Coronavirus - 3rd January 2022

Summary for Monday, 3rd January 2022

• Nothing in the current Covid data suggests further restrictions are needed in England, says education secretary Nadhim Zahawi
  
• Even though Omicron infections are moving into older age groups, most over-50s have had a booster jab, he adds
  
• There are nearly 12,000 people in UK hospitals with Covid but the number needing intensive care is stable, say NHS bosses
  
• Hospital admissions in London may also have peaked, recent data suggests
  
• But a hospital trust in Lincolnshire has declared a critical incident due to Covid-related staff absences
  
• Meanwhile all secondary school pupils in England will be tested for Covid before returning to classrooms this week
  
• They will also have to wear masks, which Zahawi said was "not ideal" but would help cut transmission
  
• In Israel, health officials suggest a huge wave of Omicron infections could lead to herd immunity
  

Good morning

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
We’ll be bringing you the latest updates from the UK and around the world throughout the day.

The latest headlines

Let's catch up with the main stories this morning:

• Every secondary school pupil in England will be offered a Covid test before they return to the classroom for the new term, the government says, as ministers assure schools they will be offered enough kits to meet the demand
  
• Schools in England have been urged to consider using support staff to keep in-person classes running if teachers are absent due to Covid
  
• A "critical incident" has been declared at hospitals in Lincolnshire, which say they're unable to maintain safe staffing levels because of "unprecedented" Covid-related absences
  
• Thousands of people injured in household accidents were admitted to English hospitals during Covid lockdowns, new NHS figures show
  
• An NHS boss in Scotland says it is "crunch week" for understanding the impact of the Omicron variant
  
• In the Netherlands, government advisers will meet later to discuss whether schools should reopen next week
  
• In France, children aged six and over will be required to wear face masks on public transport and in shops, museums and other public spaces
  
• India has started vaccinating children aged 15 to 18 against Covid, as the country records its sharpest-ever weekly rise in infections
  
• In England, masks return for secondary pupils in classrooms amid fears that the new term could trigger a huge spike in cases of the Omicron variant.
  
• In France, a raft of new Covid restrictions is set to take effect on Monday in the latest attempt to stem rising infections. On the other hand, fully vaccinated people who test positive will now have to isolate for only seven days, and can leave quarantine after five days if they show a negative test.
  
• South Korea reported two deaths in connection with the Omicron variant.
  
• Québec, Canada, proceeded with the first of three planned closures of non-essential retail stores on Sunday. The province is also under a recently imposed curfew.
  
• US federal health officials are looking to add a negative test along with its five-day isolation restrictions for asymptomatic Americans with Covid.
  
• US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said he tested positive for Covid and was experiencing mild symptoms while quarantining at home.
  
• Local authorities in China’s locked-down city of Xi’an removed two senior officials on Sunday in a bid to “strengthen” their fight against Covid.
  
• Australia plans to push ahead with reopening the economy as new infections hit a daily record of more than 37,000 and the number of people hospitalised rose.
  
• Israel will offer a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to people over 60 and to medical staff.
  
• More than 4,000 flights were cancelled around the world on Sunday due to adverse weather and a surge in coronavirus cases caused by the Omicron variant.
  
• France has put the United States on its Covid-19 travel “red list”, meaning unvaccinated people coming into the country will have to quarantine for 10 days.
  
• France announced an easing of Covid restrictions from Monday. Fully vaccinated people in France who test positive will now have to isolate for only seven days, and can leave quarantine after five days if they show a negative test. The country also reported 58,432 new confirmed coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period – a record seven-day average for new Covid cases.
  
• Dutch police dispersed anti-lockdown protesters in Amsterdam on Sunday.
  
• India reported 27,553 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours and Covid deaths rose by 284.
  
• Twitter has permanently suspended the account of US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene after the Republican repeatedly violated its policy on Covid misinformation.
  
• Wintry weather and the coronavirus pandemic caused more than 2,300 US flights and more than 3,900 worldwide to be cancelled.
  
• South Africa has recorded 4,379 new identified coronavirus cases and 30 deaths.
  
