Saturday 17 / May / 2025
The UK's Health Secretary Sajid Javid told British Broadcaster Sky News that COVID-19 wasn't going away and that people might need annual vaccinations.
"It's going to be with us for many, many years, perhaps forever, and we have to learn to live with it," he said on Thursday.
Javid's remarks come after the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that rules on face masks in schools had been scrapped and the requirement to wear face-coverings on public transport and in shops will end next week.
He intended to drop self-isolation rules for people with coronavirus in March.
"I think we are leading Europe in the transition from pandemic to endemic and we're leading the way in showing the world how you can live with COVID," Javid said.
Germany is witnessing a record high in daily coronavirus infections for a seventh day.
The country on Thursday reported 133,536 cases of COVID-19 as against 112,323 the previous day, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) showed.
The seven-day incidence rate was also a record at 638.8 new infections per 100,000 people over seven days.
Germany has implemented tighter COVID-19 measures over the last few days, limiting access to bars and restaurants to those who have received their booster shots or people who are tested, along with already being fully vaccinated or recovered. Earlier this week, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told German RTL broadcaster that he expected the current omicron-fueled wave to peak around the middle of February.
Austria’s government will introduce a national vaccine lottery to encourage people to get vaccinated.
Roughly 72% of Austrians are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in western Europe.
Every tenth person getting a vaccination, including boosters, would win a €500 ($568) gift voucher.
Austria's lower house of parliament was due to pass a bill on Thursday making vaccines compulsory for all adults.
New Zealand has ruled out lockdowns but will tighten coronavirus measures across the country if there is a domestic transmission of the omicron variant, Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said on Thursday.
The nation will impose a "red" traffic light protocol within 24 to 48 hours of omicron arriving in the community, Ardern told reporters.
The measure would make masks mandatory and put caps on public gatherings.
"When we have evidence of Omicron transmitting in the community we won't use lockdowns, instead the whole country will move into Red within 24 to 48 hours," Ardern said.
"We know from other countries it can take as little as 14 days for omicron cases to grow from the hundreds into the thousands," she said.
"It's a case of when not if, and that's why we need to prepare," she said.
The isolated nation has so far remained mostly free of the omicron variant, with most such cases contained in its border facilities.
In China, Beijing is bolstering anti-pandemic measures amid a rise in local cases.
The measures include inspections of its cold-chain firms and urging residents to avoid unnecessary gatherings.
The city of 21 million people has registered under ten local infections since January 15. However, officials are eager to keep the pandemic in check as the Chinese capital prepares to host the Winter Olympics in February.
