Here are the headlines for Tuesday, December 28, as England's Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced there would be no further Coronavirus restrictions in England this year.
In contrast to other nations, there will be no curbs on hospitality in England this New Year's Eve, with nightclubs and mass events given the go-ahead to continue. As Covid cases in England reached a new high of 113,628 on Christmas Day and 1,281 people were admitted to hospital — the highest daily figure since mid-February — Mr Javid urged people to be “cautious” and would not rule out tougher curbs in January.
Read more:' We demand answers' - pubs and restaurants react to news rule of six is returning in Wales
While welcomed by many in the business community, some scientists said it was a risk that had the potential of going badly wrong . Simon Clarke, an associate professor in Cellular Microbiology at the University of Reading, pointed out it is better to act quickly against the virus.
“While nobody wants to live under tighter controls, the public need to realise that if we end up with a significant problem of hospitalisations and mass sickness, it will be worse than if authorities had acted earlier,” he said.
Mr Javid said on Monday: "We look at the data on a daily basis - that hasn't changed over the Christmas period. But there will be no further measures before the New Year. Of course, people should remain cautious as we approach New Year's celebrations. Take a lateral flow test if that makes sense, celebrate outside if you can, have some ventilation if you can. Please remain cautious and when we get into the new year, of course, we will see then whether we do need to take any further measures, but nothing more until then, at least."
In Wales, strict restrictions have been in place since December 26 as the Welsh Government hopes to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the virus. The regulations bring back tighter measures for hospitality businesses, including licensed premises and in cinemas and theatres, as they re-open after the festive period. It means nightclubs have been closed since December 26. The rules also mean:
A general requirement of 2m social distancing in all premises open to the public and workplaces, where reasonable.
The rule of six will apply to gatherings in regulated premises, such as hospitality, cinemas and theatres.
All licensed premises will need to take additional measures to protect customers and staff, including table service and collecting contact details.
Face coverings will be required in hospitality settings at all times apart from when seated.
Large events will not be allowed indoors or outdoors. The maximum number of people who can gather at an indoor event will be 30 and 50 outdoors.
There will be an exception for team sports: up to 50 spectators will be able to gather, in addition to those taking part. There is also an exception for events involving children.
Hospitality bosses have met the news with frustration, and called on the Welsh Government to provide more clarity about the new restrictions and the financial support available. The full reaction from bosses in the sector can be found here.
Some schools in Wales may not fully open at the start of term
Some schools may not be fully open in Wales at the start of term, council leaders and the head of the Association of School and College Leaders have warned. In a rapidly changing situation with the Omicron variant it is too early to say whether all schools will re-open to all pupils even by Monday, January 10 - the latest term start date in Wales, they said.
Most pupils are due back at the end of next week, with the first two days given as staff Covid planning days, but it is feared that whole year groups may return to remote learning if high staff absence continues. Some schools already have return days as late as Tuesday, January 11.
“It is too early to tell at the moment whether schools will be open for face to face at the start of next term. A lot will depend on what has happened over Christmas,” said Cllr Roberts, leader of Flintshire County Council and Welsh Local Government Association education spokesman.
The Welsh Government has given all schools two planning days to prepare for any remote or online learning, if needed. The time will also be used by schools to assess their staffing and any absences.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, and Eithne Hughes, director of the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru, agreed some schools may not be able to re-open fully at the start of term but said they did not expect blanket school closures like last January.
Cllr Roberts said local situations had to be taken into consideration as more evidence about the effect of the Omicron variant over the Christmas break emerges. He said staff off isolating or sick as well as local infection rates had to be considered.
Education leaders, headteachers and trade unions are meeting with Welsh Government officials later this week to discuss the latest situation amid ongoing concern about large numbers of staff self isolating as well as the risk of infection. As many as one in four staff were off in some schools at the end of last term. Full story here.
New Covid rules see 50 fans attend Welsh rugby match outside — as 140 people watch it indoors from clubhouse
The top-tier Christmas rugby programme in Wales has been wiped out this year.
Both regional Boxing Day derbies were postponed due to Covid cases, while the following afternoon’s Premiership schedule on Boxing Day bit the dust with clubs deciding it was impractical to go ahead, with crowds of any significant size prohibited under Welsh Government restrictions.
Under new restrictions from December 26, just 50 people are permitted to watch sports games outdoors. However, there is no cap on the number of people who can enter a hospitality premises - should social distancing and the rule of six be adhered to.
One rugby team who went ahead with their Boxing Day fixture detailed how the rule worked in practice. Chairman of Caerphilly RFC Gareth Ashman said: “When the restrictions on crowds were initially announced, we were wondering whether it was viable to go ahead, but we decided we just had to. Ironically, we recently had two security cameras fitted to cover the pitch.
