As the omicron variant of the coronavirus sweeps across the globe, India Monday began its inoculation program for teenagers,15-to-18-years old. Also Monday, the country’s health ministry announced 33,750 new COVID cases in the past 24 hours.
France is inaugurating several new restrictions Monday to fight the rising number of new infections. Included among the new regulations are curbs on large gatherings that will now be limited to 5,000 people outdoors and 2,000 indoors.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported Monday that the country has recorded its first deaths of omicron patients. The news agency said it is “unclear” if omicron was “the direct cause” of the deaths of the patients who were both in their 90s.
“The omicron variant is here,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet said in a televised address Sunday, announcing a fourth COVID shot for the elderly and medical workers. Some public health officials are leery of the aggressive move and possible side effects.
The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday that it has recorded more than 290 million global COVID cases and 5.4 million deaths. The center said more than 9 billion vaccines have been administered.
Some information for this report came from Reuters.
