The US Centers for Disease Control and Preventionshortened its recommended isolation time for those who test positive to Covid-19 from 10 days to 5 days if they don’t have symptoms.
More than 2,000 flights have been canceled globally today as more airline staff and crew are calling out sick as the Omicron variant spreads.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities are disinfecting an entire city of 13 million people as Covid-19 cases continue to rise.
Our live coverage of this story has ended for the day. Read the latest here.
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US flight attendant union criticizes new CDC isolation requirements
From CNN's Greg Wallace
The Association of Flight Attendants is criticizing the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new isolation guidelines for those who test positive for Covid-19, saying it will be on the lookout for employees being pressured to return to work prematurely. The association notes that the five-day period only applies to those who are asymptomatic.
“The CDC gave a medical explanation about why the agency has decided to reduce the quarantine requirements from 10 to five days, but the fact that it aligns with the number of days pushed by corporate America is less than reassuring,” the association says in a statement.
Earlier Monday, the CDC shortened the recommended times that people should isolate when they’ve tested positive for Covid-19 from 10 days to five days if they don’t have symptoms – and if they wear a mask around others for at least five more days.
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Boise State withdraws from Friday's Arizona Bowl due to Covid-19
From CNN's Kevin Dotson
Boise State Athletics announced Monday that it has shut down all football team activities due to Covid-19 protocols. As a result, the Broncos will not compete against the Central Michigan Chippewas in the Arizona Bowl scheduled for Friday in Tucson.
Boise State’s decision was made in consultation with its medical staff, in addition to campus and public health officials
“We feel for the young men in our program who were very much looking forward to closing out their season, and for some, their football careers,” Boise State Director of Athletics Jeramiah Dickey said in a statement.
“I would personally like to thank Kym Adair and her team at the Arizona Bowl for putting together at first-class student-athlete and fan experience that we are extremely disappointed to miss,” he added.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said the changes the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made to its isolation guidelines for Covid-19 are a good idea.
The CDC shortened the recommended times that people should isolate when they’ve tested positive for Covid-19 from 10 days to five days if they don’t have symptoms – and if they wear a mask around others for at least five more days.
The CDC also shortened the recommended time for people to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus to a similar five days if they are vaccinated and often to no time if they are boosted.
“With the sheer volume of new cases that we are having and that we expect to continue with Omicron, one of the things that we want to be careful of is that we don’t have so many people out,” Fauci told CNN’s Jim Acosta.
“We want to get people back to the jobs, particularly the essential jobs, to keep society running smoothly,” Fauci added.
One way to help slow the spread of Covid-19 is more testing, but tests are still hard to come by in the US, Fauci said, although the situation will get better soon.
“We don’t have enough tests at this particular point in time to get everybody uniformly, have the availability of testing – that will change considerably as we get into January,” Fauci said.
The Biden administration has promised it will make 500 million tests available in the first couple of weeks of January with 200 to 500 million tests per month in the succeeding months.
“It would be great if we had it right now, but unfortunately, we don’t,” Fauci said.
What the country does have right now is vaccines, Fauci said as he encouraged everyone to get vaccinated, including children.
Fauci has said vaccine mandates are a good idea, including for people who fly domestically, but don’t expect that mandate to happen any time soon.
“But we never take anything off the table. We always keep things open for consideration,” Fauci said.
Fauci said public health leaders will be watching the Covid-19 numbers closely. The number he will be particularly focused on is hospitalizations. When there are so many infections, he explained, some can be asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic.
“What really counts is making sure people don’t get sick,” Fauci said. “So, what we were saying as we go on further and we may be get more cases but less hospitalizations, it’s important to focus on how well we’re doing about keeping people well, if they’re in the hospital taking good care of them, but trying to keep them out of the hospital by whatever means possible.”
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Nearly 100 NFL players test positive for Covid-19 on Monday
From CNN's Kevin Dotson
(Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
The National Football League had 96 of its players test positive for Covid-19 on Monday, the league announced today.
With an additional 10 positive tests among players over the weekend, a total of 106 players have been placed on the league’s Reserve/Covid-19 list since Christmas.
The NFL postponed three games last week but has yet to cancel a game so far this season.
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NBA shortens quarantine time for vaccinated players who test positive for Covid-19
From CNN's Holden Perrelli
(G Fiume/Getty Images)
The National Basketball Association (NBA) will now allow vaccinated players and coaches to clear quarantine after six days – if Covid-19 testing determines the individual is no longer infectious, according to a league memo obtained by CNN.
The updated NBA protocols were first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The adjustment to six days is a reduction from the previously instituted waiting period of 10 days to clear quarantine.
The changes to the health and safety protocols were made on the same day the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shortened the recommended time that people should isolate after they’ve tested positive for Covid-19, from 10 days to five days if they don’t have symptoms – and if they wear a mask around others for at least five more days.
In an interview last week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said 97% of NBA players are fully vaccinated and 65% have received a booster shot.
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Apple makes all NYC stores pickup only as Covid-19 cases rise
From CNN’s Kate Trafecante
Customers flow through the entrance of an Apple store in New York on November 26.
(David 'Dee' Delgado/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Apple has closed all of its New York City store locations to in-person shoppers due to Covid-19, Monica Fernandez, a spokesperson for the company, said in a statement.
All of the stores are still open for customers to buy a product online and pick it up at the store, Fernandez said.
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Hospitalizations of kids at one hospital in Chicago have quadrupled, doctor says
From CNN’s Jen Christensen
The number of children testing positive for Covid-19 at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is “incredibly high,” Dr. Larry Kociolek, an attending physician and infectious disease specialist there, told CNN Monday.
Case numbers are three times as high as the hospital’s previous peak in December of 2020, Kociolek said.
Half of the hospitalizations were in children under the age of five, Kociolek said. Those children are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.
“I think we’re definitely seeing the impact of vaccines in kids older than 5. The kids that are hospitalized are essentially all unvaccinated,” Kociolek said.
Kociolek said about 7% of the kids who test positive don’t have any symptoms at all. The sharp rise in cases shows how contagious the Omicron variant is.
“Our community activity just shut up very, very quickly,” Kociolek said.
Kociolek said the hospital is also concerned about a surge in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, known as MIS-C, in the near future. MIS-C is a rare, but serious Covid-19 related condition that can affect kids. The condition typically occurs after there has been a surge of Covid-19 cases. Even children who have had mild Covid-19 cases can develop MIS-C, usually several weeks after infection.
Kociolek said it is also important for parents to keep in mind that even mild Covid-19 cases can be contagious. To keep schools open, parents have to remember to keep their sick children home from school or any other activity. He also suggested parents may want to get their children tested or use a home test before they return to school. “That way you can ensure that they’re not carrying Covid-19 back to the classroom,” Kociolek said.
