COVID-19: Here’s what you need to know today
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The novel coronavirus has infected more than 287 million people, leaving more than 5.4 million dead across 222 countries and territories. The majority of those infected have recovered and many countries have rolled out vaccine campaigns as economies start to recover from the pandemic.
— The Ministry of Health and Wellness in Jamaica has reported 329 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases reported on the island since the start of the pandemic to 93,920.
— Bermuda has recorded more than 400 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases health officials said. Offset by 114 recoveries, the 406 new cases, among a batch of 13,772 tests over the last eight days, took the number of active cases to 522, the government has announced.
— Officials have warned revellers in Scotland and Wales to think twice before travelling to England to ring in the new year, highlighting how the four parts of the UK were again taking starkly different approaches to coronavirus restrictions amid record-high infections and soaring hospitalisations.
— Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted tightening restrictions in England despite the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant, instead focusing on frequent self-testing and an expanded vaccine booster program to control the spread of infections.
— In many places, New Year’s Eve celebrations were muted or cancelled for the second straight year due to a surge of coronavirus infections, this time driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.