Global Covid-19 Omicron updates: South Africa says fourth wave peaked; US breaks single-day case file

New Year celebrations all over the world have been referred to as off because the coronavirus casts gloom over festivities for a second yr however Australia was decided to benefit from the evening and there have been even indicators North Korea was making ready fireworks.
Global coronavirus infections hit a file excessive over the previous seven-day interval. With quite a few international locations registering all-time highs, authorities in lots of locations have referred to as off celebrations to welcome in 2022, fearful that the all-conquering Omicron variant will make the most of gatherings to unfold even sooner.

Here are among the high updates from the day:
1. Omicron wave might have peaked in South Africa, in a single day curfew lifted
South Africa has lifted in a single day curfew guidelines that had been first imposed almost two years in the past, with officers saying the nation might have handed the height of its fourth wave of Covid-19 infections.

The choice introduced by the Presidency on Thursday adopted conferences of the National Coronavirus Command Council and the President’s Coordinating Council, which acquired updates on the administration of the present fourth wave of Covid-19 in South Africa. The wave is presently being pushed by the Omicron variant, which was first detected in South Africa final month.
2. Israel approves fourth Covid-19 vaccine shot for many weak
Israel is to go forward with second Covid-19 vaccine booster photographs for folks with weakened immune methods, the highest authorities well being official stated on Thursday, however a last choice on wider utilization remains to be pending.

An Israeli hospital administered fourth photographs to a check group of well being employees on Monday, in what it referred to as the primary main research into whether or not a second spherical of boosters will assist deal with the Omicron coronavirus variant. Results are anticipated inside two weeks.
3. US breaks single-day virus case file for second day in a row
With greater than 580,000 circumstances, the United States shattered its personal file for brand spanking new day by day coronavirus circumstances — beating a milestone it already broke simply the day earlier than.

Thursday’s depend, in response to The New York Times’ database, toppled the 488,000 new circumstances on Wednesday, which was almost double the best numbers from final winter. The back-to-back record-breaking days are a rising signal of the virus’s quick unfold and are available because the world enters its third yr of the pandemic.
4. Quebec publicizes curfew, Ontario cuts isolation interval
Canada’s Ontario and Quebec introduced recent measures to fight Covid-19 on Thursday because the nation faces an increase in circumstances that has compelled tens of hundreds into isolation, made exams troublesome to entry and burdened its healthcare sector.
Quebec, Canada’s second-most populous province, will ban personal gatherings and eating out, in addition to impose an evening curfew from New Year’s Eve in an escalation of curbs to rein in quickly rising coronavirus circumstances because of the Omicron variant.

5. Pfizer’s Covid-19 shot causes principally delicate unintended effects in younger youngsters: CDC
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s Covid-19 vaccine triggered principally delicate unintended effects in kids aged 5 to 11 years, in response to information revealed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday. The information confirmed that after the second dose of the vaccine some kids reported injection-site ache and different systemic reactions similar to fatigue and headache.

The CDC stated it additionally acquired reviews of 11 circumstances of myocarditis, a kind of coronary heart irritation, in kids aged 5-11 years who had acquired the vaccine. Of them, seven had recovered, and 4 had been recovering on the time of the report. Myocarditis is a uncommon facet impact after mRNA vaccines.
(Inputs from Reuters and AP)