figure is a slight decrease from 100 reported a day earlier, its health authority said on Friday.
Of the new infections, 55 were locally transmitted, including 49 in the northern city of Xi’an currently under lockdown, according to a statement by the National Health Commission, compared with 71 from a day earlier.
China reported 26 new asymptomatic cases, which it classifies separately from confirmed cases, up from 19 a day earlier.
There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll at 4,636. Mainland China had 100,731 confirmed cases as of 23 December.
Ecuador to make Covid vaccination mandatory
Ecuador has declared Covid vaccination will be mandatory after a marked rise of infections and the arrival of new variants of the disease.
The government said Thursday that only Ecuadorians with a medical condition that could be complicated by vaccination will be exempt. Those people must provide documentation.
Officials say the order comes because of an increase in coronavirus infections and the circulation of new variants such as omicron.
Ecuador says it has enough vaccines to immunise the entire population.
As of Tuesday, about 77% of Ecuador’s 17.3 million people had been vaccinated. About 33,600 people in Ecuador have died from Covid.
Earlier this week, the body overseeing health policies to combat the pandemic decreed that vaccination certificates must be shown to enter restaurants, cinemas and other public areas.
New York City scales back New Year’s Eve celebrations
New York mayor Bill de Blasio has announced new restrictions for the city’s planned New Year’s Eve event in Times Square.
Viewing areas that normally accommodate about 58,000 people will be limited to about 15,000 to allow for more distancing, and everyone in attendance must show proof of vaccination and wear a mask.
“There is a lot to celebrate and these additional safety measures will keep the fully vaccinated crowd safe and healthy as we ring in the New Year,” de Blasio said.
On Wednesday, the city set another record with 22,808 new Covid cases, though a true comparison is difficult due to discrepancies in tests available.
New Yorkers have stepped up tremendously over the past year. There’s a lot to celebrate and the additional safety measures we’re announcing today will keep the fully vaccinated crowd at Times Square safe and healthy as we ring in the New Year. pic.twitter.com/SbStmLmfxQ
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) December 23, 2021
Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you on the blog this Christmas Eve.
I’ll be bringing you all the latest Covid developments from across the world.
Let’s start with the news that New Year’s Eve plans in New York will be scaled back amid fears of a surge in Covid cases. The annual celebration will still go ahead as planned although the number of attendees has been slashed. Several countries including Greece, Italy and Malta have also scrapped planned New Year’s Eve events.
An Oxford University lab study on AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Vaxzevria, showed that after a three-dose course of the vaccine, neutralising levels against Omicron were broadly similar to those against the Delta variant after two doses.
“As we better understand Omicron, we believe we will find that T-cell response provides durable protection against severe disease and hospitalisations,” Mene Pangalos, the head of AstraZeneca’s biopharmaceuticals R&D said, referring to a critical component of the immune system that respond to fight infection.
Here’s a run-down of all the Covid news you may have missed:
Europe
- In England around 1.2 million people were infected with Covid last week, or 1 in 45 of the population - a pandemic record. London estimated 1 in 30 people were infected last week.
- UK health secretary Sajid Javid says there will be no further announcements on Covid restrictions in England before Christmas.
- Germany’s health minister said he expects a surge in coronavirus cases around new year and people will probably need a fourth vaccine shot.
- Germany also confirmed the country’s first death due to the Omicron variant.
- Greece banned public Christmas and New Year’s Eve festivities and mandated mask-wearing in open spaces. The measures will come into effect on Friday morning.
-
Italy is planning to tighten restrictions including making mask wearing mandatory outdoors. The country has also banned public New Year’s Eve celebrations.
-
Malta will ban all events where attendees are standing not seated, except weddings and funerals, from 27 December.
- Nightclubs in Scotland are to close from 27 December for three weeks.
- Denmark will require foreigners entering the country to provide a negative Covid-19 test from 27 December, regardless of vaccination status.
- Montenegro’s president, Milo Djukanović, tested positive for Covid-19 after being in contact with an infected person.
- The Spanish region of Catalonia will introduce a night curfew on Thursday.
United States
- Emergency Covid testing sites are being set up in hard-hit areas across the US.
- The US Supreme court will hold a special session on Biden’s nationwide vaccine-or-testing Covid mandate for large businesses and a separate vaccine requirement for healthcare workers.
- The US Food and Drug Administration authorised Merck’s antiviral pill, molnupiravir, for Covid-19, after giving the go-ahead to a similar treatment from Pfizer a day earlier.
Asia
- China locks down 13 million people in Xi’an after detecting 127 Covid cases. All residents are barred from leaving their houses except to buy living necessities every other day or for emergencies.
- Organisers of the Beijing Winter Olympics said they expect a “certain number” of Covid-19 cases in China due to foreigners arriving for the Games.
- South Korea set a new record for Covid deaths on Thursday.
- Australia reintroduced Covid curbs such as mandated mask wearing indoors, capacity limits and QR code check-ins to cover most of the population on Thursday as daily infections hit a fresh record.
- Australia will also shorten the interval for people to receive their booster shots to four months from five from 4 January.
South America:
- Ecuador is making vaccination against the coronavirus mandatory.
Middle East
- Covid infections are rising again across the six Gulf Arab states after months of low or falling figures.
