New Covid hotspot emerges in Rochdale as country braces itself for Omicron 'tsunami'

Monday marks D-Day for New Year's Eve celebrations as pubs, clubs and restaurants face an anxious wait over possible new Covid restrictions.

SUNDAY: The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 7 new deaths from Covid-19, as well as 8,891 new positive cases.

The Strokes have announced that they’ve had to postpone their New Year’s Eve show at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center due to a spike in Omicron cases.The band were slated to play the New York venue on December 31, with support coming from IDLES and Hinds. However, due to the city’s rise in cases of the new coronavirus variant they’ve now been forced to postpone.“How can we put this….

“Fifty percent of all of the sequenced genomes identify themselves as Omicron,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday. He was speaking of the positive Covid tests and wastewater in the state that have been examined for new cases of the variant. Newsom then hinted that numbers to be released today would be even higher.

Phish have announced they’ll be postponing their run of shows at Madison Square Garden over the New Year’s period due to a spike in Omicron cases.The outfit were slated to play four shows at the New York venue from December 29 to January 1, including a three-set performance on New Year’s Eve.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced today that the state had recorded nearly 11,000 new cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours. That marks a 100% increase from the daily number of 5,400 new cases recorded just one week ago.

Glasgow's Irn-Bru Carnival will only last for three days this year - due to measures brought in to stop the spread of Covid-19.

For Laura Rodger and family, the next few days will be an anxious wait.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 27 new deaths from Covid-19, as well as 3360 new positive cases.

Ireland will impose an 8pm closing time for restaurants and pubs, amid growing concern about the new Omicron variant.

Clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two will have to abide by new and enhanced Covid-19 protocols amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the illness as players and club staff are being encouraged to become fully vaccinated.

Nicola Sturgeon today announced new guidance and rules designed to ensure that Scots enjoy Christmas celebrations ‘safely’ amid the Omicron threat.

A neighbourhood in Salford which suffered severely at the start of the pandemic now has the lowest Covid infection rate across Greater Manchester.

Scots are likely to face new coronavirus restrictions in a bid to stop the spread of the Omicron variant across the country, the Health Secretary has announced.

COVID-19 variant of the same name.The new variant has been dubbed ‘of concern’ by the World Health Organisation, partly due to the lack of known information around its transmissibility and likelihood of it causing severe illness.As the variant continues to spread around the world, Omicron – the band – spoke to VICE about whether they had any intentions to change their name in wake of the new discovery.“Nobody could predict that this would happen and we hope that people will see that,” the band

The first at-home treatment for Covid-19 could reportedly be offered to patients before Christmas.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 20 new deaths from Covid-19, as well as 2,307 new positive cases.

There have now been confirmed cases of the Omicron Covid variant in 22 places in England, the government has said.