 | | | | France recorded a record high of 104,611 COVID-19 infections on Saturday, breaking the 100,000 threshold for the first time since the pandemic began as the omicron variant continued its rapid spread. | | | | | | Israel has ordered 100,000 units of Pfizer Inc's anti-viral COVID 19 pill Paxlovid for people aged 12 and older at risk of severe illness, an Israeli official said on Saturday, confirming a television report. | | | | | | Italy reported a third successive record tally of COVID-19 cases on Saturday, with new infections hitting 54,762 against 50,599 a day earlier, the health ministry said. | | | | | | Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin has gained approval for emergency use in children aged 12 to 18, the Indian company said on Twitter. | | | | | | India will start administering COVID-19 booster shots as a precautionary measure to healthcare and frontline workers from Jan. 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, as cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant rose across the country. | | | | | | Kenya will offer COVID-19 booster shots to individuals six months after their initial shots, the health ministry said in a document published on Saturday, a day after the country logged its highest rate of positive COVID-19 tests. | | | | | | Japan's Fukuoka prefecture has confirmed its first infection with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, its governor Seitaro Hattori said on Saturday. | | | | | | Japan's Kyoto and Fukuoka prefectures detected new infections involving the Omicron coronavirus variant, including cases of possible community transmission, a government representative and local media said on Saturday. | | | | | | Xian in northwest China reported an increase in daily COVID-19 infections for Friday, and local companies curtailed activity as the country's latest COVID-19 hot spot entered its third day of lockdown. | | | | | | 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. | | | | | |
