New Year parties slashed as COVID wave hammers the world

PARIS - A New Year shorn of mass celebrations beckoned Friday for millions around the world as the number of daily COVID infections, driven by the omicron variant, surged through another symbolic high.

Coronavirus, first detected two years ago and declared a global pandemic in March 2020, has killed more than 5.4 million people, triggered economic crises and seen societies ricochet in and out of lockdowns.

The latest variant, omicron, while tentatively considered to cause milder illness, has pushed infection toll to record levels in recent days in the United States, Britain, France and other European countries, forcing governments to reimpose restrictions.

The number of daily new Covid cases worldwide crossed one million for the first time, according to an AFP tally Thursday, with more than 7.3 million in the last seven days.

From Greece to Mexico, from Barcelona to Bali and across swathes of Europe, authorities have canceled or curtailed public gatherings, either closing or imposing curfews on nightclubs.

Only South Africa, the first country to report the omicron variant, was bucking the trend. It lifted a midnight to 4 am curfew to allow celebrations to go ahead, after health officials said that a dip in infections in the past week indicated the peak of the current wave had passed.

In France, wearing masks outdoors will be compulsory while walking the streets of Paris from Friday for everyone over the age of 11. Nightclubs have been closed until well into January.

In Spain, public festivities have been cancelled across most regions and in the biggest cities except Madrid, where a stripped-down gathering is scheduled with the crowd limited to 7,000 people compared to 18,000 in 2019.

Britain's National Health Service said it would start opening temporary field hospitals to contain a possible overspill of patients in England, where the government stopped short of mandating curbs on New Year festivities.

'WAR FOOTING'

"Given the high level of COVID-19 infections and increasing hospital admissions, the NHS is now on a war footing," National Medical Director Stephen Powis said.

Indonesia, which has reported more than 4.2 million confirmed cases, warned that foreign travelers may be deported from the resort island of Bali if they are caught violating Covid health rules that bar carnivals, fireworks and gatherings of more than 50 people over the holidays.

"Get ready to be kicked out," said Bali immigration office head Jamaruli Manihuruk. 

Mexico City has canceled its massive New Year's Eve celebrations as a preventative measure after a rise in cases.

"I feel that this casts doubt on a lot of what we thought was already secure, because it is scary, it is worrying," said engineering student Aaron Rosas.

Israel meanwhile became one of the first countries to greenlight a fourth booster shot for immunocompromised people.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia reimposed social distancing measures at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, after recording the highest number of infections in months.

"I am highly concerned that Omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

'BRINK OF COLLAPSE'

"This is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted health workers, and health systems on the brink of collapse."

Omicron has already started to overwhelm some hospitals in the United States, the hardest-hit country, where the seven-day average of new cases has hit 265,427, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker.

Harvard epidemiologist and immunologist Michael Mina tweeted that the count was likely just the "tip of the iceberg" with the true number likely far higher because of a shortage of tests.

US health authorities advised people to avoid taking cruises over the holiday period, even if they are fully vaccinated.

"Half of my family has it," said Victoria Sierralta at a testing site in Miami. "It's like we're back in like the first stage of Covid. It's absolutely crazy."

The NBA, NFL and NHL are scrambling to keep teams competing and sports leagues are grappling with how best to adjust their coronavirus protocols to protect players, staff and fans while keeping schedules intact.

In China, residents in the city of Xi'an, where 13 million people are under lockdown, said they were struggling to find enough food, despite Beijing insisting there were adequate supplies.

State TV showed footage of workers in hazmat suits sorting eggs, meat and vegetables, before delivering food to residents door-to-door.

"I live on.... a bowl of porridge every day, just to keep alive," one resident surnamed Wang told AFP, saying she was working through all her supplies.

Russia said that more than 71,000 people died of coronavirus in the country in November, a new fatality record since the start of the pandemic.

Agence France-Presse

US crosses 50 million COVID cases as Delta dominates amid Omicron emergence

The United States crossed 50 million coronavirus cases on Sunday, according to Reuters tally, as the Delta variant continues to threaten Americans and the newly discovered Omicron variant spreads.

After about two months of declining infections, the United States has reported daily increases for the past two weeks, driven by the more easily transmitted Delta variant.

