Live Update: Hong Kong reports case of Omicron spread

Hong Kong — Hong Kong confirmed the first case of a community infection of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 associated with an airline crew member who returned from the United States and had lunch at a restaurant two days later.

Two other people eating at the Moon Palace restaurant on Monday were infected. One was the father of a Cathay Pacific crew member, and the other was a construction worker eating at a distance of 10 meters (30 feet).

Health Minister Sophia Chan complained to airline chairman and CEO at a press conference on Friday that city leader Carrie Lam had staff who violated self-quarantine rules for three days after returning home. He said he had stated. The Minister of Health called their actions “irresponsible.”

Cathay Pacific said in a statement that recently five crew members tested positive for Omicron and some crew members did not comply with the regulations. It apologized and said they would be disciplined.

Hong Kong has recorded 81 cases of Omicron. The others were from overseas.

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Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic today:

— US children hospitalized with a record number of COVIDs

— U.S. health authorities put pressure on nursing home workers to get booster shots

— New COVID-19 cases in the U.S. surge to record highs

— Does the COVID-19 test at home detect Omicron variants?

— Canadian provinces have adopted restrictions in their daily case records

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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

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Here’s what else is happening today:

Sydney — A new coronavirus infection surged again in Australia on Friday, setting a record of over 32,000 a few days after the first over 10,000.

Experts say the explosion was caused by a highly contagious variant of Omicron and recent deregulation in Sydney and elsewhere.

Over 15,000 new cases have been reported in Sydney. An additional 5,000 cases originated elsewhere in New South Wales, with approximately 6,000 confirmed in Victoria, Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne.

Hospitalizations and deaths have increased due to the surge, but so far have not reached the comparative levels seen in previous outbreaks. And many cities are planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve, including the famous Fireworks Festival from the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.

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Jerusalem — Israel has begun a fourth vaccination of those most vulnerable to the coronavirus, making it one of the first countries to prepare for the wave of infection caused by the Omicron variant.

Israel, which led the world-wide vaccination program in 2020, will give a fourth vaccination to individuals with weakened immunity and the elderly and employees in long-term care facilities.

The fourth dose deployment began on Friday morning at the Sheva Medical Center in Israel and was given to patients with heart and lung transplants.

The country is currently experiencing a new wave of infection caused by infectious Omicron variants. There were 4,085 new cases recorded on Thursday. This is the highest number of infections Israel has seen since late September per day.

In response, Israel introduced new restrictions late Thursday to curb the rise in infection rates prior to New Year’s Eve celebrations. This includes a green pass given to individuals who have been fully vaccinated at more than 100 outdoor events or who have recently recovered from the coronavirus, and mandatory mask wear at more than 50 outdoor events.

Israel, a country of 9.3 million people, has reported 8,243 deaths from the coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic. The majority of its population (more than 6.5 million) has been vaccinated with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine at least once, and more than 4.2 million Israelis have been vaccinated twice and boosted.

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Seoul, South Korea — South Korea says it will extend the strictest social distance rules for another two weeks to reduce critical cases and prevent Omicron variants.

The government said Friday that current restrictions, such as a four-person limit for personal gatherings and a curfew at 9 pm in restaurants and cafes, will continue until January 16.

Health Minister Gondeok said that the number of cases per day in South Korea has recently dropped from 8,000 to 5,000, thanks to the current distance guidelines that came into force two weeks ago.

However, he says, the number of severely or severely ill patients remains over 1,000. Kwon said that Omicron variants continue to spread throughout South Korea, making it difficult to prevent them from becoming the dominant strain in South Korea.

On Friday, South Korea added 4,875 new COVID-19 cases, boosting the national total to 630,838. Health officials also said they had identified 269 new cases of the Omicron variant, bringing the national total to 894.

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The surge in New York-coronavirus has overturned plans to hold a major nuclear treaty conference at the United Nations next month, and participants agreed to postpone the conference a few days before its scheduled start on Thursday.

After a pandemic delay of almost two years, delegations from around the world were scheduled to meet at UN headquarters on Tuesday to consider the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a pillar of nuclear arms control.

However, according to Thursday’s email from the UN Disarmament Department to affiliates, the organizers are currently penciling on the start date of August 1. The meeting was originally scheduled for the spring of 2020.

With the number of cases of coronavirus rising again in New York, the host city of the United Nations, and more and more employees getting sick and quarantined, the World Group became the leader of the conference on Monday and is now in a large rally. He said he couldn’t handle it.

The NPT is the world’s most widely ratified nuclear arms control agreement, with 191 participating countries. Countries without nuclear weapons have promised not to acquire nuclear weapons and to enable verification that the nuclear energy program has not been transformed into weapons. The countries that had nuclear weapons when the treaty was signed—the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China — agreed to move towards eliminating them.

