Whether it is the family gatherings for Christmas or crowds congregating in city centres as the bell strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, there is concern that large numbers of people mixing during the holiday season could result in spikes of COVID-19 infections.Indeed, many people who will be celebrating are asking how best to stay safe over the festive period.With the new variant, Omicron, showing exponential growth and high transmissibility, there are certain things you can do to keep yours

A month after it was first detected in southern Africa, Omicron is now known to be far more contagious than previous variants of COVID-19 but appears to cause a less severe illness than its predecessors.What isn't clear is how the newest variant will change the face of the pandemic.Just How SevereComparing Omicron to the Delta variant, the president of the French government's scientific advisory board Jean-Francois Delfraissy said its transmission is much higher but that its severit

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:Nearly 120,000 UK CasesThe United Kingdom sets another daily COVID-19 infections record, fuelled by the Omicron variant.

A new coronavirus (or SARS-CoV-2) variant, known as Omicron (or B.1.1.529), was first identified by scientists in South Africa on 24 November.The latest variant of the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease is believed to be more transmissible than the already highly transmissible Delta variant.

The United States on Wednesday authorized Pfizer's anti-COVID pill for high-risk people aged 12 and up, as a surge of cases driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant threatened holiday plans and Americans struggled to find tests.Paxlovid, which comprises two types of tablets, was granted an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after it was shown in a clinical trial to reduce the risk of hospitalizations and deaths among at-risk people by 88 percent.

Over the past year, tensions between Russia on one side and Ukraine and the West on the other, have flared, fuelling fears of another armed conflict. The two sides have exchanged accusations of provoking a military escalation and there has even been an ostentatious movement of troops towards the frozen theatre of war in eastern Ukraine.Despite the hostile posturing on both sides, for now, it seems the game of brinkmanship has ended in a stalemate.

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:Biden To Address NationUnited States (US) President Joe Biden addresses the nation, as the White House announces plans to distribute 500 million free COVID tests and mobilise military medical personnel if needed in the face of surging Omicron cases.Omicron-Tweaked Shots?There is "no answer yet" on whether vaccine makers will have to adapt their COVID shots to counter the Omicron variant, Europe's medicines watchdog chie

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday approved a COVID vaccine made by United States (US) pharma giant Novavax for emergency use after the European Union medicines regulator gave it the green light.The European Medicines Agency had assessed and approved Nuvaxovid on Monday.It is made from a more conventional technology than others already approved, which has led officials in Brussels to express hope that this will help persuade those hesitant about vaccination to come forward.The jab

The Myanmar military carried out a series of mass killings of civilians in July that resulted in the deaths of at least 40 men, a BBC investigation has found.Eyewitnesses and survivors said that soldiers, some as young as 17, rounded up villagers before separating the men and killing them.Video footage and images from the incidents appear to show most of those killed were tortured first and buried in shallow graves.The killings took place in July, in four separate incidents in Kani Township -

The fast-spreading Omicron variant is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States, health authorities reported Monday, as the World Health Organization (WHO) called for greater efforts to ensure the pandemic ends next year.The new variant has helped fuel record case surges, forcing a return to harsh restrictions in some countries.