Kluge warned that there is now a “closing window of opportunity” for countries to prevent their health systems from being overwhelmed….reports Asian Lite News
There were more than seven million new cases of the Omicron variant across Europe in the first week of January, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
According to Hans Kluge, WHO Europe Director, 26 countries in the region reported that more than 1 per cent of their populations are being infected with Covid each week, The Telegraph reported.
Kluge warned that there is now a “closing window of opportunity” for countries to prevent their health systems from being overwhelmed.
He cited estimates from the Institute of Health Metrics at the University of Washington which projected that half of the population in Western Europe will be infected with Covid in the next six to eight weeks.
“Omicron moves faster and wider than any (previous) variants we have seen,” he was quoted as saying at a media briefing.
Kluge also called for countries to mandate the use of masks indoors and to prioritise vaccination, including booster dose of at-risk population, including health workers and elderly people.
Further, he said that as Omicron moves east across the European continent, the variant will take a much higher toll on countries with lower vaccination coverage rates.
Covid hospitalisation rate, in Denmark, was six times higher in people who weren’t vaccinated compared to those who had been immunised, Kluge noted.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had previously pleaded with the rich countries not to offer booster doses and to donate them instead to poorer countries where vulnerable groups are yet to be immunised.
“No country can boost its way out of the pandemic,” he said, adding that the current vaccines “remain effective against both the Delta and Omicron variants”.
As a spike in COVID-19 cases, driven by Omicron, cooled off in India today, the news on the assembly elections, on the other hand, has heated up.
COVID-19 updates: In what comes as a relief, India reported 1.68 lakh fresh COVID-19 cases today, which is 6.4 per cent lower than yesterday. This, however, is not an indication of what is to come, according to Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain as the cases are set to hit a peak “in a day or two” with infections falling after that, he said.
Election updates:A preliminary look at the upcoming assembly elections are out. The ABP-CVOTER Battle for the States survey projects that the BJP will get a simple majority in Uttar Pradesh and Goa and go neck-to-neck with Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Manipur and Uttarakhand. However, on the battlegrounds of Punjab, it is the AAP and the Congress that are projected to poll 40 per cent and 36 per cent votes respectively. The states will go to poll next month.
India to bail out Sri Lanka: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has said India will support the crisis-hit neighbour. This comes as Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked China to restructure its debt yesterday, as part of efforts to ease the country’s worsening financial situation.
Meanwhile, in business news, Vodafone Idea has stated that the Indian government will become the single-largest shareholder of the company with 35.8 per cent stake and the promoter shareholders would hold 28.5 per cent (Vodafone Group) and around 17.8 per cent (Aditya Birla Group), respectively. Read more here
Vodafone Idea shares fell 19 per cent in early trade on Tuesday as it approved the conversion of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) and spectrum liabilities into equity. (Photo Credit: Twitter/@BQthefineprint)
Pakistan
Private TV channel under the spotlight: The News International reported that a Pakistani national exchequer has been robbed of billions to benefit a private TV channel, owing to an illegal partnership between Pakistan Television (PTV) and the private ARY channel.
Pakistan Taliban member killed in Afghanistan: In other news, a high-profile member of the Pakistan Taliban has been killed in Afghanistan, after being on the run since 2014. Muhammad Khurasani died in the eastern province of Nangarhar, a senior official confirmed, reported NDTV.
Sri Lanka
Chinese object to third party interference in Sri Lanka ties: The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi who is in Colombo has said there should be no “third party” interference in China-Sri Lanka ties while also proposing a forum for Indian Ocean island nations. It may be remembered that in 2021, the Chinese Embassy had tweeted about a Chinese company shifting its project from Sri Lanka to the Maldives over “security concerns from a third party”. The Embassy did not name the party, but it had been a clear allusion to India’s objection to the Chinese project in three islands off Jaffna peninsula.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo, Sri Lanka (Image Twitter@GotabayaR)
Nepal Schools shut as COIVD-19 cases spike: The COVID-19 Crisis Management Committee, the government body in Nepal has announced the closing down of schools till January 29 due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. It has also proposed a ban on gatherings of more than 25 people in public spaces.
Bangladesh
Mujib’s Homecoming Day observed: The country marked the historic Homecoming Day of Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Monday. Sheikh Mujib had returned to independent Bangladesh via London and New Delhi on January 10 in 1972, after 290 days of confinement in Pakistan jail.
Bangladesh signs deal with Chinese consortium to build expressway: The Bangladeshi government has signed a contract with a Chinese consortium to turn a major road in Dhaka into a four-lane expressway on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. Under the deal, the Chinese consortium will invest 20.94 billion taka in the project. It will build and maintain the expressway for the next 25 years. The Bangladeshi government will invest 12.09 billion taka.
