Italy reports highest daily infections since Covid emerged – latest updates

 

Covid-19 has infected more than 278M people and killed over 5.4M worldwide. Here are some of the latest coronavirus-related developments:

Italy's previous daily infection record was 40,902 on November 13, 2020. (Reuters)

Friday, December 24, 2021

Italy reports highest daily Covid cases since pandemic

Italy has reported 44,595 new Covid-19 infections Thursday, the highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic.

The Italian news agency ANSA reported that the previous record was 40,902 on November 13, 2020.

With the latest daily figures, the number of overall infections in the country has reached over 5.51 million, according to the Health Ministry.

In the past 24 hours, 168 people in Italy lost their lives due to Covid-19, taking the country’s overall death toll to 136,245.

US sets shorter Covid isolation rules for health workers

Worried that a new Covid-19 wave could overwhelm understaffed US hospitals, federal officials have loosened rules that call on health care workers to stay out of work for 10 days if they test positive.

Those workers now will be allowed to come back to work after seven days if they test negative and don't have symptoms. Isolation time can be cut to five days, or even fewer, if there are severe staffing shortages, according to the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.

CDC officials have advised that in calculating the 10-day isolation period, the first day should be the first full day after symptoms first developed or after a positive test.

Australia to shorten booster intervals

Australia would further shorten the wait time for people to receive their Covid-19 booster shots, Health Minister Greg Hunt said, as the country grapples with record infections fuelled by the Omicron variant.

Booster shots will be offered from Jan. 4 to everyone over 18 who had their second shot four months earlier and the interval will be again reduced to three months by the end of January.

Australia has been looking to ramp up the rollout of boosters after becoming one of the world's most-vaccinated countries against Covid-19, with more than 90 percent of people over the age of 16 having received two doses.

New York to limit New Year's celebration scale

New York will sharply limit the number of people it allows in Times Square for its New Year's Eve celebration, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said, in response to a surge of new coronavirus cases fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

For the second year in a row, the virus that causes Covid-19 is casting a shadow over the festivities, which typically draws huge crowds to the famed intersection in midtown Manhattan. 

After hours of live entertainment, the evening culminates with the dropping of a giant crystal ball at midnight, signaling the start of the new year.

Last year, when Covid-19 vaccines were in the early stages of rolling out, the celebration was open to only a handful of invited guests, including essential workers and their families.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

 

 

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