US, UK, France, Portugal, Greece All Break New Daily Case Records – As Happened | World news

A total of 512 children were admitted to hospitals in England with Covid-19 in the week leading up to Boxing Day, new figures show.

The figures, posted on the government’s coronavirus dashboard, showed 59 children under the age of 5 were admitted to hospital between Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Another 50 children in the same age group had been admitted to hospital in the previous 24 hours.

From December 19 to 26, a total of 226 children aged 6 to 17 were hospitalized with the Covid. During the same period, 286 children under 5 were hospitalized.

In comparison, 256 children aged 17 and under were admitted to hospital in the last week of November. Of these, 100 were under the age of five and 156 between the ages of six and 17.

The mass deaths and crowded intensive care units that marked the pandemic’s first year are unlikely to happen again in the UK, said a scientist advising the government.

Professor Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, said The independent that vaccines based on the early iterations of the virus appear to have remained very effective in protecting against serious illness and death from subsequent waves caused by new variants.

“The horrific scenes that we saw a year ago – with the intensive care units full, many people are dying prematurely – now is history in my opinion and I think we should be reassured. on the fact that this is probably going to continue, ”he told BBC Radio 4. Today program this morning.

South Africa removed rules that no longer required people without Covid-19 symptoms to self-isolate or test if they have been in contact with a positive case, the government said.

The move comes after health officials said on Thursday they would stop contact tracing everywhere except places like prisons and schools because they believed most of the population had already been exposed to the virus through vaccination or infection.

Under last week’s rules, contact cases would only have to be tested if they started to develop symptoms. If they were positive, they had to isolate themselves for 10 days and then resume their normal activities after recovery without further testing.

“The health ministry has been inundated with media, stakeholders and public inquiries and comments since the publication of the revised protocols,” he said today.

“The ministry has decided to put the implementation of the revised policy changes on hold, taking into account all comments and contributions received. “

Officials said a new “amended circular” would be reissued once all comments were assessed.

QuebecHealth Minister Christian Dubé has announced that some healthcare workers who have tested positive for Covid-19 will continue to work.

Canada’s second-most populous province has “no choice but to allow some essential workers infected with Covid to continue working to prevent staff shortages hampering its health services, Dubé told the journalists at a briefing today.

“Omicron’s contagion is so exponential, that a huge number of staff must be removed – and this poses a risk to the network’s ability to treat Quebeckers,” he said.

“We have made the decision that under certain conditions positive staff will be able to continue working according to a priority list and risk management,” he said, adding that more information would be provided in the coming days. .

Quebec, which has set daily records since the Omicron variant triggered a new wave of rapidly rising infections, recorded 12,833 new cases on Monday – the highest single-day number of any region in Canada during the pandemic.

Quebec last week ordered bars, gyms and casinos to close and ordered people to work only from home. He also limited the size of gatherings in private homes and restaurants to six people.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the we recorded 512,553 new cases daily today – by far the highest number of cases since the start of the pandemic. The previous record was 294,015, set on January 8, 2021.

One of the mitigating factors is the delay in reporting over the Christmas weekend. Many test centers were likely closed over the holidays, meaning some test results would likely have been postponed until Monday and today.

Cyprus recorded its highest number of single-day cases with 2,241 infections, compared to 1,925 the day before.

Cyprus has reported 154,926 cases and 630 deaths to date, Reuters reports.

“I think this is due to the Omicron variant, which may have arrived earlier than expected,” said Petros Karayiannis, professor of microbiology and molecular virology at the University of Nicosia and member of the government science advisory committee. .

The first confirmed case of the Omicron variant was recorded in Cyprus on December 10. More than 80% of residents have received two doses of a Covid vaccine.

In Turkey, health ministry figures show daily cases topped 30,000 for the first time since October 19.

Turkish authorities have reported 32,176 cases and 184 deaths today. The country’s daily case count has increased in recent days due to the Omicron variant, with daily cases rising 30% on Monday.

“Bringing the number of cases to 20,000 has been a serious achievement,” said Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca. “Due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, it can be seen that we are now entering an uptrend.”