and ordered him to be released from immigration detention. the ruling comes ahead of the australian open and less than a week after djokovic's visa was canceled on arriving in australia for allegedly not meeting vaccination requirements for entry. cnn is covering all the angles. our phil black is in melbourne following the latest developments. and cnn world sport's patrick snell is joining us from here in atlanta with his perspective. good to see you both. phil, let's start with you. djokovic has won his visa appeal and can now remain in the country to play in the australian open. what more are you learning about this decision, and what comes next? >> so as we speak, rosemary, novak djokovic should be, according to the time scale of the court, a free man. he was ordered to be released within 30 minutes of that decision. that time has passed. so we don't know where he is. he was watching proceedings at an undisclosed location. he was allowed out of the immigration detention hotel behind us in order to do so. he was due to return to the hotel should the matter have been adjourned beyond today. but we have a decision. he has been freed because the judge has overturned the cancellation of his visa. the reasoning appears to focus on the procedural arguments that djokovic's lawyers were making in court for much of the day, particularly the way he was treated through the process of being interviewed, the evidence that he was being asked for, the comments that he was being asked to make. and it specifically comes down to a particular point where djokovic had asked if proceedings could wait until 8:30 in the morning so that he could consult lawyers, tennis australia, get further advice on what he should do next. instead, at about 6:00, or a little bit after 6:00 in the morning, the border officials came back to him and said we'd really like to proceed with this now. there is no further benefit in delaying things. we're giving you formal notice of our intent to cancel your visa. this is your last chance to cancel here. essentially what the judge has found is that djokovic was not treated fairly, was not treated reasonably. all he wanted was a few more thundershowers get advice from lawyers and so forth and he should have been allowed to do so. it seems primarily on that reason alone, his visa has been canceled. now for what happens next, well, we understand the ball is very much in the court of the federal government. the court was told by the government's lawyer that immigration minister alex hawk will now consider his options here, and specifically whether or not to deploy his personal power to cancel a visa. so we wait to hear whether or not that will happen. it was acknowledged within the court that if he does so, that would very likely go along with a three-year ban from entering the country. so if that were to happen, it could very well mean novak djokovic could not return here to play for another three years. and in the words of a judge, the stakes have now risen further. they have not de-escalated. rosemary? >> and phil, of course it is early yet. but australians have really done it tough throughout this pandemic. so how is this playing across the country? or how will it likely play once people have digested this. >> it is early, certainly. but i would say that broadly, it was very difficult to find people specifically outside of the australian serbian community who were prepared to openly defend djokovic or who held tremendous sympathy for him. there is a view year, and it's perhaps what urged or what triggered the strong response from the australian government to back the decisions of the border force here that djokovic seemed to be getting special treatment by receiving an exemption to play in the australian open. it is very likely that by telling the world via social media that he had received that semz ahead of his rival, that he then brought extra scrutiny upon himself when he did arrive. it's been seen and put forward as a theory that the government saw no political harm in being seen to be tough and uncompromising in just how "the joker" case should be handled. so i think that there will be many australians who perhaps could be frustrated and perhaps think that this is an unfair turn of events. but perhaps we won't get a real indication of that until if, maybe novak djokovic is still allowed to walk out on center court in about a week's time. if that happens, that will be a fascinating moment, both for that sport's superstar, but also in terms of how that big crowd responds to his presence on that court at that time. rosemary? >> and phil, at the end of last year, it was made very clear to djokovic that unless he was vaccinated, he would not be allowed in the country. it has been interesting how this has played out. let's go through that decision and how the judge came to this conclusion. >> well, we know, because the government has made a big point of this, that it told tennis australia, the officials there that having had covid-19 within the last six months would not be considered a valid reason for entering the country. now djokovic contracted covid-19 or tested positive on december 16. he still then did apply for an exemption. that exemption was then analyzed by two separate independent panels, one working for tennis australia. the other the victorian government. and they both approved his exemption to play in the tournament. and that is based upon advice given by an advisory panel that works with the government in setting vaccine policy. within its extended guidance, it says that recently recovering from covid-19, specifically within the last six months is grounds