WORLD IN BRIEF ABOUT COVID..........

This was yesterday days numbers.

Oh no, extra careful. Stay vigilant. X

I've had two emails from school, notifying that there's C19 cases in Dinkys class [@Happygirl].

These are the suspected figures in our area today [@Happygirl] @duchess @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @harryflatters @nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @renatew5😺🐶 @roz and anyone else interested.

Yes I can see that happening too, [@Happygirl]

Cases up nearly 50% week-on-week - as expert accuses ministers of 'wanting to get rid of data and move on'

"We're seeing a real increase in the elderly getting COVID and I think that will start putting pressure on hospitals," says Prof Tim Spector.

A COVID expert has accused ministers of "wanting to get rid of data and move on" - as cases across the UK have spiked by nearly 50% over the last week.

In the last seven days, 444,201 coronavirus cases were reported - a 48.1% increase on the previous week.

The COVID Infection Survey, carried out by the Office for National Statistics, has also showed an increase in cases across the UK, which Health Secretary Sajid Javid said was "expected" following the easing of restrictions in England in late January.

Travel rules have also been scrapped, with passenger locator forms and tests for arrivals no longer needed from Friday morning.

Speaking to Sky News, Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at Kings College London, said he was concerned that restrictions were being rolled back.

Accusing the government of "wanting to get rid of the data and moving on", Prof Spector said the ZOE app, which King's College London works with to record daily COVID figures, was now being "cancelled".

Prof Spector told Sky News: "It is disappointing that as we hit record levels of COVID, [Transport Secretary] Grant Shapps is saying it is safe.

"It is slightly ironic they've cancelled the Zoe app, it is like they just want to get rid of the data and move on.

"Other surveillance tools have been given the axe means we will have less eyes on the ground and radar on the next variant.

"At least ZOE has agreed to fund us until we get more funding, it is going to keep going but we need some help longer term to do that."

He went on to warn ZOE was seeing big increases in the number cases among elderly people.

Prof Spector said: "We're seeing a real increase in the elderly getting COVID and I think that will start putting pressure on hospitals.

"It seems very hard to stop omicron, especially the new form of it, deltacron. It will be going up to 250,000 a day soon."

Mr Javid said that a "handful" of cases of the so-called deltacron variant had been identified in the UK, but were "not of particular concern".

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @harryflatters and anyone else interested

Surge in Hong Kong COVID cases pushes neighbouring Chinese city into lockdown

A city of 17.5 million people in China has gone into lockdown after a spike in coronavirus cases in neighbouring Hong Kong.

Everyone in Shenzhen will undergo three rounds of COVID-19 testing after 60 new cases were reported on Sunday.

All businesses except those providing essential goods such as food and fuel have been ordered to shut or operate from home.

The number of coronavirus cases in China's latest infection surge are low compared to other countries and with Hong Kong, which reported more than 32,000 on Sunday.

But mainland authorities are enforcing a "zero tolerance" strategy and have locked down entire cities to find and isolate every infected person.

As part of the clampdown, access to China's most populous city of Shanghai has been restricted with bus services suspended and a negative test required from anyone wanting to enter.

In Hong Kong, a health official warned the public not to assume the territory's deadly coronavirus surge was under control as the government reported 190 new deaths, most of them elderly people, and 32,430 new cases.

This is down from above 50,000 after strict travel and business curbs were imposed.

Hong Kong, which has 7.4 million residents, is trying to contain an outbreak that has killed 3,993 people, most of them in the latest surge driven by the omicron variant, and swamped hospitals.

"People should not get the wrong impression that the virus situation is now under control," Dr Albert Au, an expert with the government's Centre for Health Protection, said.

"Once we let our guard down, it's possible that (infections) will bounce back and rise again."

On the mainland, 831 new cases were reported on Sunday in Changchun, 571 in the nearby provincial capital city of Jilin and 150 in the eastern port city of Qingdao.

Figures published earlier this week showed six million people have now died of coronavirus since the pandemic began.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @harryflatters @Tanith @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 and anyone interested

HONG KONG WITH COVID....PEOPLE PANIC BUYING IN SUPERMARKETS AS RUMOURS OF A LOCK DOWN CIRCULATE.

Officials announced on Monday that hospital and public mortuaries have reached maximum capacity, following a record number of Covid-19 deaths, with officials warning that a city-wide lockdown has not been ruled out.

On Monday, the city of 7.4 million reported 34,466 new infections and 87 fatalities.

“There has been a surge of Covid-related deaths,” said Lau Ka-hin, a senior administrator at Hong Kong’s hospital authority. “We can’t [fully] process the transferral of bodies, therefore you will see some bodies [piled up] in accident and emergency rooms.”

“The bodies of deceased patients need to be moved from [public hospitals] to public mortuaries for autopsy and investigation,” he added.

Dr Darryl Tse, a plastic surgeon in Hong Kong, told The Telegraph: “The hospital is chaotic. We didn’t expect cases to climb so quickly. We don’t know what to do with Covid patients – discharge them or keep them. It’s out of control.”

“The quarantine rules and social distancing don’t seem to be having much effect,” Dr Tse added.

Albert Au, a senior health department official, told The Financial Times that most of the roughly 1,350 spaces at the city’s three public mortuaries are full. Emergency rooms are also under immense pressure, with patients often examined in open-air triage areas before being taken inside for treatment.

Hong Kong has a large proportion of unvaccinated elderly despite a recent uptick in vaccinations. Many had not been inoculated, fearing side effects, and complacency due to the city’s success in controlling the virus in 2021.

people are also stripping the supermarket shelves due to rumours of a full scale lock down to come, although nothing has been said officially.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @harryflatters and anyone interested

I can't help agreeing with Sweden [@Happygirl], can you imagine at their age if the vax were to do some damage as not enough research has been done? What if its true that the vax could cause infertility? Plus kids at that age, as far as I have noticed around me and talking to some mums, they haven't been very ill at all.

[@Happygirl] another comprehensive article, thank you.

Omicron drives US deaths higher than Delta wave

The seven-day rolling average for daily new COVID-19 deaths in the US has been climbing since mid-November, reaching 2,267 on Thursday and surpassing a September peak of 2,100 when Delta was the dominant variant. Now Omicron is estimated to account for nearly all the virus circulating in the nation. Even though it causes less severe disease for most people, the fact that it is more transmissible means more people are falling ill and dying. "Omicron will push us over a million deaths," said Andrew Noymer, a public health professor at the University of California, Irvine. "That will cause a lot of soul searching. There will be a lot of discussion about what we could have done differently, how many of the deaths were preventable."

Truckers stuck at Argentine border due to slow COVID testing

Drivers were photographed parked at the Argentine border with Chile on Friday as they waited to be tested for coronavirus before entering the country. Chile has recently tightened its entry protocols, causing a significant backlog in Mendoza.

Italy reports 143,898 COVID cases

Italy has reported 143,898 COVID-19 related today, against 155,697 the day before, the health ministry said. Meanwhile, the number of deaths fell to 378 from 389. Italy has registered 145,537 COVID-deaths since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth highest in the world. The country has reported 10.68 million cases to date. Patients in hospital with coronavirus - not including those in intensive care - stood at 19,796 today, down from 19,853 a day earlier.

Hong Kong government offers hamster reparations in COVID fight

The Hong Kong government said today it would compensate pet shops trading in hamsters after ordering a cull on the rodents last week over fears they were spreading COVID-19. A one-off payment of up to HK$30,000 (£2,870) would be offered to shops affected by the culling of all hamsters on sale and tracing of people who had recently purchased them, the city's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said. It comes after the government also banned imports on hamsters due to COVID fears. "All these measures have affected the business of local pet shops selling hamsters," the department said in an announcement, adding that payments would be made from the government's anti-epidemic relief fund. Last week, Hong Kong authorities angered pet owners with an order to cull more than 2,200 hamsters after tracing an outbreak to a worker in a shop where 11 hamsters tested positive.

