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Covid live: Javid ‘we’ve got to act early’ over Omicron; South African president Ramaphosa has ‘mild symptoms’ after positive Covid test | |
(32 minutes later) | |
Britain’s vaccine booster shot rollout to increase to 1m a day to avoid imposing further restrictions; those in England urged to work from home from Monday in line with ‘plan B’ guidance | Britain’s vaccine booster shot rollout to increase to 1m a day to avoid imposing further restrictions; those in England urged to work from home from Monday in line with ‘plan B’ guidance |
UK health secretary Sajid Javid has said “we’ve got to act early” over the Omicron variant because of the threat of exponential growth, despite a low-level of hospitalisations and no reported deaths in the UK yet involving the new variant. On Sky News, interviewer Kay Burley put several Covid-sceptic points to him, suggesting that reports so far show that people infected with the Omicron variant only suffer from a mild illness. Javid said: | |
To just put those figures into a bit more context there, what Javid is saying is if you have 1m infections with Omicron, and that leads to 1% of people being hospitalised, you would have 10,000 hospital admissions. | |
Then the number of infections would double again within three days, and you would have another 20,000 people requiring hospitalisation. The peak level of daily hospitalisations in the UK at the pervious height of the pandemic in January 2021 was around 4,500. | |
Javid went on to say: | |
The first salvo of UK health secretary Sajid Javid’s interview on Sky News has been a restating of the government’s case to expand the booster programme as set out by the prime minister on TV last night. Javid said: | |
He also made a direct appeal to viewers | |
Here is a reminder of the latest situation in the UK. Over the last seven days there have been 360,480 new coronavirus cases recorded in the UK. Cases have increased by 11.9% week-on-week. | |
There have been 834 deaths recorded with 28 days of a positive Covid test in the last week. Deaths have increased by 0.5% week-on-week. | |
Hospital admissions have increased by 3.7% week-on-week. At the latest count on the UK government’s own dashboard, there were 7,413 people in hospital in total with coronavirus, of whom 900 are in ventilation beds. | |
Hello, it’s Martin Belam here in London taking over from Samantha Lock in Sydney. The UK media round is being done by the health secretary, Sajid Javid, this morning. He is up on Sky News first, so I’ll have the key lines from that shortly. | |
New work from home guidance takes effect in England today, following recently tightened coronavirus guidance. | New work from home guidance takes effect in England today, following recently tightened coronavirus guidance. |
British prime minister Boris Johnson made the announcement at a Downing Street press conference last week, saying people must work from home where possible from Monday. | British prime minister Boris Johnson made the announcement at a Downing Street press conference last week, saying people must work from home where possible from Monday. |
Although the government instruction that people in England should work from home where possible from Monday is advice and not legally mandatory, organisations across the country are switching to home working where possible. | Although the government instruction that people in England should work from home where possible from Monday is advice and not legally mandatory, organisations across the country are switching to home working where possible. |
However, some companies have told workers they can continue to come to the office if required for their mental health. | However, some companies have told workers they can continue to come to the office if required for their mental health. |
Ukraine has just released its daily Covid count. | Ukraine has just released its daily Covid count. |
Another 4,073 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were recorded for Sunday, 12 December. | Another 4,073 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were recorded for Sunday, 12 December. |
The country also reported 188 deaths. | The country also reported 188 deaths. |
If you’ve just joined us, here is a quick run-down of all the latest Covid developments. | If you’ve just joined us, here is a quick run-down of all the latest Covid developments. |
British prime minister Boris Johnson is gambling on an unprecedented ramping up of vaccinations, rolling out 1m booster jabs a day to stem an incoming “tidal wave of Omicron” and avoid imposing further restrictions. | British prime minister Boris Johnson is gambling on an unprecedented ramping up of vaccinations, rolling out 1m booster jabs a day to stem an incoming “tidal wave of Omicron” and avoid imposing further restrictions. |
Announcing the booster offensive, Johnson said two doses of vaccine were not enough, but scientists were confident that three would make a huge difference. | Announcing the booster offensive, Johnson said two doses of vaccine were not enough, but scientists were confident that three would make a huge difference. |
The US is approaching the grim milestone of 50m coronavirus cases with a total of 49,921,405 reported since the pandemic began, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. The number of deaths stand at 797,346. | |
Although infections appeared to be in decline, daily increases have been reported for the past two weeks, with the number of hospitalised Covid patients also rising and up 20%. | Although infections appeared to be in decline, daily increases have been reported for the past two weeks, with the number of hospitalised Covid patients also rising and up 20%. |
States in colder parts of the country are seeing the biggest surge in new infections on a per capita basis, including Vermont, New Hampshire and Michigan. | States in colder parts of the country are seeing the biggest surge in new infections on a per capita basis, including Vermont, New Hampshire and Michigan. |
Britain faces a “tidal wave” of the Omicron variant and two vaccine doses will not be enough to contain it, prime minister Boris Johnson warned, as he accelerated the nation’s booster rollout programme. | Britain faces a “tidal wave” of the Omicron variant and two vaccine doses will not be enough to contain it, prime minister Boris Johnson warned, as he accelerated the nation’s booster rollout programme. |
Russia has recorded a cumulative total number of Covid cases that now exceeds 10 million. | Russia has recorded a cumulative total number of Covid cases that now exceeds 10 million. |
The European Central Bank’s vice-president Luis de Guindos has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating, the ECB said. | The European Central Bank’s vice-president Luis de Guindos has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating, the ECB said. |
The US is set to reach 800,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. | |