States in colder parts of the country are seeing the biggest surge in new infections on a per capita basis, including Vermont, New Hampshire and Michigan.

The number of hospitalized COVID patients is rising as well, up 20% since the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November.

Over the past month, deaths have increased by 4.6%, with the country's death toll surpassed 800,000.

Nearly half of U.S. states have detected cases of the Omicron variant, but the Delta variant still accounts for 99% of current COVID cases, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has said.

For Omicron to be a significant problem, it will need to change that balance to become dominant. 

"If we suddenly start to see 10% of new infections being Omicron, and then it goes up the next week to 20%, that would tell us that we're in a replacement wave such as we saw when Delta replaced Alpha," said John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College.

An analysis of Reuters data shows it took almost a year to reach first 25 million COVID cases and 323 days, less than a year to go from 25 million to 50 million cases.

Laboratory studies released this week suggest that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus will blunt the power of Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine to prevent COVID-19 infection after two doses, although a third dose may restore that protection.

Around 14% of people in the United states, have now received a booster shot. Close to 10 million of those people have gotten the extra shots since the Thanksgiving holiday, with concerns about the Omicron variant.

Pfizer Inc and Merck have developed COVID-19 antiviral drugs that work across all variants, with countries rushing to buy the pills.

Getting vaccinated should still be the priority for Americans but having pills that can keep people out of the hospital "could be a lifesaver," said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra.

-reuters-

Omicron in Europe before South Africa reported first cases

THE HAGUE - The Omicron coronavirus variant was present in Europe before the first cases were reported in South Africa, new data from the Netherlands showed Tuesday, as Latin America reported its first two cases in Brazil.

In the week since the new virus strain was reported to the World Health Organization by South Africa, dozens of countries around the world have responded with travel restrictions -- most targeting southern African nations.

But the World Health Organization warned Tuesday -- as Canada expanded its restrictions to also include Egypt and Nigeria -- that "blanket" travel bans risked doing more harm than good.

And the likely futility of broad travel restrictions was underscored as Dutch authorities reported that Omicron was present in the country before South Africa officially reported its first cases, on November 25.

The new variant -- whose high number of mutations the WHO believes may make it more transmissible or resistant to vaccines -- was found in two Dutch test samples from November 19 and 23, with one having no travel history.

With countries now on alert for the Omicron variant, a clearer picture is emerging by the day of where it has been circulating, and for how long.

So far, well over a dozen countries and territories have detected cases, including Australia, Britain, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy and Portugal.

Among European countries, Belgium and Germany have both reported cases of the new strain prior to November 25, but both linked to foreign travel.

Latin America reported its first two cases Tuesday -- in people who traveled from South Africa to Brazil -- and a first case was confirmed in Japan, one day after it barred all foreign arrivals.

VACCINE RESISTANT?

While much is still unknown about the Omicron variant -- it could take weeks to determine whether and to what extent it is vaccine-resistant -- it has highlighted that the global fight against Covid-19 is far from over.

Asian, European and US markets all fell on Tuesday, while the benchmark US oil price tumbled more than five percent after the boss of vaccine manufacturer Moderna warned existing jabs might be less effective against the new variant.

"All the scientists I've talked to ... are like 'this is not going to be good'," Moderna boss Stephane Bancel told the Financial Times, warning against a "material drop" in the effectiveness of current jabs against Omicron.

Moderna, US drugmaker Pfizer and the backers of Russian vaccine Sputnik V are already working on an Omicron-specific vaccine.

On the treatment front, meanwhile, a panel of US health experts voted Tuesday to endorse Merck's Covid pill for high-risk adult patients, which is already authorized in Britain.

'HEAVY BURDEN'

In a briefing to WHO member states, the body's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was understandable for countries to seek to protect their citizens "against a variant we don't yet fully understand".

But he called for the global response to be "calm, coordinated and coherent", urging nations to "take rational, proportional risk-reduction measures".

The UN agency cautioned in a travel advisory that "blanket" travel bans risked placing a "heavy burden on lives and livelihoods" and could ultimately dissuade countries from sharing data about the evolving virus -- as South Africa did in reporting the latest variant.