Sweden decides against recommending COVID vaccines for children aged five to 11

Sweden has decided against recommending COVID vaccines for children aged five to 11, the Health Agency said, arguing that the benefits did not outweigh the risks. "With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious disease for kids, we don't see any clear benefit with vaccinating them," Health Agency official Britta Bjorkholm told a news conference. She added that the decision could be revisited if the research changed or if a new variant changed the pandemic. Children in high-risk groups can already get the vaccine. Sweden recorded more than 40,000 new cases on 26 January, one of the highest daily numbers during the pandemic, despite limited testing. While the fourth wave has seen daily infection records shattered, healthcare is not under the same strain as during previous waves.

Nations scramble to secure antiviral COVID drugs

Pills developed by Merck and Pfizer to combat coronavirus in adults are in high demand. The European Medicines Agency green-lighted the use of Pfizer's antiviral on 27 January, specifically for use in adults at risk of severe illness. The regulator will likely give a final ruling on the Merck drug by the end of February. The UK and US lead demand for the Merck pill, with 2.23 million courses ordered for Britain and 3.1 million for the States. Thailand, Australia, Canada, South Korea and Indonesia also have significant numbers on order, all topping the 100,000 mark. The Pfizer drug is also in high demand, with a million courses ordered in Canada, 2.7 million in the UK and 20 million in the US.

Boosters increase protection against death from Omicron to 95% among over-50s - UKHSA

COVID-19 vaccine boosters increase protection against death from the Omicron variant to 95% in people aged 50 and over, according to the UK Health Security Agency. About six months after the second dose of any COVID vaccine, protection against death with the dominant variant is around 60% in that age group. But the UKHSA said that the figure rises to around 95% two weeks after a booster dose.

Why are COVID infection rates that were falling now flattening out?

Researchers say children were more likely to be infected with Delta than Omicron before Christmas. But the new variant has now spread to all age groups with as many as one in 12 youngsters positive.

Cases falling, but deaths rising in England, ONS data shows

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the infection rates and hospitalizations are decreasing across England for the week ending 23 January. It showed:

• COVID infection rate in England decreased to 4.82%

• COVID-19 hospital admissions also decreased in England

• Deaths involving COVID-19 increased (week ending 14 Jan 2022)

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @roz @Tanith @harryflatters and anyone interested

France is hit by record 460,000 daily Covid cases

France hit a new daily record for Covid infections yesterday, registering nearly half a million fresh cases, as Britain continued its recovery.

The country revealed 464,769 cases over the previous 24 hours. French officials have issued a series of diktats in a desperate bid to curb the rising case numbers.

These include forcing children as young as six to wear masks, and banning drinking while standing up in cafes or bars.

French MPs have also toughened up draconian vaccine passport rules that will ban un-vaccinated people from public life.

French president Emmanuel Macron’s hard line measures are in stark contrast to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s approach.

The UK Government has vowed to axe nearly all restrictions by the end of the month. France has a rolling seven-day average of 283,134 cases, while Britain has 98,684, the lowest since December 22.

Coronavirus now appears less likely to be the primary cause of death in people who die after being infected with Omicron than previous variants.

There were 922 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to January 7 that mentioned coronavirus on the death certificate.

UK reports highest daily COVID death figure since February 2021 .

The UK has recorded 438 new coronavirus deaths - its highest daily total since 24 February last year.

Today's figures are down from the 120,821 cases - but up from the 379 deaths - reported this time last week, on 11 January.

In England, 16,218 people are being treated in hospital, with 614 in ventilation beds.

Meanwhile, 73,267 people have been given a third, or booster, dose of a coronavirus vaccine, taking the total to 63.6% of the population.

A further 26,502 people received their second dose, while 15,748 have been given the first jab, the latest figures show

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @roz @harryflatters @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 and anyone interested

Good update [@Happygirl] thank you.

France to announce unwanted record of 350,000 Covid infections over 24 hours France will announce a record of more than 350,000 Covid infections recorded within the last 24 hours, the country’s health minister has said.

The previous record was set on January 5 when the nation recorded 332,252 new daily cases. Since then France has seen two more days where infections have risen over 300,000 as the Omicron variant takes over Europe.

Health minister Olivier Veran told MPs on Tuesday: “Another 350,000 new infections will be reported this evening, even a little more than that. We have never before seen such numbers since the start of the health crisis”.

The county saw another big jump in hospitalisations reported on Monday, with 22,749 people now been treated in hospital with coronavirus. This was the biggest increase since April 2021.

Dad died after having 'heart attacks as he sat in A&E waiting room for 9 hours'

A father-of-two, 48, died after being left untreated in an A&E waiting room for nine hours before he was seen by specialists, his wife claims.

June Roche said she rushed her husband Jake to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre last month after he experienced a flare-up while recovering from a recent heart attack.

Earlier that month he had seen his GP after suffering what he suspected were panic attacks, only to be told he had in fact had two ‘massive but silent heart attacks’ as well as three strokes leaving him partially blind.

He was put on blood thinners and sent home on December 9th but two days later started feeling ‘pain in his chest and neck’.

Revealing the ordeal on Twitter this week, Ms Roche said they arrived at A&E at 10.30pm on December 11 but were not seen by heart attack specialists until 7.30am the following morning.

Ms Roche claims she was forced to wait in her car for much of the time her husband spent in the A&E waiting room and had to tell reception over the phone that he was having heart attacks.

She added: ‘There was only one nurse on the desk, I was concerned that she may not have initially grasped the seriousness of his situation.

‘At 3am, I persuaded the security guard to let me in, to give Jake his phone charger and a drink.

‘He looked shockingly pale and so very tired. He was freezing cold and in a lot of pain. I was about to kick up a fuss but Jake said not to. He pointed out there was only one doctor on duty and told me to look around.

‘There were some really sick people there, some laying on the floor and others with the ashen pallor to their faces that severe pain brings.

‘The nurse looked exhausted. The situation wasn’t her fault and she was doing her best – if I had kicked up a fuss it would have used up valuable energy that she needed to devote to these patients. ‘

Mr Roche, who did not have Covid, spent another 36 hours fighting for his life in the acute cardiology ward before his condition deteriorated, prompting doctors to rush him to intensive care where they were unable to save him.

His wife added: ‘Maybe Jake wouldn’t have survived, whatever was done. But the long wait, the pain and the fatigue he endured in A&E simply cannot have helped him.’

Record number of Americans are now hospitalized with Covid

A surge in new cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant saw US hospitalizations hit a new record high this week, according to a new tally

According to Reuters , 132,646 people were hospitalized on Monday with Covid-19, a figure which surpasses the previous record of 132,051, that was set almost exactly a year ago.

Numbers have steadily been on the rise since late December, as Omicron rapidly began to dethrone Delta as the dominant virus strain in the United States.

New data from the US Department of Health and Human Services, published by the New York Times, also suggested the seven-day average of daily hospitalisations has ballooned by 83 per cent compared to just two weeks prior.

The Omicron variant threatens to overwhelm a number of states which were already at breaking point. Some hospitals, for instance, have begun to suspend elective procedures as they struggle to process new surges of patients amid ongoing staff shortages.

According to Dr Anthony Fauci, the Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden, hospitalisation numbers are currently the best metric for measuring the severity of the pandemic - as they are not heavily influenced by testing availability.

