While the number of deceased hits a morbid milestone in Britain, more than 100,000 march in France against vaccine requirements

3 MKs test positive as Omicron surges; reports of reduced crowding at PCR test sites, but new long lines at antigen locations; expert says 50k daily cases likely in a week

As surging virus rates make impact of travel restrictions negligible, Israel to allow vaccinated and some recovered foreign travelers to arrive

Dozens of countries record all-time high infection numbers, just six weeks after new variant appeared; Austria's leader tests positive; US Supreme Court weighs vaccine mandates

But report says spread of new variant could end up being greater but go unrecorded under new testing rules; senior official: 12% of cases among people who previously had COVID

Scientists tell NYT that boosting antibody levels not a guarantee against Omicron infections, suggest better to wait for vaccine tailored to variant

The surging variant has slowed the economic recovery from COVID, but some are optimistic that its impact will be short-lived

'Pediatric hospitalizations are at their highest rate compared to any prior point in the pandemic,' says CDC chief, but notes they are still lower than other age groups

As case count continues to hit highs, under-60s and fully vaccinated now told to take less accurate antigen tests; serious cases climb to 143, but transmission rate ebbs slightly

Health organization says 9.5 million confirmed infections is the highest tally since pandemic began, warns Omicron wave is a 'tsunami' overwhelming health systems