Shorter isolation period ‘under consideration,’ Fauci says
The Omicron coronavirus variant has been causing Covid-19 cases to rise sharply, setting new records over the holiday weekend in countries around the world. Here’s a roundup of where things stand in some nations:
Australia:
Australia registered at least 10,186 new Covid-19 cases on Monday. It’s the first time the number of new cases across the country has surpassed 10,000.
This comes amid an “unprecedented Covid-testing activity,” according to testing facility SydPath.
The states of New South Wales and Victoria account for more than 8,000 of those cases. New South Wales, home to Sydney, recorded 6,324 cases from 97,241 tests on Monday morning.
The state of Queensland has recorded 589 new daily Covid-19 cases, its highest number since the start of the pandemic. Queensland’s Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said that he was expecting the case numbers “to grow very substantially” over the course of the next few weeks.
France:
France reported a record-breaking 104,611 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the country’s highest daily number since the pandemic began. It was also the first time that case numbers broke the 100,000 threshold in the country, according to health ministry data.
United Kingdom:
The UK reported at least 122,186 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, the highest daily number since start of the pandemic, according to government data.
The Health Security Agency also noted that government figures would not be updated on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, with the next coronavirus data update expected on Monday, Dec. 27.
Italy:
Italy reported its third consecutive day of record-breaking new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, according to health ministry data.
With at least 54,762 cases, the country saw its highest daily figure since the pandemic began. That’s up from Friday’s record of 50,599, which itself had surpassed the previous day’s record of 44,595 cases.
The country also reported a further 144 deaths and 33 more patients in intensive care units on Saturday.
