December 27 coronavirus pandemic and Omicron variant news

German police in the Bavarian city of Schweinfurt used batons and pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against Covid measures on Sunday evening.

Several hundred protesters had gathered at the rally on Sunday, according to a tweet by Bavarian police, which said the protest was not authorized. The police said in a Monday press release that they were "confronted with a heated, partly hostile atmosphere."

A 4-year-old child at the demonstration had to be treated for pepper spray exposure by emergency services, police said. The child’s mother was charged after police warned protesters in the run-up to the event not to bring children to the demonstration. 

Eight police officers were injured after being punched and kicked, according to the police. Eight people have been detained, the press release said.

This comes days before stricter rules on socializing begin Tuesday, when only 10 people can gather if vaccinated or recovered from Covid. Those who are unvaccinated can meet in groups of two. 

Germany has struggled with anti-Covid vaccination sentiment, which has coincided with an uptick in violent protests against coronavirus measures in recent weeks. Some 70.8% of the country is fully inoculated but the vaccination rate has slowed.

Austria has tightened its rules for entry for some foreign nationals to stem the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. 

Those entering from the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands have to show proof of both a Covid booster dose and a negative PCR test. If not, they will have to enter 10-day-quarantine.

Arrivals from other countries with a so-called "2G pass," who are either vaccinated or recovered from the virus, are allowed to enter, according to the health ministry. To avoid quarantine, they will either have to show proof of a booster dose or a negative PCR test. Children, pregnant women and commuters are exempt. 

Celebrations canceled: New Year's celebrations will not happen in Austria this year. A curfew will start at 10 p.m. local from Monday. No bars, restaurants or balls are allowed to take place, the Austrian covid crisis coordination unit has said. 

This comes in the midst of Austria's ski season, which depends heavily on international tourism.

More than 2,000 flights were canceled globally today as airline staff and crew call in sick amid the Omicron surge.

According to the tracking website FlightAware, 2,050 flights have been canceled as of 5.20 a.m. ET Monday with 705 of them due to fly within, into, or out of the United States. More than 3,000 flights worldwide are delayed.

Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights on Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after Christmas.

In the US, more than 1,200 flights were canceled and more than 5,000 were delayed on Sunday alone as staff and crew called out sick.

A Covid-19 testing facility in Sydney, Australia admitted on Monday it has issued incorrect PCR Covid test results to 1,395 people since December 22.

SydPath, operated by St Vincent’s Hospital, said it sent negative results by SMS to 995 people tested on December 23 and 24 despite their PCR tests not having been processed.

The blunder was detected by the hospital during an investigation into how a further 400 people swabbed on December 22 and 23 received a negative result despite being positive for Covid-19.

The mistakes come as Australia reported 10,186 new Covid-19 cases Monday, a record since the start of the pandemic and the first time new infections have surpassed 10,000 nationwide in a single day.

New South Wales, home to Sydney, recorded 6,324 cases from 97,241 tests in the 24 hours to Monday morning.

NSW also reported the country's first death from Omicron — a double-vaccinated patient with underlying health conditions.

This post has been updated with the latest case numbers.

South Korea approved emergency use of Pfizer’s oral Covid-19 pill, Paxlovid, on Monday, as the country continues to record high numbers of critically ill coronavirus patients.

Experts concluded after reviewing Pfizer’s clinical trial result that the drug can be given to patients over 12 with mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms, according to Food and Drug Safety Minister Kim Gang-lip.

Paxlovid should be taken within five days of symptoms presenting, Kim said.

South Korea reported 4,207 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday and 55 deaths, bringing the country’s total caseload to 611,670, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

As of Monday, 1,078 critically ill patients are in intensive care units.

A rise in Covid-19 cases in Singapore is forcing strangers to share isolation rooms during the 10-day mandatory isolation period after testing positive.

According to the Singaporean Ministry of Health, patients over the age of 15 can be placed in isolation alongside a Covid-positive person of the same gender, even if they do not know one another. 

