The European Union's public health agency, the European Centre for Disease prevention and Control (ECDC), said on Thursday that the omicron variant could be responsible for more than half of all Covid-19 infections in Europe within a few months.
"Based on mathematical modelling conducted by ECDC, there are indications that omicron could cause over half of all SARS-CoV-2 infections in the EU/EEA within the next few months," it said in a document.
There is no conclusive evidence about Omicron's transmissibility so far but the World Health Organization's lead person on Covid-19, Maria van Kerkhove, said on Wednesday the agency expected to have data on this within days.
Europe has so far recorded a few dozens of infections with the omicron variant, which was first detected in southern Africa last month.
03:55 PM
Most English adults oppose lockdown, finds YouGov poll
Most adults in England are unwilling to return to full lockdown rules, according to a new YouGov poll.
68 per cent of people oppose closing pubs while 61 per cent oppose not allowing people to have any visitors indoors who they don’t live with and 56 per cent oppose the return of the ‘rule of six’ outdoors.
However, the majority would support some partial restrictions returning, with 60 per cent say they would support a return of the 2 metre social distancing rules outdoors and 69 per cent would support a return of social distancing in pubs and restaurants.
The major rift comes over large events, with 46 per cent of respondents saying they should be prevented from going ahead, while 45 per cent disagree.
YouGov also noted that support for measures has only increased marginally since July, despite the emergence of the new omicron variant.
03:42 PM
How many people are unvaccinated around Europe?
As Angela Merkel announces that she back compulsory vaccination in Germany, just how many people in the country are currently unvaccinated...?
03:29 PM
Boris Johnson gets his booster
The Prime Minister has received his third coronavirus jab at St Thomas' Hospital in London.
Mr Johnson, who said he almost died after being struck down with Covid last year, recently rolled out booster jabs for all adults in the UK, with the government launching a furious drive to offer every adult a booster by the end of January.
Covid news coronavirus omicron cases booster jab vaccine lockdown - Paul Edwards /News Group Newspapers Ltd
Covid news coronavirus omicron cases booster jab vaccine lockdown - WPA Pool /Getty Images Europe
03:12 PM
Cyprus pledges to protect schools after bomb attack
Cyprus' education minister has pledged to protect the country's teachers and schools from "bullying" following an overnight bomb attack against a primary school that is suspected to be the work of people opposed to compulsory mask-wearing at school.
Education Minister Prodromos Prodromou said in a statement that he will work with law enforcement authorities to prevent similar "common criminal acts" aiming to "intimidate" teachers and schoolchildren alike.
The makeshift explosive device that went off in the early hours of Thursday shattered window panes at the school and at an adjacent church. A second explosive device found at the school's main entrance apparently failed to go off.
Speaking on the Cypriot state broadcaster, primary school teachers' union boss Myria Vassiliou urged the public to stand by the side of teachers, insisting that "those who aim to stoke tensions will no longer be tolerated."
A small, but vocal group of parents have reacted angrily to a health ministry order enacted this week that mandates mask-wearing for all schoolchildren aged 6 and above, as well as weekly coronavirus testing. The parents say the order infringes on their kids' freedoms.
02:55 PM
Scotland's tenth omicron case has no 'direct link' to previous nine
The tenth case of the omicron variant of coronavirus identified in Scotland has no direct link to the previous nine, which were connected to one event, the Scottish Government has said.
Authorities have said the nine cases across Lanarkshire area and Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) identified earlier in the week were connected to an event on November 20.
Public Health Scotland recorded an additional confirmed case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 on Wednesday in the NHSGGC area.
All close contacts of suspected omicron cases will be advised to self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of their vaccination status.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The individual affected is in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area and, while there is no direct link with the event on the 20th November which connected the previous nine cases, investigations are ongoing."
Greece has detected its first case of the omicron variant in a Greek citizen on the island of Crete who had returned from South Africa last month, its Health Minister Thanos Plevris told reporters.
The man, who has mild symptoms, and those he has had contact with, have been quarantined, said the head of Greece's public health agency EODY, Theoklis Zaoutis.
His contacts have tested negative so far, he added.
The country's vaccination committee has given the green light for children aged five to 11 to be given a vaccine, Mr Plevris said, adding that bookings for the first shots for this group will open once the country gets the first shipment.
In a move to quell a resurgent virus, Greece will make also Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for people aged 60 and over.
02:27 PM
2020 v 2021: How does the UK compare?
