France registered its biggest jump in coronavirus-related hospital admissions since spring while Spain and Sweden reported their 1st Omicron variant cases.
South Africa registered 2,273 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the cumulative total to 2,963,679. A further 25 Covid-19-related deaths were reported, taking total official deaths to 89,822. A total of 25,448,767 people have been vaccinated.
(Bloomberg)
Singapore set another record for daily Covid-19 infections. China is asking city governments to create specialized quarantine facilities that can house thousands of overseas arrivals.
U.S. Passes 20 Million Cases as New Year Begins: Virus Update Bloomberg 1/2/2021 Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) India will make vaccines free nationwide, Thailand’s capital will close entertainment venues and Hong Kong plans to roll out inoculations in February as authorities in Asia try to suppress recent outbreaks.
Sydney has mandated masks in many indoor settings as the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down in 2021. Tokyo’s governor is urging Japan to declare a state of emergency while Turkey, China and Brazil became the latest nations to report infections of the new, highly transmissible virus strain.
The U.S. surpassed 20 million Covid-19 cases, a year after a mysterious pathogen first revealed itself in Wuhan, China. Vaccines remained the best hope for 2021 with the World Health Organization issuing an emergency-use designation for Pfizer Inc.’s shot.