The Ministry of Health said private rooms were available on request and where possible. 

A spokesperson said the measure was necessary to “optimize capacity,” as Singapore records increasing Covid-19 numbers, with 209 new infections reported Sunday.

Positive cases are placed in one of three tiers of accommodation based on the severity of their symptoms, according to the Ministry of Health.

Room-sharing is implemented across community care centers, Covid treatment centers and hospitals, which make up the three tiers. Covid-19 patients are also able to quarantine at home where possible. 

But while positive cases may have to share rooms, Singapore will no longer mandate that close contacts isolate. Instead, they will be issued with a week-long health risk warning and tested daily.

Nearly 1,500 flights in the US were canceled on Sunday, marking the third day in a row of mass cancellations over the Christmas weekend.

The disruption is caused by staff and crew being out sick due to the continued surge of the Omicron variant. 

As of 11:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, airlines had canceled 1,448 flights within, into or out of the country. Another 6,169 flights were delayed, according to the tracking website FlightAware.

However, those staffing problems appear to be slowly getting better. As of late Sunday night, 384 US flights had been canceled, FlightAware said.

Local authorities in the Chinese city of Xi'an are disinfecting the entire city of 13 million people as Covid-19 cases continue to rise. 

The task of disinfecting Xi'an began on Sunday. Residents were told by the local council to close their windows and doors and not touch outdoor surfaces and plants.

The order came despite current guidelines from China’s CDC and State Council preventing “excessive disinfection,” including “mass disinfection of the outdoor environment.”

Xi'an, the capital of northwestern Shaanxi Province, recorded 150 of China’s 162 locally transmitted symptomatic Covid-19 cases on Sunday, according to the National Health Commission.

China's Covid epicenter: The outbreak in Xi'an, now at 637 cases since December 9, is one of the largest city outbreaks since Wuhan became the epicenter of the global pandemic in 2019.

Growing frustration: Residents criticized the disinfection measures online as the program added to already increasing restrictions in the city. Citizens accused the local government of mishandling and oversimplifying its response to the outbreak, according to state-run newspaper Global Times.

Global Times also reported a foreign teacher was fired at an international school after calling health workers “insane” and spitting on the ground on Friday.

Lockdown measures: Xi'an woke to a fourth mass testing campaign on Monday. Local officials told residents there was “no need to panic” at increasing Covid-19 infections -- an upward trend that may continue through the coming days. 

Xi'an has been under strict lockdown since December 23, despite 95.5% of the population being vaccinated. Public venues and transportation routes have been closed, with only essential public services and businesses remaining open. 

Dipali Roy couldn't afford to eat.

She and her husband, Pradip Roy, were garment workers in Bangladesh when the Covid-19 pandemic hit last spring, leading to mass layoffs at their factory.

Like millions of people around the world, both lost their jobs in the capital city of Dhaka, where they had worked for years making pants, shirts and jackets. And like countless other migrants, they were forced to move home to the countryside to cut down on expenses.

The World Bank estimates that 97 million people across the globe fell into poverty due to the pandemic in 2020, living on less than $2 a day.

There has been little improvement since.

"We barely had enough to return home," Dipali Roy said in an interview in Bengali from the family's home, a corrugated metal shack in a village in northern Bangladesh.

As the couple looked for new ways to earn a living, they struggled to adjust. They tried to find a loan to start a small business, but at first no one was able or willing to help. Some local nonprofit organizations asked for collateral, which they didn't have.

Hoping to land a job in agriculture, Pradip Roy approached some farmers. But he was dismissed as a "Dhaka man," who wouldn't be able to cope in harsh weather conditions, recounted his wife.

Above all, "food was the biggest problem," said 20-year-old Dipali Roy, who was pregnant at the time and sometimes could only have one meal a day through a public rationing program. "I didn't know what to do ... We would just have to sit and wait when they would bring food."

2020 led to a historic setback in the fight against global poverty, with the number of the world's poorest rising for the first time in over 20 years, according to the World Bank.

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