02:04 PM
Germany to impose sweeping curbs for unvaccinated, confirms Angela Merkel
Germany will ban people who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 from large parts of public life, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said after a meeting with the country's regional leaders.
"Culture and leisure nationwide will be open only to those who have been vaccinated or recovered (from Covid)," Mrs Merkel said, adding that the same rule would also apply to non-essential shops.
"We have understood that the situation is very serious and that we want to take further measures in addition to those already taken," she added.
"To do this, the fourth wave must be broken and this has not yet been achieved."
The move has been widely expected and reported . You can read Justin Huggler's report for the Telegraph here.
01:57 PM
Omicron reported in half of European countries
The omicron variant has spread to half of Europe, with 20 new cases reported, according to the EU’s public health agency, reports Joe Barnes.
Its European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on Thursday reported a total of 79 infections linked to the mutant strain.
The main outbreak has been in the Netherlands, where 16 cases have been identified, closely followed by Portugal on 14.
Earlier today France became the latest of the 15 European countries to report an omicron infection.
“The majority of confirmed cases have a history of travel to African countries, with some having taken connecting flights at other destinations between Africa and Europe,” the ECDC said in a statement.
“All cases for which there is available information on severity were either asymptomatic or mild. No severe cases and no deaths have been reported among these cases so far.”
01:45 PM
Conflict, Covid and climate change fuelling record numbers of people in need of international aid
The number of people needing humanitarian assistance is set to hit record levels next year, with crises in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of Congo fuelling the surge, reports our Global Health Security Deputy Editor Anne Gulland.
In its annual Global Humanitarian Overview the United Nations projects that 274 million people worldwide will need food, shelter and protection next year – a large jump on 2020 figures when 235 million people were in need of assistance.
EU says omicron may cause over half of Covid infections in Europe in a few months
The European Union's public health agency, the European Centre for Disease prevention and Control (ECDC), said on Thursday that the omicron variant could be responsible for more than half of all Covid-19 infections in Europe with a few months.
"Based on mathematical modelling conducted by ECDC, there are indications that omicron could cause over half of all SARS-CoV-2 infections in the EU/EEA within the next few months," it said in a document.
There is no conclusive evidence about Omicron's transmissibility so far but the World Health Organization's lead person on Covid-19, Maria van Kerkhove, said on Wednesday the agency expected to have data on this within days.
Europe has so far recorded a few dozens of infections with the omicron variant, which was first detected in southern Africa last month.
At least 50 people have tested positive for the omicron variant of Covid-19 after attending a Christmas buffet, or Julbord, in Oslo, in what may be the biggest superspreader event concerning the new variant, reports Richard Orange.
According to the local infectious disease doctor, between 50 and 60 people have tested positive, all of whom were fully vaccinated.
About 100 employees of the solar energy company Scatec attended the Christmas buffet.
The company has its biggest overseas office in South Africa, and several of the participants had recently been there on business trips, of whom one has been identified as the likely "patient zero".
12:50 PM
Omicron could be dominant in France within weeks, adviser says
Omicron could become the dominant Covid-19 variant in France by the end of January, the top scientific adviser has said, after both France and the United States reported their first cases and countries around the world tightened curbs.
French government adviser Jean-Francois Delfraissy told BFM television the "true enemy" for now was still the delta variant, spreading in a fifth wave.
"We should see a progressive rise of the omicron variant, which will take over from delta," possibly by the end of January, he said.
"Christmas is not at risk if the population and decision-makers are all very cautious," he said, reiterating that social distancing and a third, booster shot of vaccines were key.
12:34 PM
'Don't cancel your Christmas parties', says Downing Street
No. 10 has stressed that it does not want Christmas parties to be cancelled, despite Government departments opting to do so, The Press Association reports.
Asked why Government departments were cancelling festive celebrations despite Boris Johnson urging people not to, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has been very clear on this. On Christmas parties, we don't want people to cancel such events. There is no Government guidance to that end."
"It is right that post-Step 4 (of the road map out of lockdown), we returned to the position where people can use their individual judgment, but there is certainly no Government guidance to that end, and the Prime Minister has been very clear."
Asked what Mr Johnson made of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) deciding to ditch plans for a pre-Christmas get-together, the spokesman said he had not spoken to the Prime Minister about it.
12:19 PM
AFP 'Pictures of 2021' capture brutal toll of Covid-19
India has announced its first two cases of the omicron variant, months after a devastating wave of the virus killed more than 200,000 people around the country.
Top health ministry official Luv Agarwal said two men in southern Karnataka state, aged 66 and 46, had tested positive.
