Coronavirus - 31st December 2021

• The government says it has met a target to offer Covid booster jabs to all adults in England by today
  
• The same goal is said to have been reached in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  
• Muted celebrations mark the New Year as countries around the world begin to see in 2022
  
• Covid absences in acute NHS trusts in England rise by more than 40% during Christmas week
  
• PM Boris Johnson is urging people to take a Covid test and think about ventilation before celebrating New Year's Eve
  
• In South Africa, where the Omicron variant was first discovered, officials say the fourth wave of Covid infections may be over
  

Good morning

• The government says it has met a target to offer Covid booster jabs to all adults in England by today
  
• The same claim has been made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging everyone to take a Covid test before tonight’s New Year’s Eve celebrations
  
• He says the UK is in an "incomparably better" position now than this time last year thanks to the huge national effort on vaccines
  
• Health bodies are calling for NHS workers to get priority access to lateral flow tests amid patchy supply and staff shortages
  
• It comes as UK daily Covid cases reach another record high of 189,213 on Thursday
  
• But in South Africa, where the Omicron variant was first discovered, officials say the fourth wave of Covid infections may be over
  
• The number of people to die from Covid in Eastern Europe has reached 1 million, as Russia climbed above Brazil to become the country with the second-highest deaths behind the US.
  
• South Africa said the country had passed its Omicron peak without a major death surge, offering hope to countries hit hard by the mutated variant.
  
• France reported 206,243 new confirmed Covid cases, a tally above 200,000 for the second day running.
  
• The UK reported 189,213 new Covid cases, smashing Wednesday’s record-breaking tally of 183,037 positive tests.
  
• The UK is dogged by a shortage of tests, as Wales assists England with 4m tests amid fears of New Year’s Eve celebrations turning into breeding grounds for the virus.
  
• Scotland’s first minister urged people to avoid household mixing after a record high of nearly 17,000 cases.
  
• India fears it is entering a new wave after cases surge, as confirmed Omicron cases also climb.
  
• Portugal cuts Covid isolation from ten days to seven, after the World Health Organization said on Wednesday slashing isolation was a trade-off between transmission and economic concerns.
  
• Germany will drop quarantine demands for UK travellers from 4 January after seeing its own Omicron cases jump above 3,000 recently.
  
• Malaysia detected 3,997 positive Covid cases, with the number among survivors of its recently deadly floods rising to 442 in total.
  
• Japan recorded over 500 new infections for the first time in two months.
  
• Five Bulgarian regions moved from yellow to red zones as the country recorded 3,449 new infections, a 139% jump on two weeks ago.
  
• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said all people should avoid cruises, following a rise in onboard Covid cases in a major blow to the industry.
  

PM urges people to take a Covid test before NYE parties

What do the papers say?

South Africa says Omicron wave may have peaked

People plead for help and food in quarantined Chinese city

Lateral flow test supply in UK 'still patchy' as staff face abuse - pharmacist

PCR test slots limited by numbers of testing staff

New restrictions would take two weeks to reduce hospitalisations - NHS leader

How Covid is impacting New Year's Eve celebrations around the world

• Usually one of the first places to welcome in the new year, New Zealand has organised a light show over the Auckland Harbour Bridge instead of the traditional fireworks display
  
• Earlier this year, it was announced that London would cancel its fireworks display for the second year running
  
• Paris has also cancelled planned fireworks as well as festivities on the Champs-Elysées avenue
  
• New York City will hold a scaled-back version of its own celebrations, with fewer people allowed to watch the giant ball drop over Times Square
  

How many people can get together for New Year's Eve?

Whiff of infected breath enough to catch Omicron - Openshaw

• What do we know about Omicron?
  

Analysis: NHS Covid absences up by 40%

South Yorkshire hospitals suspend visits due to Covid

England's threshold to bring in more restrictions not yet met

Avoid cruises even if vaccinated, CDC tells Americans

US hits record high

Analysis: Admissions 'with' and 'for' Covid both rising

Paxlovid Covid pill granted approval for use in UK

A pill to treat Covid has been approved for use across the UK, the medicines regulator says.
Paxlovid, developed by the US company Pfizer, has been authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
According to the MHRA: "Paxlovid is an antiviral medicine used for treating mild-to-moderate COVID-19. COVID-19 is caused by a virus.
"Paxlovid stops the virus multiplying in cells and this stops the virus multiplying in the body. This can help your body to overcome the virus infection, and may help you get better faster."
The UK Department of Health said: "More than 2.75 million courses of Paxlovid have been secured for NHS patients and plans for deployment will be set out soon."

Pfizer's pill to be given to high risk Covid cases

Muted celebrations as Australia welcomes in New Year

Scots urged to stay at home for Hogmanay

• What are the rules at Hogmanay?
  

One in 25 people in England had Covid in week before Christmas - ONS

Watch: New Zealand ushers in New Year

London was UK's Covid epicentre before Christmas - ONS

'To lock down now would be cruel'

Queensland’s new travel rule labelled ‘pointless’ as state faces fresh Covid surge

The first two days of term are planning days. What the education minister Jeremy Miles has asked schools to do is to plan for two possible futures: the one in which children can still be in the classroom, where there are sufficient staff to be there to be able to provide face-to-face learning, but to maximise the protection that can be put in place inside the classroom to keep students and staff as safe as possible.
But we recognise that there will be some schools where, because Omicron is so transmissible, there will be staff who will be ill so it won’t be possible for every child to be in the classroom and therefore that a return for some students for a shorter period of time as possible to online learning may have to be there as well.