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Nearly a third of fully vaccinated people have received a booster dose, CDC data shows
From CNN’s Virginia Langmaid
(Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
Here’s what the latest data on vaccination efforts in the United States, published Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows:
Fully vaccinated: 61.8% of the total US population (all ages) – more than 205 million people.
Not vaccinated: 22.4% of the eligible population (age 5+) have not received any dose of Covid-19 vaccine – at least 66 million people.
Current pace of vaccinations (seven-day average): 1,034,442 doses are being administered each day.
An average of 793,160 million booster doses are being administered each day.
About 66 millionpeople have received an additional dose, or booster
35.2% of fully vaccinated adults (18+) have received a booster.
47.1% of fully vaccinated people age 50 and older have received a booster.
57.3% of fully vaccinated seniors (65+) have received a booster.
32.3% of the fully vaccinated population is boosted.
Note:CDC data on Covid-19 vaccinations are estimates. The agency notes that data on people who are fully vaccinated and those with a booster dose may be underestimated, while data on people with at least one dose may be overestimated.
This surge of Covid-19 patients is different from the others, health expert says
From CNN’s Jen Christensen
The latest surge of Covid-19 patients is different from previous surges, an emergency department expert on Long Island said Monday.
“During the first surge we saw majority of the patients were Covid. This surge, we’re seeing a lot of sicker patients that had delayed care because of the different surges that went on,” Dr. Fred Davis, emergency department co-chair at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center Northwell Health, told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “And now we’re also starting to see a number of patients presenting with very low acuity, or very minimal symptoms that are also coming into the emergency department to get tested.”
The majority of the more serious Covid-19 cases are unvaccinated, Davis said. There are some breakthrough cases, but those patients don’t tend to be as sick.
While the staff is tired after two years of managing patients in a pandemic, Davis said they have learned a lot through each wave in cases.
“While we fear that this is something that’s just starting, we also know that we can get through it because we got through something just as bad, if not worse,” Davis said.
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CDC shortens recommended Covid-19 isolation and quarantine times
From CNN’s Maggie Fox
People wait in line for take-home Covid-19 test kits in New York on December 23.
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shortened the recommended times that people should isolate when they’ve tested positive for Covid-19 from 10 days to five days if they don’t have symptoms – and if they wear a mask around others for at least five more days.
The CDC also shortened the recommended time for people to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus to a similar five days if they are vaccinated, and often to no time if they are boosted
“Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with COVID-19 to 5 days, if asymptomatic, followed by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others,” the CDC said in a statement on Monday.
Quarantine refers to the time people stay away from others if they are exposed to a disease but not yet testing positive or showing symptoms.
CDC changed those recommendations, too. “For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days,” it said.
“Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure. For all those exposed, best practice would also include a test for SARS-CoV-2 at day 5 after exposure. If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19.”
President Biden was briefed today by his Covid-19 team on the CDC’s decision, according to a White House official.
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Goldman Sachs introduces a new booster policy and mandates twice weekly testing
From CNN's Matt Egan
People enter the Goldman Sachs headquarters New York in June.
(Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Goldman Sachs told employees in a memo on Monday that all individuals coming into the bank’s US offices will be required to show proof of a booster shot.
The new booster policy takes effect on Feb. 1 and applies to both employees and visitors. The move comes as a spike in Covid-19 cases complicates the return of office workers in New York and across the United States.
In addition to mandating booster shots for eligible employees, Goldman Sachs plans to double mandatory testing to twice weekly for those entering US offices, beginning on Jan. 10.
News of the new health policies was first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed to CNN by a spokesperson for Goldman Sachs.
Andy Slavitt, former Covid-19 adviser to President Biden, told CNN earlier this month there’s “no question” CEOs should require employees to get boosters in light of how contagious Omicron is.
“Boost everybody. If everybody is boosted, that’s your best shot at having everyone back,” Slavitt said, referring to how business leaders should approach back-to-the-office plans.
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Airlines canceled more than 1,100 US flights on Monday
From CNN's Greg Wallace
A coronavirus surge and winter weather threw off holiday travel plans for a fourth straight day on Monday – and at one airline, would-be travelers are waiting on hold for as long as 11 hours.
Airlines canceled more than 1,100 US flights today and delayed more than 4,400 flights, according to the aviation tracking website FlightAware. On Sunday, about 1,400 flights were canceled and more than 6,000 delayed, FlightAware reported.
In all, carriers have canceled nearly 4,000 flights since Friday – Christmas Eve – and more than 11,800 were delayed, according to FlightAware data.
West coast-heavy Alaska Airlines said severe weather in the Pacific Northwest disrupted its flight schedule. Alaska canceled more than one in five of its flights – 144 – on Monday, according to FlightAware, on top of the 248 cancellations Alaska Airlines reported on Sunday.
Alaska said crew members calling out from work sick due to coronavirus is “no longer a factor,” but other carriers said it is an issue.
United Airlines, which canceled more than one in 10 of its flights on Friday and Saturday, told CNN that “nearly 50% of our passengers have arrived at their final destination either early or within four hours of their originally scheduled flight.” It canceled 115 flights on Monday “due to Omicron staffing issues.”
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Covid-19 hospitalizations increasing slowly in Florida, hospital official says
From CNN's Leyla Santiago and John Couwels
While demand for Covid-19 tests is up, hospitalizations in the state of Florida do not appear to be, the head of the Florida Hospital Association tells CNN.
According to Mayhew, current statewide hospitalizations of 2,075 Covid-19 patients is about 12% of the 17,121 hospitalizations at the peak of the Delta variant surge on Aug. 23.
“Our biggest challenge continues to be the severity of our workforce shortages consistent with what states around the country are confronting,” Mayhew noted in her statement.
Jackson Health System, one of the largest health systems in South Florida, said in a post on Twitter on Monday, “Across the Jackson Health System hospitals, we currently have 212 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.” One day earlier, the hospital system reported 175 patients. On Christmas Day, the system reported having 153 patients Covid-19 patients.
Demand for testing has been increasing, as the number of people waiting to be tested at one of Miami-Dade County’s busiest testing sites continues to grow.
There was a line of cars wrapped around Tropical Park on Monday morning, with individuals reporting wait times for testing of more than two hours.
Ron Goncalves, general manager of Nomi Health Florida, which partners with Miami-Dade County to run its testing sites, told CNN, “We’ve been north of 50,000 tests daily across the state of Florida, including limited numbers of sites and operating hours for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.”
At the peak of the Delta wave, Goncalves said they averaged about 34,000 tests per day.
Nomi Health Florida is now planning to open four or five more testing sites in Miami-Dade County “in the coming days” to help with testing demands, according to Goncalves. He also told CNN that the company has enough of staffing and tests, and has their labs working around the clock to cover the increase in volume, the likes of which they have not seen before.
Miami-Dade County also plans to distribute free at-home testing kits at public libraries today, while supplies last.
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Biden directs federal funding to assist in Covid-19 testing
From CNN's DJ Judd
Medical workers administer Covid-19 tests at a subway station in New York on December 27.
(Scott Heins/Getty Images)
President Biden has directed federal funds to help get more Covid-19 testing across the country. In a memo Monday, citing the Stafford Act, Biden ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist with testing in the places “that need it most.”
The order directs the department of Health and Human Services, “on a fully reimbursable basis, to provide testing sites, launched and operated by HHS in close coordination with State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments,” using FEMA funding.
Some context: The rate of daily Covid-19 cases detected in the US has eclipsed those fueled by the Delta variant over the summer. While coronavirus hospitalizations remain relatively lower than peaks earlier this year, the situation may get worse as tens of millions of Americans remain unvaccinated, putting them at higher risk for complications and death.
US Education Department stresses importance of safely maintaining in-person learning 5 days a week
From CNN's Liz Stark
(Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
As Covid-19 cases continue to surge across the US, the Biden administration is urging school districts to take certain safety measures to ensure classrooms remain open for in-person instruction in the second half of the school year, according to a new resource guide addressed to school leaders, which was obtained by CNN on Monday.
In it, the US Department of Education outlines key strategies for keeping students and educators safe while maintaining in-person learning.
“The goal remains to keep all schools open for in-person learning five days a week throughout the 2021-22 school year and beyond—let’s make this goal a reality!” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wrote in a message to school leaders.
Cardona also urged school leaders to adopt safety strategies to “keep our students and staff safely in school and avoid quarantines and unnecessary closures or disruptions” — including collaborating with local health departments, encouraging vaccinations in school communities and implementing widespread Covid screening testing and “Test to Stay” strategies, among other measures.
This comes amid a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases across the country, leaving many school districts to grapple with questions about in-person and remote instruction as students return from winter break in the coming weeks.
Cardona has emphasized that schools should continue to prioritize in-person learning, with proper mitigation and testing strategies in place to protect students and school staff.
“We know what works, we know how to protect ourselves, there’s no reason our schools should be going remote fully, we need to keep our kids in the classroom,” Cardona said in a CNN interview last week.
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France tightens Covid-19 restrictions but won't impose curfews or lockdowns
From CNN's Xiaofei Xu
French Prime Minister Jean Castex speaks during a press conference on December 27.
(Stephane De Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images)
France will tighten restrictions but will not impose curfews or lockdowns ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations, despite reporting record new coronavirus cases, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced at a news conference on Monday.
Starting on Jan. 3, France will introduce several restrictions for a duration of three weeks, such as banning eating and drinking inside cinemas, theaters, sports events or on-board public transportation, including long-distance transport.
Large gatherings outdoor and indoor will be restricted to 5,000 and 2,000 participants respectively, while standing concerts will be canceled. Customers willing to dine at a restaurant or café will have to be seated.
Working from home will also be made mandatory “when possible” for at least three days per week, and Castex said it’s up to local leaders to decide if mask-wearing mandates outdoors should be brought back for city centers.
Castex reiterated the government’s position that vaccinations are the key to get through this pandemic, which he described as “a never-ending film.”
Starting tomorrow, the required time needed between your last shot and booster dose will be shortened to three months.
The government also expects a new law, that will turn the country’s health pass into a vaccine pass, to come into effect starting on Jan. 15. It will effectively ban unvaccinated people from going to public places such as cinemas, theaters, restaurants and cafés.
More than 51 million people, or 76.6% of the total population, in France have been fully vaccinated and more than 22 million have received their booster shot as of today.
France reported a record-breaking 104,611 covid infections on Christmas Day, the first time that case numbers crossed the 100,000 threshold since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Health Ministry data.
The government will re-evaluate the Covid-19 situation at the next health defense council on Jan. 5.
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New York City pediatric Covid-19 hospitalizations increase nearly 5-fold over 3 week period, data shows
From CNN's Melanie Schuman
Pediatric coronavirus hospital admissions in New York City have increased nearly five-fold since the week ending Dec. 11 through Dec. 23.
Compared to the week of Dec. 5 to Dec. 11 when there were 22 pediatric admissions in New York City, there is a near five-fold increase through Dec. 23, when the state reported 109 pediatric admissions, according to New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett who announced the data Monday.
During the same period, there was a two-and-a-half-fold increase from 70 admissions to 184 statewide.
This data will be revised because Dec. 19 to Dec. 23 is currently a partial week of data reporting from the state.
CNN reported Sunday that officials issued a health advisory late last week which indicated a four-fold increase in New York City’s pediatric admissions through data available as of Dec. 19.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul once again encouraged parents Monday to get their children vaccinated and noted a gap between first and second doses for pediatric vaccines.
While acknowledging the time lag between first and second dose, Hochul said 27.3% of 5- to-11-years-old statewide have received one dose, a number which mirrors nationwide statistics. Hochul said 16.4% have completed the series which is up from 11% two weeks ago.
Two million testing kits which contain two tests each are going to New York City schools by Friday.
Meanwhile, about a third of the 608 nursing homes across New York state have at least one resident with a Covid-19 infection, but only about two thirds of nursing home residents have been fully vaccinated and boosted, Bassett said Monday.
“We have done pretty well in getting the nursing home residents vaccinated – nearly 90% are fully vaccinated. But we are not doing as well as we would like in getting people boosted. And this seems to be particularly important in protecting against adverse outcomes of Omicron infection,” Bassett said.
She added that officials are working in a “very granular way,” county by county to improve the booster rate.
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New York City mayor says 179,000 residents received a Covid-19 booster in the last week
From CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
179,000 New York City residents received their Covid-19 vaccine booster shot since Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his vaccine booster incentive program last week, bringing the total number of vaccinated New York City residents to 1.9 million, the mayor said at a news conference Monday.
De Blasio said there were 296 citywide Covid-19 hospitalizations Monday and that this number had gone up intensely, as did the confirmed positivity level, 7.96%, which the mayor called aberrant.
However, he added that the city’s hospitals are “doing remarkably well. We have real challenges, but what’s striking is how different the Omicron experience is than even last winter, let alone the spring of 2020.”
With 17,334 Covid-19 positive cases reported Monday, the Mayor said he believed the positive case number, “is going to peak really soon.”
Starting Monday, all private sector employers, about 184,000 businesses, are required to have a Covid vaccine mandate in place at their business. Asked if businesses would be prone to spot checks, de Blasio said businesses should expect inspections.
“But again, with an attitude of ‘let’s make sure things are working for everyone’s health and safety.’ We’re not trying to do gotcha, we’re trying to just make sure that we’re moving forward,” he said.
“It is a multi-agency inspection force, which is very similar to the way that we conducted engagement and then enforcement related to Key to NYC as well,” New York City’s Department of Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said. “We seek to work with businesses and business owners so that everyone can come into compliance for the simple reason that vaccination is good for business — it helps us to keep our economy open and running and it helps to keep employees and all New Yorkers healthy and out of the hospital.”
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No further restrictions in England before the New Year, UK health official says
From CNN's Arnaud Siad
There will be no further restrictions in England before the New Year, British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Monday.
Speaking to reporters, Javid said: “There will be no further measures before the New Year. We won’t be taking any further measures.”
“Of course, people should remain cautious as we approach New Year celebrations,” he added.
The UK has reported 321,036 Covid cases over the past three days (Dec. 24, 25 and 26).
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Greece announces further restrictions to curb Omicron spread
From CNN’s Chris Liakos in Athens
Patients wait to get vaccinated against Covid-19, in Aristotelous Square, in the center of Thessaloniki, Greece on December 23 2021.
(Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP/Getty Images)
Greece has announced further restrictions in an effort to curb the spread of the Omicron variant which has seen a sharp rise particularly in the Attica region where the capital city of Athens is located.
From Jan. 3 until Jan. 16, hospitality and entertainment venues across the country including clubs and bars will have to close at midnight, Health Minister Thanos Plevris said during a news conference. Standing customers will be banned and there will be a maximum limit of six people per table.
Additionally, spectator attendance will be limited in sports matches due to no compliance with current rules – with capacity reduced to 10% in stadiums.
Flexible working hours and 50% remote working for the private and public sectors will be reintroduced.
Greece today reported more than 9,000 new coronavirus cases.
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Biden on Covid-19 testing shortages: "We have to do more, we have to do better, and we will"
From CNN's Allie Malloy and Betsy Klein
(Carolyn Kaster/AP)
President Biden on Monday conceded that while the administration is taking steps to ramp up Covid-19 testing, it is “not enough,” adding, “If I had known, we would have gone harder, quicker if we could have.”
Biden, who was participating in the White House Covid-19 Response Team’s regular call with the National Governors Association, said that “seeing how tough it was for some folks to get a test this weekend shows we have more work to do and we’re doing it.”
Biden was also asked again whether the quarantine period for those who test positive with Covid-19 should be shortened, Biden reiterated what he told ABC News last week, that he will listen to his medical team’s advice, adding, “when I get a recommendation I follow it.”
Though this was the first time Biden joined the group’s virtual meeting, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said it was the 40th such call between the White House and this group.
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Pediatric hospitalizations continue to rise in the US, CDC and HHS data show
From CNN Health’s Virginia Langmaid
After a slight dip in the beginning of December, pediatric Covid-19 hospitalizations in the US have continued to rise and are nearing the peak reached in early September.
On average, 262 children have been in the hospital with Covid-19 on any given day over the week that ended Dec. 24, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health and Human Services.
This is a nearly 35% increase from the previous week, and just 23% lower than the peak average of 342 children in the hospital that was seen at the end of August and early September.
Nearly 75,000 children ages 0-17 have been hospitalized with Covid-19 since August 2020. While this age group makes up the lowest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations of all age groups, hospitalizations in this population are rapidly increasing.
Pediatric hospitalizations have seen the most rapid growth in HHS regions one and two. In region one, consisting of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, the average number of children hospitalized has increased 65.7% since last week. In region two, made up of New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, pediatric hospitalizations rose 173.55% from the previous week.
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Israel begins trials for fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine
From CNN's Elliot Gotkine in Jerusalem and Mia Alberti in Lisbon
Israel has begun trials for a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine for healthy patients as it looks to roll out the additional booster shot to at-risk populations. The Sheba Medical Center said it is the first time in the world healthy subjects are receiving a fourth shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Around 150 health workers whose antibody levels have dropped are part of the trial at the Sheba Medical Center outside of Tel Aviv.
“I don’t feel much as a guinea pig,” Dr. Jacob Lavee, former director of Heart Transplant Unit at the Sheba Medical Center, told CNN. “I volunteered for research done here in previous shots, mainly booster shot, as I know my own immunity has dropped below threshold, and therefore, not only am I potentially exposed to Omicron, but more importantly, I might be a potential hazard to the heart transplant patients I’m taking care of.”
On Dec. 21, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed a decision by a panel of experts to recommend the additional booster for people over 60 years old, health care workers and people with suppressed immune systems. But the health ministry’s director-general has yet to sign it off.
“Wonderful news, do not waste time – go get vaccinated,” Bennett said in a statement at the time.
Those eligible for the fourth dose will be administered it provided at least four months have passed since the third dose, the government said in the statement.
“The State of Israel is continuing to stand at the forefront of the global effort to deal with the pandemic. The citizens of Israel were the first in the world to receive the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and we are continuing to pioneer with the fourth dose as well,” Bennett added.
Initial results from the study are expected by the end of the week by which time Israel’s rising Covid-19 caseload will likely be even heavier.
“I don’t think it’s right, right now at this moment but it may change in a week,” Dr. Gili-Regev Yochay, director of Infection Prevention Control Unit at the Sheba Medical Center, told CNN. “It depends what we see is happening in England, and also here — if we see there is more severe disease, maybe it will be correct. That’s why it is so important to start a research ASAP.”
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Biden addresses US governors on Omicron rise: "We're going to have your back in any way we can"
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
(Carolyn Kaster/AP)
President Biden is speaking with the nation’s governors as a wave of Covid-19, driven by the heavily transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, crashes across the country and drives caseloads to record levels in areas of the Northeast.
Biden asked that the governors “say something” if they needed federal assistance, and assured them that the government will help support their efforts.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, shared some of the challenges his state is facing with Omicron.
“As we face Omicron, the governors and your administration must be working together more closely than ever,” Hutchinson said during the call. “I’d like to give you a glimpse of Arkansas today. First, hospitalizations are down by half from where they were this time last year. Our Omicron case count and the demand for testing has increased.”
“As governors, we are getting pressure to do more, and the need is great to do more in terms of the rapid tests and the availability of it,” he continued, adding that he hopes “federal solutions don’t stand in the way of state solutions.”
Biden told governor that “there is no federal solution. This gets solved at a state level.”
“As I said last week, Omicron is a source of concern, but it should not be a source of panic. If you’re fully vaccinated, you get your booster shot and you’re highly protected,” he said on the call.
More on today’s meeting: It is Biden’s first time joining the weekly call convened between his Covid team and state leaders, and comes a week after he laid out an enhanced strategy for combating the new surge focused heavily on accelerating testing and vaccinations.
The new steps, which included ordering 500 million at-home rapid tests that Americans can obtain for free, came too late to avoid disruptions to winter holiday plans. Thousands of flights were canceled as airline staff tested positive. Many Americans downsized their plans amid the viral spread. Biden’s new tests, and the website where Americans can order them, won’t be in place until next month, the White House has said.
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English Premier League reports 103 positive Covid-19 cases
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio in Lisbon
The English Premier League has reported 103 Covid-19 cases in the week leading up to Boxing Day, it said in a statement on Monday.
“The League can today confirm that between Monday 20 December and Sunday 26 December, 15,186 Covid-19 tests were administered on players and club staff,” the statement read. “Of these, there were 103 new positive cases.”
The 103 cases are an increase on the previous week (Dec. 13 to 19) when 90 players and staff tested positive for coronavirus.
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European airlines say they are experiencing a small number of cancellations
From CNN’s Arnaud Siad in London and Chris Liakos Paris
(Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
As more than 2,000 flights have been canceled Monday, European airlines are experiencing a small number of cancellations amid record-breaking numbers of Covid-19 cases in several European nations.
A British Airways spokesperson told CNN on Monday that the airline had canceled “a number of flights due to operational constraints,” and are instead using larger aircrafts, where possible, to get customers to their destinations. According to tracking website FlightAware, 45 flights from British Airways were canceled on Monday.
Virgin Atlantic told CNN that flying continues “as scheduled,” noting the exception of one of its London to New York City rotations, which saw cancellations on Dec. 21. A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told CNN, “We continue to take pre-emptive measures to uphold operational and staffing resilience, always putting the health and safety of our customers and people first.”
Scandinavian Airlines told CNN it has seen “a small number of daily cancellations on Christmas day and onwards,” acknowledging that the airline had “experienced an increased sick leave due to more people experiencing symptoms and staying home like recommended.”
Lufthansa was also forced to cancel some long haul flights to North America.
Iberia said there have been no cancellations to their flights so far.
More than 2,000 flights worldwide have been canceled Monday as Covid-19 cases surge across the globe, according to tracking website FlightAware.
Of the nearly 2,200 canceled flights, more than 700 were within, into or out of the United States, according to FlightAware. More than 3,000 flights are delayed.
Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights on Christmas Eve, Christmas and the day after Christmas. In the United States, more than 1,200 flights were canceled and more than 5,000 were delayed on Sunday alone, with staff and crew calling out sick.
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Paraguay detects first 3 cases of the Omicron variant
From CNN's Karol Suarez in Mexico City
The first three cases of Omicron have been detected in Paraguay, the country’s public health ministry announced in a statement issued Monday.
All three of these first-detected cases were young tourists, around 18-years old, traveling to Paraguay from Cancun, Mexico.
The three are in quarantine as is anyone they came into contact with, as contact tracing is underway, the statement adds.
In the wake of these first detected cases of Omicron in the country, Paraguay’s Director of Health Surveillance Dr. Sandra Irala issued a recommendation to the public to avoid “traveling to countries where there is high circulation” of Covid-19.
Dr. Irala also underscored the importance of getting vaccinations and urged people to avoid crowds in an effort to prevent the large-scale spread of this variant.
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Biden will speak with governors today as Covid-19 cases surge across the US
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
President Biden will confer with the nation’s governors on Monday as a wave of Covid-19, driven by the heavily transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, crashes across the country and drives caseloads to record levels in areas of the Northeast.
It is Biden’s first time joining the weekly call convened between his Covid-19 team and state leaders, and comes a week after he laid out an enhanced strategy for combating the new surge focused heavily on accelerating testing and vaccinations. The call is set to take place today at 11:30 a.m. ET.
The new steps, which included ordering 500 million at-home rapid tests that Americans can obtain for free, came too late to avoid disruptions to winter holiday plans. Thousands of flights were canceled as airline staff tested positive.
Many Americans downsized their plans amid the viral spread. Biden’s new tests, and the website where Americans can order them, won’t be in place until next month, the White House has said.
American governors have calibrated their approach to Omicron as an exhausted public reckons with a pandemic that is nearing its two-year mark. Many have resisted putting in place new restrictions, following Biden’s pledge to keep the country open even amid record case numbers.
Still, some states have reimposed mask mandates and are preparing for a spike in hospitalizations by cutting elective surgeries at certain facilities.
The White House said during his call on Monday, Biden would “discuss his Administration’s response to the Omicron variant and … hear from the Governors on the needs in their States.”
TSA screens about 2 million passengers on Sunday amid coronavirus surge
From CNN's Greg Wallace
Just over 2 million people traveled through the nation’s airports on Sunday amid the Christmas holiday and a coronavirus surge.
The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 2,009,239 people, about 78% of the number it screened on the Sunday after Christmas in 2019. Seven of the last 10 days have seen more than 2 million screenings.
On Friday and Saturday, TSA screened about two-thirds of the passengers it did on those days in 2019 (when Christmas fell on a Wednesday).
At least 850 US flights have been canceled so far Monday as airlines deal with the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
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Fauci: "We should have had" more Covid-19 tests available in the US when Omicron arrived
From CNN's Virginia Langmaid
Cars line up at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at Tropical Park last week in Miami.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The US should have had more Covid-19 tests available when the Omicron variant arrived and increased demand just ahead of the holidays, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.
“You know, testing has always been an issue, Kaitlan. That has been problematic. It has been compounded by the situation of the high demands,” Fauci told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on New Day.
“We had a conflation of high demands — high demands because of the concern about Omicron which is a justifiable concern, but the high demand that was triggered by the holiday season, people getting ready to travel getting ready to go and mix with family members and friends. It’s been a very, very strong run on testing,” said Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
US will continue to see cases surge from Omicron, Fauci says
From CNN's Virginia Langmaid
The US is going to continue to see cases surge from the Omicron variant but may see them fall as they did in South Africa, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.
The US is currently averaging close to 200,000 new Covid-19 cases per day, a 47% increase from last week and the highest this number has been since January of 2021. While the virus may turn out to be less severe, Fauci said, those numbers can still strain American health infrastructure.
“It looks like the degree of severity of the disease is considerably less than they experienced with Delta. We’re seeing inklings of that now in the United States. The UK is also seeing that. So I do hope that we do have the net effect is a diminution in the degree of severity,” said Fauci.
“But the sheer volume of cases that we’re seeing now — yesterday we had 214,000 cases. Even with a diminution in severity we still could have a surge on hospitals, particularly among the unvaccinated, which we’re really worried about,” he continued.
Fauci said “it’s possible” the US will see 500,000 new cases in a day in the future, but he doesn’t think the country will get to that point. Vaccinations and boosters, he said, are important in keeping numbers down.
“There are so many things that we can do to mitigate against that. The thing we keep talking about is that you know if you’re not vaccinated, get vaccinated. But importantly, boosters are really looming as something very, very important,” he said.