• The US government’s top medical adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, said the US had been seeing almost a “vertical increase” of new Covid cases, adding he was concerned the Omicron variant was causing “major disruption” on essential services.
  
• Dr Fauci said hospitalisation figures formed a better guide to the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant than the traditional case-count of new infections.
  
• Argentine football star Lionel Messi was one of four Paris Saint-Germain players to test positive for coronavirus, the club announced shortly before a French Cup match.
  

Schools in England ready for start-of-term tests, ministers say

Every secondary school pupil in England will be tested for Covid before starting the new school term, the government says.
Ministers have assured schools that enough testing kits will be provided to meet the demand for on-site testing, despite nationwide shortages.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi says he has organised a separate supply of tests for schools.
He tells BBC Breakfast the government has been working with school leaders on this week's testing programme from the end of last year.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, students are already being asked to test twice every week.
The Welsh government has urged staff and students to test three times per week before the start of the new term.
Read more here.

No new curbs needed in England despite Omicron spread among over-50s - minister

There is nothing in the current Covid data to suggest further restrictions are needed in England, the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi tells the BBC.
Even though Omicron infections are moving into older age groups, 90% of over-50s have had a booster jab, he adds.
He says the government will keep a "close eye" on the latest data and assess the situation on Wednesday.
There are nearly 12,000 people in UK hospitals with Covid but the number of intensive care beds is stable, NHS bosses say.

Covid jab offered to five to 11-year-olds in Ireland

Children aged five to 11 can now be registered for a Covid vaccine in the Republic of Ireland.
Children with underlying conditions or living with a vulnerable person will take priority before the programme expands to the wider cohort.
Some high-risk children have already received a jab in hospitals, the Health Service Executive (HSE) told RTÉ, the national broadcaster.
Vaccines will begin to be administered more widely within the next two weeks.
Read more here.

'Critical incident' in Lincolnshire hospitals

Boston's Pilgrim Hospital is run by United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust

Hospitals in Lincolnshire, in the East Midlands, have declared a major incident due to "unprecedented" Covid-related staff shortages.
In a leaked memo, the United Lincolnshire NHS Trust told its sites it would be "unable to maintain safe staffing levels" leading to "compromised care" at the centres it covers, including Lincoln County Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital in Boston.
In a statement 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."
He said staff were working exceptionally hard and anyone who needed to go to hospital for treatment should still do so.

Hospitalisations in London have 'dropped significantly' - health boss

The rate of hospitalisations in London during the latest wave of Covid infections may have peaked, a health boss tells the BBC.
Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, says in London - the first region to be hit hard by Omicron - the number of hospitalisations has "dropped significantly" in the past two days.
That could mean the number of hospitalisations in the capital is now matching an earlier apparent peak in cases, he says.
But he warns the "future is uncertain" as we don't yet know the impact of mixing on New Year's Eve and the return of schools.
Hopson, whose organisations represents health trusts, adds that pressure on the NHS is now spreading to hospitals outside London.
"We're seeing increasing numbers of people coming into hospital, we're seeing increasing staff absences, and that's coming on top of a very significant amount of wider pressure," he says.

ScotRail to introduce temporary timetable for January

Covid-related staff shortages have forced train operator ScotRail to make temporary changes to its timetable from Tuesday.
Hundreds of staff working for the Scottish rail operator are isolating and this has resulted in scores of services being cancelled.
To give customers a level of certainty about which trains are running, a temporary timetable will be in place until 28 January, it said. 
Affected routes are mainly in the central belt.
We've got more details for you here.

France cuts Covid isolation for fully vaccinated

France has seen an explosion of Omicron infections

France has relaxed isolation rules for people infected with Covid-19 as the country grapples with staff absences driven by a spike in Omicron cases.
From today, fully vaccinated people who test positive will only have to quarantine for seven days instead of the previous 10.
But they can end their isolation after five days if they receive a negative antigen or PCR test.
There will be no quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated people who come into contact with a positive case.
In the UK, there have been calls to follow a US decision to reduce quarantine to five days for fully vaccinated people. But the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says doing so would be counterproductive and could actually worsen staff shortages.
People in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have Covid can stop self-isolating after seven days if they test negative consecutively on day six and day seven.
Here's a handy explainer on the UK's self-isolation rules.

