archbishop desmond tutu. tackling the cladding crisis in australia what can the uk learn from down under? and right now in australia, they re celebrating the arrival of 2022 amid heightened covid restrictions. welcome to the bbc news at one. new figures show that covid related absences in acute nhs trusts in england went up by more than 40% during christmas week. an average of more than 25,000 health workers were off sick or isolating each day. london was again the worst hit with about 4% of staff in acute trusts absent, up by nearly 60% on the week before. it comes after latest estimates from the 0ns survey suggest one in 30 people in the uk tested positive for covid heading into christmas, a new record high for infections. hospitals in northampton, sheffield and rotherham have temporarily suspended visiting due to the high number of omicron cases. 0ur health correspondent anna collinson has more. while most of us are looking forward to celebrating this new year s eve, it
of the delta variant. china is attempting to stick to a zero covid strategy ahead of its lunar new year celebrations and the beijing winter olympics. wildfires rip through parts of colorado in the united states destroying hundreds of homes and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate the area. and mourners in south africa have been paying their respects to the late archbishop desmond tutu. hello and welcome. before we move to today s news let s go to beijing and the ceremony there welcoming in the new year. china pursues a strict zero covid strategy, using mass testing and lockdowns to stop outbreaks, and has a vigorous vaccination programme, with 86% of its population now fully jabbed. this is hong kong at the moment. australia was the first two see in their new year celebrations. this is their new year celebrations. this is the seen live in hong kong. beautiful. we will bring you more of those as and when they take place. as countries around the world welcome in 2022, ma
with some countries carrying on with their parties despite concerns about the pandemic. good evening. the pressure on the nhs has been brought into sharp focus by the latest official figures on staff absences related to covid. those absences in acute nhs trusts in england increased up by more than 40% during christmas week. an average of more than 25,000 health workers were off sick or isolating every day. the rapid spread of the 0micron variant is underlined by the latest estimates from the office for national statistics, which suggest that one in 30 people in the uk tested positive for covid in the period before christmas. 0ur health correspondent katherine da costa reports. most nhs staff will be glad to see the back of 2021. nearly two years into this pandemic, many are exhausted. a spike in covid cases is driving a rise in staff sickness. in england, london is worst affected with about 4% of staff in acute trusts absent for covid related reasons in the week before christ
There are still no official figures on the number of blocks with unsafe cladding. labour and cladding campaigners have repeatedly called for ministers to follow the australian approach. thangam debbonaire. the government could have done as victoria in australia did set up a task force to assess the extent of dangerous cladding, prioritised by risk. this is cladding being removed in melbourne. a building levy has forced construction firms to help pay for the work. it is an international problem. politicians in victoria told me they ve treated this as a public safety emergency. $300 million being raised through a building permit levy, because people understood, understand absolutely, the nexus between the levy and getting buildings fixed, because ultimately, this is about community safety. and we are the only state in australia that is doing this cladding rectification work. the other really important point, of course, is that we also moved to ban flammable cladding, and this is in fac
Want any ostentatious or lavish spending for his funeral, also saying that he does not want a military parade, and also does not want any pomp and ceremony. he just wants one bouquet of carnations on top of the coffin as the funeral continues tomorrow. top of the coffin as the funeral continues tomorrow. nomsa maseko, thank ou continues tomorrow. nomsa maseko, thank you very continues tomorrow. nomsa maseko, thank you very much. in the aftermath of the grenfell tower fire in 2017, dangerous cladding was found on thousands of high rise buildings around the world. some countries, like australia, took rapid action. in the state of victoria, a taskforce was set up three weeks after grenfell to find out how many buildings were unsafe and a tax on construction firms has helped to pay for the work needed. here in the uk, there are no official figures on how many residential blocks are wrapped in dangerous materials and the government s cladding fund only covers buildings above a certain