“So we had the option of showing the game inside the club by streaming the footage from those cameras to the TVs inside. We were originally planning to have everybody seated inside watching the game that way. The way we saw it was some revenue was better than no revenue. When the Welsh Government then announced you could have 50 spectators outside, it was a bonus.
“We were obviously limited on numbers, but we have got quite a large clubhouse, so we managed to get around 140 people inside, seated in tables of six. People took it in good humour, to be fair. There was no real angst about whether you were outside or inside.
“Our clubhouse faces the pitch and we’ve got a load of windows across it. So we had eight tables looking out at the ground, with around 50 people watching it through the windows and then the rest watching it on TV."
The full story can be found here.
The one thing experts are telling anyone with cold symptoms to do when taking a lateral flow test
Some experts are calling on people to do a throat swab, even if they are doing a "nose only" lateral flow test.
At the moment people travelling to see family for the holidays all over Wales are relying on lateral flow tests identify if they have Covid to try and prevent them spreading the disease to their families.
However may experts have expressed real concerns about how we are currently managing risk around the virus. WalesOnline has reported on how those tracking the most common symptoms believe that the omicron variant is more likely to produce the symptoms of a cold early on as opposed to a fever and loss of taste and smell.
There are also concerns about how people are using lateral flow tests.
The reason adding a throat swab is important was explained by Dr Michael Mina who was an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard. He said: "Symptoms are starting very early with omicron. This means that there is a chance the virus isn't yet growing in the nose when you first test [as the] virus may start further down. Throat swab + nasal may improve chances a swab picks up virus."
The very first Omicron symptoms people are experiencing
At the start of the pandemic we were all drilled to be on the look out for three symptoms.
A continuous cough, high temperature and loss of taste and smell were all the tell tale signs of Covid and we had to isolate and get a test if we had any of them. This is still the advice now, but experts are saying that there are actually symptoms of the new omicron variant which are not covered within the three "traditional" symptoms and people need to be aware.
A runny nose, sore throat and a headache are increasingly being reported as the first symptoms that some Omicron sufferers are feeling.
The Irish Mirro r reported that Professor Tim Spector, the scientist behind symptom tracker app Zoe, described the symptoms of Omicron as being more similar to that of a common cold. He warned that those with cold-like symptoms should still take a Covid test to make sure.
“For most people, an omicron positive case will feel much more like the common cold, starting with a sore throat, runny nose, and a headache,” Tim Spector, a professor of epidemiology at King’s College London and the lead scientist for the symptom study, told the BBC this week. ”We need to change public messaging urgently to save lives.”
Another common symptom revealed by Zoe is congestion, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Symptoms of Omicron have been described as “extremely mild”, by South African doctor Dr Angelique Coetzee, who first raised the alarm on the new variant.
But Dr Coetzee has also warned that certain symptoms like headaches and sore muscles may be felt more intensely, particularly by those who are unvaccinated. Those who have had two doses of the Covid vaccine may present with less severe symptoms.
According to health science company Zoe, the first symptoms which can appear as quickly as 48 hours after you’ve been infected with Omicron include runny nose, dry/scratchy throat, headache, fatigue and sneezing.
USA halves isolation time for asymptomatic infection to five days
US health officials have halved the recommended isolation time for people with asymptomatic Covid-19 from 10 to five days. This then needs to be followed by five days of wearing a mask around others.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said most transmissions happen in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop. The CDC said the change was "motivated by science". It was announced as more than 200,000 daily infections were confirmed in the last two days in the country.
China battles biggest community outbreak since 2020
Lockdown restrictions have been tightened in the Chinese city of Xi’an, which is battling the largest community outbreak the country has seen since the initial months of the pandemic, reports The Guardian.
Authorities reported 162 new community infections on Monday, up from 158 on Sunday. All but 10 of Monday’s new cases were reported in Shaanxi province, where 13 million residents of the capital Xi’an have been forced to stay in their homes for five days.
The lockdown is the first time China had implemented such severe measures since 2020, as authorities continue to doggedly pursue a “zero Covid” approach to stamp out all local infections ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February.
Since the coronavirus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, China has largely kept the pandemic at bay with tight border restrictions, lengthy quarantines and targeted lockdowns. It has officially recorded only two deaths in over a year.
While low by international standards, the new case number marks the highest count of local symptomatic infections since March 2020, when the daily bulletin provided by the National Health Commission started to classify asymptomatic carriers separately. On Saturday, the country recorded the highest daily rise in local cases in 21 months as infections more than doubled in Xi’an. In total there have been 635 confirmed coronavirus cases during the 9 to 26 December period.
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