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Toronto — Quebec has imposed a curfew since New Year’s Eve, and Ontario has delayed school reopening by two days as several Canadian states have reported new highs for COVID-19 infections.

Quebec Premier François Lego says the curfew is valid from 10 pm to 5 am on Friday night and will be enforced indefinitely.

Quebec imposed a pandemic-related curfew on January 9th last year and did not lift the measure until May 28th. Only Canadian provinces have ordered a curfew for coronavirus.

In Ontario, classes were scheduled to resume on Monday, but were postponed to Wednesday. Authorities say it will provide schools with N95 masks and give the school time to deploy more HEPA filter units.

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Honolulu — Hawaii set a new record for a new coronavirus case on Thursday. About 1.5 million states have reported about 3,500 new infections.

The total number of new cases reported per day by health authorities is 3,484, which exceeds the record of 2,205 cases set the day after Christmas. The state had an average of over 100 new cases a day at the beginning of the month.

The recent surge occurred about two weeks after the first case of the Omicron variant was identified in Hawaii.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said there would be no new restrictions on Oahu during the New Year holidays. He said people should take personal responsibility to control their illness.

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Santa Fe, New Mexico — New Mexico suffers from the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which lacks free home-based rapid testing to detect COVID-19 infections.

The company running the state program said Thursday that the state test supply was oversupplied. The announcement was made hours after Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham wrote that residents could “order a test kit today.”

By the afternoon, “all available tests have been shipped,” Vault Health offered paid tests instead. The state reported an additional 2,209 COVID-19 cases and 26 additional deaths on Thursday.

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New Orleans-Louisiana has set a record for a new COVID-19 diagnosis, and the state’s Omicron variant surge has just begun, Governor John Bel Edwards said Thursday.

Edwards said in a livestreamed press conference on Zoom that Thursday’s 24-hour total of 12,467 new cases exceeded Wednesday’s 9,378 cases by more than one-third.

He said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was a state record on Wednesday itself, surpassing the 7,548 set in August during the surge in delta mutations.

According to Edwards, the number of people hospitalized for the virus increased by 268% from 17 December to 762.

The governor said he would not require a mask unless such an order was needed to prevent the hospital from being overwhelmed. But he said people should pay attention to masking recommendations from both the CDC and the State Department.

Wearing a mask is a small inconvenience “compared to being in a hospital struggling to get oxygen or seeing a loved one struggling to get oxygen”.

He and other state and hospital staff in southern and central Louisiana repeatedly urged everyone to take precautions, including vaccinations and boosters.

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Jackson, Mississippi-The Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court issued an emergency order on Thursday, and the recent surge in COVID-19 cases allowed judges to postpone the jury trial until mid-January.

At the behest of Mississippi Chief Justice Mike Randolph, the court may also use conference calls, video conferences, and electronic filing to limit direct contact in court. Felony fleas, felony decisions, and probationary hearings can be held remotely.

This order is an extension of the safety regulations that have already been enforced. Emergency Administrative Order 25 is an emergency order issued by the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court since August, allowing judges to postpone jury trials.

Randolph, in a recent order, cited a recent increase in incidents, especially a highly contagious variant of Omicron.

As of December 14, there were 575 new confirmed COVID-19 infections in Mississippi. Approximately two weeks later, Randolph said the number of confirmed cases increased more than eight-fold to 4,885.

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Sacramento, California — A new, more infectious variant of the coronavirus that hits California, a lawyer representing prisoners said a violation of a health order by prison staff killed dozens of people in the first year of the pandemic. It is said that there is a risk of repeated occurrences.

According to the latest statistics, most employees who need to be tested twice a week have not been tested, and most employees are unaffected.

Correctional authorities have updated these figures, but said they have not yet provided new data.

Authorities have temporarily closed admission to the Wasco State Prison in San Joaquin Valley, which has had more than 150 new infections in the last two weeks. Beginning Monday, authorities say that state-wide prisoners must be fully vaccinated for direct or family visits unless they have approved a religious or medical exemption.

This is being done as new cases surge across California and state models predict a gradual increase in hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions next month.

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Seattle — The Seattle area’s healthcare system says it will soon limit COVID-19 testing appointments on community testing sites due to its “astronomically high” positive rate.

According to a Seattle Times report, UW Medicine said Thursday reservations are limited to people with symptoms or known exposures. Nine of UW Medicine’s 12 community testing sites will soon begin limiting bookings. Three will be temporarily closed.

Positive rates have been measured at some South King County test sites to be above 40%, and high rates reduce the ability of scientists to analyze which samples are actually positive.