"As per the protocols all their primary and secondary contacts have been traced and are being tested," he told a press briefing.
India has yet to impose new blanket international travel bans but on Monday the health ministry ordered all inbound travellers from "countries at-risk" to undergo mandatory post-arrival Covid testing, along with the random testing of other international arrivals.
The nation's biggest city Mumbai on Wednesday imposed mandatory seven-day quarantines for all passengers arriving from at-risk countries.
11:46 AM
Previous infection may not stop omicron, warns South Africa
People infected with earlier variants of Covid do not appear to be protected against omicron, although vaccination will still prevent serious illness, a top South African scientist has said.
"We believe that previous infection does not provide protection from omicron," said Anne von Gottberg, an expert at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
Outlining early research into the newly-emerged variant, she said doctors were seeing "an increase for omicron reinfections."
This trend was also seen in models which projected those cases against the overall population, she said in a news conference with the World Health Organization's Africa region.
"We believe the number of cases will increase exponentially in all provinces of the country," she said.
"We believe that vaccines will still however protect against severe disease," she added.
WHO experts reiterated calls for a rethink on travel bans against southern Africa, given that omicron had now been reported in nearly two dozen countries and its source remained unclear.
"South Africa and Botswana detected the variant. We don't know where the origin of this could have been," said specialist Ambrose Talisuna. "To punish people who are just detecting or reporting... is unfair."
11:31 AM
US set to impose travel restrictions as first omicron case confirmed
President Joe Biden has backed off travel quarantine to combat the omicron variant, as the US announced tougher pre-departure testing for all passengers, reports our Home Affairs Editor Charles Hymas.
The US administration is expected to announce on Thursday that it will require all passengers to present either a negative antigen or PCR test taken within one day of their departure for the US irrespective of whether they are vaccinated or not.
The move follows the US recording its first case of omicron with a fully vaccinated American in California who tested positive seven days after returning to the US from South Africa on November 22.
The new regime reduces the time allowed for pre-departure testing from the current 72 hours for jabbed passengers, which could increase costs if they have to request accelerated results.
Germany to extend 'de facto' lockdown for the unvaccinated
Germany is set to extend tough restrictions that amount to a de facto lockdown for the unvaccinated nationwide, reports Justin Huggler.
Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz, who will replace her as chancellor next week, are meeting with regional leaders to agree the measures on Thursday morning. Mr Scholz has rejected calls for a new lockdown for everyone in Germany but has agreed to extend restrictions for the unvaccinated.
Under a draft of the new measures leaked to the German press, the unvaccinated will be barred from restaurants, pubs, cinemas, gyms, cultural events and non-essential shops. They will also be subject to strict contact restrictions allowing a maximum of two households to meet.
The restrictions, which will not apply to the fully jabbed, are already in force in several German regions. Mr Scholz and regional leaders are expected to agree to extend them nationwide on Thursday.
The unvaccinated will also be barred from Christmas markets in those regions where they are still open. Many regions have already ordered the traditional markets to close.
While the draft agreement focuses on restrictions for the unvaccinated, there are also measures that will affect the fully jabbed.
Nightclubs are to be closed in hard-hit regions and facemasks are to be made compulsory in schools again.
The meeting comes two days after Mr Scholz agreed to put compulsory vaccination to the German parliament. He pledged not to whip MPs and to allow them a free vote, but said he would support the measure personally.
He said vaccination would only be made compulsory once everyone has the chance to get jabbed, and will not be introduced until February or March of next year.
10:36 AM
A round up from Asia
Our Asia correspondent Nicola Smith brings you all the latest news from across the continent...
Once the Covid-19 epicentre of Asia, Indonesia has extended mandatory quarantine for arrival from seven days to 10.
Travel to Indonesia from 11 countries, including South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Nigeria, will not be allowed, except for returning Indonesians, who will be subjected to 14 days of isolation. The omicron variant has not yet been detected in the nation of 273 million.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has said it will suspend flights to and from seven African countries - South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho and Mozambique - over concerns about omicron, state media confirmed.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has approved the suspension, Lao Dong Newspaper reported, without saying when the move will come into effect.
Elsewhere today, Dr Enkhbold Sereejev, Mongolia’s minister of health, said the country would focus on rolling out booster shots rather than a lockdown to tackle the threat of the new variant.
Mongolia – the most sparsely populated nation in Asia – has already vaccinated 95 per cent of its adult population and given booster shots to 20 per cent of the population after the government secured a strong vaccine portfolio with Pfizer/BioNTech, Sputnik Light, Sputnik V, Oxford/AstraZeneca, and Sinopharm.