The Department of Health and Human Services observes that around a quarter of US hospitals are experiencing critical staff shortages, with some states, such as Oregon, turning to the National Guard for assistance.

After nearly two years of the pandemic, “even the most dedicated [medical practitioners] are going to be tired and worn out, if not burned out and dealing with mental health issues as a consequence,” Dr Mahshid Abir, an emergency physician at the University of Michigan, told the New York Times.

According to Reuters, Washington DC, is now leading the country in new infections over the past week based on population, followed by Rhode Island and New York.

It said the daily death rate is up to around 1,700, which is an increase from 1,400 at the end of last week. So far in 2022, only seven states have not set records for new Covid-19 cases - Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wyoming.

Omicron could infect 50% of Europeans in next two months, says WHO

A west-to-east “tidal wave” of Omicron infections risks submerging health systems across Europe, the World Health Organization has said, warning that more than half the region’s population will be infected with the variant in the next two months.

Hans Kluge, the WHO’s Europe director, said the region had recorded more than 7 million new cases in the first week of 2022, double the rate of a fortnight previously, with more than 1% of the population catching Covid-19 each week in 26 countries.

Kluge said the variant had been reported in 50 of the Europe region’s 53 states and was becoming dominant in western Europe. “At this rate, more than 50% of the population in the region will be infected with Omicron in the next six to eight weeks,” he said – a scale of transmission he described as unprecedented.

The variant would hit hardest where inoculation rates were lower, such as central and eastern Europe, Kluge predicted, saying he was “deeply concerned” that as Omicron moved east, “we have yet to see its full impact in countries where vaccination uptake is lower, and where we’ll see more severe disease in the unvaccinated”.

In Denmark, he said, where Omicron cases had “exploded in recent weeks”, the Covid-19 hospitalization rate for un-vaccinated patients during Christmas week had been six times higher than for those who were fully vaccinated.

Despite evidence that Omicron is affecting the upper respiratory tract more than the lungs, causing milder symptoms than previous variants, the WHO said it was too soon to start treating the coronavirus more as an endemic illness.

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, suggested on Monday that Covid-19’s evolution could be tracked as if it were a flu, without recording every case and without testing all people presenting symptoms, because its lethality had fallen.However, Catherine Smallwood, the WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe, said that phase was still “a way off”, adding more stable and predictable transmission would be required before Covid could be seen as endemic.

@nabob @harryflatters @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @roz and anyone interested

Italy: Unvaccinated people banned from public transport, coffee shops and gyms

A series of services will be off limits to those who have not been jabbed unless they can prove they have recovered from a recent COVID-19 infection.

Italy's unvaccinated are facing tougher coronavirus restrictions, as the country faces a surge in the number of cases.

People wanting to use public transport, coffee shops, hotels, gyms and a number of other everyday venues now have to prove they have been vaccinated or that they have recovered from a recent COVID infection.

Previously, proof of a negative coronavirus test was enough to use these services.

It comes a month after Italians were told that vaccination or proof of recent recovery would be required to attend sports events, concerts, theatres, and indoor restaurants.

The number of new daily COVID-19 cases soared past 100,000 in late December and Sunday's figure was just over 155,000.

Vaccination rates are high, with 86% of those over 12 being fully vaccinated and nearly 75% of those eligible having received a booster.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @harryflatters @Tanith @roz and anyone interested

I heard on the news re England and ambulance, I think it's disgraceful! [@Happygirl]!

France hits staggering new coronavirus case record

France announced a staggering 332,252 daily virus cases on Wednesday, as hospitals prepared drastic measures to brace for patient surges and the government strained to avoid a new lockdown.

With Europe’s highest-ever single-day confirmed infection count, France is facing an Omicron-driven surge that is dominating the race for April’s presidential election and increasingly disrupting workplaces, schools and public life.

But the country also has one of the world’s most-vaccinated populations, so the government is hoping the sweeping infections will not hit hospitals as badly as at the start of the pandemic, and is pushing the small minority of unvaccinated people to get inoculated fast.

Spain’s hospitals now treating more Covid-19 patients than during fourth and fifth waves

The sixth wave of the coronavirus pandemic is now making itself felt in Spanish hospitals, where there are currently 12,942 patients being treated for Covid-19. The growth in admissions is, however, slower than that seen in previous waves and the proportion of serious cases compared to infections is much lower. But a very high number of contagions has translated this week into a number of hospitalized patients that exceeds the peak seen during the fourth and fifth waves, when the number was around 10,500. The occupation of intensive care units (ICUs), meanwhile, where on Tuesday there were 1,983 coronavirus patients being treated, is now nearing the level seen in the wave during the summer (2,031), and is also getting closer to that of the fourth wave (2,356).

ENGLAND

NHS staff crisis: Heart attack and stroke patients told to drive to hospital or face hour-long ambulance wait

An ambulance service in England has told patients suffering from a suspected stroke or heart attack to have relatives drive them to hospital or face an hour-long wait for paramedics, as it grapples with Covid-related staff absences.

North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), which operates across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham, Darlington and Teesside, said it brought in the measure to alleviate long wait times among patients.

Dr Mathew Beattie, medical director of the NEAS, said the service was dealing with increased demand over the New Year alongside staff sickness due to the Omicron variant.

NEAS initially implemented calls for family and friends to drive patients to hospital as a precautionary measure on New Year’s Eve, as the service anticipated high demand.

Omicron fuels India third wave as Mumbai prepares for ‘tsunami’ of Covid cases

India is in the midst of a Covid third wave, officials have said, as the spread of Omicron has led to a doubling of cases in recent days and curfews being imposed on cities across the country.

India is clearly in the third wave of Covid-19, and the whole thing seems driven by Omicron,” said Dr N K Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, who cited the “galloping increase” of cases seen over the past week as evidence.

Officially, India has detected 1,892 Omicron cases but Arora said that Omicron probably now accounted for around 50% of the new Covid cases in urban areas, overtaking Delta as the dominant variant. In Delhi, 84% of sequenced cases were found to be the Omicron variant.

The highest concentration of Omicron cases are in Delhi and Mumbai. On Wednesday, Delhi experienced a 94% increase in new cases from the previous day while in Mumbai, the mayor Kishori Pednekar said the city was preparing for a “tsunami” of cases. The metropolis is now registering over 15,000 new cases a day and Pednekar warned that if it hit 20,000, they were likely to impose a lockdown.

2nd City in China Is Placed on COVID Lockdown

Yuzhou has a population of more than 1.1 million people

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @harryflatters @roz and anyone interested

Let's see in how many month this new one will arrive, then another booster will be needed rather quickly!

I had heard about this one week ago ..... and also two cases of it have just been found in the UK, news just in so added it up here for you.

New Covid variant with 46 mutations worries experts in France.....

While the world is grappling with the highly infectious Omicron, strain of Covid, scientists in France have identified a potentially worrying new variant, which has 46 mutations.

Named IHU, the new B.1.640.2 variant has so far infected 12 people living in southeastern France. The first case was linked to a person with a travel history to Cameroon, western Africa, said researchers in a paper published on medRxiv.

However, experts were quick to announce that just because a new variant had been discovered, that did not necessarily mean IHU will prove as infectious as other strains, including Omicron.

In the analysis, the authors found “46 mutations” which had not been spotted in other countries, nor labelled a variant under investigation by the WHO.

The genomes were obtained by next-generation sequencing. The authors of the paper claimed that the person who was idenitifed with the IHU variant, was fully-vaccinated. The person tested positive for covid after returning from a three-day trip to Cameroon.

The authors of the research paper said "subsequent detection... of three mutations in the spike gene to screen for variants... did not correspond to the pattern of the Delta variant involved in almost all SARS-CoV-2 infections at that time”.

