US President Joe Biden arrives to board Air Force One at Columbia Metropolitan Airport in West Columbia, South Carolina, on 17 December 2021
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US President Joe Biden arrives to board Air Force One at Columbia Metropolitan Airport in West Columbia, South Carolina, on 17 December 2021
(AFP via Getty Images)
Joe Biden is to address the nation on Tuesday amid a surge of the Omicron variant of Covid in the US, and the president is expected to stress the importance of getting vaccinated and staying safe this Christmas.
Providing a preview of the president’s speech, the White House press secretary told reporters that Mr Biden does not plan to impose a national lockdown. Instead, he will be encouraging people to inoculate themselves against Covid.
"This is not a speech about locking the country down. This is a speech about the benefits of being vaccinated," Ms Psaki told reporters.
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The speech comes after the president himself came in close contact with a White House staffer who later tested positive for Covid-19, underscoring the widespread nature of the virus.
The staffer spent about half an hour around the president on Air Force One on Friday, and was fully vaccinated and boosted, Ms Psaki said. Mr Biden, who tested negative for Covid on Monday, will be tested again on Wednesday.
Key points Biden in close contact with Covid-positive staffer Omicron now dominant variant in US Biden to stress importance of vaccinations ahead of Christmas LA moves New Year's Eve celebration online
Show latest update 1640086738 Broadway closures announced
Many well known Brodway productions have announced cancellations until after Christmas because of concerns about Covid, with cases in New York City up 60 per cent.
Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Hadestown have all canceled shows this week, citing rising breakthrough Covid cases among workers, and public health concerns. As has Aladdin.
One show, Jagged Little Pill, has said it will close for good and not reopen after Christmas – in what is another blow for New York City’s hospitality and entertainment sector.
Dr Dave Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner, said on Monday that while new Covid cases have “increased sharply,” vaccinations and boosters, as well as testing, would help build a “seawall” against the more infectious Omicron variant.
A sign announces cancellations of Hamilton on Broadway
(REUTERS)
Gino Spocchia 21 December 2021 11:38
1640085538 Indoor mask mandate reimposed on DC
Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser has reinstated an indoor mask mandate and required government workers to get vaccinated, including a booster shot, amid a rise of Covid infections.
“I think we’re all tired of it,” MS Bowser told reporters. “I’m tired of it too, but we have to respond to what’s happening in our city and what’s happening in our nation.”
While that mandate will last January, DC has ordered more than a million rapid Covid test kits, Ms Bowser said on Monday, all of which will be available at eight locations around the city.
At a free testing site in Farragut Square, DC
(Getty Images)
Gino Spocchia 21 December 2021 11:18
1640084638 New Covid testing sites to be announced
The Biden administration is also set to announce the creation of new Covid testing sites around the United States on Tuesday.
The first testing sites will launch in New York City by Christmas, according to an official, after cases in the city surged by 60 per cent last week.
More than 1,000 US military doctors and nurses are also expected to be redeployed to overburdened hospitals, a senior administration official said, in scenes not dissimilar to the first months of the outbreak last year.
Gino Spocchia 21 December 2021 11:03
1640083738 Israel ban on US travel
A ban on Israeli citizens travelling to the United States is set to come into affect at 10pm on Tuesday, Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennet said on Sunday night, with eight other countries joining a “no fly” list.
It will mean travel from Israel to more than 50 countries is forbidden, and those returning from red-listed destinations will be required to quarantine upon returning.
It has been introduced amid concerns about Omicron, the new Covid variant, and rising infections in both countries. Eight other countries, including Canada, will also join Israel’s “no fly” list.
Israel’s health ministry meanwhile confirmed on Sunday night that a flight from Miami, Florida, had 10 per cent of passengers infected with Covid – 17 of which were Omicron.
Israel bans travel to US after Omicron cases found on Miami flight Health ministry said 10 per cent of passengers tested positive
Gino Spocchia 21 December 2021 10:48
1640082545 Covid tests to become free in January
The Biden administration is to announce the purchase of 500 million at-home rapid Covid tests to make available to all Americans for free in January, an official has said.
