hugh schofield in france.ealth organization has warned a tsunami of covid cases continue to spread widely around the world. tedros ghebreyesus said the omicron and delta variants were continuing to put an enormous strain on global health care systems. delta and omicron are twin threats that are driving up cases to record numbers, which again is leading to spikes in hospitalisations and deaths. i'm highly concerned that omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases. the united states has recorded its highest—ever seven—day average of new covid cases, according to a tracker maintained byjohns hopkins university. the moving average of new cases was more than 265,000 as of tuesday, surpassing the previous peak reported nearly a year ago. with omicron cases on the rise, health officials in new york have reported a steep increase in children admitted to hospital with covid over the christmas holiday. the us chief medical adviser, dr anthony fauci, has addr

thanks to hugh schofield for that.d the british socialite ghislaine maxwell guilty of having helped the late financierjeffrey epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. the jurors found the 60—year—old guilty of another four charges connected with procuring the victims and facilitating the abuse. she was found not guilty on one other charge. the convictions mean maxwell faces the possibility of spending the rest of her life in prison. ghislaine maxwell's lawyer has spoken briefly outside the court. we firmly believe in ghislaine's innocence. obviously we are very disappointed with the verdict. we've already started working on the appeal and we a confident that she will be indicated. everyone from the be healthy. have a happy new year. the bbc�*s aleem maqbool has this report into the background of the case. ghislaine maxwell will now finally pay for her terrible crimes. her victims were robbed ofjustice for decades, but four of them have helped put a now infamous sexual predator behind bars. each was from a troubled or cash

hugh schofield there.n cases globally has led the director general of the world health organization to make an appeal against complacency. tedros ghebreyesus said the omicron and delta variants were continuing to put an enormous strain on health care systems and staff around the world. delta and omicron are twin threats that are driving up cases to record numbers, which again is leading to spikes in hospitalisations and deaths. i'm highly concerned that omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases. with omicron cases on the rise, health officials in new york have reported a steep increase in children admitted to hospital with covid over the christmas holiday. the us chief medical adviser, dr anthony fauci, has addressed the situation at a white house briefing. certainly, more children are being infected with the highly transmissible virus. and with that, there naturally will be more hospitalisations in children. it is noteworthy, however, that m

you schofield with the changes coming in an france. —— hughes schofield.en seeing a spike in the number of covid cases, and it has to led to president biden warning that some us hospitals could be "overrun". speaking during a virtual meeting with state governors, he said the us is generally well prepared to meet the surge of 0micron cases and its citizens need not panic. but he also urged americans to get their booster shots. because we have had so many vaccinated and boosted, we are not seeing hospitalisations rise as sharply as we did in march of 2020 or even this past fall. america has made progress. things are better, but we do know that with the rising cases, we still have tens of millions of unvaccinated people and we are seeing hospitalisations rise. it means ours hospitals in some places are going to get overrun, both in terms of equipment and staff. president biden. new york city has made it compulsory for everyone aged 12 and above to be fully vaccinated against covid, in order to access indoor entertainment and sports activities. it has also bec

hugh schofield in france.tsunami of covid cases continue to spread widely around the world. tedros ghebreyesus said the 0micron and delta variants were continuing to put an enormous strain on global health care systems. delta and 0micron are twin threats that are driving up cases to record numbers, which again is leading to spikes in hospitalisations and deaths. i'm highly concerned that 0micron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases. the latest from the who. meanwhile, india is introducing stricter restrictions to try and limit the spread of 0micron. authorities in the capital, delhi, have put the city on yellow alert, imposing a 50% passenger limit on public transport which has resulted in long queues outside metro stations and bus stops. the city is also shutting gyms, schools and cinemas. prime minister narendra modi is meeting with his cabinet later to discuss the rise in 0micron cases. away from covid. a special service is being held in cape tow