Northern Ireland schools face significant disruption - union

A teaching union is calling on officials in Northern Ireland to take urgent action to reduce any further disruption in schools as Omicron cases surge.
The NASUWT is urging the Stormont Executive to provide schools with air-cleaning units, support for on-site testing should it be needed and financial help to cover costs of substitute staff.
Before Christmas, some schools had to send individual year groups home for remote learning on specific days due to staff absences and difficulty getting substitute teacher cover.
Omicron now makes up 90% of Covid cases in Northern Ireland.
Read more here.

DIY and playground mishaps fuelled hospital demand during lockdowns

Thousands of people injured in household accidents were admitted to English hospitals during Covid lockdowns, new NHS figures show.
Numerous incidents were recorded, including eight people over the age of 90 who needed hospital treatment after falling from playground equipment.
More than 5,300 people were admitted to hospital after falls from a range of playground attractions such as swings and slides.
And DIY disasters injured many more as people spent more time indoors.
The 2020/21 figures for England were obtained by the PA news agency.
Continue reading here.

England to keep Plan B measures for now - PM

England will continue with its Plan B Covid measures for the time being, the prime minister confirms, saying it would be "folly" to think the pandemic was over.
Boris Johnson says the measures - which include compulsory mask-wearing in some settings, working from home where possible, and Covid passes for some venues - will stay for now.
The PM says the "way forward for the country as a whole is to continue on the path that we are on, but of course we'll keep all the data under review".
"It will be absolute folly to say that this thing is all over... we've got to stick with Plan B," he says.

 

PM: 'Considerable' pressure on NHS in coming weeks

Pressure on NHS hospitals is going to be "considerable" in the coming weeks as Omicron continues to "surge" through the country, the prime minister says.
But Boris Johnson says Omicron is "plainly milder" than other variants.
Speaking on a visit to a vaccination centre in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, he says there are two million booster slots available at the moment, and urges people to get their third jab.
Johnson adds that the vast majority of people in ICUs have not had a booster jab.

More than 4,000 flights cancelled in 2022 over Omicron

More than 4,000 flights were cancelled around the world on Sunday due to adverse weather and a surge in coronavirus cases caused by the Omicron variant, Reuters reports.
The flights cancelled by 8pm GMT on Sunday included over 2,400 entering, departing from or within the United States, according to tracking website FlightAware.com.
Globally, more than 11,200 flights were delayed.

Flight cancellations and delays shown at Orlando airport in Florida as more than 2,000 flights were cancelled across the US on Sunday. Photograph: Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/Rex/Shutterstock

Among the airlines with most cancellations were SkyWest and SouthWest, with 510 and 419 cancellations respectively, FlightAware showed.
The Christmas and New Year holidays are typically a peak time for air travel, but the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has led to a sharp increase in Covid infections, forcing airlines to cancel flights as pilots and cabin crew quarantine.
US airline cabin crew, pilots and support staff were reluctant to work overtime during the holidays, despite offers of hefty financial incentives. Many feared contracting Covid and did not welcome the prospect of dealing with unruly passengers, some airline unions said.

More on the news from earlier regarding US defense secretary Lloyd Austin’s announcement he had tested positive for Covid.
In a statement on Sunday night, Austin said he was experiencing mild symptoms while quarantining at home and planned to attend key meetings and discussions virtually in the coming week “to the degree possible”.
He said deputy secretary Kathleen Hicks would represent him in appropriate matters.
Austin said:

I have informed my leadership team of my positive test result, as well as the president. My staff has begun contact tracing and testing of all those with whom I have come into contact over the last week.

Austin, 68, said he was fully vaccinated and received a booster in October. He said he requested a test on Sunday morning after experiencing symptoms while at home on leave and, given the result, planned to remain in quarantine for five days, per guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The vaccines work and will remain a military medical requirement for our workforce. I continue to encourage everyone eligible for a booster shot to get one. This remains a readiness issue.