under some circumstances for a temporary exemption for vaccination. so novak djokovic arrived here believing that he had the exemption from tennis officials, that had been scrutinized by medical experts here in america. he had a visa. he had declared all of this and the necessary paperwork online before getting on board his flight. he thought he was arriving here in good faith with everything lioned up and ready to go as it should to be allowed to enter the country. now on that key point of whether or not he was justified in believing that, i don't think we've had any specific comment from the court, or none that i can give you at this stage. the judge's reasoning does seem to be based more upon procedural failing. and that is the belief that djokovic should have been given, a little more time on the morning that he was being detained at the airport in order to consult lawyers and others to get further advice before formally responding to the government's intent to cancel his visa. it would seem for those reasons, on that procedural ground, the cancellation of the visa has now been overturned. and so as i say, as has been acknowledged in court, it now comes down to the government's immigration minister to consider what happens next, and whether or not he should use his personal powers to cancel his visa personally. that will be fascinating to see, because what that means in theory is that novak djokovic could be detained again at any point today before the day is over. but if that does not proceed and the government excepts this court ruling today, then it means that djokovic is free in the coming days to train, prepare, get ready for an australian open. an appearance at a grand slam event perhaps unlike any other in the history of tennis. rosemary? >> thanks for that, phil patrick. let's go to you now here in atlanta. djokovic of course winning his visa appeal, much to the surprise of many australians it has to be said. he'll now play in the australian open. so what impact will all this likely have on the way he plays, and of course raffy nadal, this changes everything for him as well. he was looking to see what the outcome of this would be, absolutely, rosemary. what an incredible last few days, particularly, but particularly in the last hour or so as we've been following this every step of the way. look, novak djokovic has put himself through this. he's endured what he has endured over the last few days because he is absolutely desperate to not just compete in the forthcoming australian open, rosemary, which starts one week today, but he wants to win it. he wants to win not just his tenth aussie open crown. he wants grand slam title number 21, which would make him the most successful male tennis player of all time in terms of grand slam titles. you mentioned rafa nadal there, rosemary. he also is on 20 grand slam titles along with djokovic and along with roger federer as well, the swiss icon who is not competing down under due to injury. we've had so many plot twists, haven't we, over the past few days, and there could be more still to come. as it stands, it looks like djokovic will get the chance to compete. it starts a week today, and he'll be eyeing up number 21. look, he got the final of the u.s. open in new york city last year. he lost that in straight sets to the russian star medvedev. he is hungry, and he wants number 21. make no mistake about it. >> and, you know, patrick, when you look at a situation like this, some of the other tennis players who did play by the rules and all the right things, how would they be feeling about this decision do you think? and what sort of impact overall? this gets into the head of every sports person, doesn't it? >> it really does. >> and it plays out on the court. >> it does. we've been seeing reaction from players. some of them being very honest, open and vocal about it. a couple come to mind straightaway. i'm thinking of let's talk about rafael nadal again, the spanish legend who when all this broke, when all this was unfolding, he said look -- i'm paraphrasing here -- he said look, i have some sympathy for him. i do feel some sorrow for him. but at the same time, he knew what was required to enter australia. it was be fully vaccinated. that was the take from rafa nadal. nick kyrgios, the australian star saying look, i've called him out dr. -- again, i'm paraphrasing -- i've called him out before over his behavior during the pandemic. he was highly critical of the tour of 2020. he says look, the treatment has been right. that was nick kyrgios's view. he is going to be so revved up and determined to put on a good show, i don't want to play him. no one will want to play him. those are good insights, basically those converging views there. >> has there ever been anything like this in the world of tennis? >> it's just extraordinary, isn't it? i personally have never reported on anything like this. i've never witnessed anything like this. as i said, i think there are still more plot twists to come. it all starts a week today, and it feels like we're already sort of have three weeks worth of it if not more. the buildup to it has been going on for months because there was always this doubt of whether djokovic would play in the australian open. he hasn't revealed his situation when it comes to vaccinations. we've learned a lot more, particularly over this past weekend. we learned according to the court documents that he did test positive for coronavirus on december 16th. at least that's when the positive test was recorded. so, look, this is a situation that has got people beyond the world of tennis talking, not just the players, not just the