A summary of today"s developments Half of adults in the UK have now had a Covid-19 booster dose, Boris Johnson has said, after the programme was accelerated this week in the face of Omicron.A total of 26.3 million people aged 18 and over have received a vaccine top-up. The government said the milestone makes the UK’s booster rollout one of the fastest in the world. Health experts have advised the Dutch government to adopt a “strict” lockdown to stem the spread of the Omicron variant, RTL Nieuws reported on Friday. Germany has designated France and Denmark as high-risk zones for the transmission of coronavirus and will impose quarantine on unvaccinated travellers from the two countries, a public health agency said.The requirement will be imposed from Sunday and will also apply to travellers from Norway, Lebanon and Andorra, with those unvaccinated or who have not recovered from the virus subject to quarantine with the possibility of testing on day five, AFP reports. Ireland has announced an 8pm curfew for hospitality venues and a 50% limit on capacity for events in a bid to slow the spread of Omicron. The new measures will come into force on Sunday (19 December) and remain in place until 30 January. England had 65 patients in hospital with Omicron today, the UK Health Security Agency said. The total number of deaths from the new variant in England remains unchanged at one. The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, said there needs to be “swift engagement with the treasury” on Covid-19 support funds during a phone call with Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. The risk of reinfection from Omicron is more than five times higher than Delta and shows no sign of being milder than the previous coronavirus variant, according to a study by Imperial College London. The results, based on data from the UK Health Security Agency and Britain’s National Health Service, analysed people who tested positive for Covid-19 in a PCR test in England between 29 November and 11 December. The UK reported 93,045 new Covid cases today, breaking the daily record for the third consecutive day. There were also 111 new Covid deaths reported and 7,611 patients in hospital, 875 of whom were on beds with ventilators. There were an additional 3,201 confirmed Omicron cases in the UK today, reports the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), nearly twice the number of infections announced yesterday (yesterday it was 1,691). Thousands of British tourists rushed to travel to France today in an attempt to beat the country’s ban on UK travellers, due to start at 11pm tonight. There were long queues at the port of Dover, reports PA Media, as people brought their Christmas travel plans forward in a bid to avoid the new restrictions. Switzerland has announced plans to tighten Covid measures - including working from home and entry restrictions for venues. From Monday, the government said it will expand proof of vaccination or recovery to many indoor venues, including restaurants, reports Reuters. For venues such as discos and bars, where masks are less likely to be worn, visitors will have to show a negative test result. Omicron could account for 80% of all new Covid cases in Portugal by the end of the month, the country’s health minister said today. England’s R value has risen to 1.0-1.2, the UK government said. An R value of between 1.0 and 1.2 means that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 10 and 12 people. The Danish prime minister today said her government would introduce new Covid restrictions, including closing theatres and cinemas, to try to control its spread. Mette Frederiksen said Omicron now accounts for a fifth of all coronavirus cases in Denmark. Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that Omicron is now the dominant Covid variant in Scotland, making up 51.4% of cases. She said that Omicron has “now replaced Delta” as the dominant Covid strain circulating in Scotland. Mexico’s health ministry reported 2,650 new cases of coronavirus infection and 211 additional deaths on Friday, Reuters reports. It brings the total number of confirmed cases to 3,930,015 and the death toll from the pandemic to 297,567. Officials have said the ministry’s figures likely represent a significant undercount of both Covid-19 cases and deaths. UK officials are drawing up plans for a two-week circuit breaker lockdown after Christmas, reports have suggested, including a ban on indoor mixing. The Times reported that draft regulations were being prepared which would ban meeting others indoors except for work purposes, and that pubs and restaurants would be limited to outdoor service only. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported that Boris Johnson was presented with a number of options on Friday under a so-called Plan C, ranging from “mild guidance to nudge people, right through to lockdown”. Boeing Co has suspended its coronavirus vaccination requirement for US-based employees, the plane manufacturer said. In an internal announcement, Boeing said its decision came after a review of a US District Court ruling earlier this month that halted the enforcement of President Joe Biden’s vaccine requirement for federal contractors, Reuters reports. Some big healthcare chains and companies such as General Electric, Spirit AeroSystems and Amtrak have also suspended vaccine mandates for workers. The US administered 491,892,649 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country as of Friday morning and distributed 606,975,165 doses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. Those figures are up from the 490,030,849 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Thursday out of 602,523,315 doses delivered. The agency said 240,775,382 people had received at least one dose while 203,479,206 people were fully vaccinated as of 6am ET on Friday, Reuters reports. People are waiting in long queues at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras in London to beat new French restrictions set to come into force at midnight. The ban will mean only those with “compelling reasons” will be able to travel between the UK and France after 11pm and tourist or business trips will not be permitted. Egypt reported its first three cases of the Omicron variant, the health ministry said. “Two cases are not showing any symptoms, while the third suffers mild symptoms,” the ministry said. France president Emmanuel Macron has cancelled a December 20-21st trip to Mali to visit French troops due to France’s deteriorating health situation over the spread of the Omicron variant, his office said. “This decision was taken in order for there to be coherence between national measures and the president’s international agenda, and in order not to expose troops,” Macron’s office said. With France in the grip of its fifth wave, prime minister Jean Castex announced a new push on Friday to get people vaccinated and said people would have to show proof of vaccination to enter some venues, Reuters reports. Castex also cancelled a trip planned to visit French troops stationed in Jordan from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1. Half of UK adults receive booster vaccination Half of adults in the UK have now had a Covid-19 booster dose, Boris Johnson has said, after the programme was accelerated this week in the face of Omicron. A total of 26.3 million people aged 18 and over have received a vaccine top-up. The government said the milestone makes the UK’s booster rollout one of the fastest in the world. On Twitter, the prime minister said: “A record day for vaccinations yesterday with an incredible 936,480 people coming forward. “That means 50% of adults have now received a booster dose.” Health experts have advised the Dutch government to adopt a “strict” lockdown to stem the spread of the Omicron variant, RTL Nieuws reported on Friday. Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau said a spike in cases of the Omicron variant was “scary”, while the country’s top medical official made clear the healthcare system could soon be swamped. Case numbers are rapidly increasing in Canada, with several of the 10 provinces reporting big jumps as Omicron replaces Delta as the dominant variant, Reuters reports. “I know the record numbers we’re seeing in parts of the country are scary – but I also know we can get through this,” Trudeau tweeted, urging Canadians to get vaccinated and keep their distance from other people. Health minister Jean-Yves Duclos earlier urged provinces to impose more public health measures, and said Canada would once again require people returning home after foreign trips of less than 72 hours to produce a negative test. The UK’s cabinet secretary Simon Case has “recused himself” from leading an investigation into lockdown-breaking parties across Whitehall following allegations of gatherings in his own department. He had been tasked by the prime minister to investigate parties reported to have been held in Downing Street and the Department for Education in November and December 2020. And it was confirmed the scope could be widened to other alleged parties if Case thought it necessary. But following reports there were two parties held in the Cabinet Office in December 2020, a No 10 spokesperson said: “To ensure the ongoing investigation retains public confidence the Cabinet Secretary has recused himself for the remainder of the process.” “The work will be concluded by Sue Gray, second permanent secretary at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. “She will ascertain the facts and present her findings to the prime minister.” Germany has designated France and Denmark as high-risk zones for the transmission of coronavirus and will impose quarantine on unvaccinated travellers from the two countries, a public health agency said. The requirement will be imposed from Sunday and will also apply to travellers from Norway, Lebanon and Andorra, with those unvaccinated or who have not recovered from the virus subject to quarantine with the possibility of testing on day five, AFP reports. France’s prime minister Jean Castex likened the spread of the Omicron variant in Europe to “lightning”, adding that it would be the dominant strain in France from the start of 2022. Nearly 3,000 people are in intensive care with Covid-19 in France according to the latest figures. Meanwhile, eligibility for booster jabs will be reduced from five months from the date of the second vaccination to four, Castex added. He said the government would announce new measures to tackle non-vaccination from next year, AFP reports. Spain’s coronavirus infection rate rose above 500 cases per 100,000 people on Friday, crossing the threshold considered “very high risk” by the country’s health ministry. The rate has more than doubled since the start of December, Reuters reports. On Friday the infection rate, or incidence, as measured over the preceding 14 days, was 511 cases per 100,000, up 38 points on Thursday’s 473. There were 33,359 new infections and 41 deaths according to Health Ministry data. Roughly 80% of Spain’s population of 47 million has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and about 10m have received booster shots. Omicron is having a significant impact on staff at a large hospital trust in England with hundreds off work due to illness, leading to the cancellation of non-essential services to tackle a surge in admissions driven by the variant. Guy’s and St Thomas’ trust (GSTT) in London is preparing to redeploy staff to work in its A&E and intensive care units to cover for the growing number of staff who are off sick. It has seen the number of hospitalised patients with Covid it is treating jump by a third over the last week and is bracing itself for worse to come in the days ahead. Here"s a summary of the latest developments... Ireland has announced an 8pm curfew for hospitality venues and a 50% limit on capacity for events in a bid to slow the spread of Omicron. The new measures will come into force on Sunday (19 December) and remain in place until 30 January. England had 65 patients in hospital with Omicron today, the UK Health Security Agency said. The total number of deaths from the new variant in England remains unchanged at one. The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, said there needs to be “swift engagement with the treasury” on Covid-19 support funds during a phone call with Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. A spokesperson for Sturgeon told PA Media the call was constructive “though at this stage inconclusive” and that they “shared respective views on the current Omicron situation and agreed that it represents a significant threat to health and the economy”. The risk of reinfection from Omicron is more than five times higher than Delta and shows no sign of being milder than the previous coronavirus variant, according to a study by Imperial College London. The results, based on data from the UK Health Security Agency and Britain’s National Health Service, analysed people who tested positive for Covid-19 in a PCR test in England between 29 November and 11 December. The UK reported 93,045 new Covid cases today, breaking the daily record for the third consecutive day. There were also 111 new Covid deaths reported and 7,611 patients in hospital, 875 of whom were on beds with ventilators. There were an additional 3,201 confirmed Omicron cases in the UK today, reports the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), nearly twice the number of infections announced yesterday (yesterday it was 1,691). Thousands of British tourists rushed to travel to France today in an attempt to beat the country’s ban on UK travellers, due to start at 11pm tonight. There were long queues at the port of Dover, reports PA Media, as people brought their Christmas travel plans forward in a bid to avoid the new restrictions. The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, played down claims of disagreement with England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, over public advice on Covid as he warned of a “big wave of Omicron”. He said that Omicron is “a very serious threat to us now” and urged people to get booster jabs. Switzerland has announced plans to tighten Covid measures - including working from home and entry restrictions for venues. From Monday, the government said it will expand proof of vaccination or recovery to many indoor venues, including restaurants, reports Reuters. For venues such as discos and bars, where masks are less likely to be worn, visitors will have to show a negative test result. Omicron could account for 80% of all new Covid cases in Portugal by the end of the month, the country’s health minister said today. England’s R value has risen to 1.0-1.2, the UK government said. An R value of between 1.0 and 1.2 means that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 10 and 12 people. The Danish prime minister today said her government would introduce new Covid restrictions, including closing theatres and cinemas, to try to control its spread. Mette Frederiksen said Omicron now accounts for a fifth of all coronavirus cases in Denmark. The German health minister, Karl Lauterbach, said he expects the Omicron variant to lead to a “massive fifth wave” of the pandemic. Lauterbach, a former epidemiology professor, said during a visit to the Lower Saxony region that Germany must prepare for a challenge “that we have never seen in this form before”, reports Reuters. Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that Omicron is now the dominant Covid variant in Scotland, making up 51.4% of cases. She said that Omicron has “now replaced Delta” as the dominant Covid strain circulating in Scotland. The German government is looking into whether the UK should be classified as a “virus variant area”, reports Reuters, following the rapid rise of Omicron in the country. Classification as a virus variant area would mean that travellers arriving in Germany from the UK would be required to quarantine for two weeks, even if they are vaccinated. That’s it from me for today. Handing over now to my colleague Nadeem Badshah. Thanks for reading.