While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 25
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The new cases included 186 locally transmitted cases, comprising 177 from the community and nine from the migrant workers' dormitories.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
82 new Omicron cases in S'pore, spike due to change in Covid-19 testing practice: MOH
Singapore confirmed 82 new cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant on Friday (Dec 24), comprising 17 local and 65 imported cases.
This is the largest number of Omicron cases reported in a single day since the variant was first detected earlier in December. As at Monday (Dec 20), the country had recorded 65 imported Omicron cases and six in the community.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said the large number of Omicron cases reported was a "one-time substantial increase" as it has changed its testing practice.
US to lift coronavirus travel curbs on eight African countries: White House
The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions on eight southern African countries imposed last month over concerns about the fast-spreading Covid-19 Omicron variant, the White House said Friday (Dec 24).
Foreign nationals who are barred from the United States because they have been in one of the eight countries within the prior 14 days will again be allowed on US-bound flights leaving after 12:01 a.m. ET on Dec 31, a senior official said, confirming a Reuters report.
The United States on Nov 29 barred nearly all non-US citizens who had recently been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi in an "abundance of caution" over the variant detected in South Africa.
One in 10 Londoners are likely infected with Covid-19, new figures show
Around 1 in 10 Londoners were likely infected with Covid-19 on Sunday (Dec 19), according to new official estimates that underlined the relentless advance of the Omicron variant.
Daily modelled estimates produced by the Office for National Statistics showed around 9.5 per cent of Londoners had Covid-19 as of Sunday, within a 95 per cent confidence interval of 8.43 per cent to 10.69 per cent.
The figures came a day after Britain recorded a record number of new coronavirus cases as the Omicron variant swept across the country, with the daily tally reaching 119,789 from 106,122 a day earlier.
Russia fines Google, Meta record US$125 million over banned content
A Moscow court on Friday (Dec 24) slapped Google with an unprecedented fine of nearly US$100 million (S$135.77 million), while Meta (formerly Facebook) received a fine of US$27 million.
In recent years Russia has been piling pressure on Western social media giants, with President Vladimir Putin saying those companies were becoming as influential as elected governments.
Moscow has repeatedly taken legal action against them for allegedly not moderating their content properly and interfering in the country's affairs.
South Africa ends Covid-19 contact tracing
South Africa says it is ending efforts to trace contacts of people infected with Covid as it believes most of the population have already been exposed to the virus.
Health Department chief Sandile Buthelezi said in a circular sent to provincial officials late Thursday that the government was now shifting to a mitigation strategy that stressed self-monitoring and measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing.
Buthelezi wrote that the "proportion of people with some immunity from infection and/or vaccination is high." "Containment strategies are no longer appropriate - mitigation is the only viable strategy. (This is) especially true of the newer, more infectious/transmissible variants like Omicron," he said.