Here’s a roundup of some Covid numbers across Asia:

• Thailand has reported 2,927 new Covid cases and 18 deaths over the last 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry announced on Monday morning.
  
• Singapore reported 429 new Covid cases on Sunday, including 297 imported infections. There were no deaths recorded, according to the ministry of health.
  
• Malaysia reported 40,606 active coronavirus cases, a reduction of 428 from the previous day, and 19 deaths.
  
• China reported another 161 coronavirus cases on Sunday, down from 191 a day earlier, the country’s health authority said on Monday.  Of the new infections, 101 were locally transmitted, according to a statement by China’s national health commission, down from 131 a day earlier.  Most of the new local cases were in the north-western province of Shanxi, where the capital city of Xian has been under a strict lockdown.
  
• South Korea also reported another 3,833 new confirmed cases, including 150 imported cases. A further 69 deaths were also recorded.
  

Israel to offer fourth Covid jab for the over-60s and medical staff

Israel will offer a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to people over 60 and to medical staff.
Prime minister Naftali Bennett made the announcement on Sunday amid a surge in Omicron variant infections, saying the country’s top medical officer had approved the shot.
In a statement, Bennett said:

Tonight, I can announce that Israel will also begin administering the fourth vaccine to all Israelis aged 60 and above, as well as our wonderful medical workers, four months after they’ve received their last dose — following the approval of Israel’s Ministry of Health.
Israel will once again be pioneering the global vaccination effort. Omicron is not Delta — it’s a different ball-game altogether. We must keep our eye on the ball, act swiftly and decisively if we want to continue engaging and working with an open country as much as possible throughout this pandemic.”

Israel on Thursday authorised a fourth Covid vaccine for those with weakened immunity, becoming one of the first countries to do so.
Authorities on Sunday also reported 4,206 new Covid infections over the past 24 hours, and a 195% increase over the past week.
Bennett warned that cases could surge to around “50,000 cases per day soon”, urging all adults and children to get vaccinated.

Australia to push ahead with reopening

Australia plans to push ahead with reopening the economy as new infections hit a daily record of more than 37,000 and the number of people hospitalised rose.
Record daily case numbers were reported on Monday in the states of Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, as well as the Australian Capital Territory.
In New South Wales there were 20,794 cases, higher than Sunday’s figure but below the daily record of 22,577 set on Saturday, with testing numbers lower over the New Year’s holiday weekend.
However, the government insists that the milder impact of the Omicron variant will not deter plans to reopen.
Prime minister Scott Morrison told broadcaster Channel Seven:

We have to stop thinking about case numbers and think about serious illness, living with the virus, managing our own health and ensuring that we’re monitoring those symptoms and we keep our economy going.

Federal health minister Greg Hunt said the advice to the government was that the Omicron strain was more transmissible but also milder than other variants, which reduced the risk to both individuals and the health system.

China removes two senior officials over Covid response

Local authorities in China’s locked-down city of Xi’an removed two senior officials on Sunday in a bid to “strengthen” their fight against Covid.
Authorities ordered all 13 million residents to stay home last month as Beijing continues to pursue a “zero Covid” approach.
Two senior Communist party officials from the Yanta district were removed from their posts, according to local media and as reported by Agence France-Presse, in a bid to “strengthen the work of epidemic prevention and control” in the area.

Volunteers deliver daily necessities for residents in Xi’an, north-west China’s Shanxi province. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

“We have entered a general state of attack,” said provincial official Liu Guozhong, according to an official notice. He added that it was necessary to achieve the goal of clearing society of coronavirus cases as soon as possible.
Last month, China’s disciplinary body announced that dozens of officials were punished for “insufficient rigour in preventing and controlling the outbreak”.
Local residents have said they were struggling to find enough food, despite Chinese authorities insisting they were working to ensure stable supplies.
Xi’an reported 90 new local virus cases on Monday, down from 122 cases a day before.

Some updated Covid figures from South Korea have just been released.
The nation has recorded another 3,129 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 36 deaths over the past 24-hour reporting period.
A total of 1,015 people are currently in critical condition, with the country averaging 347 new admissions a day.

