The Latest Breaking News from Omicron

China is the only major country which, until now, has continued to enforce a zero-COVID strategy. Other countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, also sought to eliminate COVID entirely earlier in the pandemic. But all eventually abandoned this approach because of the mounting social and economic costs and the…

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County appears in the midst of another full-blown coronavirus surge, with cases rising by 75% over the last week.

As businesses pin their hopes on a strong recovery in the final month of the year based on lively shopping activity, entertainment events and vibrant tourism, a fresh Omicron outbreak has emerged including a rising death toll, rekindling concerns about the impact on economic sentiment.

Since then, speculations about the origin of this highly transmissible variant have centred on two main theories. Read on for details:

The end result could be “hundreds of millions” of infected Chinese, Dr. Ali Mokdad, a professor at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, said.

Dramatic U-turn following widespread unrest leaves country ill-prepared for Omicron

Chinese President Xi Jinping blamed mass protests in Chinese cities on youth frustrated by years of the COVID-19 pandemic, but said the now dominant Omicron variant of the virus paved the way for fewer restrictions, European Union officials said.

Health bosses are worried the new variant could put more pressure on the NHS

A new Covid variant in the UK could fuel a surge in cases and put pressure on the NHS, health bosses have warned.