It used mobile vaccination stations to reach its nomadic communities and offered incentives including the payment of utilities bills to encourage people to get the jab. Dr Sereejev said that passenger trains from neighbouring Russia and China had been halted in a bid to keep the variant out.
My colleagues Sarah Newey and Jennifer Rigby have dug in on how Mongolia has achieved such a stunning rate of immunisation.
10:18 AM
Mainland France records first omicron case
Mainland France has confirmed its first case of omicron detected on a man who had just returned from Nigeria, according to regional health authority ARS. The case was discovered in the Paris region of Ile de France, reports our France correspondent Henry Samuel.
The unvaccinated individual, aged between 50 to 60, had no symptoms when he was tested, according to a health source.
His wife, also unvaccinated, "has tested positive for Covid-19 and sequencing is underway to verify whether it is also the Omicron variant," the source told AFP. Contacts of the two individuals have been quarantined.
The man and his wife both remained in self-isolation at home. A third person living with the couple has been tested. This is the first confirmed case of omicron on mainland France. One case has been detected on the French Indian Ocean island of Réunion.
French health authorities this week said they had pinpointed 13 suspected cases of omicron but were awaiting results.
The country yesterday tightened entry rules for passengers arriving from outside the European Union, who have to produce a negative test taken within 48 hours.
10:05 AM
Vaccines offer protection against severe disease from omicron - latest data
The omicron variant appears able to get around some immunity but vaccines should still offer protection against severe disease, according to the latest data from South Africa where it is fast overtaking delta to become the dominant variant.
The new variant has been detected in five out of nine South African provinces and was likely to be present all over the country, the latest official report showed on Wednesday.
The daily number of reported cases doubled to 8,561. It was not known how many of those were omicron as not all test samples are subject to genomic sequencing, but an official presentation said omicron was "rapidly becoming the dominant variant".
Cases are rising eight times quicker in South Africa compared to the initial phase of the previous two waves. While many factors are at play, this could be further indication that the Omicron variant is far more transmissible
Omicron accounted for 74 per cent of the 249 virus genomes sequenced in South Africa in November, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), which is collecting data as part of a wider national network for genomic surveillance.
"(The) mutation profile and epidemiological picture suggests omicron is able to get around some of our immune protection (to cause infection) but the protection against severe disease and death from vaccines should be less affected," the latest report from the surveillance network said.
09:48 AM
South Korea may charge couple who allegedly spread omicron variant
South Korea is considering charging a couple who have tested positive for the omicron variant of the coronavirus but lied to health authorities about how they travelled to their home after arriving from Nigeria late last month, potentially exposing dozens of people to the virus, reports Julian Ryall.
The couple, a pastor and his wife in their 40s who have not been named, originally told health authorities that they used an approved “quarantine taxi” from Incheon Airport when they arrived on November 24.
It was later determined that they had been picked up by a friend, who the authorities were unaware could have been infected for the next six days. The couple tested positive the day after they arrived but failed to disclose that they had been in close contact with their friend, an Uzbek national.
Authorities estimate that the couple’s friend, who has also now tested positive for the omicron variant, came into contact with at least 50 people, including members of his family friends and work colleagues.
Authorities say they are considering charging the couple under the infectious disease prevention law.
The news comes amid fears that the latest surge and a rise in patients with severe symptoms is straining the healthcare system, the authorities have halted quarantine exemptions for fully vaccinated inbound travelers for two weeks to try to block the omicron variant from spreading.
Nicola Smith reports South Korea will now require a 10-day quarantine for all inbound travelers for two weeks starting Friday, reversing exemptions given earlier to fully vaccinated people.
09:31 AM
The quickest, easiest and cheapest Day 2 PCR tests for travel
A headache has returned to the post-Covid travel checklist: Day 2 PCR tests. This time, however, it comes with a fresh pain – self-isolation until you receive a negative result.
Before this Tuesday you simply needed to book the cheapest lateral flow test available (prices had fallen to as low as £1) and rest safe in the knowledge that – even if the result never even arrived – you’d done what was required. Now, however, the all-important factor is timing.
Those who cannot work from home, or who are travelling with children that need to get back to school, need snappy results. They may not, however, want to fork out hundreds of pounds per person to guarantee a quick turnaround.