On a lighter note:
Actor @SonuSood is trending on social after his sister Malvika Sood Sachar joined Congress in her hometown Moga in Punjab, ahead of the assembly polls on February 14. Her brother said he would canvass for her.
Thankyou @sherryontopp paji for your encouraging words of admiration, it will always motivate me to do my best for the society . I thank u with all my heart for trusting my sister Malvika. I am confident that her brilliance will shine towards betterment of the society @libransoodhttps://t.co/rkGB2SuSaJ
Actress and model #JasminBhasin was also trending on Twitter as she shared a picture from the sets as she began shooting her new Punjabi film with actor @GippyGrewal called #Honeymoon from today.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has warned that 2 million to 4 million Israelis are predicted to be infected with coronavirus during the current outbreak mainly caused by the highly infectious Omicron variant…reports Asian Lite News
“Information presented at a cabinet meeting indicates that in Israel, overall 2-4 million citizens will be infected in the current wave,” Xinhua news agency quoted Bennett’s statement on Sunday on his Facebook page.
Addressing a wide public criticism of the government’s complicated and frequently changing restrictions, Bennett explained that Omicron is “contiguous to an extent we did not know”, saying the restrictions have been frequently updated to adapt to the fast spread of Omicron.
Bennett has led a policy based on keeping the economy open while aggressively promoting vaccination.
The total number of Covid-19 cases in Israel, with a population of 9.45 million, surpassed 1.5 million on Sunday, according to the latest figures issued by the country’s health ministry.
Hospitalisations and deaths are nevertheless far lower than in the first wave of the pandemic when people were unvaccinated…reports Asian Lite News
More than 150,000 people have died after catching coronavirus in the United Kingdom, the government said Saturday, in a milestone for one of the worst affected countries in Europe.
The government reported that deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test had reached 150,057 since the start of the pandemic. Russia is the only European country with a higher death toll.
The number of daily reported cases has fallen since a record figure of more than 200,000 last week, with 146,390 cases reported in the last 24 hours.
The massive number of people testing positive or in self-isolation has hit health staff numbers, prompting the defence ministry to announce Friday that it will send troops in to assist staff in hospitals.
Hospitalisations and deaths are nevertheless far lower than in the first wave of the pandemic when people were unvaccinated.
The government is urging the public to get boosters, which have already been administered to around 61 per cent of the population aged over 12. It is also seeking to persuade the unvaccinated to receive jabs.
PM mourns ‘terrible toll’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson posted a message on Twitter saying: “Coronavirus has taken a terrible toll on our country and today the number of deaths recorded has reached 150,000.”
Russia is the only European country with a higher reported death toll, at almost 315,000.
In a tweet on a black background, Johnson said that “each and every one of those” who died “is a profound loss to the families, friends and communities affected and my thoughts and condolences are with them”.
The number of daily reported cases in the UK surged to a record figure of more than 200,000 last week but has subsided slightly in recent days with 146,390 cases reported in the last 24 hours.
The country has introduced new rules including the compulsory wearing of face masks by schoolchildren during lessons, while Johnson resisted cracking down on social gatherings in England over the festive period.
The massive number of people testing positive or in self-isolation has hit staff numbers in all sectors including the state-funded health service, prompting the defence ministry to announce Friday that it will send troops in to assist staff in hospitals.
Hospitalisations and deaths are nevertheless far lower than in the first wave of the pandemic when people were unvaccinated.
The government is urging the public to get boosters, which have already been administered to around 61 per cent of the population aged over 12. It is also seeking to persuade the unvaccinated to receive jabs.
“Our way out of this pandemic is for everyone to get their booster or their first or second dose if they haven’t yet,” Johnson said on 8 January 2022.
‘End mass shots, treat Covid as flu’
Covid should be treated as an endemic virus similar to flu, and mass vaccination must end after the booster campaign, the former chairman of the UK’s vaccine task force has said.
According to Dr Clive Dix, there is a need to protect the vulnerable and not all must be vaccinated. Dix called for a major rethink of the UK’s Covid strategy, the Guardian reported.
“We need to analyse whether we use the current booster campaign to ensure the vulnerable are protected if this is seen to be necessary. Mass population-based vaccination in the UK should now end,” he was quoted as saying.
He said ministers should urgently back research into Covid immunity beyond antibodies to include B-cells and T-cells (white blood cells). This could help create vaccines for vulnerable people specific to Covid variants, he said, adding: “We now need to manage the disease, not virus spread. So stopping progression to severe disease in vulnerable groups is the future objective.”
