French Health Minister Olivier Veran confirmed on Wednesday the country registered a new record of about 335,000 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours. The update comes as the government is about to hold a meeting on the health situation in France and discuss potential new restrictions to curb the worst outbreak to date. However, President Emmanuel Macron insisted yesterday there won’t be any new curbs after today’s meeting.
Virus cases in Italy rise by record 189,109 in one day
Italian health officials reported on Wednesday that record-high 189,109 cases have been detected in the previous 24 hours, taking the total number of coronavirus infections to 6,756,035. Over the same time span, the COVID-19 death toll in the country rose by 231 to 138,276. A total of 5,196,642 patients have been cured of the disease since the beginning of the pandemic, data also showed.
Netherlands sees record 24,490 COVID-19 cases
The Netherlands registered record 24,490 new COVID-19 cases and 39 coronavirus-related deaths over the previous day, according to the official data updated on Wednesday. Despite the number of daily recorded infections declining through most of December, the spreading curve turned up again following the Christmas and New Year holidays. However, children will return to classrooms in primary and secondary schools from next week despite record figures, the government confirmed earlier this week.
Chicago cancels school as record-setting Omicron wave spurs more disruptions
CHICAGO, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Chicago officials canceled classes in the nation’s third-largest school district on Wednesday amid a dispute with the teachers’ union, the latest disruption to U.S. education and life as the Omicron variant spurs a record-setting COVID-19 surge. The move came after the teachers’ union voted late on Tuesday to return to remote learning and pushed for more rigorous safety protocols, citing concerns about the rapid spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant that has upended air travel, Broadway shows and back-to-office plans in recent weeks. The rolling seven-day average number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States hit 540,000, a new high for an eighth consecutive day on Tuesday. The country shattered global records for a single day with nearly 1 million new infections on Monday, according to a Reuters tally.