Covid news live: EU chief calls for mandatory vaccinations; Germany warned over ICU capacity

December 1, 2021
| No Comments



12.53pm EST12:53

Cuban health authorities said that researchers would upgrade its homegrown Covid vaccines to ensure protection against the new Omicron variant.

Reuters reports:

Vicente Verez, director of Cuba’s Finlay Institute for Vaccines, said on Tuesday on state-run media it was clear that Cuba’s Soberana vaccine would continue to provide “a certain level of protection” against Omicron, but said the extent of that protection was still uncertain.

“We decided as of last week to start developing a Soberana Plus variant having the Omicron RBD protein,” Verez said, referring to the receptor-binding domain (RBD), a key part of the virus located on its “spike”. “We have already started it, and that protein is being built at the moment.”

Some global vaccine manufacturers, including BioNTech, have expressed guarded confidence that their vaccines would offer strong protection against Omicron. Others, like Moderna, have raised the prospect of a material drop in protection.



12.39pm EST12:39

The Biden administration intends to toughen testing requirements for international travellers coming to the US, including both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, Gloria Oladipo writes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in a statement on Tuesday that officials are working on a plan that would require international travellers to be tested for Covid-19 within a day before their flight to the US. Currently, fully vaccinated travelers can test for Covid-19 up to three days before their trip.

Updated
at 12.40pm EST



12.38pm EST12:38

South Africa’s daily reported cases of coronavirus doubled to 8,561 on Wednesday from the previous day, according to the country’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).

The rate of positivity, which means the number of positive results out of total tests, shot up to 16.5% on Wednesday from 10.2% a day before, NICD said. However the number of deaths and hospitalisations did not change much.



12.36pm EST12:36

Airline passengers arriving to Denmark from Doha or Dubai must take a mandatory Covid-19 test, a move aimed at delaying the spread of the new Omicron variant, Reuters reports.



12.36pm EST12:36

Christopher Knaus

Christopher Knaus

Temporary visa holders in Australia will be cut off from their families this Christmas despite the planned easing of border restrictions, causing further agony and uncertainty, writes Christopher Knaus.

Restrictions are set to ease for some temporary visa holders in time for Christmas, including those on international skilled, student, humanitarian, working holiday and provisional family visas to allow them to leave and re-enter Australia without exemptions from 15 December. But for holders of other types of temporary visas there is still no end in sight.



12.30pm EST12:30

Peter Beaumont

Peter Beaumont

Peter Beaumont, a senior global development reporter, has provided a roundup of the international picture on the spread of Omicron.

Underscoring the fast spread of the variant, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa – where Omicron was first detected – said it had now been found in five out of nine provinces, and accounted for 74% of the virus genomes sequenced in November, he wrote.

Updated
at 12.31pm EST



12.20pm EST12:20

Italy reported 103 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday against 89 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 15,085 from 12,764.

Reuters reports that the count marks the first time Italy reported more than 100 daily coronavirus deaths since June 8.

Updated
at 12.28pm EST



11.35am EST11:35

Reuters has compiled a breakdown of where Omicron cases have been detected, and how many, by region:

Africa
Botswana 19
Ghana (unspecified number)
Mozambique 2
Nigeria 2
South Africa about 100 (reported on 26 Nov)

Americas
Brazil 3
Canada 7

Asia
Japan 2
South Korea 5

Europe
Austria 1
Denmark 5
Germany 4
Ireland 1
Italy 1
Netherlands 14
Norway 2
Portugal 13
Spain 2
Sweden 3
United Kingdom 22

Middle east
Saudi Arabia 1

Updated
at 11.35am EST



11.20am EST11:20

WHO press conference on Omicron

Rachel Hall

Rachel Hall

The press conference has just ended, and there’s a lot to take in. Here’s a handy summary to keep you up to date:

  • The WHO expects data on the transmissibility of Omicron to emerge in the coming days
  • There’s promising early evidence that Omicron doesn’t cause severe illness in many people and that it does not reduce vaccine efficacy
  • Travel bans and lockdowns should be implemented with caution, since they have major economic and social consequences and aren’t necessarily the most effective restrictions
  • The best way to tackle Omicron is to continue with measures targeted at tackling Delta, including mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing
  • Boosters are unlikely to be helpful for most people and countries should instead focus on vaccinating the unvaccinated, both nationally and internationally
  • The timeline for how and where the Omicron variant emerged is likely to change as countries step up sequencing of cases logged in November

Updated
at 11.32am EST



11.11am EST11:11

New variants will continue to emerge for as long as the virus remains in circulation, warned Van Kerkhove.

“We need to increase vaccination coverage around the world” she said, urging that countries focus on the most vulnerable.

Countries must take “proven measures” to drive transmission down rather than relying on lockdowns. She worried that travel bans could disincentivise countries from reporting the emergence of new variants.

“We are in the middle of this pandemic,” she warned.

Updated
at 11.12am EST



11.07am EST11:07

New restrictions for non-EU arrivals in France

France is stepping up its Covid-19 booster vaccination campaign and tightening entry rules for arrivals from outside the European Union in response to the spread of the Omicron variant.

Reuters reports:

Gabriel Attal also said flights from countries in southern Africa, where the variant was first detected last week, would remain suspended until Friday. From Saturday they would resume, but only for travellers returning to their main residences, he said.

The government hopes eight million people in France will have received a third vaccine injection by the end of Wednesday, and 10 million by the end of this week.

There are about 1,100 vaccination centers in operation and the government plans to open 300 more in coming weeks, he added.

Meanwhile, all non-EU arrivals in mainland France, where the Omicron variant has yet to be detected, will henceforth have to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test regardless of their vaccination status, Attal added.

Covid-19