Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) says he’s optimistic 2022 will see the coronavirus pandemic defeated, but only if countries work together.

While richer countries have managed to vaccinate most of their populations and are now issuing in boosters, in low-income countries, most people are still waiting for their first jab.

It's exactly two years since the World Health Organization was notified by China that a pneumonia of unknown origin had been detected in the city of Wuhan.

No-one, on New Year’s Eve 2019, expected a pandemic that would cause more than five million deaths, shatter economies and disrupt all our lives.

The WHO’s new year’s resolution is to get 70% of people everywhere vaccinated by mid-2022 - that would end the acute phase of the pandemic, and the need for restrictions.

Even small rise in NHS staff absences adds pressurepublished at 13:20 Greenwich Mean Time 31 December 2021

13:20 GMT 31 December 2021

Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News

Normally at this time of year, around 5% of NHS staff at acute trusts in England are absent for a variety of reasons.

In the week up to Boxing Day, that rose to 8% with more than 25,000 staff off work due to Covid.

This is the “biggest immediate challenge for trusts”, says NHS Providers, the body which represents hospitals and ambulance services.

Isolation rules for people with Covid mean staff must stay at home for seven days and at some hospitals, this means hundreds of extra staff absences per week.

In London at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, 184 staff were off due to Covid during Christmas week while at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, there were more than 1,000 Covid-related absences, or 7% of the workforce.

With staff working shifts and some also on leave over Christmas, health leaders say even a small increase in the percentage of staff absent is putting more pressure on an already-stretched health service.

While some NHS leaders believe the threshold at which the health service will be overwhelmed has not yet been reached, one scientist has said he believes it could come "quite quickly".

Professor Peter Openshaw, who advises the government on the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), told the BBC earlier he was concerned how NHS staff will cope.

He said scientists were very worried about older, unvaccinated people catching Omicron.

"The latest figures show extraordinary rises in infection rates and this is before we've had time to see the full effect of what's happened over Christmas," he said.

"The people currently who are very sadly dying of Covid were probably infected on average about 35 days ago, so this was really before Omicron really started to transmit.

"It's therefore too early to say what the impact of Omicron is going to be on more severe disease."

Earlier, New Zealand marked the start of 2022 with a light show at Auckland's harbour front, with Auckland Harbour Bridge and Sky Tower lit up in different colours.

Covid infection rates increased across all four UK nations in the run-up to Christmas, latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics show.

In England, one in 25 people were estimated to have Covid in the week ending 23 December.

Infection rates increased across all age groups in England, with the highest rates still seen in primary school age children and young adults.

Omicron is now the dominant variant in England and Scotland., external

Image source, Getty Images

But, for some, mass celebrations are not allowed. In Scotland, people are being urged to stay at home for Hogmanay as the Omicron variant drives record Covid cases.

All the major New Year events in Edinburgh have been cancelled, along with others across the country.

On Thursday, Scotland recorded its highest ever number of Covid cases, with 16,857 cases confirmed.

But Scotland's first minister says the country can look forward to a "better and brighter new year ahead".

People living in Scotland have been urged not to travel to England for new year celebrations to avoid the more stringent Covid-19 restrictions.

• What are the rules at Hogmanay?

As countries around the world begin to welcome in the New Year, there were muted celebrations in cities across Australia.

Many nations have reimposed coronavirus restrictions as Covid cases continue to soar - with major cities, including London and Paris, cancelling or curtailing their traditional NYE fireworks.

In Sydney, the world-renowned fireworks went ahead but city centres across Australia were expected to be much quieter than previous years, amid fears over the spread of the Omicron variant.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

The Covid treatment tablets approved for use in the UK should be given to clinically vulnerable people as soon as they test positive.

The drug - Paxlovid - developed by the US company Pfizer cuts the risk of hospitalisation or death by 89% in vulnerable adults, clinical trial results suggest.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid has previously called the results "incredible".

The drug, known as a protease inhibitor, is designed to block an enzyme the virus needs in order to multiply. When taken alongside a low dose of another antiviral pill called ritonavir, it stays in the body for longer.

Three pills are taken twice a day for five days.

A pill to treat Covid has been approved for use across the UK, the medicines regulator says.

Paxlovid, developed by the US company Pfizer, has been authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

According to the MHRA: "Paxlovid is an antiviral medicine used for treating mild-to-moderate COVID-19. COVID-19 is caused by a virus.

"Paxlovid stops the virus multiplying in cells and this stops the virus multiplying in the body. This can help your body to overcome the virus infection, and may help you get better faster."

The UK Department of Health said: "More than 2.75 million courses of Paxlovid have been secured for NHS patients and plans for deployment will be set out soon."

Admissions 'with' and 'for' Covid both risingpublished at 11:54 Greenwich Mean Time 31 December 2021

11:54 GMT 31 December 2021

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

The total number of people in Covid beds in acute trusts in England stood at just over 8,300 on 28 December, with about two-thirds of those people being treated primarily for their Covid.

The total number has risen by more than by more than 2,400 since the end of November - and most of that rise has come in the last week.

Before Omicron, we would have expected any growth to be split roughly along historical lines - that is mainly in people being treated for their Covid.

That is not happening – the growth has been roughly evenly split by people being treated for Covid (up by 1,262) and people being treated for something else but who have coronavirus (up by 1,191).