there are also no plans to impose an evening curfew, joining us now is our correspondent hugh schofieldnounced. tell us more about what has been announced-— tell us more about what has been announced. ~ ., , ., .., , announced. well, there was a cabinet meetin: announced. well, there was a cabinet meeting this — announced. well, there was a cabinet meeting this afternoon _ announced. well, there was a cabinet meeting this afternoon convened - announced. well, there was a cabinet meeting this afternoon convened by l meeting this afternoon convened by president negron at a distance, he's down in the south of france and spoken via video link with government up in paris, because of, as you say commit a huge growth of omicron related covid and really, very, very sharp increase, may they are talking about 250,000 cases a day by early january. it's the same, of course here as it is in other european countries and what's interesting is that so far, this unprecedented wave of coded in the crisis in the hospitals that we have had with previous waves, but they draw some caution, but they're also v

there will be limits on the size of audiences for indoor and outdoor events. 0ur correspondent hugh schofieldinet meeting, a special cabinet meeting, this afternoon convened by president macron at a distance. he's down in the south of france and he spoke via video link with his government up in paris, because of, as you were saying, the huge growth of 0micron—related covid, and they're projecting a really very, very sharp increase in the data. even maybe they're talking about 250,000 cases a day by early january. it's the same, of course, here as it is in other european countries, and what's interesting is that, so far, this unprecedented wave of covid has not been followed by the kind of crisis in the hospitals that we've had with previous waves. they draw some cautious optimism from that, but they're also very worried, which is why they are instituting these new measures to try and slow down the rate. there's nothing drastic here. people had been talking about curfews, maybe particularly on new year's eve. there's no new year's eve curfew. people had been talking about delaying the start of

joining us now is our correspondent hugh schofield.ms of their severity?— restrictions in terms of their severi ? ., ., , �* . severity? cautious. but reflecting the hue severity? cautious. but reflecting the huge scale — severity? cautious. but reflecting the huge scale of _ severity? cautious. but reflecting the huge scale of the _ severity? cautious. but reflecting the huge scale of the infection i severity? cautious. but reflecting l the huge scale of the infection that we are expecting. they are talking about now are rate of 250,000, quarter of a million infections every day and a couple of weeks from now. if you look at the spread ability of omicron, it is far more contagious than its previous variants, and even though it's less harmful, it seems, nonetheless, it is spreading rapidly, and there is the same fear of hospitals being overtaken and overwhelmed if it is allowed to spread at a full rate. if there isn't some pressure put on it, so that is why they are acting in this way, but as in britain, there is a balance to be struck

here's our france correspondent, hugh schofield.t this latest spike here, as elsewhere, it seems to me, is that the numbers are, you know, sort of stratospheric, but we haven't seen the complete panic and breakdown of health services which you might have expected, given that these numbers are so high. they're the biggest numbers since the start of the epidemic, as you say, tuesday, 180,000 daily cases, which is nearly double the 100,000 that we recorded at the end of last week, and every expectation that it'll go even higher. the health minister spoke of there being 250,000, 300,000 cases a day by the middle ofjanuary. and yet, you know, there is not the same complete panic about the health system that there was. yes, they're worried, but, i mean, the hospitals are not overcrowded. i think there's about 3,000 in intensive care at the moment, which is going up, but still nowhere near critical levels. and i think the fact is that, you know, there's still some doubt and confusion about the real dangerousness of 0micron. people are worr

i've been speaking to our paris correspondent hugh schofield.e among the most stringent france has imposed upon the uk since the whole thing began. from saturday, you won't be able to come to france from the uk, for holiday purposes or work purposes. all tourism basically will be stopped from the uk, and commercial journeys as well or stopped. you can come if you've got imperious, compelling reasons, or if you're french and you want to go home for christmas or you've got an official residence in france. but all other travel is to be stopped. and for those who do come over, there are new rules regarding testing — you've got to get yourself tested before you come in after you come, and for 48 hours afterwards, you have to self—isolate until you get a negative result. so it's a big change, and of course it's to stop the over spill, which everyone fears will come from the uk, may be watching across the channel, hearing borisjohnson watching across the channel, hearing boris johnson warned watching across the channel, hearing borisjohnson warned abou

