As cases increases, Hong Kong hospitals have reached 90 % capacity
Key takeaways:
- Hong Kong recorded 6,116 new coronavirus cases on Thursday. Authorities have recorded 24 additional deaths in the last week.
- On Thursday, police converged on downtown Ottawa, which truckers mistook for the start of a crackdown on their almost three-week-long street blockage.
- On the day Switzerland relaxed virtually all restrictions on public life after 23 months of restrictions, the govt reported that Swiss President Ignazio Cassis had tested positive for Covid-19.
According to officials, hospitals in Hong Kong were at 90 percent full on Thursday, and quarantine facilities were at maximum, as the city tries to contain a record number of new cases while sticking to China's "zero tolerance" policy.
Officials indicated they would adopt a new approach to hospitalization and isolation regulations, allowing certain patients to be freed sooner to relieve the load on the city's healthcare system.
On Thursday, Hong Kong reported 6,116 new coronavirus illnesses. Over the last week, authorities have reported 24 more deaths. The overall number of illnesses in the city is currently 16,600, including 219 fatalities.
Truckers in Ottawa are bracing for a police raid.
On Thursday, police descended on downtown Ottawa in what truckers believed was a precursor to a crackdown on their almost three-week-long street blockade.
On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau justified his use of emergency powers to oust a trucker-led siege of the capital in defiance of Covid health guidelines, claiming that it was not "peaceful."
BioNTech says the world is 'more prepared' for variations.
As the business works on an Omicron-specific shot, the CEO and co-founder of German vaccine-maker BioNTech said AFP on Thursday that the world is getting "more equipped" to deal with future strains of the coronavirus.
"We'll have to get used to the reality that we'll have to live with the virus for the next ten years," said Ugur Sahin, whose firm collaborated with Pfizer to produce the first mRNA vaccine against the virus.
Meanwhile, after complaints that its existing approach is unscientific and xenophobic, Japan will relax its strict Covid-19 border restrictions by increasing the number of persons allowed to enter each day and reducing quarantine procedures.
Beginning March 1, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that the daily admittance ceiling would be raised to 5,000, including Japanese residents, from the existing 3,500.
The Swiss president is found to be in good health.
On Thursday, the government announced that Swiss President Ignazio Cassis had tested positive for Covid-19, the day Switzerland lifted practically all limitations on public life after 23 months of restrictions. According to the report, he exhibits no symptoms and is in good health.