Covid news live: Europe facing ‘another storm’ due to Omicron, WHO warns; Israel announces fourth jab for over-60s

Masks in Japan might be in oversupply but McDonald’s fries certainly are not.

A new kind of chip shortage has hit Japanese supply chains, with McDonald’s forced to ration fries as Covid-19 and floods in Canada squeeze potato imports.

McDonald’s Japan said it would only sell small-sized french fries for a week from Friday to avoid shortages.

Due to large-scale flooding near the Port of Vancouver … and the global supply chain crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there are delays in the supply of potatoes.”

The company said it had taken the measure to ensure that customers could still order fries, even though the “stable procurement of resource materials” was proving difficult.

Read the full story here.

Some interesting news from Japan has just emerged.

Prime minister Fumio Kishida has said 80 million unused “Abenomasks” will be thrown away after criticism that it was costing ¥600 million ($5.2m or £4m to keep them in storage. The government also found that 11 million of the masks were “defective” after inspections that cost more than ¥2 billion.

“I have instructed (officials) to dispose of the government’s stock of cloth masks by the end of the current fiscal year (through March) after distributing them to those in need,” Kishida told a press conference.

“Worries about mask shortages have been completely eliminated due to a recovery in manufacturing and supply, and the intended purpose (of the cloth masks) has been achieved,” the premier said.

Kishida also said that Japan will continue to ban foreigners (apart from residents) entering the country “for the time being” to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant.

Finland will significantly scale up Covid restrictions on the hospitality industry from Christmas Eve.

Prime minister Sanna Marin said restaurants will be required to stop serving alcohol by 9pm and close their doors by 10pm as of Christmas Eve during a press briefing on Tuesday night.

“We must take this situation seriously and react accordingly,” Marin said.

The restrictions will be further tightened from 28 December with restaurants to stop drinking at 5pm with doors closing at 6pm.

The restrictions will be in effect for three weeks. The government will begin preparing a support package to compensate hospitality businesses affected by the restrictions, Marin said.

Health chiefs announced over 23,000 new coronavirus infections in the past two weeks, an all-time record in the Nordic nation of 5.5 million people.

EU citizens arriving at the Finnish border will be required to show a negative Covid test under the new rules.

Further details on the restrictions are set to be announced on Wednesday.

China has reported 77 new confirmed coronavirus cases for Tuesday 21 December, down from 81 a day earlier, its health authority said on Wednesday.

Of the new infections, 57 were locally transmitted, according to a statement by the National Health Commission, unchanged from a day earlier. Most of the new local cases were in the northwestern province of Shaanxi.

China reported 19 new asymptomatic cases, which it classifies separately from confirmed cases, also unchanged from a day earlier.

There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll at 4,636.

If you missed the story we reported earlier on England cutting Covid self-isolation to seven days with a negative test here’s a quick run-down.

From Tuesday, new guidance will enable the 10-day self-isolation period for vaccinated people in England who have tested positive for coronavirus to be reduced by three days if they get the all-clear from lateral flow tests.

People who receive negative results from tests taken 24 hours apart on day six and day seven of their self-isolation period will no longer have to self-isolate for the full 10 days, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

Those who leave self-isolation on or after day seven are “strongly advised” to limit close contact with other people in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces, work from home and minimise contact with anyone who is at higher risk of severe illness if infected with Covid-19, the agency added.

There is no change to the guidance for unvaccinated positive cases, or unvaccinated contacts of positive cases, who are still required to self-isolate for the 10 full days after their date of exposure to the virus.

Read the full story from the Guardian’s health editor, Andrew Gregory, here.

The Canadian Pacific Coast province of British Columbia is closing bars, nightclubs and gyms amid concerns over the Omicron variant.

Starting at 11:59pm on Wednesday 22 December, bars, nightclubs, gyms, fitness centres and dance studios will close, and all seated events will be reduced to 50% capacity.

Indoor gatherings, including weddings, are also being cancelled, the Associated Press reports.

The new public health measures will be in place until the end of the day Tuesday, 18 January.

