Reuters Health News Summary

New South Wales, the most populous state, and Victoria both posted daily record case numbers of 22,577 and 7,442 respectively on Saturday, health department figures showed. India's daily COVID-19 cases rise by 22,775 India on Saturday reported 22,775 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, health ministry data shows, adding to concerns for authorities around the country about the rising number of cases.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Omicron dampens global New Year celebrations, fewer watch ball drop in Times Square

The Omicron coronavirus variant dampened New Year festivities around much of the world, with Paris cancelling its fireworks show, London relegating its to television, and New York City scaling down its famous ball drop celebration in Times Square. The illuminated ball made of Waterford crystal panels slid down its pole at the midnight hour in Times Square, but only 15,000 spectators were allowed into the official viewing area instead of the usual 58,000.

France sixth country with more than 10 million COVID infections

France became the sixth country in the world to report more than 10 million COVID-19 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to official data published on Saturday. French health authorities reported 219,126 new confirmed cases in a 24-hour period, the fourth day in a row that the country has recorded more than 200,000 cases.

Italy reports 141,262 coronavirus cases, 111 deaths

Italy reported 141,262 COVID-19 related cases on Saturday, following 144,243 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths fell to 111 from 155. Italy has registered 137,513 deaths linked to COVID-19 since February 2020, and has reported 6.267 million cases to date.

New COVID restrictions would be a last resort, says UK health minister

New restrictions in England to slow the spread of COVID-19 will only be introduced as a last resort, health minister Sajid Javid said, stressing that although hospitalisations were rising, the number of patients in intensive care was stable. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant across the United Kingdom has sent infections to record highs, with close to 190,000 new cases reported on Friday.

China ends 2021 with worst COVID week since taming original epidemic

China ended its final week of 2021 with its biggest tally of local coronavirus cases for any seven-day period since subduing the country's first epidemic nearly two years ago, despite an arsenal of some of the world's toughest COVID-19 measures. The National Health Commission reported on Saturday 175 new community infections with confirmed clinical symptoms for Dec. 31, bringing the total number of local symptomatic cases in mainland China in the past week to 1,151.

FACTBOX-Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 286.63 million, death toll at 5,782,999

More than 286.63 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 5,782,999​ have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

England reports 162,572 new COVID-19 cases, another record

England reported a record high daily total of 162,572 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, up from 160,276 the previous day, official data showed. The daily update also showed 154 new deaths from the virus in England within 28 days of a positive test, down from 178 on Friday.

Australia starts 2022 with record COVID cases

Australia started 2022 with a record number of new COVID-19 cases as an outbreak centred in the eastern states grew, and New South Wales eased its isolation rules for healthcare workers as the number of people hospitalised with the virus rose. New South Wales, the most populous state, and Victoria both posted daily record case numbers of 22,577 and 7,442 respectively on Saturday, health department figures showed.

India's daily COVID-19 cases rise by 22,775

India on Saturday reported 22,775 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, health ministry data shows, adding to concerns for authorities around the country about the rising number of cases. The data indicates that thickly populated metros, such as the national capital New Delhi, financial centre Mumbai and Kolkata in the east, are seeing some of the sharpest rises.

Bahrain authorizes use of Pfizer's anti-COVID drug -state news agency

Bahrain's health authorities authorized Pfizer's Paxlovid COVID-19 drug for emergency use in adults aged over 18, the state news agency said in a statement on Saturday. The decision by the National Authority for Regulating Health Professions and Services was based on the review and evaluation of data provided by Pfizer, the statement added.