 | | | | Alberta and British Columbia are halving the required self-isolation period for vaccinated people with COVID-19 to five days, as the Canadian provinces adapt to workforce shortages and other challenges brought about by the Omicron coronavirus variant. | | | | | | Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni on Friday announced plans to lift COVID-19 containment measures in January that had been in place since March 2020, including reopening schools, bars and nightclubs, citing rising vaccination rates. | | | | | | Cyprus registered a record high 5,048 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday in a surge largely blamed on the Omicron variant spreading throughout Europe. | | | | | | French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said the next few weeks would be difficult as the country headed into subdued New Year celebrations after registering 232,200 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, its highest-ever recorded total. | | | | | | Novavax Inc will submit a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine next month, further delaying the submission it had expected by the end of this year. | | | | | | Turkey logged 40,786 new coronavirus cases on Friday, its highest since April, and the health minister warned that the Omicron variant had become dominant as Turks celebrated New Year's Eve without restrictions. | | | | | | Although farewell celebrations to the pandemic year of 2021 were almost as muffled as those that ushered it in, news that the Omicron variant wave appeared to be starting to recede brought hope for a happier New Year. | | | | | | Greece reported 40,560 COVID-19 cases on Friday, setting a new record high for the fourth successive day following a surge of cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant. | | | | | | Italy reported a record 144,243 COVID-19 related cases on Friday, following 126,888 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths fell slightly to 155 from 156. | | | | | | Britain reported a record high 189,846 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, up slightly from 189,213 the previous day. | | | | | |
