France begins to require people aged above 65 years to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose or lose their Health Pass validity status unless they show proof of a negative test in the previous 24 hours. The requirement will be extended to all age groups from January 15. (France 24)
Slovenia reports its first cases of the Omicron variant in four samples from people in the Ljubljana region who tested positive between November 29 and December 6. (See News)
The NHS COVID pass begins to be implemented in England as a precondition in order to enter nightclubs, indoor events with more than 500 people, outdoor events with more than 4,000 people, and all events with more than 10,000 people as part of "Plan B" measures that are intended to reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. (ITV News)
The United Kingdom reports a record 78,610 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (BBC News)
The Philippines reports its first two imported cases of the Omicron variant in an overseas Filipino who travelled from Japan on December 1 and a Nigerian national who arrived in the country on November 30. (Rappler)
South Korea reports a record 7,850 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 536,495. (Yonhap News Agency)
The number of people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in New Zealand surpasses 90%. (Stuff)
Auckland reopens its domestic borders to travellers who are vaccinated or who have tested negative in the previous 72 hours after closing its borders for four months due to an outbreak of the Delta variant. (RNZ)
Australia reopens its borders to vaccinated skilled migrants and foreign students without an exemption, after a closure of more than 18 months due to the pandemic, despite the worldwide spread of the Omicron variant. (ABC News Australia)
Rwanda reports its first six cases of the Omicron variant in a group of travellers and their contacts, prompting the government to close all nightclubs and extend the quarantine for international travellers to three days. (MedicalXpress)
One person is killed, eleven others are injured and more people are unaccounted for after an arson attack at a four-storey block of flats in Reading, England. A suspect has been arrested. (BBC News)
A court in Hanoi, Vietnam, sentences two Facebook users to lengthy jail sentences for "conducting propaganda against the state". One man was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of house arrest while another man was given a six-year prison term and three years of house arrest. (Reuters)