fans. and it's going to be blfl fascinating to see what happens when he walks out on the court at the australian open for his first round match, if indeed that does happen. we're waiting with baited breath. >> yeah, exactly. it's not final yet. phil black and patrick snell, many thanks to you both for bringing us up to date on this breaking news. appreciate it. we will of course have much more on this stunning case and what comes next for novak djokovic in the hours ahead. you're watching cnn. ♪ smooth like butter, like a criminal undercover ♪ ♪ gon' pop like trouble ♪ ♪ breaking into your heart like that ♪ ♪ do the boogie, like ♪ ♪ side step, right-left, to my beat ♪ ♪ high like the moon, rock with me, baby ♪ ♪ know that i got that heat ♪ ♪ let me show you 'cause talk is cheap ♪ ♪ side step, right ♪ ♪ get it, let it roll ♪ get your personalpoints plan! i'm james corden and i'm here to tell people that ww is getting even more personal. keep on shopping. ignore us. i've lost, like, 28 pounds. you look great! wow. i love that my clothes fit better. but i just love ice cream a little bit more than that. the new ww personalpoints program is particular to you. so what kind of foods do you like? 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>> well, they have, but as you mentioned, i don't think this scenario is over quite yet. so even though judge kelly ruled in the federal government that novak djokovic should be released from detention within half an hour of making that ruling, that he should have his passport and all personal effects handed back to him and effectively free to go, the basic cancellation had been quashed according to the court and costs be awarded in mr. djokovic's favor. but right towards the end of the judge making this statement, the council for the foreign affairs ministry said he had beened all the another ministry, the ministry of immigration may in fact declare novak djokovic's visa null and void once again on different grounds. and so we're waiting to see in the coming hours whether that indeed will happen. but as of this very moment, novak djokovic is a free man, no doubt collecting what he has at the detention facility hotel and making his way to the accommodation he had booked where his entourage has been waiting for him. not many people thought this was going to be the result of today's hearing. so it's taken a lot of people by surprise and we've yet to see what the federal government will do in response. >> so if djokovic's visa is declared null and void in the end, is that the end of the matter or will then he reply with some appeal of his own? >> well, he would have at the opportunity to do what he did in this particular cancellation. and that is to exercise his right to appeal the cancellation of that visa. when the judge was notified that there was a possibility this could happen still, the judge did offer a word of warning i suppose you could classify it as. he said part of the reason that we are in this process now and that these particular judgment has been handed down is because we all have to operate by the same rules. now novak djokovic fulfilled every rule and every request that was put in front of him in order to come here on a quarantine-free visa. he received correspondence saying he had been granted such a visa and that the method and how it all unfolded from the moment he arrived and the hours that he was detained at the airport and questioned, there were also gaps in the transcribing of the long and lengthy and detailed interrogation or interview, however you'd like to term it. and what happened was sometimes the tapes were turned off. mr. djokovic was allowed to go outside of the interview room. and on one occasion in that particular incident, the supervisors of the official confronted mr. djokovic and said we know you've requested extra time to wait until 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning so you can speak to officials at tennis australia or your lawyer in order to try and sort out this mess. but we don't believe that's in your best interest, and we recommend that you accept our decision now. that was a real sticking point for the judge. he said it had given him some angst over the weekend as he was reading through the notes and thinking about the way this case was going to unfold. so he wasn't happy with the news that there is still a potential that another minister may make the same decision, although on different grounds. and this is a real challenge, rosemary. as you understand, you heard the prime minister scott morrison at the end of last week suggesting that border patrol is a very important issue. the amount of hard work that all australians have gone through in the past two years, what they've given up in order to fight covid, that the australian government is not going to be told by anybody or threatened by anybody coming into this country without a vaccination, even though it is legal to come into australia without being vaccinated if you get approval. and that is what novak djokovic had done. and so we see even though it's a win for novak djokovic at the moment, there will still be a nervous wait to see whether the immigration minister indeed decides to cancel his visa yet again. >> yeah, we'll watch to see what happens. tracy holmes, many thanks joining us from sydney, australia. appreciate it. thanks, rosemary. >> we will have much more on the novak djokovic saga just ahead. also, talks between the u.s. and russia over ukraine will soon get under way in switzerland. a live report from geneva coming your way in just a moment. ♪ three times the electorlytes and half the sugar. ♪ pedialyte