Test providers already seem to be wise to this fact since the new rules for arrivals came into effect (at 4am on November 30). If your flight lands in good time to get to an airport test centre by 8pm, that would be your best route to ensuring fast results. Should you arrive after this time, or very early in the morning, then a drive-through clinic is the best alternative.
For all the best tips and tricks, read the full report from my colleague Emma Featherstonehere.
09:16 AM
Dutch Covid-19 quarantine ends for most South Africa passengers
Dutch health authorities said that more than 20 passengers who have been in quarantine since testing positive for Covid-19 after flying from South Africa on Nov. 26 will be allowed to leave on Thursday.
A spokesman for the health authority for Kennemerland, in which Schiphol airport is situated, said authorities will not disclose whether any of the 14 passengers found to be infected with the omicron variant of the virus are being released, citing privacy reasons.
They will also not disclose or discuss the seriousness of those patients' symptoms, the spokesman added, also citing privacy reasons.
Authorities did say that a "large majority" of the 62 passengers who tested positive on the two flights had been vaccinated.
"Persons that tested positive will remain in isolation. Their situation varies ... some have symptoms, others don't or barely," Kennemerland health director Bert van Velden said in a statement.
09:01 AM
How vaccinated is Great Britain?
08:45 AM
New antibody treatment which makers claim can tackle omicron approved by UK regulator
A drug treatment which, the makers say, works against the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, has been approved by UK regulators, reports our Breaking News Editor Gareth Davies.
Xevudy (sotrovimab), made by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has been found to cut hospital admission and death by 79% in those at risk.
The monoclonal antibody has been authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for people with mild to moderate Covid-19 who are at high risk of developing severe disease.
It comes as GSK and Vir Biotechnology said preclinical data shows the drug "retains activity against key mutations of the new Omicron Sars-CoV-2 variant".
The UK Government has ordered around 100,000 doses of the drug.
Japan drops ban on inbound flight bookings after confusion
Japan has reversed a ban on new inbound flight reservations, revealing confusion between government agencies and the public over Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's strategy to keep out the omicron variant.
On Monday, Japan's aviation bureau told airlines not to accept new reservations for December over omicron, two cases of which have been found so far, but the abrupt move provoked worries among those aiming to return for year-end holidays.
Mr Kishida said the move caused confusion, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno added that the prime minister had asked the transport ministry, which oversees the airline industry, to keep in mind the needs of returning Japanese.
Airlines may now take new reservations as long as arrivals stay within a daily limit of 3,500, down from last month's figure of 5,000, a transport ministry official said.
On Monday, Mr Kishida banned new foreign entrants to Japan, unwinding border opening measures that started last month. Later, the ban widened to foreign residents of Japan arriving from 10 African nations, where omicron was first identified.
On Thursday, transport minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters the aviation bureau had "responded speedily from the standpoint of emergency and prevention", although without reporting to him.
He added, "I told the aviation bureau to respond carefully to the matter that greatly affects people's livelihood."
08:17 AM
US records first case of omicron
The United States has announced its first confirmed case of the Covid-19 omicron variant had been detected in California, in a fully vaccinated traveler who had recently returned from South Africa and was recovering from mild symptoms.
Top health official Anthony Fauci said authorities "knew it was just a matter of time" before the strain was found in the country, reminding Americans that vaccination, boosters and masking in indoor public settings remained the best way to stay protected.
According to a statement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the person returned from South Africa on November 22, and their close contacts have all tested negative.
Speaking to reporters, Dr Fauci added that the patient tested positive on November 29, and that they had not received a booster, to the best of his knowledge.
"We feel good that this patient not only had mild symptoms, but actually the symptoms appear to be improving," he said.
While the person involved was fully vaccinated, Dr Fauci stressed a Covid booster remained a good idea because it raises the number of overall antibodies in a person's immune system, some of which will remain effective at stopping new variants.
"Our experience with variants such as the Delta variant, is that even though the vaccine isn't specifically targeted to the Delta variant, when you get a high enough level of an immune response, you get spillover protection," he said.
Five more alternate jurors were selected Friday following questioning from prosecution and defense lawyers, rounding out the 12 jurors and six alternates needed for the case against Trump to proceed.
Former New York Yankees left-hander Fritz Peterson died at the age of 82. He is probably best known exchanging wives with teammate Mike Kekich in the 1970s.
Fantasy baseball analyst Andy Behrens offers up a series of pickups to assist every manager, starting with a duo of Rockies ahead of a Colorado homestand.
Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman give their early season assessment of all thirty MLB teams at the three week mark, as well as discuss the long-awaited debut of Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter.
