COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES | New Zealand PM Ardern is self isolating after exposure to Covid positive case

January 29 2022 - 15:53

Southern Africa felt nastiest sting of Omicron travel bans, new study finds

Southern Africa was the most targeted region by the “emergency brake” travel bans imposed by high-income countries after the identification of the Omicron variant by SA scientists in November, a new study suggests.

The study by Georgetown University in the US analysed more than 200 travel policies issued in the three weeks after SA’s announcement about the discovery of the variant.

It looked at whether policies targeted travellers from specific countries or focused more broadly on enhanced screening.

January 29 2022 - 14:12

Ottawa set for 'massive' protest against Canada's vaccine mandates

Canada's capital city of Ottawa is set on Saturday for a "massive" protest against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Covid-19 vaccine mandates with the arrival of convoys of hundreds of vehicles from across the country.

The so-called "Freedom Convoy" - coming from east and west - started out as a protest against a vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but has turned into a demonstration against government overreach during the pandemic with a strong anti-vax streak.

The convoys are scheduled to get in around noon, but already on Friday dozens of vehicles blocked the roads in front of parliament. A total of some 2,700 trucks are expected, a federal government source said.

-Reuters

January 29 2022 - 13:30

Austria to further ease Covid restrictions

Austria will begin easing Covid-19 related restrictions next week, Chancellor Karl Nehammer told a news conference on Saturday, allowing shops and restaurants to remain open longer and easing restriction on the unvaccinated.

The moves come as the Omicron variant leads to reduced hospitalisations despite high infection numbers.

From February 5, Austria will extend the maximum permitted opening hours of restaurants and shops until midnight and will increase the number of people able to participate in events to 50 from 25, Nehammer said.

-Reuters

January 29 2022 - 12:06

New Zealand PM Ardern is self isolating after exposure to Covid positive case

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has gone into self-isolation until Tuesday after being deemed a close contact of a person who tested positive for Covd-19, the government said.

The exposure took place on January 22 during a flight to Auckland from the town of Kerikeri, the government said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the result of whole genome sequencing was expected the following day.

That would show if the infection was caused by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, it said.

-Reuters

January 29 2022 - 11:41

China reports jump in Covid cases among Olympic athletes, officials

Daily Covid-19 infections among athletes and team officials at the Beijing Winter Olympics jumped to 19 on Friday from two a day earlier, as Games organisers warned of more cases in coming days.

Including the athletes and officials, 36 Games-related personnel were found to be infected - 29 when they arrived at the Beijing airport and seven already in the "closed loop" bubble that separates event personnel from the public, the organising committee said in a statement on Saturday.

"We are now just going through the peak period of people arriving in China and therefore we expect to see the highest numbers at this stage," the Games' medical chief, Brian McCloskey, told a news conference.

-Reuters

January 29 2022 - 10:43

Russia's daily Covid-19 cases exceed 100,000 for first time

Russia's daily coronavirus cases exceeded 100,000 on Saturday for the first time since the pandemic began, the coronavirus task force said.Russia confirmed 113,122 new daily infections, setting a record high for a ninth consecutive day, which the authorities blame on the spread of the Omicron variant.

Russia's coronavirus task force said that 668 deaths had been confirmed in the past 24 hours, after Russia's coronavirus death toll exceeded 700,000 on Friday.

-Reuters

January 29 2022 - 09:30

Australia wants Kanye West fully vaccinated before any concert tour

Hip-hop artist Kanye West will have to be fully vaccinated if he wants to play concerts in Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Saturday, after media said the performer planned an Australian tour in March.

The warning comes just two weeks after tennis superstar Novak Djokovic's hopes for a Grand Slam title were dashed when a court upheld the government's decision to cancel his visa over Covid-19 rules and his unvaccinated status.

"The rules are you have to be fully vaccinated," Morrison told a news conference. "They apply to everybody, as people have seen most recently. It doesn't matter who you are, they are the rules. Follow the rules - you can come. You don't follow the rules, you can't."

-Reuters