powder packs. feel better fast. feel stuck with credit card debt? move to sofi and feel what it's like to get your money right. ♪ move your high-interest debt to a sofi personal loan. you could save with low rates and no fees. earn $10 just for viewing your rate and get your money right. ♪ we're getting destroyed out there. we need a plan! i have a plan... right now at t-mobile, customers on magenta max can get the new iphone 13 ...and t-mobile will pay for it! i'm talking new customers! i'm talking existing customers like ronald! the new iphone on t-mobile... let's do it! new and existing t-mobile and sprint customers, can upgrade to the iphone 13 on us. on our most popular max plan. do we have a plan for the second half? nah, we're gonna get creamed... but we'll be on t-mobile! this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. welcome back, everyone. well, u.s. officials hope talks set for switzerland next hour can avert the next war in europe. american and russian officials are due to meet in geneva as moscow's military buildup near ukraine stokes fears of an all-out invasion. the head of the kremlin delegation has said he's disappointed so far at signals coming from the u.s., and america's top diplomat is downplaying expectations. here is secretary of state antony blinken speaking to cnn's jake tapper. >> what about moving heavy u.s. weaponry out of poland, moving it further west? or moving missiles? what about limiting the scope of u.s. military exercise. are any of those on the table? >> look, first, jake, i don't think we're going see any breakthroughs in the coming week. we're going to be able to put things on the table. the russians will do the same both directly with us at nato and the oec, and we'll see if they're grounds for moving forward. >> international diplomatic editor nick robinson joins me now from geneva. these critical talks begin in just a matter of hours in geneva. what all is at stake here? >> everything is at stake. russia has said previously if it doesn't make progress with diplomacy on the diplomatic track that it's willing to consider military alternatives. russia's position is one that has already been -- essentially is one that already exceeds what nato and the united states are willing to consider. russia has demanded that nato -- nato deny ukraine membership of nato, that nato withdraw its forces from eastern europe. this has already been declared by nato officials, by u.s. officials as essentially a non-starter. the russian foreign minister has said that the talks won't -- they don't want the talks to drag on indefinitely. russia's president vladimir putin wrote a 20 page document, a public document last summer that details in extreme detail why he believes ukraine is part of russia. so the stakes here are incredibly high. and nato secretary general friday last week said that russia goes into this having sent out threats, having built up its troops, and having a track record of invading neighbors. so the position that russia enters this is a very, very extreme position, if you will. what the united states is saying is they're happy for the diplomatic track to go forward. nato has said the same thing. wendy sherman, who is leading the u.s. delegation in the talks today had a dinner with sergei represent repokov who is leading the russian delegation. they had dinner last night. the united states has laid out its position that there are things that are off the table for the bilateral talks that should be better held under the auspices of nato and the osc later in the week. the russian position is they think the united states is the most sort of anti-russian member or russia phobic members of nato, and therefore they want a bilateral meeting with the united states first. certainly, russian holds the position that nato has abrogated on its prior commitments to not expand east wards. the united states and nato says this is a misinterpretation, a misrepresentation of historic facts. so when you ask what's at stake, the stakes are incredibly high because the positions are so far apart, and there is also a military buildup. >> understood. and nic robertson joining us live there from geneva. many thanks. at least 164 people are dead and nearly 8,000 people are being detained after a crackdown on protests in kazakhstan. the demonstrations began last week over a spike in fuel prices and have expanded to anger over government corruption, poverty, and unemployment. forces from a russian-led military alliance are on the ground in kazakhstan at the president's request to help restore order. still to come here on cnn, top-ranked tennis star novak djokovic has won a major legal battle in an australian court. more on this breaking news when we come back. hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i've been telling everyone... the secret to great teeth is having healthy gums. crest advanced gum restore. detoxifies below the gumline... and restores by helping heal gums in as little as 7 days. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. when you have xfinity, you have entertainment built in. which is kind of nice. ah, what is happening. binge-watching is in the bag, when you find all your apps, all in one place. find live sports faster just by using your voice... sports on now. touchdown irish! [cheering] that was awesome. and, the hits won't quit, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. all that entertainment built in. xfinity. a way better way to watch. more on our breaking news story this hour. tennis star novak djokovic has won his visa appeal and can now remain in australia to play in the australian open. the ruling comes just days after djokovic was detained in melbourne over issues with his covid-19 vaccination exemption. and for more on this, we want to turn to ben rothenberg who joins us live from melbourne. he is a senior editor at racket magazine and the host of no challenges remaining podcast. thank you so much for being with us. >> thanks for having me, rosemary. >> so according to house has now decided to let djokovic stay in australia. his lawyers successfully arguing his case. what are you learning about this decision and how it ended this way? because it has surprised most australians. >> yeah, i think this decision came very abruptfully the proceedings. it came after a long adjournment from the proceedings. the judge came and said he was going grant a cancellation of the cancellation to the visa throwing out the initial ruling that was made at the airport, purely pretty much on procedural grounds saying that djokovic was not given the time and resources and connections and access that he should have been afforded while contesting the border guards' decision and their inquiries they were making in that late-night interrogation basically in a side room at the airport. there is a sense that the government could respond pretty quickly and appeal the decision or recancel the vision denovo. but it seems like round one goes to djokovic and we'll see if there is a round two coming. >> this isn't the end of it, but australia has been particularly tough when it comes to requiring covid vaccines for the australian open and other events. we know too it was made very clear to novak djokovic at the end of 2021 that he would need to be vaccinated. so in the end, what message does this court decision send? >> it's going to be a message that a lot of people are going to be very angry at for sure. it will be seen as that djokovic is somehow above the rules and practices that everybody else in melbourne has abided by. they've taken a lot of pride of staying home, lots of mandatory lengthy lockdowns going on all year round and djokovic seen as getting around that will not make him more popular. he hazard dent supporters. he has touched a nerve with the small but vocal anti-vax movement here. it is going to be very fractious in terms of loaded emotions in the crowd on both sides for him. >> of course we've got the federal government making it very clear you have to be vaccinated. you have the victorian government sending out mixed messages along with tennis australia. who dropped the ball here? >> a lot of balls were dropped along the way for sure, along the way of this sort of back and forth tennis match of the deportation debacle for the government. novak djokovic made life much more difficult for himself by choosing to stay unvaccinated. that put him on a more difficult path and the tournament by trying to accommodate that decision of his. they really tried to go out of the way to get this guy here to probably win his tenth australian open title. the tournament director went above and beyond in terms of making new rules and practices that would allow djokovic to compete here even if he wasn't following the vaccination rules. djokovic made it more difficult. tennis australia added to that and didn't communicate what the reality is going to be on the ground landing, and it was certainly a rude awakening for him. and the government having different messages a the state and federal levels didn't help and enough to have this revocation of visa hold up in the first round of court hearing. everyone has some scrambling to do to try to repair the damage done by this fiasco. >> so what impact will all this likely have on djokovic as he prepares for the australian open, if indeed he does end up playing. and of course what impact on his ambitions and his mental state too as he goes out on the court? >> this has to be a very challenging four or five days mentally and physically, being hold up like this. not being able to practice. right before playing a grand slam best of five. being shelved up in a room will make it tough physically for him not to mention the mental anguish and strain of being in this predicament for many days, even if it was self-inflicted, it still was difficult for him. that said, novak is someone who responds well to defiance. there is never going to be a more defiant possibility than when the country literally tried to send him away from the shores. it's a real chance for djokovic to stand up and show what he's made of if he wants to take it as a challenge. also, potentially, he might not be up for them. we'll see how much he has left in him after going through this pretty lengthy legal ordeal. >> the whole world will be watching. thank you so much for joining us. appreciate it. well, still to come here on cnn, an entire city of nearly 14 million people in china is under partial lockdown as authorities test everyone for covid. we're live in beijing with the very latest. everything felt like a 'no'. everytything. but then ray went from no to know. with freestyle libre 2, now he knows his glucose levels when he needs to. and... when he wants to. so ray... can be ray. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us i've always been running. to meetings. errands. now i'm running for me. i've always dreame of seeing the world. but i'm not ching my dream anymore. i made a fancial plan to live it every day. at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today. find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com (birds chirping) ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ (phone beep) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (music quieter) ♪ (phone clicks) ♪ ♪ i like that my plan is built just for me. arugula, you get an extra... with the new ww personalpoints program, you take an assessment, enter your goals, the foods you love and what fits into your lifestyle. you don't have to eat diet food. i can enjoy the things that i really love like wine, cheese. you can add points for eating vegetables or being active. i lost 26 pounds and i feel incredible. the all new ww personalpoints program. join today for 50% off at ww.com. hurry, offer ends january 10th. you booked a sunny vrbo ski chalet. with endless views of snow-covered peaks. 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been hospitalized at record levels, especially kids under 5 years old, who was still too young to be vaccinated. experts warn many health systems are being pushed to the brink. >> the health care system is not just designed to take care of people with covid. of course it does that. it's designed to take care of kids with appendicitis and people who have heart attacks and get into car accidents. and all of that is going to be much more difficult because we have a large portion of the population that is not vaccinated. plenty of high risk people are not boosted that combination sets up a large pool of people who as they get infected will end up straining the resources we have in the hospitals today. >> and there will be no school in chicago for a fourth day monday. the teachers union said they want to resume in-perpetrator learning on january 18th, citing covid-19 concerns. the mayor emphasized individual schools can be shut down if needed, but districtwide remote learning is not an option. a different story in atlanta where the city's public schools will reopen to in-person learning in the coming hours. the school system went to virtual learning when it returned from winter break last week. staff will be tested twice a week and with parental consent. so will students. just take a listen. >> we have put in place several mitigation strategies that we are clear can help us keep children and staff in place when we're able to identify positivity data to help address those issues that are tied to some of the frustrations with pivoting. but to be clear, we also recognize that in order to ensure health and wellness, there will be times within schools or classrooms that pivoting to virtual may be necessary. well, meanwhile, schools in los angeles are fighting a skyrocketing number of cases in children by implementing new safety measures. people in the district who test positive are now blocked from setting foot on campus as cnn's natasha chen reports, that means tens of thousands of people will not be allowed back when in-person classes resume in the coming hours. >> los angeles unified school district, the second largest district in the country, resumes class in person on tuesday. we are at one of the many school testing sites because one of the requirements to restart school is that every student and employee needs a baseline test, needs to show a negative result to be able to enter the building on tuesday. the school district board president told me that they have caught 50,000 positive cases, which means 50,000 people prevented from entering the building with covid-19. 100% of the employees are required to be vaccinated. about 90% of the students 12 and older are now also fully vaccinated. that along with universal masking are some of their strategies that have been able to help them keep schools open this entire academic year. now at the same time, the surge across the los angeles county area has been very serious, especially for children. children's hospital los angeles told me that they have seen quite an increase in hospitalizations there. among the children coming into that hospital, testing for covid-19, the positivity rate went from 17.5% in december to as of this date in january, 45%. a doctor from that hospital told me that while they've seen little waves throughout the last couple of years of this pandemic, none as fast as they're seeing right now. back to you. >> well, the omicron variant is pushing covid case numbers to new highs around the world and prompting governments to impose tough new measures to stop the spread. starting monday, italy will require a super green pass to access public areas. it's only granted to those who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from covid. meantime, the nearly 14 million residents of tianjin, china have been told not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary. authorities are now testing everyone there for covid. and we've got reporters standing by around the world. cnn's stephen jung is in beijing, and nina dos santos is in london. nina, let's start with you. what is the situation across europe? >> well, the situation across europe is more or less following the same trend. and rosemary, it means that those covid cases are continuing to spike quite significantly that is concerning to authorities. this is the omicron wave which of course is deemed to be more infectious, easily spreading across parts of europe, gets a grip there. we've already seen the omicron buffet the u.s. about two or three weeks ago. this is europe, continental europe now getting that disease. and it's replacing the delta variant more and more frequently. it's for this reason that these infection numbers are spiking in countries like italy are taking what is seen perhaps as more draconian measures to try and stamp out pocks of vaccine hesitancy. you mentioned that super green pass that they have introduced as of today. what that does is that essentially is an immunity passport. it means whether or not you've recovered from covid-19 or you've had the vaccine. that will give you access. but you no longer have the option of saying, well, look, i tested negative in the last 48 hours. and even if i'm not vaccinated, here is a negative test. that option has now been removed. the reason mario draghi, the prime minister of italy was coming under relentless pressure, particularly in the northeast of the city which has always been a hotbed of vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine movement even well before the pandemic. they were saying they're very, very concerned about the infection rate spiking. you've also got to remember this isn't just an issue in italy . now i should point out there are other countries that have taken a leap. austria is already involved. we're seeing the netherlands having to up its game in terms of trying to have mini lockdowns to try to stem the spread of covid-19. yet again what we're seeing is people getting increasingly irritated by the more draconian measures. the netherlands have had days and days of outbreaks. rosemary? >> nina dos santos. let's go to steven jiang. talking about draconian measures. probably the most draconian has been across china. we're hearing about tian jiang. people are being told don't leave the city unless it's absolutely necessary. what sort of measures are in place there? >> reporter: that's right, rosemary. that's the most important because they want to stick to the zero covid policy. given how highly transmissible, we know the omicron variant has been around the world, given their proximity to beijing where the winter olympics are set to open in 3 1/2 weeks, this is a double whammy for the authorities. they have shut down travel. usually you see high amount of traffic where high speed trains are running back and forth 30 minutes throughout a day. those services have been stopped. they are working from home. they have adopted measures. we have seen those being implemented every time when you have local cases. in china that is mass testing, snap lockdown, extensive contact tracing. one thing they're doing is to reassure the public about supply of daily necessities of groceries and necessities. not to repeat a fiasco like xi'an when they went into lockdown. these cases were first detected in the after school care center. that's why young students and school children are worried about hidden transmissions for at least a few weeks. that's why two more omicron cases have now been confirmed in the central chinese province of hue than. domestic transmission has begun. that's why we are seeing a growing sense of concerns and urgency especially as we head into the peak travel season ahead of the chinese new year which is only three weeks away. rosemary. >> the winter olympics are not far away either. so that has many people concerned although they've created essentially a bubble, haven't they? what's the latest on that? >> reporter: that's right. the bubbles are going to be strictly enforced but those bubbles, that basically means all participants of the games are going to go straight into this area sealed out from the rest of beijing and indeed the rest of china as soon as they land at the beijing airport. according to these officials, the public is putting on a brave face. this strict implementation of measures will ensure omicron and other covid cases won't spread to the rest of china. rosemary. >> many challenges ahead with that, of course. steven jiang joining us there live. many thanks. brazilian officials are working to identify those killed on saturday when a massive section of this canyon wall collapsed and toppled on to several tour boats on the lake. the death toll rose to 10 on sunday as emergency crews found two more bodies. officials blame days of heavy rain for loosening the earth and triggering the collapse. there was this emotional moment. authorities reunited these two young ones from their loved ones. frigid arctic air is engulfing the upper midwest and northeast. joining me is meteorologist pedram javaheri. talk to us about what we can expect. >> yeah, rosemary, this is incredible for any time of year. we are in the heart of winter in the next couple of weeks, but you look at the air mass in place. the potential impacts especially around the northeast. talking running 20 to 40 degrees below average for this time of year. among the coldest times of year. what is this tlantsing to? look at the wind chill alerts in place in the northern tier of the u.s. that is what it will feel like across northern portions of minnesota. wind chills could get as low as 35 below. i looked into this, school closures typically in place if wind chills are 35 below or lower at 6 a.m. on a thursday. forecasts bring it down to 35 below. around minneapolis looks to be around 27 below around sunrise. getting dangerously cold. almost cold enough to cause school closures. these are the overnight lows. 19 what is normal for this time of year. minneapolis, 4 below. 9 is normal for this time of year. yes, it is typically very cold. certainly not this cold not very often and especially when you look at how things play out around portions of the northeast. wind chill alerts extend into interior areas. in new york city you expect it to be cold, not to this level. could get down to 15 degrees tuesday afternoon and that's only happened eight times in the last 20 years. >> unbelievable. pedram javaheri, many thanks for keeping us up to date. thank you so much for joining us. i'm rosemary church. i'll be back with another hour of "cnn newsroom" after this commercial break. do stay with us. 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