Three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine is the “optimal care” but two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or one of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine remains the US government’s official definition of fully vaccinated, infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said. | Three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine is the “optimal care” but two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or one of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine remains the US government’s official definition of fully vaccinated, infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said. |
Australia will shorten the wait time for people to receive a Covid-19 booster following a rise in Omicron cases. | Australia will shorten the wait time for people to receive a Covid-19 booster following a rise in Omicron cases. |
More than a dozen Chinese-listed companies have suspended production in coronavirus-hit parts of China’s eastern Zhejiang province. | More than a dozen Chinese-listed companies have suspended production in coronavirus-hit parts of China’s eastern Zhejiang province. |
Australians are preparing for quarantine-free travel across most of the country during the Christmas period as the state of Queensland opened its domestic borders to all vaccinated people for the first time in nearly five months. | Australians are preparing for quarantine-free travel across most of the country during the Christmas period as the state of Queensland opened its domestic borders to all vaccinated people for the first time in nearly five months. |
South Korea will test artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition to track Covid-19 cases. | South Korea will test artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition to track Covid-19 cases. |
South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, 69, tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, though is showing only mild symptoms, the presidency said. | South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, 69, tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, though is showing only mild symptoms, the presidency said. |
Indonesia will start administering Covid-19 vaccinations for children aged six to 11 on Tuesday, a health ministry official said. | |
New Zealand health authorities are investigating claims that a man received up to 10 Covid-19 vaccination doses in one day on behalf of other people, believed to be skirting tough restrictions on the unvaccinated. | New Zealand health authorities are investigating claims that a man received up to 10 Covid-19 vaccination doses in one day on behalf of other people, believed to be skirting tough restrictions on the unvaccinated. |
More than a dozen Chinese-listed companies said they had suspended production in coronavirus-hit parts of China’s eastern Zhejiang province in response to local government’s tightened Covid-19 curbs, Reuters reports. Share prices have also reportedly plunged. | More than a dozen Chinese-listed companies said they had suspended production in coronavirus-hit parts of China’s eastern Zhejiang province in response to local government’s tightened Covid-19 curbs, Reuters reports. Share prices have also reportedly plunged. |
Zhejiang reported a total of 173 locally transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms during the 6-12 December period, official numbers showed on Monday, marking the province’s first domestic cluster outbreak this year. In October, the province reported just one local case. | Zhejiang reported a total of 173 locally transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms during the 6-12 December period, official numbers showed on Monday, marking the province’s first domestic cluster outbreak this year. In October, the province reported just one local case. |
A slew of companies, including Ningbo Homelink Eco-Itech Co Ltd (301193.SZ), Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride Materials Co Ltd (002915.SZ), Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical Co Ltd (300316.SZ) and Zhejiang Fenglong Electric Co Ltd (002931.SZ), announced the production suspension through exchange filings over the weekend. | A slew of companies, including Ningbo Homelink Eco-Itech Co Ltd (301193.SZ), Zhejiang Zhongxin Fluoride Materials Co Ltd (002915.SZ), Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical Co Ltd (300316.SZ) and Zhejiang Fenglong Electric Co Ltd (002931.SZ), announced the production suspension through exchange filings over the weekend. |
Their shares fell sharply in early trading on Monday with some falling more than 7%. | Their shares fell sharply in early trading on Monday with some falling more than 7%. |
India has just released its daily Covid report. | India has just released its daily Covid report. |
The country reported 7,350 new cases in the last 24 hours with an active caseload of 91,456; the lowest in 561 days. | The country reported 7,350 new cases in the last 24 hours with an active caseload of 91,456; the lowest in 561 days. |
Another 202 deaths were also reported. | Another 202 deaths were also reported. |
Super-spreader events in NSW and reinfections in Victoria have health authorities worried as Covid-19 infections continue to grow. | Super-spreader events in NSW and reinfections in Victoria have health authorities worried as Covid-19 infections continue to grow. |
Victoria reported 1,290 new cases and two deaths, while New South Wales recorded 536 new cases, amid increasing numbers of the Omicron variant. | Victoria reported 1,290 new cases and two deaths, while New South Wales recorded 536 new cases, amid increasing numbers of the Omicron variant. |
Health authorities in NSW are battling to contain several large transmission events, including cases of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant – with 64 cases of the new strain now recorded in the state. | Health authorities in NSW are battling to contain several large transmission events, including cases of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant – with 64 cases of the new strain now recorded in the state. |
Of the 536 new cases announced in the state on Monday, nine were confirmed to have the Omicron variant, with NSW Health saying “more are expected as results of genomic testing are confirmed”. | Of the 536 new cases announced in the state on Monday, nine were confirmed to have the Omicron variant, with NSW Health saying “more are expected as results of genomic testing are confirmed”. |
Read the full story here. | Read the full story here. |
Germany is reporting an additional 21,743 new daily Covid cases and 116 deaths, according to recently published figures from the Robert Koch Institute. | Germany is reporting an additional 21,743 new daily Covid cases and 116 deaths, according to recently published figures from the Robert Koch Institute. |
The numbers are a significant drop from previous days, with 39,585 cases reported on 10 December 45,460 cases on 9 December. | The numbers are a significant drop from previous days, with 39,585 cases reported on 10 December 45,460 cases on 9 December. |
Covid infections have been steadily decreasing in the European nation since new lockdowns were introduced. | Covid infections have been steadily decreasing in the European nation since new lockdowns were introduced. |