So “with Covid” beds are taking up a larger and larger proportion of the total: up from about 25% at the end of November to 33% at the end of December.

This is what would be expected for an infection that is generally milder but more infectious.

Doctors stress that someone “with Covid” still presents treatment challenges: they could be in for a broken leg that has nothing to do with Covid, but still require isolation to prevent outbreaks.

Or they could be someone whose stroke was brought on or made worse by Covid and whose treatment becomes more complicated because of it too.

The CDC's advice against cruises comes after the US reported nearly half a million new cases in a single day on Thursday.

It was the largest daily total of any country during the pandemic, our US media partner CBS reports, external.

More than 486,000 new cases were reported in a 24-hour period, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, external.

Our chart shows the evolution of the number of cases and deaths in the country:

Image source, Getty Images

If you're thinking of escaping from it all, cruises might not be the best way to do it - that's according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It has warned Americans to avoid cruises regardless of vaccination status due to concern over Covid-19.

On Thursday, the CDC said the virus could quickly spread in the confined spaces of a ship and that the likelihood of infection was high.

It has elevated its travel warning for cruise ships from level three to four - the agency's highest.

The CDC is currently monitoring over 90 cruise ships for Covid-19.

The agency said there has been an increase in cases on cruise ships since identification of the Omicron variant. It warned that even fully vaccinated passengers who have received a booster dose could spread the virus while onboard.

The CDC also recommended that cruise ship passengers be tested between one and three days prior to their voyage, and three to five days after, regardless of vaccination status.

Read more here.

Anna Collinson
Health Correspondent

The head of NHS providers - which represents trusts in England - says he can understand why Boris Johnson has so far resisted calls to impose new regulations in response to the more transmissable Omicron variant.

While health officials and scientists can advise - it is the government that sets the rules on covid restrictions and in England the bar is higher than the rest of the UK.

The number of people being admitted to hospital with coronavirus is on the rise - with latest data showing more than 2,000 patients were admitted on Wednesday in England alone - the highest daily figure since February.

But so far there has not been a large number of seriously ill older people.

The head of NHS Providers Chris Hopson says based on the latest data and the government’s criteria, trust leaders can see why it has not acted - but warns a surge could still come and ministers must be ready to introduce tighter restrictions quickly if needed.

Image source, GEOGRAPH / TERRY ROBINSON

Hospital visits are being suspended in Sheffield because of a rise in the number of people bringing in Covid.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust says the rapid spread of Omicron on its sites is linked to people visiting patients.

In exceptional cases, such as end of life care, visiting arrangements would be allowed, the trust says.

Meanwhile, Rotherham Hospital has also banned visits as the area has the highest community infection rate in South Yorkshire, and one of the highest across Yorkshire and the Humber.

Victoria Hazeldine, deputy chief nurse at the Trust, says: “The welfare of our patients, their families and our staff is our top priority."

Image source, Getty Images

Some schools need to start planning for pupils to return to online learning due to teacher and staff illness, Wales' first minister has said.

Mark Drakeford says decisions will be made by individual councils, rather than the Welsh government.

Schools in Wales were told to take two planning days next week to prepare for the new term due to rising Covid cases.

Laura Doel, director of head teachers' union NAHT Cymru, says remote learning should be a "last resort".

She says if regular lateral flow testing are to mitigate staff absence it is vital that schools have a supply ready for reopening.

Image source, Getty Images

Spare a thought for the US schoolteacher who had to spend five hours in voluntary self-isolation in a plane's toilet after testing positive for Covid-19 mid-flight.

Marisa Fotieo says she felt her throat hurt while travelling from Chicago to Reykjavik, Iceland, on 20 December.

Ms Fotieo says she performed a rapid test with a kit she had brought with her, which confirmed she was infected.

She remained in the toilet for the rest of the trip, and a flight attendant provided food and drinks to her.

Read more here.

The publication of coronavirus data for all nations of the UK has been delayed due to the Christmas and new year holiday period.

It is likely that a full picture will only be available again in early January.

But here's what the most up to date figures tell us.

NHS Covid absences up by 40%published at 10:03 Greenwich Mean Time 31 December 2021

10:03 GMT 31 December 2021

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

During Christmas week, an average of 25,273 staff in acute trusts in England were absent each day due to Covid, up by 42% on the previous week.

Covid absences accounted for 3% of staff.

London was again the worst hit by Covid-related absences: about 4% of staff in acute trusts were absent for reasons relating to Covid during the week ending 26 December.

That was an average of 5,353 staff each day, up by nearly 60% on the week before.

More from Professor Peter Openshaw, who says someone only needs to be exposed to "a whiff of infected breath" to catch the highly transmissible Omicron variant of coronavirus.

"Omicron is so infectious. We're lucky really that it wasn't this infectious when it first moved into human-to-human transmission," he told BBC Breakfast.

"We've had several iterations of this virus going through different stages of its evolution.

"It has ended up being so infectious that it almost needs just a whiff of infected breath and you could get infected."

He says the UK is in a relatively good position compared with many parts of the world where the vaccination rates are only about 5% and the population has very little protection from Omicron.

• What do we know about Omicron?

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile in England, New Year's Eve will be celebrated without further restrictions, although the health secretary said people should "remain cautious".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged people to test before socialising - even as rapid test supplies run low in some places.

Meanwhile, tighter rules are in place for people in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

So how many people can get together on New Year's Eve? The answer very much depends on where you are.