The Latest Breaking News from Omicron

Mark Drakeford says it is now clear the Omicron wave has peaked

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

The Omicron variant is spreading rapidly and is likely to be cause of almost all local Covid-19 infections by the end of this month, according to the Department of Medical Sciences.

Epidemiologist Catherine Bennett says community cases already occurring in Perth might mean that the spread of the variant will determine when the state can reopen.

On Thursday, health minister Greg Hunt announced Australia’s drug regulator had provisionally approved two new medicines for the treatment of COVID.

With the Winter Olympics imminent, experts predict more extreme measures but question strategy’s wisdom

Australia will remain a divided nation, with the vast mining state of Western Australia cancelling plans to reopen its borders on Feb. 5, citing health risks from a surge in the Omicron COVID-19 variant in eastern states.

Ireland’s premier Micheál Martin says ‘we have weathered the Omicron storm’; France reports 400,851 daily cases and 233 Covid-linked hospital deaths

Pagans are a decentralized community, comprising largely independent, small temples, covens and kindreds, with many people operating as solitary practitioners, without even a common doctrine to bring them together

Brett Sutton says Victoria is not yet at the peak of COVID-19 hospitalisations, as he urges people against becoming complacent about the risk posed by the Omicron variant.

Hotel stocks will likely recover in 2022, driven by pent-up consumer demand. As research indicates that the omicron coronavirus variant is milder than expected, well-known hotel companies such as Choice Hotels (CHH), Wyndham Hotels (WH), and Travel + Leisure (TNL) should keep benefiting.