Arguing that the emergence of the new variant emphasised the importance of “genomic surveillance”, the authors said their observations once again showed the “unpredictability of the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants”.

In a long Twitter thread, epidemiologist and a fellow at Federation of American Scientists, Eric Feigl-Ding said the new variant was being monitored to evaluate how infectious or dangerous it could prove to be.

There are scores of new variants discovered all the time, but it does not necessarily mean they will be more dangerous.

“What makes a variant more well-known and dangerous is its ability to multiply because of the number of mutations it has in relation to the original virus.”

He added: “This is when it becomes a ‘variant of concern’ - like Omicron, which is more contagious and more past immunity evasive. It remains to be seen in which category this new variant will fall.”

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Tanith @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @roz @harryflatters

Thank you [@Happygirl]

Italian government sets price for Ffp2 masks after making them mandatory

The Italian government has announced it has set prices for Ffp2 masks at 75 cents (63p) each. They are usually €2 (£1.68) or more in pharmacies. But Italy's COVID minister said it had made a deal on Monday with key Italian pharmaceutical and chemist associations to bring the price down. Last month the government imposed an outdoor mask mandate across the country, with people required to wear the more protective Ffp2 masks in certain indoor situations to stem a surge in COVID cases. Included in the places people must wear the masks are: on public transport, and in museums and cinemas. Italy had a critical shortage of surgical and more protective masks in the first wave of the pandemic after the European outbreak started there in February 2020. Surgical masks were fixed at 50 cents (42p) apiece in April 2020.

ENGLAND, Concern as number of over-50s in hospital rises

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has told Sky News ministers are "concerned" that the number of over-50s being admitted to hospital with COVID is rising. He said: "The numbers of people in hospital with coronavirus have begun to rise in the over-50s, which we are concerned about, but on the whole, actually the number of people in ICU [intensive care] has come down, which is good news." He added: "If we see more leakage of infection in the over-50s - because most of the surge in infections from the Omicron variant has been in the under-50s - then that is more likely that those people end up with severe infection and hospitalisation. "But the good news is obviously that 90% of those people over 50 have had the booster jab - that is the real protection against severe infection and hospitalisation. "So, at the moment there's nothing in the data to suggest we need to go further but of course, we will look at the Wednesday review and then beyond that keep monitoring the data very carefully."

Hospital trust declares critical incident

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs four sites across the county, declared a critical incident on Sunday night and said it is having to take "additional steps to maintain services". In a statement late on Sunday, the trust's medical director Dr Colin Farquharson said: "As a result of significant staffing pressures due to absence related to COVID-19, we are having to take additional steps to maintain services. "Our staff continue to work exceptionally hard and we would like to reassure our patients and the public that in spite of the challenges faced, essential services remain fully open for anyone who needs them, so people should continue to come forward for care."

Israel to admit foreigners who have recovered from COVID - but not from the UK

Israel's health ministry has said from 9 January it will admit people who are vaccinated against or recovered from COVID if they come from a 'medium-risk' country. There has been a ban on entry by foreigners since late November in response to the Omicron variant. Travellers from 'orange' countries will be allowed in with proof they have been fully vaccinated or recently recovered from COVID so have natural immunity, and would have to take a PCR test before and after arrival. The health ministry recommended downgrading South Africa, Nigeria, Spain, Portugal, France and Canada from red to orange. However, it said the UK, US, UAE, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mexico, Switzerland and Turkey will remain on the red list, meaning nobody from those countries can travel to Israel.

Thousands crowd US airport after flights cancelled

Omicron cases are causing chaos with flights in the US. Thousands of travellers crowded inside Denver International Airport on Sunday as their flights were postponed or cancelled due to staff shortages caused by COVID sickness. One passenger, Rami M, who was returning to Switzerland after visiting family in Colorado, said he waited at least three hours to be able to re-book his flight after it was cancelled. More than 4,000 flights were cancelled around the world on Sunday, more than half of them in the US.

US authorises Pfizer booster for 12-15 year olds and younger vulnerable children

The US Food and Drug Administration has authorised Pfizer's COVID vaccine for a booster for 12 to 15 year old children. Children aged five to 11 who are immunocompromised will also be allowed to get it five months after their second vaccine. Boosters had already been recommended for every 16 and older. "Based on the FDA's assessment of currently available data, a booster dose of the currently authorized vaccines may help provide better protection against both the Delta and Omicron variants," said Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "In particular, the Omicron variant appears to be slightly more resistant to the antibody levels produced in response to the primary series doses from the current vaccines." The FDA said it reviewed real-world data from Israel of more than 6,300 children aged 12 to 15 who received a Pfizer booster at least five months after their second dose.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @harryflatters @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @Flossy 🧁🧁 @Flotson @Tanith and anyone interested

I do not know why catching Covid 19 and Influenza (anther corona virus) together is a surprise. Unless the Covid-19 virus can kill the Influenze virus they should both exist at the same time. If it were not the case then perhaps people should have been given a LOW LEVEL (please not LOW LEVEL rather than standard full potent level) dose of the flu virus to kill off Covid-19. It would have been a good study.

First case of Covid and influenza mixture dubbed 'flurona' detected in Israel

A woman admitted to hospital in Israel has reportedly been diagnosed with coronavirus and influenza at the same time – an incredibly rare mixture dubbed ‘flurona’.

The novel case was detected after the young woman, who is pregnant and unvaccinated, was examined at the Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva where she presented with mild symptoms.

According to local reports, doctors found traces of both Covid-19 and flu pathogens in her system.

The Israeli health ministry is said to be studying the results to determine whether the combination of the two infections can cause more serious illness.

Professor Arnon Vizhnitser, director of the hospitals’ Gynecology Department, was quoted in Hamodia as saying: ‘She was diagnosed with the flu and coronavirus as soon as she arrived.

Both tests came back positive, even after we checked again.

‘The disease is the same disease; they’re viral and cause difficulty breathing since both attack the upper respiratory tract.’

First case of Covid and influenza mixture dubbed 'flurona' detected in IsraelSam Corbishley 7A woman admitted to hospital in Israel has reportedly been diagnosed with coronavirus and influenza at the same time – an incredibly rare mixture dubbed ‘flurona’. The novel case was detected after the young woman, who is pregnant and unvaccinated, was examined at the Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva where she presented with mild symptoms. According to local reports, doctors found traces of both Covid-19 and flu pathogens in her system. The Israeli health ministry is said to be studying the results to determine whether the combination of the two infections can cause more serious illness. Professor Arnon Vizhnitser, director of the hospitals’ Gynecology Department, was quoted in Hamodia as saying: ‘She was diagnosed with the flu and coronavirus as soon as she arrived. ‘Both tests came back positive, even after we checked again. ‘The disease is the same disease; they’re viral and cause difficulty breathing since both attack the upper respiratory tract.’ More than 8,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the country since the beginning of the pandemic He added that the woman was expected to be discharged from hospital on Thursday. Although she is thought to have been the first documented case of double infection, experts in the country believe there are others yet to be diagnosed. Prof Vizhnitserwent on: ‘Last year, we did not witness flu cases among pregnant or birthing women. Today, we are seeing cases of both coronavirus and the flu that are starting to rear their head. ‘We are seeing more and more pregnant women with the flu. It is definitely a great challenge dealing with a woman who comes in with a fever at childbirth. ‘This is especially when you do not know if it’s coronavirus or the flu, so you refer to them the same. Most of the illness is respiratory.’ Israel has become the first country to approve a fourth vaccine dose for people most vulnerable to Covid-19 as it braces for a wave of infections fuelled by the Omicron variant.

