Omicron now dominant Covid-19 strain in US,Texas reports first death

In US, Omicron is the fast-spreading dominant strain of Covid-19. The new variant has helped fuel record case surges, forcing a return to harsh restrictions in some countries. Health officials in Texas said the state recorded the first death related to the Omicron Covid-19 variant.It is believed to be the first known recorded Omicron death in the United States, ABC said in its report. The victim was a man in his 50s, who was unvaccinated and had underlying health conditions, the report said. But in the United States, President Joe Biden does not plan on "locking the country down," press secretary Jen Psaki said. Omicron now accounts for 73.2 percent of new US cases over the past week ending Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. In some regions of the country -- the Pacific Northwest, South and parts of the Midwest -- it already comprises more than 90 percent of new infections.

Since it was first reported in South Africa in November, Omicron has been identified in dozens of countries, dashing hopes that the worst of the pandemic is over. WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for nations to redouble efforts to help end the pandemic, calling for new year events to be canceled because it was better to "celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later. "We have to focus now on ending this pandemic," he said.

Meanwhile, the European Union approved its fifth Covid-19 jab Monday -- from US firm Novavax -- with Europe already far ahead of other parts of the world with its rollout of vaccines and booster shots. Authorization of the jab, which uses a more conventional technology than other Covid vaccines, has raised hopes that people worried about getting vaccinated might now come forward. The other vaccines approved in the bloc are from Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, and the EU has already signed a deal to buy up to 200 million doses of the two-shot Novavax vaccine. 

London on Monday announced it had canceled a New Year's Eve event in the central Trafalgar Square for 6,500 people. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ruled out any further tightening of England's coronavirus rules over Christmas, while pledging to keep the situation "under constant review."  Paris has already canceled its new year celebrations, and Germany is expected to roll out tight restrictions on private parties and close nightclubs, according to a proposal seen by AFP. Morocco has announced a blanket ban on New Year's Eve celebrations.The Netherlands has already imposed a Christmas lockdown, and von der Leyen has warned that the Omicron variant could be dominant in Europe by mid-January.