 | | | | Britain raised its COVID alert level on Sunday in response to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the virus, as medical authorities warned that hospitalisations are likely to rise sharply over the coming weeks. | | | | | | Three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine is the "optimal care" but two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or one of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine remains the U.S. government's official definition of fully vaccinated, top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said on Sunday. | | | | | | The United States on Sunday reached 800,000 coronavirus-related deaths, according to a Reuters tally, as the nation braces for a potential surge in infections due to more time spent indoors with colder weather and the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus. | | | | | | More than half a billion people globally were pushed into extreme poverty last year as they paid for health costs out of their own pockets during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization and the World Bank said on Sunday. | | | | | | Australia said on Sunday it will shorten the wait time for people to receive a COVID-19 booster following a rise in cases of the Omicron variant. | | | | | | Israeli researchers said on Saturday they found that a three-shot course of the Pfizer/BioNTech , COVID-19 vaccine provided significant protection against the new Omicron variant. | | | | | | Britain reported 54,073 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday and 132 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test, official data showed. | | | | | | Nearly a year after COVID-19 vaccines were first administered in the United States, the country is returning to many of the hallmarks that defined earlier pandemic life: mask mandates, mass vaccination sites, crowded hospitals and a rising death toll. | | | | | | Dozens of U.S. Navy medics have deployed to New Mexico to treat a Delta variant-fueled surge in COVID-19 patients as part of a military operation to treat virus hotspots across Western and Midwest states. | | | | | | Italy reported 96 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, down from 118 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 21,042. | | | | | |