Decisive use of AstraZeneca vaccine may have spared UK from omicron crisis hitting Europe

Britain’s relatively low recent death toll from Covid compared to Europe may be a result of earlier use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab to vaccinate the most vulnerable, according to the nation’s former vaccine tsar.

Dr Clive Dix, former chairman of the Vaccine Task Force, told The Telegraph that he believed the AstraZeneca jabs offered more robust, long-term protection against severe disease and death than RNA-based alternatives made by Pfizer and Moderna.

PCR Covid testing labs are overwhelmed and over half of tests come back positive in Omicron surge, workers say

More than half of Covid PCRs coming into laboratories are testing positive since the Omicron variant began surging across the UK, lab workers have revealed.

“Exhausted” staff have been working around the clock in 12-hour shifts as they battle to handle the “huge” volume of tests, one told i.

It comes as home PCR Covid tests are being rationed to prevent processing labs becoming overwhelmed.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it would halt the Government’s online booking service temporarily during periods of exceptionally high demand for home PCR kits to control the flow of tests into labs.

A further 189,846 Covid cases were recorded across the UK in the latest 24 hour period, up from the previous all-time high of 189,213 on Thursday, and a rise of 55 per cent from 122,186 a week ago.

Staff are “terrified” about the current spike in cases and of catching Covid while handling virus RNA from tests, one worker at the UK Biocentre mega lab in Milton Keynes told i.

The number of positive cases they were seeing had roughly quadrupled since Omicron emerged at the end of November, they said.

The worker – who wished to remain anonymous – said: “Before it used to be around 12-15 were positive on 96 samples, but when we traced for Omicron it was around 50 samples were positive out of 96. It’s too much. The Omicron cases have been a huge increase.

“Even in the laboratory so many people have been positive and had to isolate so we are seeing a shortage of staff. We have to do overtime. There is a lot of pressure on us.

“It’s a hard time. It’s too busy. Before we used to take a 45-minute break, but it’s really strict now you can’t take more time because we have to run too many samples within a 24-hour period.“

Staff have a target of tests they should aim to clear and have to cut their breaks to manage.

They added: “It’s a long day. I’m really exhausted. By the time I come home I have no energy. I am really terrified by the rise in cases. It’s so stressful.

“I am working in a Covid lab so when I come home I just clean up and I don’t touch anything.

“We are handling the live samples, so that’s really dangerous. We wear proper PPE and we test every day. But we are protecting ourselves and our community.”

This week, a Lighthouse lab worker told the Manchester Evening News they had seen a 25-fold rise in tests coming in and were “well over capacity” at the facility, one of several set up by the Government.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @roz @Tanith @harryflatters @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 and anyone interested

France reports European record of 208,000 daily COVID cases

France reported a "tsunami" of COVID cases on Wednesday as the country surpassed the European record with 208,000 infections. "This means that 24 hours a day, day and night, every second in our country, two French people are diagnosed positive," Health Minister Olivier Veran said. "We have never experienced such a situation," he said, describing the increase in cases as "dizzying". The World Health Organisation warned earlier that global coronavirus infections have soared 11% in a week, with half the total cases found in Europe. "We have two enemies," Mr Veran said, referring to the two main variants. "As for Omicron, I would no longer talk about a wave. This is a groundswell, where several waves combine to form one massive wave."

Greece introduces fresh COVID curbs

Greece will introduce new coronavirus restrictions on the hospitality sector from Thursday, bringing forward measures planned for early January. The decision came a day after authorities announced a new daily record of 21,657 cases, more than double that confirmed on Monday. Bars, nightclubs and restaurants will be forced to close at midnight, with no standing customers and no music, with the exception of New Year's Eve when then can stay open until 2am. "These measures, if they are applied in our entirety, will allow us from mid January to go back to our normal lives," Health Minister Thanos Plevris told a news conference. Restrictions were previously tightened last week, when a mask mandate was introduced in open spaces. Christmas and New Year celebrations were banned in public spaces.

Italy reports record COVID cases

While we wait for the delayed coronavirus data for the UK, Italy has today reported its highest daily tally of coronavirus cases. Infections hit 98,030 on Wednesday, compared to 78,312 on Tuesday. However, the number of coronavirus related deaths fell to 148 from 202 yesterday.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Tanith @harryflatters @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹

An opinion is one thing (and all are entitled to one) but scientific facts are another and far more compelling @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 After nearly two years, the amount of research and results about this dreadful disease is vast and clear cut. For everyone to give themselves, family and those around them the best chance of survival and minimise awful breathing difficulties etc if you do still catch it, get vaccinated and 'boostered'!

Good to know [@Happygirl] interesting, although some of it doesn't really make sense to me (I won't go in to it). But then my opinions are very different.

France announces new restrictions

French Prime Minister Jean Castex has announced a number of new coronavirus restrictions that will come into force from Monday and last for three weeks. These are:

• Gatherings will be limited to 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 people outdoors.

• Eating food and drink will be banned on long-distance transport.

• Mask wearing will become mandatory outdoors in city centres.

• Working from home will become mandatory at least three days per week, where possible.

He added that no curfew has been planned and schools will not have a delayed reopening in January. Following the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the government will also narrow the delay for the third booster shot from four months to three. The length of isolation for contacts of a positive COVID-19 case will be reviewed, with a decision expected later this week.

France has reduced the waiting time for a third booster shot to three months from four in response to the rapid spread of Omicron.

Doctor explains the huge differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated COVID patients

An emergency care doctor in the US has tweeted about why it is so important to get a COVID vaccine. Drawing from his own experiences in a New York hospital, Craig Spencer MD said he had seen huge differences in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients. "I've seen a lot of Covid in the ER recently," he said. "With so many people getting infected recently, some folks may wonder what’s the point of getting vaccinated at all? And is there really any value to a booster dose if I’ve had two Pfizer/Moderna or a shot of J&J?" Dr Spencer said those who had a booster jab had "mild symptoms", such as a sore throat and fatigue, but no difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Those with two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines had slightly worse symptoms, with more fevers, fatigue and coughing - but they were still mild. People with a dose of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine were "worse overall" and "felt horrible", but none had needed hospitalisation or oxygen. But when it came to unvaccinated people, Dr Spencer said they fared much worse. "Almost every single patient that I’ve taken care of that needed to be admitted for Covid has been unvaccinated," he wrote. "Every one with profound shortness of breath. Every one whose oxygen dropped when they walked. Every one needing oxygen to breath regularly." Dr Spencer's observations are anecdotal, but they are backed up by plenty of data showing that vaccines offer very strong protection against serious illness.

Germany has reported another 21,080 cases bringing the country’s total to 7,026,369. The Robert Koch Institute also reported another 372 deaths which means that Germany has now seen 110,805 people die of Covid-19.

More than 3,500 flights have been cancelled on Monday and Tuesday causing widespread disruptions for travellers all over the world as airlines crews succumb to the Omicron Covid strain.

According to flight tracker FlightAware, 2,700 flights have been cancelled on Monday and 860 more on Tuesday.

China’s coronavirus cases rose for a fourth consecutive day on Monday, with Xi’an city reporting more infections in a flare up that has put 13 million residents under lockdown.

• Denmark and Iceland reported record daily Covid cases on Monday. Denmark now has the world’s highest infection rate, with 1,612 cases per 100,000 people.

• The number of patients in England admitted into hospital with Covid-19 has reached its highest level since mid-February after a 74% rise in a week. In London, hospital admissions have increased by 73%. A total of 8,474 people were in hospital in England with Covid-19 as of 8am today – the highest number since 5 March.

• Scotland has recorded a record number of Covid cases over the Christmas weekend, hitting a high of 11,030 new cases on Boxing Day, the Scottish government has said. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is due to update a specially-reconvened sitting of the Scottish parliament on Wednesday about the spread of the virus and the impact on hospitals.

