Israel’s prime minister is warning that the country will soon see tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases a day.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. He said that despite rolling out more than 4.2 million coronavirus booster shots to the country's population of 9.3 million since July, “the storm is coming to us these very days.”
Daily cases in Israel have risen in the past two weeks from around 700 to the more than 4,000 reported on Sunday.
“These are numbers that the world has not known, and that we also haven’t known,” Bennett said.
He said that the government’s aim is “to allow the economy to function as much as possible, while protecting the most vulnerable among us.”
Israel has recorded at least 8,244 deaths from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
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LONDON — Secondary school students in England will be required to wear face masks when they return to classes after the Christmas holidays.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said Sunday the move was an attempt to “minimize disruption” in schools as the highly transmissible omicron variant drives coronavirus infections in the U.K. to record levels.
Similar guidance on masks for students ages 11 and above was already in place for schools in Scotland and Wales.
Students and teachers are set to return to classrooms on Tuesday after more than two weeks off, during which Britain’s daily caseload has climbed as high as 189,000 on December 31.
The government has urged schools and other public sector workplaces to be prepared for staff absences as COVID-19 sickens more people or forces them to isolate.
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PARIS - Unvaccinated people traveling from the United States will have to self-isolate in France for 10 days under supervision from local authorities in line with new government restrictions that come into force on Sunday.
All passengers from the U.S. have to provide a negative COVID-19 test – a PCR or an antigen test – no older than 48 hours in addition to proof of vaccination before boarding a flight to France.
Unvaccinated travelers from the U.S. previously were required to self-quarantine without supervision for seven days.
New COVID-19 cases in France have surpassed 200,000 for four consecutive days, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.
French authorities also are stepping up pressure on unvaccinated residents. The government is pushing parliament to pass a law in the next two weeks that would allow only vaccinated residents to enter restaurants, cinemas, theaters, museums, and sports arenas.
France’s current “health pass” also allows access for people with proof of a negative test or having recovered from COVID-19.
If the law is passed, the health pass would become a “vaccination pass” that would also be required on inter-region trains and on buses and domestic flights.
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AMSTERDAM — Thousands of people defied a ban on gatherings to assemble on an Amsterdam square for a demonstration against the Dutch government’s coronavirus lockdown measures.
The municipality of the Dutch capital had outlawed the protest, saying police had indications some demonstrators could be attending “prepared for violence.”
But thousands of people made their way to the square on Sunday, with some unfurling a banner that read, “less repression, more care” near the Van Gogh Museum. A group of people in white overalls and white masks held up signs, including one that said: “It’s not about a virus, it’s about control” on one side and “Freedom.” on the other.
There was a heavy police presence on the square and in nearby streets. The municipality designated the area a security risk region, a decision that gave police powers to preventatively frisk people.
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NEW DELHI — India has reported over 27,000 new COVID-19 cases, data from the Health Ministry showed amid growing concerns of a potential new surge stoked by the highly contagious omicron variant.
Sunday's confirmed cases represented the highest daily count since October. The country also reported 284 deaths, bringing India's total death toll in the pandemic to over 481,000 people.
The country now has more than 1,500 confirmed omicron cases, with the highest number in the western state of Maharashtra.
India plans to start vaccinating children between the ages of 15 and 18 on Monday.
Various states have brought in a slew of restrictions to curb cases, including nightime curfews, restricted seating at bars and restaurants, and bans on large public gatherings.
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ATLANTA — Another one of Georgia’s largest school districts has decided to start 2022 classes virtually because of high numbers of COVID-19 cases.
Atlanta Public Schools announced students will be virtual when classes start back after winter break on Tuesday.
The district is also asking all teachers and other staff to report to their jobs for mandatory COVID-19 testing unless they are ill and will use that information for planning, the district said in a statement.
Currently, Atlanta schools plan to return to regular classes on Jan. 10.
Atlanta schools join Fulton County, Dekalb County, Clayton County and Rockdale County schools in a virtual return after Christmas.
Georgia’s two largest school districts — Gwinnett County and Cobb County — have not announced any changes to returning to school in person as of Saturday.
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PARIS - French authorities announced Saturday that children six and older will have to wear masks in indoor places open to the public as new cases of the highly contagious omicron variant surge past 200.000 for the fourth consecutive day.
By lowering the age of children obligated to wear masks from 11 to 6, the government is hoping to avoid shutting down schools after the holiday break. Classes resume Monday and young children will have to wear masks in public transport, in sports complexes and places of worship. The mask mandate extends to outdoor spaces in cities such as Paris and Lyon that have recently re-introduced mask wearing outside.
On the first day of the new year, France registered 219,126 new infections, down only slightly from the daily record of 232,200 noted on the last day of 2021.
French government is betting that fifth wave of the pandemic driven by the fast-spreading omicron variant can be tamed without returning to economically damaging lockdowns or curfews and without hospitals collapsing under growing numbers of gravely sick.
France has lost 123,000 people to COVID-19.
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PHOENIX — Arizona on Saturday reported the largest number of additional confirmed COVID-19 cases since last January for the second day in a row and 125 more virus deaths.
The state reported additional 8,220 cases as Arizona’s pandemic totals increased to 1,389,708 cases and 24,354 deaths, according to the Department of Health Services’ coronavirus dashboard. Arizona on Friday reported 7,720 additional cases.
The state reported over 8,000 additional cases on 13 days last January.
COVID-19-related hospitalizations dropped slightly for the second straight day, with 2,283 virus patients occupying inpatient beds statewide Friday, the dashboard reported.
According to Johns Hopkins University data, Arizona’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Arizona rose over the past two weeks, increasing from 3,058.6 on Dec. 16 to 4,325 on Thursday. The rolling average of daily deaths dropped from 77.1 to 52.8 during the same period.