His intervention comes as it was revealed that more than 150,000 people across the UK have now died from Covid. Official figures published on Saturday recorded a further 313 deaths, the highest daily number since February last year when the last peak was receding. It takes the total recorded deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test to 150,057, the report said.
“Coronavirus has taken a terrible toll on our country and today the number of deaths recorded has reached 150,000,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a tweet.
“Each and every one of those is a profound loss to the families, friends and communities affected and my thoughts and condolences are with them. Our way out of this pandemic is for everyone to get their booster or their first or second dose if they haven’t yet,” he added.
"Stop measuring case numbers and getting fixated by stopping those numbers."
Dr Clive Dix says it's "pointless giving more and more vaccine to people who are not going to get very ill" as we need a more "targeted" approach for the vulnerable.https://t.co/HjMKizcKtfpic.twitter.com/YMsoxwbmDM
Meanwhile, Dix’s remarks on ending mass vaccination come as the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) ruled that fourth doses were not currently needed because most older people who had received boosters were still well-protected against Omicron, three months after the booster campaign began.
The UK Health Security Agency said protection for over-65s was about 90 per cent, three months after a booster jab. The JCVI’s deputy chair, Professor Anthony Harnden, said the committee was monitoring the impact of Omicron on older and vulnerable people on a weekly basis.
The recovery of 30,836 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 3,43,71,845. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 97.57 per cent…reports Asian Lite News
India registered a single-day rise of 1,17,100 new Covid cases, a significant rise from the previous day’s 90,928 cases, in a span of 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of health and family welfare on Friday.
A total of 302 deaths was reported in the same time taking the toll to 4,83,178.
The active caseload has jumped to 3,71,363, which constitutes 1.05 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.
Meanwhile, the Omicron infection tally has reached 3,007 across the nation. However, out of total Omicron positive, 1,199 have been discharged from hospitals. So far 27 states have reported the Omicron infections, said the Union health ministry on Friday.
The recovery of 30,836 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 3,43,71,845. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 97.57 per cent.
Also in the same period, a total of 15,13,377 tests were conducted across the country. India has so far conducted over 68.68 crore cumulative tests.
Meanwhile, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 4.54 per cent amid the sudden spike in cases. The daily positivity rate stands at 7.74 per cent.
With the administration of over 94 lakh vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s Covid inoculation coverage has reached 149.66 crore as of Friday morning.
More than 18.14 crore balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories to be administered, according to the health ministry as of Friday morning.
2 Omicron deaths
Odisha on Thursday reported its first and the country’s second Omicron-related death.
The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday had confirmed the first death due to the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 in Rajasthan.
The first Omicron death in Odisha was confirmed by CDMO, Balangir, Dr Snehalata Sahu. The deceased, a 50 year old woman, was suffering from a brain stroke. She was admitted to Burla Medical College where she tested COVID positive. She died on December 27, 2021.
Her sample was sent for genome sequencing. The report of the test, which came after her death, was Omicron positive.
Dr Sahu further informed that after the detection of Omicron death, the district administration and the health department rushed to her native village Agalpur for contact tracing. Further testing of the contacts is underway. (IANS/ANI)
The travel ban is imposed because those countries have recorded a significant number of reports on local infections of the Omicron variant…reports Asian Lite News
Indonesia will ban entry for foreign travellers from France starting from Friday following rising Omicron variant infections in the European country, according to the latest regulation on travel restriction released by the Indonesian Covid-19 Task Force.
France has been added to Indonesia’s travel ban list following 13 other countries including South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Eswatini, Malawi, Angola, Norway, Denmark, and the UK, Xinhua news agency reported.
The travel ban is imposed because those countries have recorded a significant number of reports on local infections of Omicron variant, or because they are geographically located near South Africa, where the Omicron variant was first detected.
As of Wednesday, the Health Ministry has recorded a total of 254 omicron infections in Indonesia, including 15 local transmissions.
The regulation also states that Indonesian citizens with travel histories from the 14 countries are allowed to enter Indonesia, but must undergo a 10-day quarantine.
Meanwhile, Indonesian citizens and foreigners from other than the listed countries must undergo a seven-day quarantine.
Cuba has tightened Covid-19 border control measures in a bid to stem the ongoing surge triggered by the highly-transmissible Omicron variant…reports Asian Lite News
The surge in cases follows the resumption of international flights in mid-November and Christmas gatherings, reports Xinhua news agency.
International travellers flying into Cuba will now be asked to show proof of vaccination, as well as negative PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests taken within 72 hours before arrival.
In addition, random PCR tests will be conducted at the country’s airports, according to the Ministry of Public Health.
Children under 12 will not be required to show vaccination proof when visiting the Caribbean nation.