The availability of staff is the biggest threat to education in January. Without the workforce fit and well, learners cannot go back to the classroom. If regular LFTs are to be part of the package of mitigations it is vital that schools have a supply ready for reopening.

Hong Kong detects community transmission of Omicron variant for first time

NHS chief: 'government needs to be ready to introduce tighter restrictions at real speed'

NHS chiefs do not believe that the threshold for new Covid-19 restrictions has been crossed despite a surge in hospital admissions.The number of patients with the coronavirus on wards in England rose to 11,452 yesterday, the highest since February and up 61 per cent in a week.
While concerned by the increase in admissions, NHS leaders have been reassured by the fact that serious illness among the elderly has not risen significantly.

Although the numbers are going up and going up increasingly rapidly, the absence of large numbers of seriously ill older people is providing significant reassurance. But they are aware that this may change after the Christmas period.
Trust CEOs know that the government has a high threshold to cross before it will introduce extra restrictions and can see why, in the absence of that surge of severely ill older people, that threshold hasn’t been crossed yet.

It is the Government who sets the rules on restrictions, not the NHS. We still don’t know if a surge will come, and indeed we are exactly talking about the preparations we are making for that surge right now.
So, in terms of restrictions, I think we are in exactly the same place we’ve been for the past fortnight, which is the government needs to be ready to introduce tighter restrictions at real speed should they be needed.
And just to make the point that that is somewhat different to a headline that states NHS leaders think there is no need for more curbs - they may be needed at pace if the evidence warrants it.
And just one more important point, I think - it is worth remembering that it does take about a fortnight for any new restrictions to affect the level of hospital admissions, so the pattern of hospital admissions for the next fortnight has already been set.

Today so far

• The World Health Organization has issued a message of hope while urging renewed action for the year ahead. WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “With the curtain closing on 2021, we are faced by a somber milestone, and a stark choice. The power is in our hands to change the course of the Covid-19 crisis once and for all.”
  
• South Africa, the first country to report the Omicron variant, says a dip in infections in the past week indicates the peak of the current wave has passed.
  
• UK prime minister Boris Johnson claims Britain is in an “incomparably better” position in the fight against Covid than it was at the end of 2020, in his new year’s message.
  
• The number of patients in hospital with Covid in England is up from 7,166 on Christmas Day, to 11,452. That is the highest figure since February.
  
• A huge number of people in England are not turning up for their Covid vaccine appointments, health leaders have said, saying as many as 40% of bookings are missed.
  
• Amid a shortage in the UK, National Pharmacy Association chairman Andrew Lane said more lateral flow tests are being distributed to pharmacies but supply is “still very patchy.”
  
• Chris Hopson, the head of NHS Providers, has said “In terms of restrictions, I think we are in exactly the same place we’ve been for the past fortnight, which is the government needs to be ready to introduce tighter restrictions at real speed should they be needed. It is worth remembering that it does take about a fortnight for any new restrictions to affect the level of hospital admissions, so the pattern of hospital admissions for the next fortnight has already been set.”
  
• Schools and parents across Wales are preparing for some children to return to home and online learning when the new term begins. First minister Mark Drakeford said teacher and staff illness meant some pupils would return to home learning with decisions would be made by individual schools and councils, rather than the Welsh government.
  
• Hogmanay in Scotland will be marked for a second consecutive year with restrictions in place on the hospitality sector. Pubs will be able to stay open provided they have table service in place, but there will be no nightclubbing. First minister Nicola Sturgeon has praised healthcare workers in her new year’s address, and said “this is not the Hogmanay we all wanted and hoped for. But I believe that we can still look ahead to 2022 with optimism.”
  
• Israel’s health minister Nitzan Horowitz said the country will extend the offer of a fourth vaccine dose to elderly people in care facilities, citing their high exposure and vulnerability to infections.
  
• Hong Kong authorities have discovered cases of infection of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the community, Health Secretary Sophia Chan said. It marked the first local cases in about three months.
  
• Daily Covid cases in New South Wales, Australia, almost doubled overnight, raising pressure on the state’s health system.
  
• The Victorian and New South Wales governments are scrambling to organise the distribution of rapid antigen tests to vulnerable people amid short supply, confusion over who should use them and skyrocketing Covid case numbers.
  
• A US woman has told how she confined herself to an aeroplane toilet cubicle after testing positive for Covid halfway through a flight from Chicago to Iceland.
  
• New Zealand has eased rules on public gatherings in time for New Year’s Eve after a scare over community cases of the new Omicron variant.
  

Ireland becomes latest EU country to cut isolation period

We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning, while following the science.

Philippines to impose tighter curbs for next two weeks

Curfew lifted in South Africa as new infections fall

 

Daily Covid cases in UK reach another record high

UK daily Covid cases have reached another record high.
There were 189,846 cases of Covid reported in the UK over the past 24 hours. This compares to 189,213 on Thursday.
A further 203 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded, according to the latest government data.

Number of Covid patients in UK hospitals rises by 20 in 24 hours

Third wave looms as India cases spike

In pictures: Cities around the world welcome 2022

Italy reports record 144,243 new cases on Friday