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Omicron: UK tightens travel testing rules
Health secretary Sajid Javid said the new rules will apply from 4am London time on Tuesday. “In light of the most recent data, we are taking further action to slow the incursion of the omicron variant,” he said in a tweet.
Britain’s government tightened travel restrictions on Saturday amid concerns about the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, saying all travellers arriving in England will need to take a Covid-19 test before they board their flight.
Health secretary Sajid Javid said the new rules will apply from 4am London time on Tuesday. “In light of the most recent data, we are taking further action to slow the incursion of the omicron variant,” he said in a tweet.
Javid also added Nigeria to the UK’s travel “red list”, which means that arrivals from there will be banned except for UK and Irish residents, and those travellers must isolate in designated quarantine facilities.
Britain’s health security agency on Sunday reported 86 new cases of the Omicron variant, taking the total number identified so far to 246.
New variant found in 15 US states, says CDC
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been found in about 15 US states as of Saturday night but the Delta variant remains the majority of cases nationwide, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky told ABC News on Sunday.
Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official, said on Sunday he hopes the ban on travellers from southern African countries can be lifted in a “reasonable period of time”.
Fauci said on CNN’s “State of the Union” programme that US authorities are mindful of the hardship the travel ban is causing in those countries and are constantly re-evaluating the policy.
Covid death toll nears 5.25 million mark
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 5,249,851 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Sunday. At least 264,784,370 cases of coronavirus have been registered. The vast majority have recovered, though some have continued to experience symptoms weeks or even months later.
Oz parl closed as staffer tests Covid positive
Australia’s Parliament House will be closed to the public for the foreseeable future after a political staffer for Greens leader Adam Bandt tested positive for the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Australia on Sunday cleared the first Covid-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11, with the next stage of its vaccine rollout expected to start in early 2022.