• Paraguay has confirmed the country’s first Omicron cases, health officials said. The cases were detected in people who had travelled outside the country this month but the government has not taken immediate action on travel. Argentina reported its highest daily tally for six months with 20,263 cases.

• Greece has announced further restrictions effective between 3 and 16 January to contain a further surge in Covid infections. Bars and restaurants will have to close at midnight and no standing customers at entertainment venues will be allowed. There will also be a maximum limit of six people per table.

UK reports 98,515 new COVID cases and 143 deaths

The number of cases will look artificially low today as it only includes figures from England. Figures are not available from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland due to the holiday period. However, provisional figures from Scotland suggest cases are at 10,562. If correct, that would take the total so far to 109,077, with Wales and Northern Ireland still to report their daily totals.

Premier League had record 103 COVID cases in past week

Football is currently being hit hard by COVID outbreaks, with an ever-growing list of matches having to be postponed and clubs missing key players. The Premier League has now announced a record 103 positive cases among players and staff in the last week. A total of 15,186 tests were administered between 20 December and 26 December. Officials said they would not provide further details on the players and clubs affected.

Scotland has recorded highest daily COVID cases since start of the pandemic, early data suggests

Daily coronavirus figures from Christmas Day, Boxing Day and today are the highest daily totals recorded since the pandemic began, according to provisional data. It's worth noting that a lag in reporting means the majority of these cases will relate to tests done before the Christmas break. As there is a longer turnaround time for PCR tests at the moment, the actual number of positive cases may be higher.

Experts advise people to swab their throats as well as noses

If you've received a box of lateral flow tests recently, you will likely be instructed to swab just your nose (rather than your throat also). However, two experts are advising that it could be worth swabbing your throat as well. Professor Jennifer L Rohn, a cell biologist at University College London, said she'd had a "string" of negative lateral flow tests before deciding to swab her throat also. She then shared a photo of her positive test. Epidemiologist Michael Mina explained that because symptoms are starting very early for Omicron, it means the virus isn't yet growing in your nose when you first test. "Throat swab + nasal may improve chances a swab picks up virus," he said.

Government doesn't want to listen to experts, says doctor

A doctor has accused the government of not "putting the science front and centre" of its pandemic response. Dr Julia Patterson, chief executive of EveryDoctor, said the UK is now at a "precarious moment" with Omicron but ministers have "chosen not to act early". She told Sky News there is a "reticence to listen to experts which is deeply concerning" and we have "seen this so many times before now". Her organisation, an advocacy group made up of doctors, has heard from NHS staff that the service is currently "under enormous pressure".

What are the restrictions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

As we mentioned in our last post, a Tory MP has said the devolved nations have taken an "overly cautious" approach to coronavirus restrictions. So here's a quick reminder of what the rules are... Scotland

• Crowds at outdoor public events have been capped at 500

• Indoor public events are limited to 100 standing or 200 seated

• Employers have a legal duty to allow staff to work from home where possible

• Table service only at hospitality businesses selling alcohol

• Groups at indoor venues must keep a one-metre distance

• All household contacts of COVID cases must self-isolate for 10 days

• Face masks are mandatory in most indoor public places, and are compulsory for all school staff and secondary school children

Wales

• Large events are not allowed indoors or outdoors (30 people maximum indoors, 50 maximum outdoors)

• Most sporting events must take place behind closed doors, with only up to 50 spectators allowed to gather

• Nightclubs are closed

• Two-metre social distancing is in place in indoor public spaces

• The rule of six will apply to gatherings in public spaces such as hospitality, cinemas and theatres

• Face coverings are needed in hospitality settings at all times apart from when seated

• Anyone over 18 who is not fully vaccinated must self-isolate if they come into contact with a COVID case

• Travelling to an office will be punishable by a £60 fine for employees who are able to work from home

Northern Ireland

• COVID passes are needed for licensed hospitality venues, cinemas and theatres

• Face coverings can only be removed in a restaurant if seated at a table, or when eating, drinking or dancing

• Up to 30 people can meet in a private home and stay overnight

• Face masks must be worn on public transport, private buses and in airports

• Post-primary school students must also wear face coverings inside school buildings, as must staff if they are unable to socially distance

Australia reports first Omicron death

A Sydney man in his 80s is the first person reported to have died from the Omicron variant in Australia. The man had been infected at a care facility and was fully vaccinated but had underlying health conditions. The state of New South Wales has imposed new coronavirus restrictions, including limits of one person per two square metres in bars and restaurants. A further 6,000 new COVID cases have been reported in the state today, after a record number was announced yesterday. Some 524 people are in hospital, including 55 in intensive care.

Israel tests fourth vaccine doses

A hospital has administered a fourth round of vaccine doses to a test group, as the country is considering whether to approve the measure for vulnerable people. The Sheba Medical Centre study in Ramat Gan will be looking at whether a fourth shot is needed, and whether it is safe and effective. The 150 people involved in the study are all medical staff.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @harryflatters @Tanith @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @roz etc etc

On the 18th December, in my area, 86% had first doses, 80% second doses and 46% boosters. On the 25th December (a week later), the numbers were 86%, 80% and 60%. That is, most of the vaccinations were boosters. In a friends area they went from 80%, 73%, 49% to 80%, 74%, 49%. Again, an increase in boosters.

This is possibly due to the fact that many in my area are older. I find monitoring the numbers interesting.

Thank you for this update [@Happygirl], was talking to my cousin, and she said is madness at the moment in Italy, tho not over bad.

[@Happygirl] thank you for the information, I am grateful for your time in providing this news. Interesting facts too.

France and Italy see record daily cases; Australia’s Omicron outbreak spreads

Cases are continuing to rise in Australia, where New South Wales earlier recorded a record 6,394 cases. The NSW health minister has urged residents to reconsider whether they need to call an ambulance or go to hospital due to staff furloughs, warning everyone in the state was likely to be infected with Omicron.

France recorded a record high of 104,611 Covid-19 infections on Saturday, breaking the 100,000 threshold for the first time since the pandemic began, and Italy reported a third successive record tally of Covid-19 cases on Christmas Day.

Hospital patient numbers skyrocketing as Omicron variant rips through city

Despite hopes that the new Covid Omicron strain is less fatal than previous strains, hospitalizations are surging across the capital.

The latest figures show 386 people were admitted to hospital on December 22 with coronavirus and that number is expected to rise.

This figure has almost doubled since last week - it is up 92% week-on-week and the highest number for a single day since February 1.

The five UK areas with the biggest week-on-week rises are all in London:

• Lambeth (up from 1,264.4 to 3,175.8)

• Wandsworth (1,194.3 to 3,098.2)

• Hackney & City of London (1,139.5 to 2,724.4)

• Southwark (1,168.1 to 2,714.2)

• Islington (1,039.0 to 2,506.9)

Huge rise in first Covid jabs as vaccine First Timers come forward .

The number of people getting their first jabs of the Covid vaccine soared in the run-up to Christmas, the latest government figures show.

Just over 221,000 first doses were administered in England in the week ending 21 December – a 46 per cent rise from the previous week, the Department for Health and Social Care said.

The largest increase was seen among young people – one of the groups that the vaccine programme has found hardest to reach – with an 85 per cent increase in first doses for those aged 18 and 24, and a 71 per cent rise in first jabs for those aged 25 to 30.

The latest data also showed progress in reaching older Britons who had not heeded the call for the Covid vaccine during 2021. In the week up to December 21, more over 60s had a first dose than during any seven-day period since early June.

