January 12 coronavirus pandemic and Omicron variant news

By Jack Guy, Hannah Strange, Rhea Mogul and Adam Renton, CNN

Updated 0718 GMT (1518 HKT) January 13, 2022
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5:07 a.m. ET, January 12, 2022

Peak still to come as France hits record daily case numbers, says health minister

From CNN’s Xiaofei Xu and Camille Knight in Paris

A pharmacy employee collects a sample for Covid-19 antigen test in Paris on January 6, 2022.
A pharmacy employee collects a sample for Covid-19 antigen test in Paris on January 6, 2022. (Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images)

France is still yet to see its peak of the current wave of infection, fueled mainly by the Omicron variant, according to the country's Health Minister Olivier Véran. 

“In principle, the peak is still ahead of us, to be followed by either a plateau or natural decline,” Véran told broadcaster Franceinfo Wednesday.

“It takes a little bit more time compared to the previous variants that we had to be able to say if we are at the peak or not.”

France reported 368,149 new infections on Tuesday, a record since the beginning of the pandemic. But Véran said the real daily infection number could be more than 500,000.

France has been doubling down on its vaccination policy in the face of a surge in cases.

Those fully vaccinated have up to seven months to get their booster shot before losing their health pass, which gives access to most public spaces such as restaurants, cafés or cinemas.

Currently, between 500,000 and 700,000 people are at risk of losing their health pass on Friday, according to Véran.

The French Senate is debating a law, already adopted by the National Assembly, that will turn the health pass into a vaccination pass.

If it passes, the new law could kick in at the beginning of next week.

11:54 a.m. ET, January 12, 2022

Journalists unaware Novak Djokovic had tested positive for Covid two days prior to interview

From CNN translator Josh Pennington

(Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
(Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Two journalists working for French sports newspaper L’Equipe were not told Novak Djokovic was Covid-positive before, during or after a 33-minute interview with the tennis star in Belgrade on December 18, the outlet reported Wednesday.

Journalists Franck Ramella and photographer Etienne Garnier reported that Djokovic seemed “well,” despite it later emerging he had been diagnosed with Covid-19 two days prior.

Separately on Wednesday, Djokovic acknowledged he knew of the positive diagnosis at the time of the interview and apologized.

The L’Equipe article states Ramella has since tested negative to Covid-19, but it does not mention Garnier’s health.

Ramella told CNN he was en route to Melbourne to cover the Australian Open.

Djokovic, who is unvaccinated, is currently fighting to be allowed into Australia to compete in the tournament.

He applied for an exemption from Australian rules mandating that arrivals must be fully-vaccinated against Covid-19, using a positive test result on December 16 as evidence that he should be allowed into the country. Photos posted on social media show him unmasked at events in mid-December,

While Djokovic admitted Wednesday that he did not immediately isolate after testing positive for Covid-19, he denied knowing he had the virus when attending public events.

The French journalists' interview with Djokovic was conducted in Belgrade at the player’s Novak Center, L’Equipe reported.

“As we waited for about 90 minutes, the (masked) staff offered us an excellent assortment of sliced fruit. At last Djokovic arrived, all smiles, masked as well,” a CNN translation of the French language article reads.

It is unclear whether staff at the Novak Center knew of Djokovic’s positive diagnosis.

The article acknowledged that Djokovic kept his mask on for the duration of the indoor interview, but took it off when asked to pose for a professional photo without it.

“For thirty-three minutes, according to the timer on the recorder, Djokovic answered the questions with confidence. We were being safe, facing each other at a distance of nearly one meter, sitting on opposite sides of a long rectangular table. When Etienne asked him to remove his mask for five minutes during the interview, Djokovic refused,” the article reads.

“Then the photo session took place. Obviously, the Serbian champion removed his mask. We did not want him to pose with his face half-covered. Then he followed the instructions of Etienne, who was masked. He held the trophy at arm's length, moving from one position to another, smiling or grinning to show that he had won. He also shouted to make it even more genuine," the story continues.

