E-Paper
Omicron surge: China battles Covid clusters
Omicron cases were confirmed earlier on Saturday in Shanghai and Guangdong province, as the National Health Commission (NHC) warned of possible outbreaks in those areas.
China’s capital Beijing reported the city’s first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, adding pressure on authorities to stem a potential outbreak less than three weeks before the Winter Olympics begin.
Officials confirmed the detection of the highly contagious strain at a press conference on Saturday. People who’ve had contact with the patient are being tested, and those who were at locations that the infected person visited must report to authorities, they said.
Omicron cases were confirmed earlier on Saturday in Shanghai and Guangdong province, as the National Health Commission (NHC) warned of possible outbreaks in those areas.
China added 104 local Covid-19 cases on Friday as areas including Xian, Tianjin, Zhengzhou and Shenzhen locked down residential buildings. The country’s virus prevention measures are “effective” in containing Omicron, a health official said.
Millions of people across the country have been ordered to stay home in recent weeks, with scores of domestic flights cancelled and factories shut down.
NHC spokesman Mi Feng told reporters on Saturday that the country faced a “twofold challenge” from both the Delta and Omicron strains of the virus.
He warned that regions that had not yet seen outbreaks “must not relax” their prevention measures and “strengthen risk auditing”.
Brazil begins vaccinating children from 5-11 years
Brazil began vaccinating children aged five to 11 against Covid-19 on Friday after the move was approved, despite objections from President Jair Bolsonaro. Davi Seremramiwe Xavante, an Indigenous eight-year-old boy, was the first child to be vaccinated during an official ceremony at a Sao Paulo hospital, with the state governor Joao Doria in attendance.
Omicron driving high case load in Canada
While the fifth wave of Covid-19 pandemic in Canada, driven by the Omicron variant, is leading to historic high numbers of daily infections, authorities are hopeful the peak could arrive soon leading to a rapid decline in infections.
New modelling released by the Public Health Agency of Canada forecast daily case load reaching 150,000 within days.
Australia reports over 100k cases for 4th day
Australia has likely neared the peak of its Omicron wave, authorities said on Saturday, after more than 100,000 cases were reported for a fourth straight day.
US fugitive faked death, found in UK with Covid
A Rhode Island man who is believed to have fled the US and faked his own death to evade prosecution for rape and financial fraud has been arrested in Scotland after being hospitalised with Covid-19.
With inputs from Anirudh Bhattacharyya in Toronto
