 | | | | COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States are poised to hit a new high as early as Friday, according to a Reuters tally, surpassing the record set in January of last year as the highly contagious Omicron variant fuels a surge in the number of cases. | | | | | | Spain's 14-day COVID-19 infection rate rose by 148 points to 2,722.72 cases per 100,000 people, the health ministry said on Friday, compared to 2,574.46 on Wednesday when the last figures were released before a public holiday on Thursday. | | | | | | Two doses of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are highly protective against a rare but often serious condition in children that causes organ inflammation weeks after COVID-19 infections, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report said on Friday. | | | | | | COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States are poised to hit a new high as early as Friday, according to a Reuters tally, surpassing the record set in January of last year as the highly contagious Omicron variant fuels a surge in infections. | | | | | | COVID-19 hospitalizations in young children have reached their highest level yet in the United States, as Omicron fuels a major surge in cases, but it is not clear yet whether the variant causes more severe disease in young children, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. | | | | | | Swabbing the nose with a rapid antigen test will not reliably detect the Omicron variant in the first few days of an infection, so manufacturers should seek U.S. approval to allow users to safely collect samples from the throat as well, according to an infectious diseases expert. | | | | | | The U.S. government has signed the first contract involving 500 million rapid COVID-19 tests that President Joe Biden promised in December would be free to Americans who request them, an official said on Friday. | | | | | | Booster jabs are still providing high levels of protection for older people against severe disease from the Omicron coronavirus variant and there is no need for now for people to have a fourth shot, British health officials said on Friday. | | | | | | Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos on Friday warned some of the country's 10 provinces that they needed to do more to fight the Omicron coronavirus variant and prevent healthcare systems from being swamped. | | | | | | France on Friday registered 328,214 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, around 70,000 more than on the previous day but still slightly below the historic record of 332,252 new cases reached on Wednesday, official data showed. | | | | | |