The article was published just hours before Djokovic apologized for keeping the interview appointment despite being aware of his positive PCR diagnosis from a test done two days earlier.

“I felt obliged to go ahead and conduct the L’Equipe interview as I didn’t want to let the journalist down, but did ensure I socially distanced and wore a mask except when my photograph was being taken,” Djokovic wrote in a statement published on his social media accounts Wednesday.

“While I went home after the interview to isolate for the required period, on reflection, this was an error of judgement and I accept that I should have rescheduled this commitment.”

4:32 a.m. ET, January 12, 2022

Germany records highest daily Covid-19 infections since start of pandemic

From CNN's Stephanie Halasz

 A disinfection station locates at Hanover Central Station in Hanover, Lower Saxony. The number of Covid-19 infections reported to the Robert Koch Institute within one day has exceeded the threshold of 80,000 cases in Germany for the first time.
 A disinfection station locates at Hanover Central Station in Hanover, Lower Saxony. The number of Covid-19 infections reported to the Robert Koch Institute within one day has exceeded the threshold of 80,000 cases in Germany for the first time. (Julian Stratenschulte/Picture Alliance/DPA/AP)

Germany has reported a record high of 80,430 new Covid-19 infections in 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), beating the previous record of 65,371 infections on November 18.

The seven-day incidence increased from 387.9 to 407.5, and the latest figure is nearly double the figure of 205.5 recorded two weeks ago on December 29.

There were 384 deaths recorded in 24 hours, said RKI, taking the total death toll to 114,735.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country's health authorities have recorded a total of 7,661,811 cases.

Germany's vaccination rate continues to improve, but slowly. On Wednesday the Ministry of Health's vaccine dashboard said that 72% of the population was fully vaccinated. 

3:13 a.m. ET, January 12, 2022

South Korea authorizes Novavax Covid-19 vaccine

From CNN's Gawon Bae in Seoul, South Korea

Novavax Inc. headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Novavax Inc. headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland. (Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

South Korea has authorized use of Novavax's Covid-19 vaccine, the country's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on Wednesday.

The vaccine will be manufactured locally by South Korea’s SK BioScience, the ministry said.

It will be given to people age 18 or older, with 21 days between the first and second shot, the ministry said, adding a panel was consulted to review the vaccine's safety and efficacy.

The Novavax vaccine is expected to be available in the country as early as February, according to Food and Drug Safety Minister Kim Gang-lip.

In December, India's drugs controller-general granted emergency use authorization for the Novavax shot. The vaccine is in use in other countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines, according to the drugmaker.

Covid-19 vaccines developed by AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Janssen and Moderna have all been approved for use in South Korea.

2:19 a.m. ET, January 12, 2022

Analysis: How a birthday party exposed Hong Kong officials to the harsh reality of zero-Covid

Analysis from CNN's Jessie Yeung in Hong Kong

A worker in a protective suit helps bring residents to quarantine after new cases were reported on January 9 in Hong Kong.
A worker in a protective suit helps bring residents to quarantine after new cases were reported on January 9 in Hong Kong. (Li Zhihua/China News Service/Getty Images)

He's an unlikely critic of the Hong Kong government — but after being hauled off to mandatory quarantine over the weekend, pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho did not hold back.

Broadcasting live on Facebook on Saturday, Ho, who is known for his staunchly pro-establishment views, slammed his hand on the table and shook his finger angrily. The city's uncompromising Covid-19 strategy was as unsound as "sandcastles on the beach," he said.

"The government's handling of matters is completely outrageous, completely disordered!" he said in another post that night.

Ho was among dozens of Hong Kong bureaucrats and lawmakers ordered into quarantine last week after they were potentially exposed to Covid-19 at an official's birthday party on January 3.

More than 200 people attended the event at a Spanish restaurant, of which at least one has been confirmed positive with Covid-19. An investigation is underway to determine whether the restaurant or any of the officials present broke any rules.

