WHO says omicron won’t be last Covid variant as global cases surge by 20% in a week

Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior WHO official, warned high levels of transmission give the virus more opportunity to replicate and mutate, raising the risk that another variant will emerge. New infections have increased by 20% globally over the past week with nearly 19 million total reported cases. “This pandemic is nowhere near over,” WHO Director-General

World braces for ‘raging’ omicrin infection wave – DW News

The omicron variant of the coronavirus is “raging” around the world, the White House’s top medical advisor Anthony Fauci said on Sunday. Fauci said in a TV interview for NBC that the “real problem” for the US hospital system is that “we have so many people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated

UK COVID: Highest-ever number of children admitted to hospital in a single day

England has recorded the highest number of children admitted to hospital with COVID since the start of the pandemic, new figures show. According to government figures, 65 under-18s were admitted to hospital with COVID on 12 December. Of those 65 admissions, more than half (34) were five years old or younger. It comes amid fears

S.Africans protest against Shell oil exploration in pristine coastal area

South Africans took to their beaches on Sunday to protest against plans by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to do seimsic oil exploration they say will threaten marine wildlife such as whales, dolphins, seals and penguins on a pristine coastal stretch. A South African court on Friday struck down an application brought by environmentalists to stop the oil major exploring

US ‘dark money’ groups behind Mississippi abortion case spend millions overseas

Groups behind a Supreme Court test case that threatens the constitutional right to abortion in the US are targeting Europe and Latin America too US conservative groups behind a Supreme Court legal battle that could shape the future of American abortion rights have spent at least $28m around the world between 2016 and 2019 on campaigns against women’s and

South Africa: Shell to go ahead with seismic tests in whale breeding grounds after court win

Judgment rules company can blast sound waves in search for oil along South Africa’s eastern coastline Royal Dutch Shell will move ahead with seismic tests to explore for oil in vital whale breeding grounds along South Africa’s eastern coastline after a court dismissed an 11th-hour legal challenge by environmental groups. The judgment, by a South

Omicron Triggers ‘Unprecedented’ COVID Surge Hitting Under Children Under Age 5 in South Africa

Until now, the coronavirus pandemic has largely spared the youngest children. That’s all starting to change in variant-swamped South Africa. The “highly transmissible” Omicron variant of coronavirus ripping through South Africa is putting disproportionately large numbers of children under 5 years old in hospitals, a top South African government medical adviser said Friday. The alarming development raises

Omicron COVID variant was in Europe before South African scientists detected and flagged it to the world

Dutch health authorities announced on Tuesday that they found the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus in cases dating back as long as 11 days, indicating that it was already spreading in western Europe before the first cases were identified in southern Africa. The RIVM health institute said it found Omicron in samples dating from November 19 and 23.

Let’s talk about what we know and don’t about the new variant – Beau of the Fifth Column

Australia delays border reopening as Omicron cases rise

Australia said on Monday it would delay the reopening of its international border by two weeks after reporting its first cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Prime Minister Scott Morrison convened a meeting of his national security committee and said it received advice from Australia’s chief health officer to delay the reopening after the first