Boris Johnson says UK doing ‘incomparably better’ against Covid Aubrey Allegretti Britain is in an “incomparably better” position in the fight against Covid than it was at the end of 2020, Boris Johnson has said in his new year’s message. The UK prime minister admitted there was anxiety about the Omicron variant and growing numbers of hospital admissions, and urged those who had not been vaccinated to get their jabs. There was “one overriding reason” that tougher restrictions were not needed in the face of daily case numbers hitting record levels, he said – people “heroically, voluntarily and in almost incredible numbers heeding the call to get vaccinated”. Johnson was buoyant about the speed of the booster rollout, saying it was “precisely because of that huge national effort that we can celebrate tonight at all”. Isolating Quebec health staff may have to return to work early Tracey Lindeman Quebec healthcare workers exposed to Covid-19 may have to go to work sooner than expected if staffing levels in the Canadian province’s facilities reach a critical point. Quebec’s health minister, Christian Dubé, made the announcement earlier this week, explaining that in a worst-case scenario the province would have no choice but to insist that isolating employees return to work. Cases of the Omicron variant have surged in the province: on Thursday, a record-breaking 14,188 new cases were reported, with 939 Covid patients currently in hospital and 138 in intensive care. The Quebec newspaper La Presse reported that hospitals in the province were getting close to activating the contingency plan. Israel approves fourth Covid jab Israel has approved a fourth vaccine shot for vulnerable and immunocompromised people, becoming one of the first countries to do so, amid a surge in Covid in cases driven by the Omicron variant. The country also received its first shipment of Pfizer’s anti-Covid pills. Health ministry director-general Nachman Ash told reporters: Today I approved giving the fourth vaccine for immunocompromised people. I did this in light of studies that show the benefit of the vaccine, including the fourth vaccine, to this population, and in light of the fear they are more vulnerable in this outbreak of Omicron.” Health authorities reported on Thursday more than 4,000 new cases, a high not seen since September. Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said Israel was in “a fifth wave”, with most cases probably related to the Omicron variant. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel, which was among the first countries in the world to offer a third shot to the general public, would be a trailblazer for the fourth jab. “Israel will lead the way in administering a fourth vaccine to the Israeli people,” he said. A US schoolteacher says she spent five hours in voluntary self-isolation in a plane’s toilet after testing positive for Covid on a flight to Iceland a few days before Christmas. Marisa Fotieo says she performed a rapid test after noticing her throat hurt while travelling from Chicago to Reykjavik, in Iceland, on 20 December. The test confirmed she was infected and so she remained in the toilet for the rest of the flight, with flight attendants providing food and drinks. It was not immediately clear whether she had had to present a Covid-19 test before boarding the flight. “It was a crazy experience,” Fotieo, who is from Michigan, told NBC News. “[There were] 150 people on the flight, and my biggest fear was giving it to them”. Fotieo shared the experience in the plane’s bathroom in a TikTok video that has been viewed more than 4 million times. Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you on the blog as we count down the final hours until 2022. As I’ll be reporting to you from Sydney for the next few hours here’s a quick rundown of how Covid is currently unfolding across Australia. The state of NSW has recorded another 21,151 new Covid-19 cases and six deaths while Victoria has recorded 5,919 cases and seven deaths - up from 5,137 yesterday. South Australia is refusing to adopt the new close close contact definition proposed by prime minister Scott Morrison on Thursday. Other changes Morrison introduced include shortening isolation periods for positive cases and restricting close contacts to someone who has been with a confirmed case in a home-like setting for more than four hours. The changes became active from midnight last night, with thousands now free to leave isolation. The new definition comes with a new standard for testing so that close contacts need to only get a rapid antigen test, with the hopes this will ease congestion on PCR testing sites. Thursday Summary Here’s a round-up of today’s Covid news from around the world. The number of people to die from Covid in Eastern Europe has reached 1 million, as Russia climbed above Brazil to become the country with the second-highest deaths behind the US. South Africa said the country had passed its Omicron peak without a major death surge, offering hope to countries hit hard by the mutated variant. France reported 206,243 new confirmed Covid cases, a tally above 200,000 for the second day running. The UK reported 189,213 new Covid cases, smashing Wednesday’s record-breaking tally of 183,037 positive tests. The UK is dogged by a shortage of tests, as Wales assists England with 4m tests amid fears of New Year’s Eve celebrations turning into breeding grounds for the virus. Scotland’s first minister urged people to avoid household mixing after a record high of nearly 17,000 cases. India fears it is entering a new wave after cases surge, as confirmed Omicron cases also climb. Portugal cuts Covid isolation from ten days to seven, after the World Health Organization said on Wednesday slashing isolation was a trade-off between transmission and economic concerns. Germany will drop quarantine demands for UK travellers from 4 January after seeing its own Omicron cases jump above 3,000 recently. Malaysia detected 3,997 positive Covid cases, with the number among survivors of its recently deadly floods rising to 442 in total. Japan recorded over 500 new infections for the first time in two months. Five Bulgarian regions moved from yellow to red zones as the country recorded 3,449 new infections, a 139% jump on two weeks ago. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said all people should avoid cruises, following a rise in onboard Covid cases in a major blow to the industry. That’s all from me, Jem Bartholomew in London, for today. I’ll be back in the new year. Do get in touch with tips and stories via email or on Twitter for then. Bye for now. South Africa said on Thursday the country had passed its Omicron peak without a major death surge, the New York Times reports, which will offer heavilyhit countries a glimmer of hope as Covid case records are broken across the world. The Times reports: “We’ll be in for a tough January, as cases will keep going up and peak, and then fall fast,” said Ali Mokdad, a University of Washington epidemiologist who is a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist. While cases will still overwhelm hospitals, he said, he expects that the proportion of hospitalized cases will be lower than in earlier waves. ... There are many caveats. The case figures might have been distorted by reduced testing during the holiday season. And many people in the most affected area had some measure of immunity, either from vaccination, prior infection or both, that might have protected them from serious illness. However, research teams in South Africa, Scotland and England have found that Omicron infections more often result in mild illness than earlier variants of the coronavirus, causing fewer hospitalizations. Malaysia detected 3,997 positive Covid tests on Thursday, local media the New Straits Times reports, a 6% drop on the 4,262 on Thursday two weeks ago. The country’s R rate is currently 0.95. About 98% of Malaysia’s adult population is double-vaccinated, and 17% of the total population has been boosted. Deadly floods have hit Malaysia in recent days, with at least 48 people dead after the worst floods since 2014. There are fears the virus could hit survivors. Officials said on Thursday that Covid cases among flood victims stands at 442 people confirmed so far. In Japan, 502 new Covid cases were confirmed on Wednesday, up from 159 on Wednesday two weeks ago and exceeding the 500 mark for the first time in over two months. Japan narrowed its definition of an Omicron “close contact” on Tuesday, the Japan Times reports, amid concerns it would run out of quarantine facilities. The new rules bring Omicron in line with the definition for other Covid cases: on a plane, two rows in front of and behind where the infected person was sitting. Health minister Shigeyuki Goto said the decision was based on infections data. (Japan’s government previously expanded the definition of in-flight close contacts of people infected with Omicron to all passengers, later deciding they must all quarantine for 14 days at special facilities.) The Japan Times also has an interesting article on the human cost of its strict border controls. Japan pulled up its drawbridge amid the emergence of the Omicron variant, with the measures being extended by prime minister Fumio Kishida after their initial end-of-December expiry date. “What’s most stressful is the vagueness of the timeline,” said Kiki Lee, a 23-year-old exchange student from China. Lee, a first-year graduate student at Keio University, is unable to recieve scholarship funds as they it require her to be physically present in Japan. In the meantime she’s paying full tuition for remote classes. Michael Bugajski, 35 and from the US, has lived in Japan for over five years. Bugajski has lost his father, sister-in-law and her newborn infant since the pandemic began, but he couldn’t fly home to attend their funerals. “To hold onto the people you have, and to mourn for the people you don’t anymore. … If I’m looking forward to anything it’s just to have that moment,” Bugajski said. Bulgaria detected 3,449 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, public broadcaster BNT reports, a 139% increase on the 1,443 cases recorded on Thursday two weeks ago. Bulgaria’s chief state health inspector, Angel Kunchev, said on Thursday the country should brace for a sharp increase in infections in early January, the Sofia Globe reports. Kunchev added that Omicron, despite appearing milder, could lead to greater hospitalisations and have a “devastating effect” on the health service and economy if it provokes a “tsunami” of infections. Five Bulgarian regions have been re-classified from yellow to red zones – Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Plovdiv, Haskovo and Silistra – based on the prevalence rate per 100,000 people on a 14-day basis. The nationwide 14-day morbidity rate is now 293.59 cases per 100,000 people. Bulgaria has reported 30,819 deaths from Covid-related causes, according to a Reuters tally. The eastern Europe’s Covid death toll climbed above 1 million on Thursday, Reuters said. Bulgaria has the lowest vaccine rate in Europe, with an estimated 26% of adults double-vaccinated.