Hong Kong, along with mainland China, is one of the few places still following a strict zero-Covid model. The city is largely closed off to the outside world, with the government doubling down on its aim of eliminating all local cases of the virus in the hope of reopening its border with mainland China.

Stringent restrictions, a sweeping track, trace and test regime, and harsh border measures, including 21 days of quarantine for almost all arrivals, have kept the infection rate and death toll remarkably low for a city of 7.5 million. But the controversial and divisive measures have also served to isolate Hong Kong, taking a toll on international businesses and any resident who wishes to travel.

In his video, Ho made no apology for going to the party, which ignored government guidance to avoid large gatherings amid Hong Kong's first local outbreak of coronavirus cases in nearly three months.

Read the full analysis:

2:14 a.m. ET, January 12, 2022

Tens of thousands flock to India's Ganges River amid rising Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Esha Mitra in New Delhi 

Hindu devotees travel on a vehicle as they arrive at Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati, ahead of the one month long annual traditional Hindu festival 'Magh Mela' in Allahabad on January 11, 2022.
Hindu devotees travel on a vehicle as they arrive at Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati, ahead of the one month long annual traditional Hindu festival 'Magh Mela' in Allahabad on January 11, 2022. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)

Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees have arrived in the Indian state of West Bengal ahead of an annual religious festival, raising concerns over the spread of Covid-19 as cases across the country continue to surge.

The devotees have gathered along the banks of the holy Ganges River to celebrate the Gangasagar Mela festival.

Doctors had urged the West Bengal High Court to ban the festival this year due to the pandemic. However, the court decided to let it to move forward with social distancing measures in place, including requiring pilgrims to be double vaccinated or present a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of arriving.

According to a court order, at least 30,000 people have already visited the festival grounds and 50,000 devotees have arrived at various locations in West Bengal.

Between January 6-15, at least 500,000 devotees are expected to visit the festival grounds, according to the court order.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the city of Haridwar in the northern state of Uttarakhand banned devotees from taking a dip in the Ganges and prohibited religious gatherings ahead of Makar Sankranti — the Hindu festival of kites — on January 14.

Last year, massive crowds gathered in Haridwar for the months-long Kumbh Mela festival. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was criticized for allowing the festival to continue amid India's crippling second wave that saw millions get infected, and hospitals pushed to the brink of collapse.

India is witnessing a surge of new cases fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant. On Wednesday, India reported 194,720 new Covid-19 cases, bringing its total to just over 36 million since the pandemic began, according to the Health Ministry.

2:21 a.m. ET, January 12, 2022

"Zero-Covid" China fights to contain Omicron as restrictions tighten in major city

From CNN's Nectar Gan in Hong Kong

The northern Chinese port city of Tianjin has locked down 29 communities after detecting the country's first community spread of the Omicron variant over the weekend.
The northern Chinese port city of Tianjin has locked down 29 communities after detecting the country's first community spread of the Omicron variant over the weekend. (FeatureChina via AP Images)

China's northern port city of Tianjin and central province of Henan have further tightened Covid restrictions as the highly contagious Omicron variant continues to spread, posing the gravest challenge yet to the country's zero-Covid strategy.

Tianjin, which detected China's first community spread of Omicron on Saturday, is rolling out a second round of mass testing on its 14 million residents on Wednesday. As of noon Tuesday, 97 people had tested positive.

The outbreak has already spread to Anyang, a city in Henan province some 300 miles (482 kilometers) away, prompting a full lockdown. On Wednesday, the city of Dalian in northeastern China said two recent returnees from Tianjin had tested positive — raising fears that the new variant has spread to another city.

The Omicron outbreak is particularly worrying to officials in Beijing, which lies about 80 miles northwest of Tianjin — and about 30 minutes away by high-speed rail. The Chinese capital is due to host the Winter Olympics on February 4.

Tianjin officials said at a news conference Tuesday that all bus services to Beijing had been suspended. Train tickets from Tianjin to Beijing have been closed for purchase online since Sunday evening.