South Korea reports first Omicron deaths

South Korea has reported two deaths in connection with the Omicron variant, Yonhap News reports.
The deaths are believed to be the first in the country linked to the highly transmissible variant, officials said on Monday.
Health authorities in Gwangju, 329km south of Seoul, said two recently deceased coronavirus patients in the city, both in their 90s, tested positive for the Omicron variant, according to the publication.
The patients, who died last Monday and Wednesday respectively, both tested positive for Covid-19 at a senior care hospital in the city at an earlier date.

A woman hangs her message containing wishes for the new year at Jogye temple in central Seoul, South Korea. Photograph: YONHAP/EPA

India begins vaccinating 15-18-year-olds

India begins its vaccination drive for children aged 15 to 18 today.
The health ministry announced that Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin would be the vaccine administered in two doses 28 days apart.
Health minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted: “The world’s largest vaccination campaign has started for children in the age group of 15 to 18 across the country from today.”
He added: “If the children are safe, then the future of the country is safe.”
Private and public schools will double up as vaccination centres for children and school authorities have been ordered to report their daily vaccination data to state authorities.
“Children are going to be given vaccines in their schools,” said Jai Prakash Shivahare, health commissioner in Gujarat state. “They can also go to vaccination centres and get the dose ... They can just walk in.”

France will implement new Covid restrictions today in the latest attempt to stem rising infections.
Big events will be limited to 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 people outdoors and people will be requested to sit down during concerts from today. Customers will also not be allowed to stand up in bars.
Eating and drinking will be banned in cinemas, theatres, sport facilities and public transportation, including on long-distance routes. Working from home will be mandatory at least three days per week for employees whose job makes it possible.
The new rules will be in place for at least three weeks, prime minister Jean Castex said last week.
Schools will also reopen as scheduled on Monday 3 January.

Poland considering new restrictions

Poland may introduce new Covid restrictions if new infections continue to rise, health minister Adam Niedzielski told radio station RMF FM on Monday morning.
Poland has been dealing with persistently high daily case numbers in a fourth wave that forced authorities to tighten restrictions in December.
Niedzielski said:

If we see this week that we have a continuation of the upward trend in infections, with roughly 20,000 hospital beds taken, which is still very high, yes, we will be making further aggravating decisions.
We will talk about schools, the closure of shopping malls, for example, but I do not want to prejudge.

Niedzielski said any decisions could be announced later this week, either on Wednesday or Friday.
Poland reported another 7,179 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths in the last reporting period, according to an update from the ministry of health.
However, Niedzielski told RMF FM that 6,422 new coronavirus infections were detected.

Ryanair will cancel 28 of its 59 Danish routes in January, according to Danish aviation website Check In.
The budget airline had already cancelled one third of its January flights due to restrictions.
The cancellations will last for three weeks from 10 January, The Local reports.
Denmark, which is among the countries with the most registered cases of the Omicron variant, recorded an all-time high in new infections last week amid increased demand for Covid testing during the Christmas holidays.
Many airlines have reduced their flight schedule this winter due to staff absences, travel restrictions and a lack of consumer confidence.
In early December, British Airways cancelled more than 2,000 flights from its schedule until March 2022.

Boris Johnson warns of pressure on NHS for weeks as Omicron 'continues to surge' in UK

Pressure on the NHS for the “next couple of weeks and maybe more” is going to be “considerable”, UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has said.
Speaking on a visit to a vaccination hub in the Guttman Centre at Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Johnson said the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is “plainly milder” than other strains.
However, he added “there’s no question Omicron continues to surge through the country”.
He said:

I think we’ve got to recognise that the pressure on our NHS, on our hospitals, is going to be considerable in the course the next couple of weeks, and maybe more.

Johnson said the booster programme and plan B measures made a difference, but he said:

There are still quite a lot of people who have had two jabs, but haven’t had the third. The third job really does make a big, big difference.

It would be “absolute folly” to think the coronavirus pandemic was “all over”, the PM added.

I would say to everybody looking at the pressures on the NHS in the next couple of weeks, and maybe longer, looking at the numbers of people who are going to be going into hospital, it will be absolute folly to say that this thing is all over now bar the shouting.
We’ve got to remain cautious. We got to stick with plan B. We’ve got to get boosted.

Johnson pledged to “make sure that we look after our NHS any way that we can”, and said he had spoken to NHS England chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, and its medical director, Prof Stephen Powis, about the pressures faced by healthcare staff.
He told broadcasters:

I appreciate the pressures that our hospitals are under, I think it’s vital that we make sure that we help them by trying to contain the pandemic in the ways that I’ve set out.
So do all the things that I’ve said, make sure we follow a plan B, get boosted but also help the NHS with their staffing requirements, and we’re looking at what we can do to move people into those areas that are particularly badly affected.
Don’t forget that... no matter how incredibly transmissible Omicron is - and there’s no question it really spreads very, very fast - it is different from previous variants.
And it does seem pretty conclusively to be less severe than Delta or Alpha, and it is putting fewer people into ICU, and sadly the people who are getting into ICU are the people who aren’t boosted, so get boosted.

Scotland confirms record 20,217 daily cases

Scotland has once again recorded its highest daily number of Covid infections since the start of the pandemic.
A further 20,217 people tested positive for the coronavirus over the latest 24-hour period.
The figures, from Public Health Scotland, are the first to be published in 2022 - after the last tranche, also showing record cases, was released on 29 December.
Official statistics also showed more than 1,000 people were in hospital - the highest since October last year.
The Scottish government said there had been delays in results being reported due to the high volume of tests.
It said the figure had also been impacted by the holiday weekend.
Read more here.

Passengers disembark cruise ship after days moored in Lisbon

Passengers stuck on board a large German cruise ship moored in Lisbon for five days as Covid infections spread have been permitted to disembark.
The ship, named AIDAnova, arrived in the Portuguese capital on Wednesday carrying 2,844 passengers and 1,353 crew.
It was travelling to the island of Madeira, where passengers were due to celebrate the new year. However it remained at Lisbon's port after dozens of staff - who were reportedly fully vaccinated - tested positive for coronavirus.
They were sent to hotels in Lisbon to isolate and the ship was allowed to leave the port on Sunday.
But after more infections were detected, including among passengers, there was no option but to end the cruise, Port Capt Diogo Vieira Branco told a local radio station.
He said everyone infected had been made to isolate immediately.


Some 68 cases in total have been confirmed, Reuters news agency reports.
"We all want this to end. We're going home," one passenger said.

Schools to reopen in the Netherlands

Despite December's lockdown in the Netherlands, some students were allowed to take their exams

All primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands will reopen on 10 January, despite Covid cases there remaining high, the government has announced.
The country has been under a strict lockdown since December, which included closing schools a week early to help prevent children becoming infected and transmitting the virus to older relatives over the Christmas period.
But the Dutch government says hospital admissions have dropped considerably since the measures were introduced.
"This is good news for students and it's important for their development and their mental well-being that they can go to school," Education Minister Arie Slob said.

At least 120 outbreaks in care homes in Northern Ireland

At least 120 care homes in Northern Ireland were dealing with Covid-19 outbreaks over the weekend, NI's Public Health Agency (PHA) has said.
Dr Gillian Armstrong, from the PHA, described the spread of the Omicron variant as "phenomenal" and suggested visitors to care homes exercise caution amid "an unprecedented level of community transmission".
"Each care home will make their own risk assessment according to the vulnerability of their patients and what their staffing levels are like," Dr Armstrong told the BBC.
It comes as Northern Ireland's Western Health and Social Care Trust suspended visits to its care homes and hospitals.
Private care homes are issuing their own guidance - with the Independent Health and Care Providers (IHCP) chief citing staff absence at the biggest problem at present.
Read more here.

What are England's Plan B measures?

As we heard earlier, Boris Johnson said England will continue with its Plan B Covid measures for the time being.
Here's a reminder of what that means:

• Face masks are mandatory in most public indoor venues, including on public transport, as well as in shops, cinemas and places of worship; masks are not needed in pubs or restaurants, or venues like gyms where it's "not practical"
  
• People are asked to work from home where possible
  
• An NHS Covid Pass is required for entry in to nightclubs, indoor unseated venues with more than 500 people, unseated outdoor venues with more than 4,000 people and any event with more than 10,000 people
  
• Visitors to nightclubs or large scale venues must demonstrate proof of two vaccine doses, a recent negative test or a valid exemption
  

Find out the rules across the UK here.

Parts of NHS in England in 'crisis' due to Covid and staff shortages, warns UK healthcare leader

Parts of the health service are in “crisis”, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation has said.
Matthew Taylor said:

In many parts of the health service, we are currently in a state of crisis. In the face of high levels of demand and staff absence some hospitals are having to declare a ‘critical incident’.
Some hospitals are making urgent calls to exhausted staff to give up rest days and leave to enable them to sustain core services. Many more hospitals are having to ban visitors to try to reduce the spread of infection. NHS England is continuing to plan for surge capacity.
Community and social care services, which were already massively overstretched, are at breaking point. In many areas, ambulance services are unable to meet their target response times. Primary care is having to add caring for Covid-19 patients and trying to keep them out of hospitals to driving the booster programme and dealing with unprecedented underlying demand which is driven in part by the millions of unwell people waiting for appointments and operations.

On Saturday, the United Lincolnshire hospitals NHS trust declared an internal critical incident “due to extreme and unprecedented workforce shortages”, meaning the trust was “unable to maintain safe staffing levels”, the Sunday Times reported.

Kuwait has urged its citizens to leave several European countries including the UK, France and Germany because of rising cases of the Omicron variant in the region.
AFP reports:

In a series of statements overnight Sunday, the oil-rich Gulf state also warned Kuwaitis, often big spenders abroad, to avoid travelling to the countries.
The foreign ministry said they should “delay their trips” generally and, in particular, to France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.
It said its citizens should leave those countries “considering the significant and unprecedented rise in the number of new cases” of Covid-19.
Europe has in the past few months again become the centre of the pandemic and is battling an upsurge of cases spurred on by the highly transmissible Omicron strain.
The countries with the highest ratio of infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the world were all in Europe, according to an AFP tally on Saturday.
The count showed more than 4.9m infections reported in Europe over the seven days to 1 January.
France alone recorded more than 1 million new cases during that one-week period.
Kuwait’s foreign ministry also said on Monday that the country’s citizens should leave Morocco due to concerns over Covid-19.
The number of recorded cases in Kuwait remains relatively low.
But it jumped 20-fold in a month to reach around 600 cases on Sunday in the country of more than 4 million people.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, cases have also surged.

In the United Arab Emirates, infections have risen almost 40-fold since the beginning of December.

Saudi Arabia announced 1,746 new cases on Monday, the most in six months and a leap of more than 700 from just a day earlier.

Multiple NHS trusts declare critical incidents amid Covid staff crisis
Andrew Gregory - The Guardian
Multiple NHS trusts have declared “critical incidents” amid soaring staff absences caused by Covid, as health leaders warned pressure was increasingly spreading to hospitals outside London.
More than half a dozen trusts in England have issued alerts over “internal critical incidents” in the last few days, it is understood, amid mounting concerns some may be unable to deliver vital care to patients.
Health leaders warned the “rapidly increasing” number of absent NHS staff was piling “very serious” pressure on hospitals already struggling to cope with increasing Covid admissions and “huge wider pressure” on urgent and emergency services. Hospitals in the north-east and Yorkshire have reported the most rapid growth in Covid patients in recent days.
However, NHS chiefs also expressed cautious optimism that after weeks of rising hospitalisations in London – the centre of the Omicron outbreak – that the increases may have peaked and be starting to “plateau”.