“Boosters are always good for any variant but particularly for Omicron. If you are vaccinated and not yet boosted and your time comes for getting boosted, please get boosted. It’s going to make all the difference to prevent you from getting severe disease,” he added.
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People are waiting more than 2 hours for Covid-19 tests at a Miami site
From CNN’s Leyla Santiago
A line of cars continues to wrap around one of Miami Dade County’s busiest testing sites, Tropical Park. This morning people reported waiting more than two hours to be tested.
“We’ve been north of 50,000 tests daily across the state of Florida, including limited numbers of sites and operating hours for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” Ron Goncalves, general manager of Nomi Health Florida, which partners with Miami Dade County to run its testing sites, told CNN.
At the peak of the Delta wave, Goncalves said they averaged about 34,000 tests per day.
Jackson Health System, one of the largest in South Florida, tweeted today that 212 patients tested positive for Covid-19.
Miami Dade County will also be distributing free at-home testing kits today at public libraries, while supplies last.
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US government should consider vaccination requirement for domestic travel, Fauci says
From CNN's Virginia Langmaid
Travelers at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York last week.
(Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
The federal government should consider requiring people to be vaccinated to fly domestically, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.
The US currently requires non-citizens coming to the US by air to be fully vaccinated. Fauci said it’s worth considering broadening those requirements.
“You’ve got to ask yourself why it is you’re making that requirement,” Fauci, director for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told MSNBC.
Fauci did not say whether he had made this recommendation to President Biden, but added that a vaccination requirement for air travel creates more incentive to get vaccinated in the first place.
“You know, there’s requirements that you might want to get if you want to get into college, where you want to go to a university or you want to work in certain places. When you make vaccination a requirement, that’s another incentive to get more people vaccinated. If you want to do that with domestic flights I think that’s something that seriously should be considered,” he said.
Biden said in an interview with ABC News that while vaccine requirements for domestic air travel were considered, “the recommendation I’ve gotten is not necessary.”
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New York City is implementing its latest vaccine mandate today. Here are key things to know.
From CNN's Jason Hanna and Aya Elamroussi
New York City’s vaccine mandate for the private sector is set to go into effect Monday, as case numbers across the wider state soared over the Christmas period.
The highly contagious Omicron variant was a factor in New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to implement a vaccine mandate for private sector employees, he said earlier this month.The updated rules require workers to have at least one vaccination dose by Monday and will not allow employees to opt out of vaccination through regular testing.
Children aged 5 to 11 in New York City are now also required to show proof of at least one shot before being allowed access to indoor dining, fitness or entertainment, and adults will be required to show proof of two vaccinations for those areas.
Shorter isolation period "under consideration," Fauci says
From CNN's Virginia Langmaid
A shortened quarantine or isolation period for people who have been infected with or exposed to Covid-19 is being considered in the US by public health decision-makers, Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director, told CNN Monday.
“The idea about cutting down the period of quarantine for people who’ve been exposed, and perhaps the period of isolation for people who have been infected, is something that is under, I would say, serious consideration,” Fauci said Monday.
Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance for health care workers with Covid-19 who show no symptoms or have mild symptoms to say they can return to work after seven days if they test negative for infection at that point.
The CDC’s previous guidance was for anyone with Covid-19 to self-isolate at home for 10 full days.
People who are exposed to Covid-19 but who have not tested positive are advise to quarantine for 14 days.
People who test positive for Covid-19 are advised to isolate for 10 full days
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Fauci: "I would stay away from" larger New Year's Eve parties
From CNN's Virginia Langmaid
People should avoid large New Year’s Eve gatherings where they don’t know the vaccination status of guests, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.
Small gatherings of vaccinated family or close friends will be safe, but not larger, mixed gatherings, Fauci told CNN’s New Day.
“I would stay away from that,” Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
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Some countries around the world are setting new Covid-19 case records as Omicron spreads
Intensive Care Unit of the North Hospital in Marseille, France on Friday.
(Florian Escoffier/Abaca/Sipa/AP)
The Omicron coronavirus variant has been causing Covid-19 cases to rise sharply, setting new records over the holiday weekend in countries around the world. Here’s a roundup of where things stand in some nations:
Australia:
Australia registered at least 10,186 new Covid-19 cases on Monday. It’s the first time the number of new cases across the country has surpassed 10,000.
This comes amid an “unprecedented Covid-testing activity,” according to testing facility SydPath.
The states of New South Wales and Victoria account for more than 8,000 of those cases. New South Wales, home to Sydney, recorded 6,324 cases from 97,241 tests on Monday morning.
The state of Queensland has recorded 589 new daily Covid-19 cases, its highest number since the start of the pandemic. Queensland’s Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said that he was expecting the case numbers “to grow very substantially” over the course of the next few weeks.
France:
France reported a record-breaking 104,611 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the country’s highest daily number since the pandemic began. It was also the first time that case numbers broke the 100,000 threshold in the country, according to health ministry data.
United Kingdom:
The UK reported at least 122,186 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, the highest daily number since start of the pandemic, according to government data.
The Health Security Agency also noted that government figures would not be updated on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, with the next coronavirus data update expected on Monday, Dec. 27.
Italy:
Italy reported its third consecutive day of record-breaking new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, according to health ministry data.
With at least 54,762 cases, the country saw its highest daily figure since the pandemic began. That’s up from Friday’s record of 50,599, which itself had surpassed the previous day’s record of 44,595 cases.
The country also reported a further 144 deaths and 33 more patients in intensive care units on Saturday.
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US daily Covid-19 case rates surpassed Delta’s surge, but hospitalizations remain relatively low
From CNN's Aya Elamroussi
As the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread across the US, the rate of daily Covid-19 cases detected has eclipsed those fueled by the Delta variant over the summer.
However, hospitalization numbers remain relatively lower than what was seen during peaks earlier this year.
Yet the situation may worsen for the tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans, who remain at higher risk for complications and death.
More than 69,000 Americans were hospitalized with Covid-19 on Christmas Eve, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. An increase of around 2% from last week, the figure remains below peak hospitalizations during the Delta surge and is half of the record-high from January.
But experts note that hospitalization figures tend to lag with time as some illnesses worsen, and researchers are still working to determine whether Omicron is less likely to cause severe illness.
Twelve states have seen at least a 10% uptick in Covid-19 hospitalizations over the past week compared to the previous, HHS data shows. That’s happening against the backdrop of a 48% increase in Covid-19 cases from last week, bringing the US average for new daily cases to 182,682, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Case numbers surpassing the summer surge is a sobering indication of Omicron’s spread, as it quickly became the most prevalent variant in the US this week.
And as Covid-19 testing shortages led to long lines in many metro areas before Christmas, some pockets of the country are reporting surges.
Covid-19 cases in Los Angeles County have nearly tripled in the last week, reaching 9,998 new cases for its about 10 million residents, public health data shows. Hospitalizations, however, have remained steady.