Just over 279,000 second doses of the vaccine were also administered in the expanded programme, a 39 per cent jump on the previous week, the figures showed.

More than 30 million people have already had their third dose and all of those eligible will be offered a booster by the end of the year as part of the ‘Get Boosted Now’ campaign.

ENGLAND'S figures have not come in for yesterday and they say we shall not be getting the full figures for each day until after the New Year

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @harryflatters @Tanith @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹

COVID AND THE WORLD AND US TOO

Follow all the latest developments on coronavirus from around the world.

A summary of today's developments.....

• Germany is tightening restrictions on travel from the UK in an attempt to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. From midnight on Sunday – or 11pm UK time – there will be a ban on carriage from the UK to Germany, except for German nationals, residents and transit passengers.

• The Netherlands will go into a new lockdown from Sunday morning to try to limit Covid-19 infections because of the Omicron variant, prime minister Mark Rutte said. All non-essential shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums and theatres must shut from Sunday until January 14, while schools must close until at least January 9.

• More than 90,000 new cases of coronavirus have been reported across the UK and 125 more people have died from Covid-19, according to the latest official figures.

• The number of deaths in England of people with the Omicron variant has risen to seven, the UK Health Security Agency said, from the previous figure of one.

• Brazil on Saturday recorded 153 new Covid-19 deaths and 3,323 new coronavirus cases, the country’s health ministry said. However, the data is still not up to date, as the ministry is still struggling to reconcile its figures after a cyber attack on its systems over a week ago, Reuters reports.

• The UK’s Brexit minister Lord Frost has resigned from the cabinet. In his resignation letter to prime minister Boris Johnson, he wrote he was sad the unlocking from Covid restrictions had not proved “irreversible” as promised, and added: “I hope we can get back on track soon and not be tempted by the kind of coercive measures we have seen elsewhere.”

• The mayor of London has declared a “major incident” over rapidly rising numbers of coronavirus infection in the capital that threaten to place strain on public services. Sadiq Khan took the decision, which allows for closer coordination between different public agencies, after consulting with leaders from NHS London, local authorities and emergency and other essential services.

• A leading UK government adviser has said that a “circuit breaker” lockdown after Christmas would be “probably too late” and “we need to act now” to head off a huge surge of infections. Stephen Reicher, professor of social psychology at the University of St Andrews and member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said it was clear that plan B measures alone would not be enough to stop the spiralling numbers of cases.

• The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading significantly faster than the Delta strain in countries with documented community transmission, with a doubling time of 1.5 to three days, the World Health Organization said.

Police officers have suffered minor injuries during “scuffles” at an anti-vaccine protest in Parliament Square in London, the Metropolitan police said in a statement.

The officers were injured while attempting to escort a police motorcyclist through the area.

Video footage from the protest posted on social media shows shoving between police and protesters.

Later at around 3pm a group of protesters began “directing abuse” at people inside and egging the shop until police intervened, the Met added. No injuries were reported.

A further incident occurred when beer cans and flares were thrown at officers on Whitehall.

The force said that their officers were also subjected to abuse and physical violence elsewhere on Whitehall, leading to several more officers sustaining minor injuries.

No arrests have been made.

8 Dec 2021 23:48 Brazil on Saturday recorded 153 new Covid-19 deaths and 3,323 new coronavirus cases, the country’s health ministry said. However, the data is still not up to date, as the ministry is still struggling to reconcile its figures after a cyber attack on its systems over a week ago, Reuters reports. Nearly 618,000 Brazilians have died from Covid-19, the second highest total in the world after the US.

Netherlands entering new lockdown 18 Dec 2021 22:42 The Netherlands will go into a new lockdown from Sunday morning to try to limit Covid-19 infections because of the Omicron variant, prime minister Mark Rutte said on Saturday. All non-essential shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums and theatres must shut from Sunday until January 14, while schools must close until at least January 9. The number of guests that people are allowed in their house is also being cut from four to two, except for Christmas Day on December 25. Rutte said: “The Netherlands is again shutting down. “That is unavoidable because of the fifth wave that is coming at us with the Omicron variant,” Reuters reports.

18 Dec 2021 20:18

Here is more on UK government scientists’ stark warning there are now hundreds of thousands of infections every day. The daily number could reach between 600,000 and 2m by the end of the month if new restrictions are not brought in immediately, they said. The government’s SPI-M-O group of scientists, which reports to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), also warned that, based on their modelling, hospitalisations could peak between 3,000 and 10,000 a day and deaths at between 600 and 6,000 a day.

Indoor mixing is the “biggest risk factor” for the spread of the Omicron variant, UK experts have warned, as documents revealed advisers cautioned that large gatherings risked creating “multiple spreading events”.

Documents released by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) on Saturday revealed the advice it had given to ministers.

And at a meeting on Thursday the experts said that stricter measures may be needed for Omicron, because of its transmissibility.

Minutes from the meeting said this could include “reducing group sizes, increasing physical distancing, reducing duration of contacts and closing high-risk premises”.

They said that lateral flow tests should also be used on a group basis – so if one person in a group tests positive before going to an event, their whole group should also not attend, even if they did not test positive.

The experts warned that “hospitalisations in the UK will reach high levels in about two weeks even if transmission is reduced soon” and predicted between 1,000 and 2,000 hospital admissions per day in England by the end of the year, PA reports.

France has reported 58,536 new coronavirus cases and a total of 94,404 Covid-related deaths in hospital, up by 85, Reuters reports.

Italy reported 123 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections was 28,064.

Italy has registered 135,544 deaths linked to Covid-19, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 5.365 million cases to date, Reuters reports.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @harryflatters @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 and anyone interested

Well I may laugh now at all these new variants [@Happygirl], and you remember I said this all along. I will still keep the rest of my opinion to myself.

Covid warning as ANOTHER new variant discovered in France - scientists sound alarm

The alarm was sounded by experts at the IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille.

They announced on their Twitter that they had detected a new variant in COVID-19 patients from Forcalquier, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region.

Dubbed "IHU," the variant has been registered under the name B.1.640.2 on the GISAID network (Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data).

There are currently no further details on the variant, but there is no need to be alarmed yet.

There are scores of new variants discovered all the time, but it does not necessarily mean they will be more dangerous than Delta or Alpha.

What makes a variant more well-known and dangerous is its ability to multiply because of the number of mutations it has in relation to the original virus.

This is when it becomes a "variant of concern" - like Omicron.

It remains to be seen in which category this new variant will fall.

COVID-19: Omicron cases surge by up to 400% in South Africa - but vaccine effectiveness 'encouraging'

The virus is spreading in the country faster than at any point during the pandemic, but officials say the effectiveness of vaccines is "encouraging".

Of those admitted to hospital, 70% were unvaccinated - however, it is worth noting South Africa has a relatively low rate of vaccination, with just over 25% of the population fully jabbed.

Sturgeon warns Scotland may face 'tsunami of infections' as new isolation rules brought in to tackle Omicron

She said the virulent new COVID-19 strain will "run riot" through the wider population as she cautioned the R number could rise above 2, meaning on average every 10 people with the virus will infect more than 20 others.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @harryflatters @roz and anyone interested in the latest news

Japan bans entry of all international travellers over Omicron variant

Japan has announced it will suspend entry of all foreign visitors due to the spread of the new coronavirus variant Omicron. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the measure will take effect on Tuesday. The decision means Japan will restore border controls that it eased earlier this month for short-term business visitors, foreign students and workers. Over the weekend, Japan tightened entry restrictions for people arriving from South Africa and eight other countries, requiring them to undergo a 10-day quarantine period at government-designated facilities. Many countries have moved to tighten their borders after the new variant was found in a number of nations.