The tests will be available to order online, and according to reports, delivered by mail. Although it remains unclear how many Covid tests each household will be able to request in January.
It comes after White House press secretary Jen Psaki was forced to defend a plan to allow Americans to file reimbursement claims for at-home Covid tests, rather than making them freely available to all Americans without any upfront costs, as Alex Woodward reported:
White House officials reject mailing free at-home tests for Covid-19 Officials dismiss idea that US could distribute free rapid tests despite such approaches being integral to the pandemic response in other nations
Gino Spocchia 21 December 2021 10:29
1640080638 WHO urges caution around large Christmas gathering
Christmas gatherings with lots of people should be “changed or delayed” to slow down the spread of coronavirus cases, a WHO spokesperson has urged.
Dr Margaret Harris said people planning on attending large Christmas gatherings should consider cancelling their plans, if a lot of people were travelling from a number of different places.
“If you have gatherings that are not going to be safe, change them, delay them, do them later - don’t do them now,” Dr Harris told Sky News.
‘Change or delay’ Christmas gatherings with lots of people, WHO urges ‘An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled,’ says organisation’s head
Namita Singh 21 December 2021 09:57
1640078151 Iran's envoy 'repatriated from Yemen dies of Covid-19'
Iran’s envoy to Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement, died of coronavirus infection days after he was repatriated from the country, said Iran’s foreign ministry.
The ambassador Hasan Irlu "was evacuated in poor condition due to delayed cooperation from certain countries," said spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh, without naming the countries.
He seemingly referred to Saudi Arabia, which along with Iraq was involved in his transfer from Yemen’s capital Sanna, reported Reuters, citing a Houthi spokesperson.
Namita Singh 21 December 2021 09:15
1640076351 Moderna to work on developing Omicron booster dose
Moderna could soon be working to develop a booster shot against the Omicron variant, said the company’s top executive Stephane Bancel.
“It only needs minor adjustments for Omicron. I don’t expect any problems,” Mr Bancel said in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger published on Tuesday. The company is awaiting important information on the variant, to begin their work.
“That will take another week or two,” Mr Bancel said. “It will take a few months before we can produce 500 million doses after (regulatory) approval. But our capacities are much higher today than a year ago,” he said.
Medical staff and volunteers prepare shots of the Moderna vaccine at an NHS Covid-19 vaccination centre on 16 December 2021 near Ramsgate, United Kingdom
(Getty Images)
Namita Singh 21 December 2021 08:45
1640073133 US might ease travel restrictions on African countries, says Fauci
The US might ease the travel restrictions it imposed on eight African countries last month, according to the country’s top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci.
“We likely are going to pull back on that pretty soon because we have enough infection in our own country,” Dr Fauci said at the National Press Club.
“We’re letting in people from other countries that have as much or more infection than the Southern African countries. So likely we are going to look at that very carefully to see if we can pull back.”
In November, the Biden administration had barred foreign nationals if they had been to one of the eight listed southern African countries, including South Africa, within 14 days of their scheduled travel to the US.
Dr Anthony Fauci gives an update on the Omicron variant during the daily press briefing at the White House on 1 December 2021 in Washington, DC
(Getty Images)
Namita Singh 21 December 2021 07:52
1640070015 LA moves New Year's Eve celebration online
Los Angeles has called off its New Year’s Eve celebration, while Rhode Island reinstated an indoor mask mandate as the Omicron variant emerged as the dominant variant in the US.
The organisers on Monday said that the planned New Year’s Eve party at Los Angeles’s Grand Park will no longer have an in-person audience.
The event will instead be streamed online. While in Rhode Island, under the new mandate which came into effect on Monday, most indoor establishments now require either a proof vaccination or masks for all.
People walk past a Christmas tree on display at Hollywood & Highland on 17 December 2021 in Los Angeles, California
(Getty Images)
Namita Singh 21 December 2021 07:00
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