Rubbish bin collection delays across England due to Covid
Covid-related staff shortages across England are causing “terrible” rubbish collection delays, local politicians have warned, with bins in some areas left “overflowing” with waste from the festive period.
Councillors in London, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Buckinghamshire have said bin collection services have been scaled back as workers continue to fall sick with the virus, PA Media reports. Chelmsford City Council confirmed 23 members of staff were absent and cancelled three days’ worth of food waste collections. North Somerset Council said they had been unable to pick up 1,000 recycling bins on New Year’s Eve as crews remain “stretched due to staff sickness”.

Italy reports 68,052 new Covid cases

Italy reported 68,052 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, up from 61,046 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of coronavirus-related deaths rose to 140 from 133.
Italy has registered 137,786 deaths linked to the virus since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, and has reported 6.4 million cases to date, Reuters reports.
Patients in hospital with Covid-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 12,333 on Monday, up from 11,756 a day earlier.
There were 103 new admissions to intensive care units, one less than on Sunday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,351 from a previous 1,319. About 445,321 tests for Covid-19 were carried out in the last day, compared with a previous 278,654, the health ministry said.

Scottish parliament to again be recalled as Covid hits record levels

Severin Carrell - The Guardian
Nicola Sturgeon is to give a fresh update on her government’s Covid strategy on Wednesday as she faces growing pressure to cut Scotland’s self-isolation rules.
With Covid cases now hitting record levels, the Scottish parliament will meet in virtual session on Wednesday afternoon after being recalled for the second time during the Christmas recess. Scotland reported 20,217 new cases and a 35% positive results rate on Monday, fuelled by a surge in Omicron cases.

Hospitalisations have nearly doubled in the past week, from 528 cases on Boxing Day to 1,031 on Monday. The numbers of people in intensive care, a marker for potential deaths, has remained broadly level since declining sharply in early December. No new deaths were reported on Monday, potentially due to the holiday weekend.
Opposition parties and business leaders have been urging Sturgeon to cut Scotland’s self-isolation rules, which remain the toughest in the UK, to relieve staffing pressures on the NHS, businesses and essential services such as the rail network.
Scots are expected to isolate for 10 days after contact with a positive case, even after a negative test. In England and Wales, the limit is now seven days provided people have negative lateral flow tests on days six and seven. Sturgeon told MSPs last week she feared relaxing restrictions too soon could provoke a steeper rise in Covid infections.
There is also pressure on Sturgeon and the health secretary, Humza Yousaf, to provide evidence about the proportion of people in hospital with Covid who were admitted because they were ill with the virus, rather than another medical reason.
Some English studies suggest around half of those with Covid in hospital did not know they had it, and were admitted for other reasons. Yousaf said that data was being assessed. It also remains unclear whether anyone has yet died from Omicron in Scotland; Yousaf claimed last week that disclosing that data could breach patient confidentiality.

The UK’s daily Covid figures have been delayed today and are expected at around 5.30pm
A message on the government’s coronavirus dashboard read: “Because of a delay in receiving deaths data for England, today’s update is delayed. The current estimate for release is 5.30pm.”

The day's key Covid developments

Here's a reminder of the main developments from today:

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that England will continue with its Plan B Covid measures amid growing pressures on the NHS
  
• He said it would be "folly" to think the pandemic was over and warned that pressure on hospitals would be "considerable" over the coming weeks
  
• Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said he and the prime minister were "determined" to keep schools open. He urged 12 to 15-year-olds to get both doses of the vaccine - and for older children to get their boosters
  
• Zahawi also said secondary school students in England would not be required to wear masks in classrooms for "a day longer than necessary"
  
• Some 20,217 people have tested positive for Covid in Scotland - another record daily figure. The Scottish government said there had been delays in results being reported due to the high volume of tests and the new year holiday
  
• A critical incident has been declared at four Lincolnshire hospitals because of staff shortages due to Covid
  
• Elsewhere, Israel started rolling out a fourth vaccine dose to those aged over 60 and to healthcare workers amid a steep rise in Omicron cases there
  
• India has vaccinated more than four million teenagers in a single day, as it also battles a fresh spike in cases
  
• In France, MPs have started debating a bill that would force people to show proof of vaccination at restaurants and cinemas - despite some lawmakers receiving death threats