Provincial health officer Dr Bonnie Henry said Tuesday the risk posed by Omicron is “fundamentally different” than other variants and it more easily infects those who are vaccinated or have had Covid-19.

She said the province is seeing “explosive outbreaks,” with a large number of people being exposed at the same time. There’s also been a spike in cases among those aged 18 to 35.

The French-speaking province of Quebec announced Monday that it is closing bars, cinemas, gyms and spas because of a record number of coronavirus cases.

The World Health Organization’s European chief has warned countries to brace for a “significant surge” in cases as Omicron spreads across the continent.

Speaking at a press conference in Vienna, Dr Hans Kluge said Omicron is now the dominant variant in a number of European countries, including the UK, Denmark and Portugal. He said:

We can see another storm coming.

Within weeks, omicron will dominate in more countries of the region, pushing already stretched health systems further to the brink.

Last week, 27,000 people died from Covid in the region and an additional 2.6m cases were reported, he said. Although these cases include all variants, he noted this figure is 40% higher than during the same period last year. He added:

The sheer volume of new Covid-19 infections could lead to more hospitalisations and widespread disruption to health systems and other critical services.

Governments and authorities need to prepare our response systems for a significant surge.

Read the full story here.

Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you on the blog bringing you all the latest Covid developments from across the world.

Let’s start with the news that Israelis over the age of 60 and medical teams will be eligible for a fourth Covid vaccination to protect against the fast-spreading omicron variant, prime minister Naftali Bennett announced.

“The citizens of Israel were the first in the world to receive the third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and we are continuing to pioneer with the fourth dose as well,” he said on Tuesday, calling on those who meet the criteria to “go and get vaccinated.”

Bennett’s remarks came after a meeting of the country’s ministerial coronavirus cabinet which convened amid growing concern over the spread of the Omicron variant.

The World Health Organization’s European chief has warned countries to brace for a “significant surge” in cases as Omicron spreads across the continent. Dr Hans Kluge said Omicron is now the dominant variant in a number of European countries, including the UK, Denmark and Portugal.

“We can see another storm coming,” said Kluge. “Within weeks, Omicron will dominate in more countries of the region, pushing already stretched health systems further to the brink.”

• UK prime minister Boris Johnson has confirmed no further Covid restrictions will be put in place in England before Christmas however curbs could be imposed after 25 December.
• Edinburgh’s annual Hogmanay street party has been cancelled, while in Wales employees face £60 fines for failing to work from home as governments tightened rules to limit the spread of the Omicron variant. The Scottish and Welsh governments also imposed limits on sporting events from Boxing Day.
• People over the age of 60 in Israel will be eligible for a fourth Covid vaccination, the country’s prime minister, Naftali Bennett, announced. His remarks came the country recorded its first death from the Omicron variant.
• The next mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, said on Tuesday he would postpone his inauguration ceremony, which was set for 1 January, due to the rise in cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. He did so shortly after the current mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced that residents who get a Covid-19 booster shot by the end of the year will receive $100.
• Germany has announced a string of new measures that are to take effect from 28 December “at the latest”, in a bid to get a rampant surge in new infections under control. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the fourth wave of infections was now under control, but warned that the fifth wave was just around the corner.
• Portugal’s government ordered nightclubs and bars to shut doors and told people to work from home from 26 December to at least 9 January to control the spread of Covid-19 over the holiday period. A negative coronavirus test will also be required to stay at Portuguese hotels and outdoor gatherings will be limited to 10 people per group on New Year’s Eve.
• The archbishop of Canterbury has said that people will have felt “sorrow and sadness” seeing the photograph of Downing Street staff drinking together last May because it will have reminded them of what they sacrificed. In an interview, Justin Welby hinted at his disapproval over the gathering, saying that leadership involved setting an example.
• A bailout package worth about £1bn for businesses losing trade because of the Omicron surge was announced by the UK’s chancellor, Rishi Sunak. The funding will primarily help firms in the leisure and hospitality sectors, and follows concerns that they have faced cancelled bookings.