But it did advise that people not fully vaccinated and considered vulnerable to Covid-19, including over-60s, should put off travel to areas with community transmission of the virus -- after correcting a previous statement that indicated all over-60s should defer travel.

TOUGHER MEASURES

Omicron has emerged as much of the world was already bracing for a new winter wave of the pandemic -- leaving even nations with high vaccination rates scrambling to stem infections and prevent health services from being overwhelmed. 

Governments, particularly in western Europe, have already reintroduced mandatory mask-wearing, social-distancing measures, curfews or lockdowns -- leaving businesses fearing another grim Christmas.

In Germany, incoming Chancellor Olaf Scholz said parliament would vote on making Covid vaccines compulsory by the end of the year -- and a source from Scholz's party told AFP he had "signaled his sympathy" for such a rule.

Greece went ahead Tuesday in making vaccines compulsory for over-60s, while Norway will offer booster shots to all adults before Easter, as preferable to a lockdown.

Britain meanwhile set a target of delivering third jabs to all adults within two months, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying vaccination centers would be "popping up like Christmas trees."

Agence France-Presse

EU drugs regulator plans to fast track variant-modified COVID vaccines

MILAN, Italy - Europe's medicines regulator is planning to speed up assessments of any COVID-19 vaccines that are modified to protect against variants of the virus, the head of the agency's COVID-19 task-force told Reuters on Friday.

Marco Cavaleri, chair of the vaccine evaluation team at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said there should be no need for lengthy large-scale trials like those needed to evaluate the first COVID-19 vaccines, since tweaks for new variants can be tested on smaller groups.

"We are working on updated guidelines, assuming that we cannot ask for large Phase III trials. This will allow us to go faster," said Cavaleri.

"We will ask for much smaller trials, with a few hundred participants, rather than 30,000 to 40,000," he told Reuters. He said the EMA would focus primarily on immune response data.

Drugmakers including Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have been testing their COVID-19 vaccines against several fast-spreading, more infectious variants of the novel coronavirus.

Variants which emerged in Brazil (known as P.1.), Britain (known as 20I/501Y.V1 or B.1.1.7) and South Africa (known as 20I/501Y.V2 or B.1.351) have already spread around the world, piling more pressure on governments struggling to tame the pandemic which has killed almost 2.5 million people.

These are the three major variants that are worrying scientists, with their spread raising the risk that newly-developed COVID-19 vaccines will need to be updated or tweaked to be effective against some variants, and that people may require one or more booster shots.

STREAMLINING

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also said it is considering a rapid review process for the quick turnaround of new COVID-19 booster shots if variants emerge against which the vaccines do not provide protection.

Vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech, as well as AstraZeneca and Moderna, whose COVID shots have been authorised for emergency use in Europe, have said they are preparing for the possibility that variants will emerge that could require tweaks to their vaccines.

Normally, an EMA approval requires extensive studies with large numbers, starting with safety and ending with efficacy.

"We will also try to streamline regulatory procedures doing something similar to what happens with flu vaccines. In short, without the drugmakers having to submit all the preliminary data again", Cavaleri said.

He added that the EMA is also aware that in the near future it may no longer be possible to do clinical trials with placebo for categories such as the elderly, due to rollout of current COVID-19 vaccines.

"In that case we could think about a head-to-head comparison with an already approved vaccine", he said.

Cavaleri also told Reuters Johnson & Johnson will file its vaccine formal application in the next few days.

"Probably as early as next week", he said, noting that the EMA has been conducting a rolling review of the vaccine for some time. "Mid-March is reasonable for the EMA decision," he said.

The EMA, he added, has been in contact to date with about 50 pharmaceutical companies working on COVID vaccines.

Regarding the Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, he said the agency is in constant contact with the company producing it.

"There is a constructive cooperation. If there are no problems with the answers we receive on the subject of the production phase, the rolling review could start within a matter of weeks," he said

The EMA is also in contact with the Chinese companies developing vaccines, particularly Sinovac Biotech, but the process for the Chinese vaccine is a few steps behind the Russian one, he said. 

(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, editing by Kate Kelland and Kirsten Donovan)

-reuters-