1) Xi’an imposed strictest lockdown to curb Covid-19 spread
Xi’an, a city in China, has tightened Covid-19 controls to the highest level on Monday, requiring 13 million residents to stay at home to curb the new wave of coronavirus outbreak, its worst in 21 months. Vehicles are not allowed to get on-road except those for disease control. The city recorded 150 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total figure to 650 since December 9, 2021.
2) England will not impose new Covid measures before year end
Boris Johnson said that there will be no new Covid-19 restriction before the end of 2021 for England, affirming the statement made last week to not impose stricter measures despite the new daily cases recently hitting a new high due to the spread of the omicron variant.
Meanwhile, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were all imposed with new rules.
3) Fauci recommended vaccine mandate for U.S. domestic air travel
Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. infectious disease expert, recommended the U.S. government to consider implementing a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for domestic air travel amid rising infection cases stateside that caused flights to be cancelled during the holiday season due to crew shortage after some were infected with the virus.