Covid live news: walk-in PCR tests unavailable in England for several hours; France announces new curbs

Here’s a quick roundup of what’s been happening so far:

• Boris Johnson will not introduce further Covid restrictions in England before 2022, giving mass events the go-ahead and leaving nightclubs open for New Year’s Eve – in contrast with all other UK nations. Scientists criticised the decision, describing it as the moment of “the greatest divergence between scientific advice and legislation” seen since the start of the pandemic.
• There were no walk-in PCR tests available to book anywhere in England for a few hours on Monday due to “high demand”. Appointments had been unavailable in every region of the country, although there were some in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Social media users said the lack of availability of tests could affect travel plans, sports fixtures and business appointments.
• The number of patients in England admitted into hospital with Covid-19 has reached its highest level since mid-February after a 74% rise in a week. In London, hospital admissions have increased by 73%. A total of 8,474 people were in hospital in England with Covid-19 as of 8am today – the highest number since 5 March.
  
• France has narrowed the delay for a third booster shot to three months from four in response to the rapid spread of Omicron but there will be no curfew for New Year’s Eve. From Monday, all public gatherings will be limited to 2,000 people for indoor events, and to 5,000 people for outdoor events. Consumption of drinks and food will be banned in long-distance transport and home working will become mandatory for at least three days per week where possible.
• Denmark and Iceland, both of which had some of Europe’s lowest infection rates before the arrival of Omicron, reported record daily Covid cases today. Denmark now has the world’s highest infection rate, with 1,612 cases per 100,000 people.
• Europe recorded the most cases and deaths in the past seven days, according to statistics compiled by Agence France-Presse. The five countries with the highest case rates over the last seven days were all European.
• People who test positive for Covid in the US can self-isolate for just five days, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said – down from the 10 days the agency previously recommended. In a statement, the CDC said these changes reflect the latest data on when the virus is most contagious.
• Scotland has recorded a record number of Covid cases over the Christmas weekend, hitting a high of 11,030 new cases on Boxing Day, the Scottish government has said. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is due to update a specially-reconvened sitting of the Scottish parliament on Wednesday about the spread of the virus and the impact on hospitals.
• Paraguay has confirmed the country’s first Omicron cases, health officials said. The cases were detected in people who had travelled outside the country this month but the government has not taken immediate action on travel.
• Flight cancellations that disrupted Christmas travel stretched into Monday, with major US airlines each cancelling dozens of flights. According to FlightAware, which tracks flight cancellations, airlines have cancelled roughly 4,000 flights to, from or inside the US since Friday.
• Greece has announced further restrictions effective between 3 and 16 January to contain a further surge in Covid infections. Bars and restaurants will have to close at midnight and no standing customers at entertainment venues will be allowed. There will also be a maximum limit of six people per table.

That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, for today. Goodbye.

Goldman Sachs has told employees that all individuals coming into the bank’s US offices will be required to show proof of a booster shot.

The new policy will come into effect on 1 February and applies to both employees and visitors. In addition, Goldman Sachs plans to double mandatory testing to twice weekly, beginning on 10 January.

Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has said he will not vaccinate his 11-year-old daughter against Covid-19.

“Children have not been dying in a way that justifies a vaccine for children,” he told reporters in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

Bolsonaro himself has refused to get vaccinated and has repeatedly called into question the safety and efficacy of Covid vaccines, Reuters reports.

Vaccinating children against coronavirus has been a hot topic in Brazil. More than 300 children between the ages of 5 and 11 have died of Covid-19 in Brazil, according to a government coronavirus advisory body.

Ministers have confirmed that no new Covid-19 restrictions will be imposed in England before the new year.

Sajid Javid, the health secretary, told reporters there will be “no further measures before the new year”, adding: “Of course people should remain cautious as we approach new year celebrations and take a lateral flow test if that makes sense, celebrate outdoors if you can, have some ventilation indoors if you can.”

It puts England at odds with the rest of the United Kingdom in how people will be allowed to ring in the new year. Here is what you can, and cannot, do:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have shortened its recommended time for isolation for people who test positive for Covid-19 from 10 days to five days if they don’t have symptoms.

The reduction follows the CDC’s decision last week to cut its isolation period for infected health care workers assuming they are asymptomatic and later test negative.

Health officials have similarly shortened the recommended time for people to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus to five days if they are vaccinated, and often to no time if they are boosted.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the country is about to see a lot of Omicron cases. “Not all of those cases are going to be severe. In fact many are going to be asymptomatic,” she told The Associated Press.

“We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning while following the science.”

Hospitality bosses have welcomed news that the government has ruled out additional Covid restrictions in England before the busy New Year’s Eve trading period.

Businesses had been calling for certainty, with bars and restaurants saying they had been left in limbo at a time of potentially lucrative bookings – or costly cancellations.

The industry had feared that Boris Johnson and ministers would toughen up Covid-19 measures in England, after the Omicron variant led to a surge in Covid infections.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have already imposed tougher Covid rules on physical distancing and the number of people who can meet, including the closure of nightclubs.

Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality, the industry body, said the confirmation by Sajid Javid, the health secretary, that no further clampdown would come in England until early 2022 was welcome news for businesses.

She said that the government had taken a “pragmatic and proportionate approach” which would “give a real lifeline for many who have struggled with the loss of trade in the run up to Christmas.