New York state broke its own daily record of Covid-19 cases on Friday, when it reported 44,431 new cases – a 14% increase from Thursday.
“This is not a surprise,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “This is a very, very contagious variant.”
Hospitalizations in the state are also rising — but at a lower rate. Friday data showed that 4,744 New Yorkers were receiving Covid-19 treatment at hospitals, marking an uptick of 4.6% from Thursday.
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The pandemic pushed nearly 100 million people into poverty around the world
From CNN's Michelle Toh
Food distribution during the Christmas Eve Supper for the homeless and poor during the coronavirus pandemic at the Main Square in Krakow, Poland on December 19.
(Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Getty Images)
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit last spring, garment workers Dipali and Pradip Roy lost their jobs in Dhaka, Bangladesh, due to mass layoffs at their factory. Living in poverty, Dipali Roy was also pregnant and couldn’t find enough food to eat more than one meal on some days.
The World Bank estimates that 97 million people across the globe fell into poverty due to the pandemic in 2020, living on less than $2 a day. Additionally, 2020 led to a historic setback in the fight against global poverty, with the number of the world’s poorest rising for the first time in over 20 years, according to the World Bank.
While these tens of millions of people were being pushed into destitution, the ultra-rich becamewealthier.Last year, billionaires enjoyed the highest boost to their share of wealth on record, according to the World Inequality Lab.
Like countless other migrants, the Roys were forced to move home to the countryside to cut down on expenses, look for new ways to earn and struggle to adjust.
Their efforts to recover and several governments’ efforts to rebuild will meet challenges like vaccine equity, and advocates around the world are calling for attention to the issue.
Oman bans people who are not fully vaccinated from entering the workplace
From CNN's Jake Kwon in Seoul
Oman will require residents to have two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to enter the workplace.
“Those who have not received two doses of vaccines approved in the Sultanate of Oman shall not be allowed to enter their workplaces,” according to a Twitter post by the Omani government’s Covid-19 task force.
At least 90% of Oman residents have received two doses of the vaccine, said the task force.
“Vaccination is available free of charge to citizens and residents; there are no excuses for not taking the vaccination,” it said. The decision would remain in effect until January 31, “if the situation does not change for the worse,” it added.
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Lufthansa to cancel 10% of its winter flight schedule, says CEO
From CNN’s Chris Liakos
German airline group Lufthansa is canceling 10% of its winter flight schedule as the pandemic continues to hit the aviation industry.
In an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung last week, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said that due to “a sharp drop in bookings” the airline will have to cancel 33,000 flights from mid-January to February 2022 or 10% of the group’s winter flight schedule.
Spohr’s comments were confirmed to CNN by Lufthansa’s press office.
This comes as thousands of flights were canceled globally over the Christmas weekend as airline staff and crew called in sick.
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Protest against Covid measures turn violent in Germany
From CNN's Stephanie Halasz in Sainte Maxime, France
German police in the Bavarian city of Schweinfurt used batons and pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against Covid measures on Sunday evening.
Several hundred protesters had gathered at the rally on Sunday, according to a tweet by Bavarian police, which said the protest was not authorized. The police said in a Monday press release that they were “confronted with a heated, partly hostile atmosphere.”
A 4-year-old child at the demonstration had to be treated for pepper spray exposure by emergency services, police said. The child’s mother was charged after police warned protesters in the run-up to the event not to bring children to the demonstration.
Eight police officers were injured after being punched and kicked, according to the police. Eight people have been detained, the press release said.
This comes days before stricter rules on socializing begin Tuesday, when only 10 people can gather if vaccinated or recovered from Covid.Those who are unvaccinated can meet in groups of two.
Germany has struggled with anti-Covid vaccination sentiment, which has coincided with an uptick in violent protests against coronavirus measures in recent weeks. Some 70.8% of the country is fully inoculated but the vaccination rate has slowed.
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Austria tightens rules to enter the country
From CNN's Stephanie Halasz in Sainte Maxime, France
A car passes the border between Kiefersfelden, Germany and Kufstein, Austria on December 20, 2021.
(Lennart Preiss/Picture Alliance/Getty Images)
Austria has tightened its rules for entry for some foreign nationals to stem the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
Those entering from the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands have to show proof of both a Covid booster dose and a negative PCR test. If not, they will have to enter 10-day-quarantine.
Arrivals from other countries with a so-called “2G pass,” who are either vaccinated or recovered from the virus, are allowed to enter, according to the health ministry. To avoid quarantine, they will either have to show proof of a booster dose or a negative PCR test. Children, pregnant women and commuters are exempt.
Celebrations canceled: New Year’s celebrations will not happen in Austria this year. A curfew will start at 10 p.m. local from Monday. No bars, restaurants or balls are allowed to take place, the Austrian covid crisis coordination unit has said.
This comes in the midst of Austria’s ski season, which depends heavily on international tourism.
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More than 2,000 flights were canceled globally on Monday
From CNN's Chris Liakos
A United Airlines agent directs travelers at Denver International Airport on Sunday.
(David Zalubowski/AP)
More than 2,000 flights were canceled globally today as airline staff and crew call in sick amid the Omicron surge.
According to the tracking website FlightAware, 2,050 flights have been canceled as of 5.20 a.m. ET Monday with 705 of them due to fly within, into, or out of the United States. More than 3,000 flights worldwide are delayed.
Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights on Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after Christmas.
In the US, more than 1,200 flights were canceled and more than 5,000 were delayed on Sunday alone as staff and crew called out sick.
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Nearly 1,400 people receive incorrect Covid test results as cases mount in Australia
From CNN's Angus Watson in Sydney and Lizzy Yee
Residents queue up inside their cars for PCR tests at the St Vincent's Bondi Beach COVID-19 drive through testing clinic on December 22, 2021 in Sydney.
(Mohammad Farooq/AFP/Getty Images)
A Covid-19 testing facility in Sydney, Australia admitted on Monday it has issued incorrect PCR Covid test results to 1,395 people since December 22.
SydPath, operated by St Vincent’s Hospital, said it sent negative results by SMS to 995 people tested on December 23 and 24 despite their PCR tests not having been processed.
The blunder was detected by the hospital during an investigation into how a further 400 people swabbed on December 22 and 23 received a negative result despite being positive for Covid-19.
The mistakes come as Australia reported 10,186 new Covid-19 cases Monday, a record since the start of the pandemic and the first time new infections have surpassed 10,000 nationwide in a single day.
New South Wales, home to Sydney, recorded 6,324 cases from 97,241 tests in the 24 hours to Monday morning.
NSW also reported the country’s first death from Omicron — a double-vaccinated patient with underlying health conditions.
This post has been updated with the latest case numbers.
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South Korea approves emergency use of Pfizer's oral Covid-19 pill
From CNN's Gawon Bae in Seoul, South Korea
This image provided by Pfizer in October 2021 shows the company's COVID-19 Paxlovid pills.
(Pfizer/AP)
South Korea approved emergency use of Pfizer’s oral Covid-19 pill, Paxlovid, on Monday, as the country continues to record high numbers of critically ill coronavirus patients.
Experts concluded after reviewing Pfizer’s clinical trial result that the drug can be given to patients over 12 with mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms, according to Food and Drug Safety Minister Kim Gang-lip.
Paxlovid should be taken within five days of symptoms presenting, Kim said.
South Korea reported 4,207 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday and 55 deaths, bringing the country’s total caseload to 611,670, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
As of Monday, 1,078 critically ill patients are in intensive care units.
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Covid positive strangers forced to share rooms in Singapore quarantine
From CNN’s Teele Rebane
A rise in Covid-19 cases in Singapore is forcing strangers to share isolation rooms during the 10-day mandatory isolation period after testing positive.
According to the Singaporean Ministry of Health, patients over the age of 15 can be placed in isolation alongside a Covid-positive person of the same gender, even if they do not know one another.
The Ministry of Health said private rooms were available on request and where possible.
A spokesperson said the measure was necessary to “optimize capacity,” as Singapore records increasing Covid-19 numbers, with 209 new infections reported Sunday.
Positive cases are placed in one of three tiers of accommodation based on the severity of their symptoms, according to the Ministry of Health.
Room-sharing is implemented across community care centers, Covid treatment centers and hospitals, which make up the three tiers. Covid-19 patients are also able to quarantine at home where possible.
But while positive cases may have to share rooms, Singapore will no longer mandate that close contacts isolate. Instead, they will be issued with a week-long health risk warning and tested daily.
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Nearly 1,500 flights canceled in US Sunday due to Omicron surge
From CNN’s Andy Rose
Passengers wait in line for alternative airlines at St. Louis-Lambert International Airport in St. Louis on Sunday, December 26, 2021.
(Bill Greenblatt/UPI/Shutterstock)
Nearly 1,500 flights in the US were canceled on Sunday, marking the third day in a row of mass cancellations over the Christmas weekend.
The disruption is caused by staff and crew being out sick due to the continued surge of the Omicron variant.
As of 11:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, airlines had canceled 1,448 flights within, into or out of the country. Another 6,169 flights were delayed, according to the tracking website FlightAware.
However, those staffing problems appear to be slowly getting better. As of late Sunday night, 384 US flights had been canceled, FlightAware said.
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Chinese officials are disinfecting an entire city as Covid cases rise
From CNN’s Beijing bureau
Staff members in protective suits disinfect around Xi'an Bell Tower on December 26, 2021 in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.
(Shang Hongtao/VCG/Getty Images)
Local authorities in the Chinese city of Xi’an are disinfecting the entire city of 13 million people as Covid-19 cases continue to rise.
The task of disinfecting Xi’an began on Sunday. Residents were told by the local council to close their windows and doors and not touch outdoor surfaces and plants.
The order came despite current guidelines from China’s CDC and State Council preventing “excessive disinfection,” including “mass disinfection of the outdoor environment.”
Xi’an, the capital of northwestern Shaanxi Province, recorded 150 of China’s 162 locally transmitted symptomatic Covid-19 cases on Sunday, according to the National Health Commission.
China’s Covid epicenter: The outbreak in Xi’an, now at 637 cases since December 9, is one of the largest city outbreaks since Wuhan became the epicenter of the global pandemic in 2019.
Growing frustration: Residents criticized the disinfection measures online as the program added to already increasing restrictions in the city. Citizens accused the local government of mishandling and oversimplifying its response to the outbreak, according to state-run newspaper Global Times.
Global Times also reported a foreign teacher was fired at an international school after calling health workers “insane” and spitting on the ground on Friday.
Lockdown measures: Xi’an woke to a fourth mass testing campaign on Monday. Local officials told residents there was “no need to panic” at increasing Covid-19 infections – an upward trend that may continue through the coming days.
Xi’an has been under strict lockdown since December 23, despite 95.5% of the population being vaccinated. Public venues and transportation routes have been closed, with only essential public services and businesses remaining open.
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The pandemic pushed nearly 100 million people into poverty. They're struggling to escape
From CNN's Michelle Toh
Dipali Roy couldn’t afford to eat.
She and her husband, Pradip Roy, were garment workers in Bangladesh when the Covid-19 pandemic hit last spring, leading to mass layoffs at their factory.
Like millions of people around the world, both lost their jobs in the capital city of Dhaka, where they had worked for years making pants, shirts and jackets. And like countless other migrants, they were forced to move home to the countryside to cut down on expenses.
The World Bank estimates that 97 million people across the globe fell into poverty due to the pandemic in 2020, living on less than $2 a day.
There has been little improvement since.
“We barely had enough to return home,” Dipali Roy said in an interview in Bengali from the family’s home, a corrugated metal shack in a village in northern Bangladesh.
As the couple looked for new ways to earn a living, they struggled to adjust. They tried to find a loan to start a small business, but at first no one was able or willing to help. Some local nonprofitorganizations asked for collateral, which they didn’t have.
Hoping to land a job in agriculture, Pradip Roy approached some farmers. But he was dismissed as a “Dhaka man,” who wouldn’t be able to cope in harsh weather conditions, recounted his wife.
Above all, “food was the biggest problem,” said20-year-old Dipali Roy, who was pregnant at the time and sometimes could only have one meal a day through a public rationing program. “I didn’t know what to do … We would just have to sit and wait when they would bring food.”
2020 led to a historic setback in the fight against global poverty, with the number of the world’s poorest rising for the first time in over 20 years, according to the World Bank.
Flying home after the holidays? Getting vaccinated or boosted is the first step toward safe travel, expert says
From CNN's Aya Elamroussi
For Americans traveling after Christmas and New Year’s, getting their Covid-19 vaccinations or booster doses as soon as possible is critical to safely avoid serious illness, one health expert told CNN on Saturday.
Amid a surge of cases nationwide fueled by the Omicron coronavirus variant before the holiday season, parts of the country are reporting increased hospitalizations and deaths. And people need to be prepared for a heightened risk of infection during travel by taking preventative measures, according to Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the school of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
The initial two-dose regiment will still protect “better for serious illness,” he said, “but you still need to get boosted, I think, if you want to travel safely.”
Booster shots may take two weeks to provide peak immunity, doctors have said, meaning the sooner one gets vaccinated, the better. Other steps, including wearing a quality mask, can help lower risk of infection.
Millions of Americans who are immunocompromised should delay future travel plans for a few weeks if possible in the hope that the current surge won’t span as long as previous ones, Hotez said.