On Wednesday, 425 flights were canceled at Tianjin Binhai International Airport, accounting for 95% of all scheduled flights, according to flight tracking app VariFlight.

Tianjin authorities on Sunday ordered citizens not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary. Those who want to leave must present a negative Covid test taken within 48 hours and obtain approval from their employer or local government offices.

"When facing Omicron directly, we found its speed of transmission really is very fast," Zhang Ying, deputy director of Tianjin's disease control center, said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV Monday.
"Therefore, whether it is in terms of virus origin tracing, epidemiological investigations or restrictions and controls, the Omicron variant has brought unprecedentedly massive challenges," she said.

Read the full story:

1:54 a.m. ET, January 12, 2022

India's capital tightens restrictions as Omicron drives Covid-19 surge

From CNN's Swati Gupta in New Delhi

The Delhi government announced new restrictions Tuesday, including the closure of all private offices and suspension of dine-in services at restaurants and bars, amid a rise in Covid-19 cases fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant. 

On Tuesday, the Indian capital recorded 21,259 new cases according to the state's government — almost 288% higher than the figure reported a week earlier on January 4.

“It has been observed that numbers of Covid-19 cases (including the cases of Omicron variant) have been rapidly increasing over the last few days & positivity rate has crossed 23 percent," the Delhi government order read. "Therefore, it has been felt necessary that some more additional restrictions are required to be imposed in Delhi to contain the spread of COVID-19 virus, including the highly contagious and transmissible Omicron variant.”

Delhi continues to impose a weekend and night curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., during which all establishments are closed, except for essential services. Schools and colleges are shut until further notice. 

Meanwhile, India's financial capital, Mumbai, reported a dip in its daily Covid-19 cases, with the city recording 11,647 cases Tuesday, a decline from the 19,474 cases found Sunday.

Nationwide, India registered a total of 194,720 new cases on Wednesday, bringing its total since the pandemic began to just over 36 million, according to the Health Ministry.

11:53 a.m. ET, January 12, 2022

Novak Djokovic admits he didn't immediately isolate after positive Covid test

From CNN's Jessie Yeung

Tennis star Novak Djokovic on Wednesday admitted he did not immediately isolate after testing positive for Covid-19 last month — but denied knowing he had the virus when attending public events.

In a statement published to social media, he also apologized for an apparently false travel declaration, saying it had been submitted on his behalf by a member of his support staff in "human error."

Djokovic has been embroiled in controversy since being detained in Australia last week over a visa and vaccination dispute.

He arrived in Melbourne last week and promptly had his visa canceled for entering the country without a valid exemption for the country's vaccination requirement for all arrivals — but won the legal battle on Monday, with a judge ruling he should be allowed to stay.

But questions have lingered over Djokovic's behavior — specifically, his positive Covid diagnosis last month before he arrived in Melbourne, and the public events he attended at the time.

"I want to address the continuing misinformation about my activities and attendance at events in December in the lead up to my positive PCR Covid test result," he said in the statement.

"This is misinformation which needs to be corrected, particularly in the interest of alleviating broader concern in the community about my presence in Australia, and to address matters which are very hurtful and concerning to my family.

"I want to emphasize that I have tried very hard to ensure the safety of everyone and my compliance with testing obligations."

Test timeline: Djokovic said he had attended a basketball game in Serbia's capital, Belgrade, on December 14, where many people tested positive afterward. He showed no symptoms, but got tested on December 16. On December 17, before he received the official result of his test, he took a rapid test that came out negative, and attended a youth tennis awards ceremony — after which he received the official positive result, according to the statement.

The following day, December 18, he did a media interview and photo shoot, saying he went ahead because "I didn't want to let the journalist down." He socially distanced and wore a mask except for the photo shoot, he added.

"While I went home after the interview to isolate for the required period, on reflection, this was an error of judgment and I accept that I should have rescheduled this commitment," he said.

Read the full story: