The emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant could be "first ray of light" that in the future there may be a less severe coronavirus variant that is similar to the common cold, according to a UK scientist.
According to Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M) and a University of Warwick professor, Omicron could be an indicator that people can live with Covid as an endemic disease, the Guardian reported.
But as Covid cases continued to rise in the UK and hospitalisations at their highest in almost a year, he said "we're not quite there yet".
Israel - Easy access to home COVID-19 tests were sought after a decision to allow most vaccinated people to use the kits to decide whether or not to quarantine led to shortages in shops and complaints about high prices.
"We are mindful of the public's distress," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said at the weekly cabinet meeting, announcing that every child in kindergarten or elementary school in Israel would be issued will three free kits in the coming days.
Israel hopes new antiviral COVID-19 medications will help keep hospital admissions and severe cases down, even as daily cases are expected to rise to record highs in the coming weeks.
About 60% of its 9.4 million population is fully vaccinated, according to the Health Ministry. It began administering a fourth dose of vaccinations to high-risk groups last month.
Australia - New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, recorded its highest number of daily COVID-19 deaths on Saturday as the Omicron variant sweeps the country and lawmakers face pressure to close widening supply chain gaps.
The home to Sydney and a third of Australia's 25 million people reported 16 deaths from the coronavirus in the previous day. New South Wales reported 30,062 new infections, near record levels.
The country reported just under 100,000 cases overall, down from a record 116,025 the previous day, but still surpassing most previous peaks. Total deaths for the day were 36.
Italy - The special COVID-19 commissioner said on Sunday that Italy will receive around 40,000 doses of Merck & Co's (MRK.N) COVID-19 antiviral drug next week, which will add to nearly 12,000 already distributed to hospitals.
Italy will also get 200,000 courses of Pfizer's (PFE.N) COVID-19 drug in February, Figliuolo said, adding that Rome had an option to buy additional 400,000 doses of Pfizer's Paxlovid.
While vaccines are the main weapons against COVID-19 for governments, there are hopes Merck and Pfizer's experimental pills could be a game-changer in reducing the chances of dying or hospitalisation for those most at risk of severe illness.
India - The country reported 159,632 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly in the country, nudging several state governments to impose fresh restrictions.
India's richest state, Maharashtra, said on Saturday it would close swimming pools and gyms from Monday while schools and colleges have been closed till Feb 15 after daily cases in the state jumped to over 41,000.
The health ministry reported 327 new deaths, taking the official death toll since the start of the pandemic to 483,790. Total infections stand at 35.52 million.
China - The northern coastal city of Tianjin began testing its population of around 14 million on Sunday after at least two local cases of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant were detected, state media reported.
Residents in four districts would be tested over the next 24 hours while other districts would be tested the next day, the Tianjin government said.
China reported 46 new asymptomatic cases, which it classifies separately from confirmed cases, compared with 52 a day earlier.
There were no new fatalities, leaving the death toll at 4,636. Mainland China had 103,619 confirmed cases as of Jan 8.
Source - Reuters, AFP