“Losing new year on top of December would have been devastating, and keeping restrictions to a minimum helps protects businesses and jobs,” she said.

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Spain’s Covid infection rate has exceeded 1,000 cases per 100,000 people for the first time, Reuters reports.

The rate, measured over the preceding 14 days, rose to 1,206 cases following the Christmas weekend, according to health ministry data. That compares with 911 reported on Thursday.

The figures have added 214,619 new cases and a further 120 deaths since Thursday. Daily deaths have been hovering below 100, far lower than the 1,000 mark at the peak of the first wave last year or about 600 in January.

“We are obviously going to see high numbers of infections, but not hospitalisations and ICU admissions compared to previous waves,” the country’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters earlier today.

The number of patients in England admitted into hospital with Covid-19 has reached its highest level since mid-February after a 74% rise in a week.

NHS figures updated for the first time since the Christmas break show here were 1,281 Covid-19 hospital admissions in England on 25 December.

This was up 74% week-on-week and the highest number since 16 February. During the second wave of coronavirus, admissions peaked at 4,134 on 12 January.

In London, hospital admissions increased by 73% with 364 admissions reported on 25 December.

A total of 8,474 people were in hospital in England with Covid-19 as of 8am today – the highest number since 5 March.

France has narrowed the delay for a third booster shot to three months from four in response to the rapid spread of Omicron but there will be no curfew for New Year’s Eve, Reuters has reported.

Jean Castex, the French prime minister, also said that from Monday and for the next three weeks, all public gatherings will be limited to 2,000 people for indoor events, and to 5,000 people for outdoor events.

Consumption of drinks and food will be banned in long-distance transport and home working will become mandatory for at least three days per week where possible, Castex said. Mask wearing will also become mandatory in city centres.

The announcement comes as France reported 30,383 new cases today, compared with 27,697 the previous day. On Saturday, the country reported a record high of 104,611 infections, breaking the 100,000 threshold for the first time since the pandemic began.

Italy reported 142 Covid-related deaths on Monday, compared with 81 deaths the previous day, according to health officials.

The number of daily cases rose to 30,810, up from 24,883 on Sunday, Reuters reports. Patients in hospital with Covid – not including those in intensive care – stood at 9,723 on Monday, up from 9,220 a day earlier.

There were 100 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 85 on Sunday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,126 from a previous 1,089.

Three confirmed cases of the Omicron variant have been recorded, Paraguay’s health ministry said today.

The cases were detected in people who had travelled outside the country this month and the patients were quarantined, Reuters reports.

An official said the government would not take immediate action on travel, but urged people to plan safely.

Here’s the UK health secretary Sajid Javid confirming that no further measures will be introduced in England before the new year.

Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Javid said the prime minister had decided not to bring in fresh curbs this week, but said ministers would look again in January at whether measures were needed.

Good evening, I’m Léonie Chao-Fong taking over from my colleague Tom Ambrose to bring you all the latest global developments on the coronavirus pandemic.

Denmark and Iceland reported record daily Covid cases today as the fast-spreading Omicron variant makes Europe the global hotspot for infections and deaths.

Europe recorded the most cases and deaths in the past seven days, according to statistics compiled by Agence France-Presse. The five countries with the highest case rates over the last seven days were all European.

In Denmark, authorities registered 16,164 cases in 24 hours, the first time the daily caseload has exceeded 15,000 since the pandemic began. Denmark now has the world’s highest infection rate, with 1,612 cases per 100,000 people.

Iceland reported 672 cases today. Until mid-December, the country had never reported more than 200 cases and daily cases never exceeded 100 during last year’s autumn wave.

Both Denmark and Iceland had some of Europe’s lowest infection rates before the arrival of Omicron.

Greece has announced further restrictions effective between 3 and 16 January to contain a further surge in Covid infections, targeting mainly night-time entertainment venues.

As confirmed new Covid cases surged to a record of 9,284 on Monday, resulting in 66 deaths, the health minister said that under the new measures, high-protection masks would be compulsory at supermarkets, public transport and eating establishments.

Bars and restaurants will have to close at midnight and no standing customers at entertainment venues will be allowed. There will also be a maximum limit of six people per table, Reuters reported.

“If we find that these measures are not complied with we will ban music [at entertainment venues],” the health minister, Thanos Plevris, told a news conference.

The government also moved to restrict attendance of sports events to 10% of capacity or an upper limit of 1,000 people. Visitors at care facilities for the elderly will be permitted if they can furnish a negative PCR test taken within the previous 48 hours.

Authorities had already tightened existing regulations last week, mandating mask wearing in open spaces and banning Christmas and new year festivities.

Flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel stretched into Monday, with major US airlines each cancelling dozens of flights.

Staff calling in sick because of Covid, particularly since the emergence of the Omicron variant, have left airlines short in recent days. According to FlightAware, which tracks flight cancellations, airlines have cancelled roughly 4,000 flights to, from or inside the US since Friday.

Delta, United, JetBlue and American have all said that coronavirus was causing staffing problems, and European and Australian airlines also cancelled holiday-season flights because staff were infected, but weather and other factors played a role as well.

Winter weather in the Pacific Northwest led to nearly 250 flight cancellations to or from Seattle on Sunday, said Alaska Airlines, and the airline expects more than 100 flight cancellations on Monday.

United said it cancelled 115 flights Monday, out of more than 4,000 scheduled, due to crews out with Covid.