Meanwhile, all passengers flying into Cuba from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Mozambique must stay at designated quarantine hotels for a week at their own expense.
Ferguson cautioned that record cases numbers being reported were likely to be an underestimate because test supplies have run out in some areas…reports Asian Lite News
While Omicron infections have plateaued in London and could reduce in the next week, upto 15 per cent cases are reinfections, according to top scientist Prof Neil Ferguson.
Ferguson, a mathematical epidemiologist from Imperial College London, said the official headline case numbers did not include reinfections, but scientists see the reinfection numbers, the Guardian reported.
“The data we see includes reinfections. Between 10 and 15 per cent of Omicron cases are reinfections, so you have to just interpret the numbers through that lens,” Ferguson was quoted as saying.
According to the UK Health Security agency, there were 157,758 new people with a confirmed positive test result for coronavirus on January 3, and 1,189,985 people in the last 7 days. This shows an increase of 396,846 compared to the previous 7 days.
Ferguson cautioned that record cases numbers being reported were likely to be an underestimate because test supplies have run out in some areas.
But speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “An epidemic reaching such high numbers can’t sustain those numbers forever. So we would expect to see case numbers start to come down in the next week, maybe already coming down in London, but in other regions, a week to three weeks.”
“I’m cautiously optimistic that infection rates in London in that key 18 to 50 age group, which has been driving the Omicron epidemic, may possibly have plateaued. It is too early to say whether they’re going down yet,” he added.
But he said that hospital admissions may take longer to plateau than case numbers because older people were infected later.
“This epidemic has spread so quickly (in the 18-50 age group) it hasn’t had time to really spread into the older age groups which are at much, much greater risk of severe outcomes and hospitalisation. So we may see a different pattern in hospitalisations. Hospitalisations are still generally going up across the country and we may see high levels for some weeks,” he said.
However, Ferguson noted that despite a recent doubling in Covid hospital admissions, the vaccinations were proving effective at preventing severe disease, the report said.
Zahawi said that the British government would assess the Covid situation in England on Wednesday…reports Asian Lite News.
British education secretary Nadhim Zahawi on Monday said the Omicron variant of coronavirus is spreading among people aged 50 and above, however, added that the data do not suggest the need for further restrictions. Zahawi told BBC radio that the high uptake of booster jabs by older people means there is no need for further restrictions at the moment despite “leakage” of infection into people over-50s.
“We’re seeing leakage into the over-50s in terms of infection,” he said. “They are boosted – 90% of the over 50s are boosted.”
Zahawi said that the British government would assess the Covid situation in England on Wednesday.
“There’s nothing in the data at the moment that would make me believe we need to go further.”
Britain has been witnessing an exponential surge in Covid cases, largely driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant. According to Our World in Data, the United Kingdom is reporting over 2,800 new Covid cases per million people every day for the last seven days. France, the US, and Canada are also witnessing a worrying surge in Covid cases per capita.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the Omicron variant is “plainly milder” than previous variants and is putting fewer people into intensive care units (ICU). With high vaccination coverage, Johnson insisted that the right measures were in place to tackle the surge.
“The way forward for the country as a whole is to continue with the path that we are on,” he told broadcasters on Monday.
“Of course, we will keep all measures under review, but the mixture of things that we are doing at the moment is I think the right one.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for more solidarity and social cohesion in the fight against the impending Omicron wave in his New Year’s Eve speech…reports Asian Lite News
“Let us do everything together… so that we can finally defeat the coronavirus in the new year,” Scholz said on Friday.
Because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, he added, it was important to make use of all vaccination offers, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Now it is all about speed. We have to be faster than the virus,” he stressed.
Total Covid-19 infections in Germany within one day increased by 41,240 cases on Friday, around 5,800 more than last week, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
The seven-day incidence rose from 207.4 on Thursday to 214.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The share of the Omicron variant among Covid-19 infections in Germany jumped from 3.1 per cent in the previous week to 17.5 per cent on Thursday, RKI reported.
However, it warned that the figures were an underestimate, because less testing was carried out and reports were delayed over the Christmas holidays in Germany.
To slow the coming Omicron wave, the German government implemented stricter Covid-19 rules, including contact restrictions both for vaccinated and recovered people, as well as a nationwide ban on gatherings over New Year.
“It is clear to all of us that the pandemic is not over,” said the German Chancellor.
“The next few days and weeks will still be entirely dominated by Covid-19.”
Scholz also called for understanding for the significant restrictions that came into force earlier this week.
Besides the Covid-19 crisis, Scholz also called on citizens to support the transformation of the country’s government and economy in order to enable increased climate protection. In less than 25 years, he said, Germany should become independent of coal, oil and gas.
