 | | | | France hit another COVID-19 infection record on Friday, with the daily figure getting close to 100,000, a trend that prompted the government to convene a special meeting on the pandemic on Monday which could trigger new restrictions on movement. | | | | | | Italy reported a second successive record daily tally of COVID-19 cases on Friday, with new cases hitting 50,599 against 44,595 a day earlier, the health ministry said. | | | | | | Britain reported a new record 122,186 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, up from 119,789 on Thursday. | | | | | | Britain reported another day of record COVID-19 cases on Friday, with new estimates showing swathes of London's population are carrying the virus, underlining the relentless advance of the Omicron variant. | | | | | | Ireland on Friday reported its highest number of daily COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began but those requiring critical care fell further amid a rapid rollout of booster vaccines to battle a surge of the dominant Omicron variant. | | | | | | The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions on eight southern African countries imposed last month over concerns about the fast-spreading COVID-19 Omicron variant, the White House said Friday. | | | | | | Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: | | | | | | Vitor Chitas started queuing at 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve for a COVID-19 test before meeting up with loved ones later on Friday amid a fresh surge in infections in Portugal. | | | | | | U.S. airlines canceled hundreds of flights on Christmas Eve amid a surge in COVID-19 infections driven by the Omicron variant but millions of wary Americans carried on with travel plans through a second pandemic-clouded winter holiday. | | | | | | South Africans without symptoms of COVID-19 will no longer need to isolate or test if they have been in contact with a positive case, the government announced on Friday, saying developments around the virus justified a shift from containment measures towards mitigation. | | | | | |