Morocco to ban all international flights from arriving in the country due to Omicron concerns

Morocco will ban all inbound international passenger flights for two weeks starting tomorrow. The decision was made due to concerns over the Omicron COVID-19 variant, the Moroccan government said in a statement.

Two cases of Omicron COVID variant identified in Denmark

Denmark has registered two cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant in travellers from South Africa. "This was to be expected, and our strategy is, therefore, to continue intensive monitoring of the infection in the country," Henrik Ullum, director of the State Serum Institute, said. The two people, travelling to Denmark by plane, have been put in isolation and authorities are tracing any close contacts.

'This could possibly be the tip of the iceberg', says Dutch health minister, Update: Thirteen people in the Netherlands with Omicron variant were among 61 positive COVID cases

A total of 13 cases of the new Omicron COVID variant have been identified in the Netherlands, but the country's health minister has said that could be the "tip of the iceberg". "It is not unlikely more cases will appear in the Netherlands," Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said at a press conference in Rotterdam. "This could possibly be the tip of the iceberg." The Omicron cases emerged after 61 passengers, arriving on two flights from South Africa that were carrying around 600 people, tested positive for COVID-19.

First likely case of Omicron variant found in Switzerland

The case relates to a person who returned from South Africa around a week ago, according to Switzerland's health ministry. Testing will clarify the situation in the coming days, it added. Earlier, Switzerland said travellers from 19 countries must provide a negative test when boarding flights to the country. Arrivals must then quarantine for 10 days. The list includes Australia, Denmark, Britain, Czech Republic, South Africa and Israel.

UK calls meeting of G7 health ministers to discuss Omicron variant

The UK has called an "urgent" meeting of G7 health ministers on Monday to discuss the Omicron COVID variant - after a third infected person was found in Britain. The individual, who is no longer in the country, tested positive after travelling here and "is linked to travel to southern Africa". The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is now carrying out targeted testing in places the person visited when they were likely to be infectious - including, it is thought, Westminster. Regarding Monday's gathering of ministers, the DHSC said: "Under the UK presidency an urgent meeting of G7 health ministers will be convened on Monday 29 November to discuss the developments on Omicron." Dr Jenny Harries, UKHSA chief executive, said: "Our advanced sequencing capabilities enable us to find variants and take rapid action to limit onward spread. "It is very likely that we will find more cases over the coming days as we are seeing in other countries globally and as we increase case detection through focused contact tracing."

Canada confirms two cases of Omicron variant in Ontario, health minister says.

France detects eight possible cases of Omicron variant - health ministry.

Brentwood church congregation and KFC staff, customers and delivery workers told to get PCR test amid Omicron variant case

Members of a church congregation and staff, customers and delivery workers at a KFC outlet are being told to get a PCR test for the Omicron variant after it was detected in Brentwood. Essex County Council said the targeted testing affects anyone who visited the KFC in Brentwood High Street on 19 November, between 1pm and 5pm. The authority said it also affects people who attended Trinity Church in Pilgrims Hatch on 21 November.

Schools in England told that pupils in years seven and above should wear masks in communal areas

The Department for Education has told schools in England that pupils in years 7 and above, and visitors, should wear face masks in communal areas. The measures will be reviewed in three weeks, the statement said. An email update to education and childcare providers said: "Face coverings should be worn in communal areas in all settings by staff, visitors and pupils or students in Year 7 and above, unless they are exempt. "Pupils or students (in Year 7 or above) should continue to wear face coverings on public and dedicated school transport, unless they are exempt." The advice comes after the prime minister brought in new rules on face coverings following the detection of the Omicron variant in the UK. The new COVID variant is thought to be more transmissible and health officials have warned about the possibility of the new strain being able to evade vaccines, although it is currently too early to tell if this is the case.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @harryflatters @roz and anyone interested in the latest developments of this new variant.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-new-b-1-1-529-variant-worst-one-weve-seen-so-far-say-uk-experts-12478737

Stop the travelling to stop the spread! Definitely selfisolate upon returning, take test if effective on new variant [@Happygirl].

Six countries added to red list as UK sounds alarm over new Covid variant

A travel ban is to be imposed on six African nations due to rising concerns over a new variant of the virus which causes Covid-19 which officials have dubbed “the worst one we’ve seen so far”.

UK officials sounded the alarm on Thursday night over the B.1.1.529 variant, which has the potential to evade immunity built up by vaccination or prior infection.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the new variant identified in South Africa “may be more transmissible” than the Delta strain and “the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective”.

This is the worst variant we have seen so far Senior UK health official

He said that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list.

While no cases have been found in Britain, officials raised concern over a rapid rise in cases in South Africa.

Until recently, South Africa had seen a period of relatively low transmission, and was typically recording about 200 confirmed cases per day.

But the daily number of coronavirus infections rapidly rose above 1,200 on Wednesday alone - and almost doubled again to 2,465 on Thursday.

Experts believe there is a "high probability" that many of these cases are linked to this variant.

Anyone who has arrived from the country in the last 10 days will be invited to come forward and take a test by the UK Health Security Agency.

At the moment, around 500 and 700 people are travelling to the UK from South Africa each day, but it is expected this figure could increase as the festive period begins.

Mr Javid said: “The early indication we have of this variant is it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it.

“Now to be clear, we have not detected any of this new variant in the UK at this point in time.

“But we’ve always been clear that we will take action to protect the progress that we have made.

“So what we will be doing is from midday tomorrow we will be suspending all flights from six, southern African countries and we will add in those countries to the travel red list. Those countries are South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We will be requiring anyone that arrives from those countries from 4am on Sunday to quarantine in hotels.

“If anyone arrives before then they should self-isolate at home and take a PCR test on day two and day eight. If anyone has arrived from any of those countries over the last 10 days, we would ask them to take PCR tests.”

Mr Javid added: “Our scientists are deeply concerned about this variant. I’m concerned, of course, that’s one of the reasons we have taken this action today.”

Asked what the situation would mean for the UK over the coming weeks, with Christmas approaching, Mr Javid said: “We’ve got plans in place, as people know, for the spread of this infection here in the UK and we have contingency plans – the so-called Plan B.

“But today’s announcement, this is about a new variant from South Africa – it’s been detected in South Africa and Botswana – and this is about being cautious and taking action and trying to protect, as best we can, our borders.”

He said that more work was needed to understand how concerning the variant is, adding: “From what we do know there’s a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the Delta variant.

“That would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective.”

The variant has not yet been given the title “variant of concern” in the UK, but one senior UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) expert said: “This is the worst variant we have seen so far.”

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @harryflatters and those who maybe interested in this new variant

Yes [@Happygirl] had already heard about it, say no more tho. Like I have mentioned before, mutations will always come, and nothing can be done about it, give it a year or two and everything will die down. That's my thinking.

Thank you for the information [@Happygirl] . It's never ending, isn't it.

A New Variant of the coronavirus with a "constellation" of mutations has been identified in Botswana.

South Africa confirms 77 cases of new Covid ‘super variant’ bringing global total to 83

Designated as B.1.1.529, scientists are still unclear whether existing antibodies would react well to the variant - which has 32 spike protein mutations.

Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, branded the mutations "really awful".

It is feared that the B.1.1529, or Botswana variant – an off-shoot of the B.1.1 – could drive further transmission of the virus.

The first cases found were three in Botswana, followed by another six cases in South Africa, and one in Hong Kong involving a traveller returning from South Africa.

Generally, spike mutations allow viruses to adapt and become more virulent, and more able to evade natural and vaccine immunity.

Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, said the variant could be “of real concern” as its 32 mutations in its spike protein could enable it to more easily evade a person’s immune system and spread to more people.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @harryflatters @roz etc