A spike in Covid-19 cases, fueled by the fast-moving Omicron variant, has been wreaking havoc in the United States and many other countries.
Health experts are predicting that Omicron — the most contagious strain of coronavirus yet — is going to make the start of 2022 very difficult as well. Consequently, they are urging individuals to get vaccinated or boosted to protect themselves and others before they face greater chances of infection.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated that unvaccinated people “are 17 times more likely” to be hospitalized with Covid-19.
Here are some of the other stories that made headlines over the past week, along with some images that caught our attention.
Residents clean out their flooded homes in Itapetinga, Brazil, on Tuesday, December 28. Flooding caused by heavy rain intensified over the weekend, causing two dams to burst in northeastern Brazil. Raphael Muller/APThe James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s premier space observatory of the next decade, was successfully launched on Saturday, December 25. The telescope lifted off atop an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. JM Guillon/ESA/CNES/Arianespace/APDaunte Wright’s parents, Aubrey Wright and Katie Bryant, are seen outside a Minneapolis courthouse after former police officer Kim Potter was found guilty of manslaughter on Thursday, December 23. Potter fatally shot Daunte Wright, 20, during a traffic stop in April. She testified that the shooting was an accident and that she mistakenly grabbed her gun instead of her Taser.Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, plays the piano during a Christmas concert she hosted at London’s Westminster Abbey. The evening of carols was spearheaded by the duchess, who wanted to put on “a celebration of life in our communities and illustrate how acts of kindness, empathy and love can nurture and reconnect us.” It aired on Friday, December 24.Cincinnati wide receiver Tyler Boyd does a flip after scoring a touchdown during an NFL game against Baltimore on Sunday, December 26. Boyd and the Bengals won 41-21.Members of the Mayfield First Presbyterian Church and the Mayfield First Christian Church — two churches destroyed by a tornado earlier this month — gather for a Christmas Eve service in Mayfield, Kentucky, on Friday, December 24. Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/APAn aide removes Pope Francis’ cap during a Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican on Friday, December 24.People lay flowers beneath a picture of Archbishop Desmond Tutu outside St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday, December 26. Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning cleric whose good humor, inspiring message and conscientious work for civil and human rights made him a revered leader during the struggle to end apartheid in his native South Africa, died earlier that day at the age of 90. Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty ImagesIce dancers Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi compete in Japan’s Figure Skating Championships on Saturday, December 25. They finished in second behind Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto. Philip Fong/AFP/Getty ImagesAt-home Covid-19 tests, taken by Chicago Public Schools students, are piled up at a FedEx drop-off box in the neighborhood of West Elsdon on Tuesday, December 28. The school system extended the return deadline to December 30 and expanded drop-off sites. E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service/Getty ImagesNorwegian ski jumper Robert Johansson practices at the Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf, Germany, on Tuesday, December 28.People enjoy the summer weather at Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema Beach on Sunday, December 26.Chicago guard Zach LaVine tries to drive past Indiana’s Caris LeVert during an NBA game in Chicago on Sunday, December 26.People visit a makeshift memorial outside a tattoo shop in Denver on Tuesday, December 28. A gunman killed five people and wounded several others, including a police officer, in a Denver-area shooting spree that included a car chase and gunfights with law enforcement, authorities said. The suspect, 47-year-old Lyndon James McLeod, was killed by police.The Kansas City Chiefs prepare to take the field for an NFL game against Pittsburgh on Sunday, December 26.Cars are lined up on top of a parking garage at a drive-thru Covid-19 testing site in Baldwin Park, California, on Monday, December 27.Two Vietnamese acrobats, Giang Quoc Co and Giang Quoc Nghiep, set a new Guinness World Record on Thursday, December 23. Nghiep, top, was balanced on the head of his brother as he climbed 100 consecutive stairs at the Girona Cathedral in Spain. David Borrat/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockRevelers in Ibi, Spain, take part in the festival of Els Enfarinats on Tuesday, December 28. Every year, festivalgoers wear mock military dress and have a food fight with flour, eggs and fireworks. Alberto Saíz/APSmoke and flames billow from vehicles in Hpruso Township, Myanmar, after a deadly attack on Friday, December 24. At least 30 people, including women and children, were killed in the attack, according to the Karenni Human Rights Group. Myanmar’s National Unity Government called it a “Christmas massacre in Karenni state,” stating that junta troops “detained an unconfirmed number of (villagers) and travelers and destroyed their properties.” The Myanmar military, which seized power of the country in a February 1 coup, said it had shot and killed an unspecified number of “terrorists with weapons” from the opposition armed forces in the village, according to state media.A crow perches on a cow’s head in New Delhi on Sunday, December 26. Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty ImagesHundreds of runners in Viera, Florida, participate in the Run Run Santa 1 Mile on Friday, December 24.Staff members clear away snow at Seattle’s Lumen Field before an NFL football game on Sunday, December 26.Members of Jordan’s Parliament are separated during an altercation in the capital of Amman on Tuesday, December 28. Some lawmakers threw punches at one another after a heated discussion about a constitutional amendment that would afford greater rights to women. AFP/Getty ImagesA man walks his camels during a camel festival in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday, December 29.A monitor lizard, wearing a Christmas hat, is hugged by its owner in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday, December 25.A man dressed as Santa Claus hands out gifts to children inside a bus in Tartar, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, December 26.Flamingos take flight after feeding at a beach north of Kuwait City on Tuesday, December 28.