hugh schofield, our paris correspondent.ions but what is your understanding on what the french government is saying? there has now been _ french government is saying? there has now been a _ french government is saying? there has now been a document _ french government is saying? there has now been a document issued - french government is saying? in- has now been a document issued by the government, which i havejust had a chance to look at and it sets out in formal language what the spokesman was saying on telly about an hour before, which isjust what adam was saying, there are going to be much tighter restrictions from saturday, first thing saturday, midnight friday into saturday and they cover two things. one, restrictions on who can come into france and there is a long list, which we have seen before, of what constitutes an essential travel and nonessential travel. basically, constitutes an essential travel and nonessentialtravel. basically, if you are going just for fun, nonessentialtravel. basically, if you are going jus

hugh schofield is in paris. tell us more about the circumstances of this arrest.ule of this arrest. well, the news broke a coople of — of this arrest. well, the news broke a couple of hours _ of this arrest. well, the news broke a couple of hours ago, _ of this arrest. well, the news broke a couple of hours ago, and it - a couple of hours ago, and it appears that a man called khalid alotaibi was arrested this morning at the airport, boarding a flight from paris. the presumption was made that he was the same list issued by the turkish government. picked up on by the french border police, and they put him in custody. the initial time was slightly tempered by reports that maybe this is a case of mistaken identity. apparently, the saudi authorities have told off the record recordings of... maybe this is the case of mistaken identity. the french have said to us that they are checking the identity of the man, but i think we need to be cautious on that. we'll have to see. let's bring up a tweet by jamal khashoggi's fiance. shu, not forgetting the caveats that you've just

hugh schofield reports from paris. . uk. hugh schofield reports from paris. , . paris.ter on a website before you — you have to register on a website before you come over so that is one side _ before you come over so that is one side the _ before you come over so that is one side. the other side as testing has been _ side. the other side as testing has been ramped up, you will have to have _ been ramped up, you will have to have a _ been ramped up, you will have to have a test— been ramped up, you will have to have a test done within 21 hours or less than— have a test done within 21 hours or less than 21— have a test done within 21 hours or less than 21 hours before you come. that can _ less than 21 hours before you come. that can be — less than 21 hours before you come. that can be a — less than 21 hours before you come. that can be a lateral flow test or a pcr test _ that can be a lateral flow test or a pcr test and when you come you have to self—isolate at an address you - ive to self—isolate at an address you give to _ to self—isolate at an address you give to the —

lets hear from our paris correspondent, hugh schofield.oint in the last spring. so all sorts of alarm bells are going and so, looking at the chart of covid—19 infections just a week ago, it was just a tiny sliver at the top, but that has now become a stain at the top of the graph and in a few days' time, this what everyone is saying, it will become the majority of cases. and as we have all been saying, the transmissibility is such that they're preparing for a big rush in the days and weeks ahead. meanwhile, spain is requiring everyone to wear masks outdoors again. the government tomorrow is expected to approve of the reintroduction of mandatory use of facemasks when you are outside in the streets. it is measured as previously in place untiljune of this year and then it was lifted from the summer onwards. and the secret has been reintroduced. so if you walk around most towns and cities in spain at the moment, including madrid, use of the moment, including madrid, use of the most people are wearing masks in a way out on the streets and so, t

for more on this, i'm joined by our correspondents hugh schofield in paris, jenny hill in berlin andhey call the health security cabinet to discuss the spread of omicron and it is expected there will be new measures announced. nothing too drastic, but certainly a feeling that omicron is coming and something needs to be done. in these things in france are not good, we are heading towards a new spike, 65,000 cases of covid—19 every day been reported which has not been seen for a long time, most of those are not omicron, the vast majority are the delta variant, but it is widely believed that the number of omicron are being underreported because they are not properly diagnosed and it is presumed by the government that in the weeks ahead the proportion of omicron is going to rise very sharply upwards. it is in response to that expectation that we had yesterday the announcement that france is to introduce much stricter rules on travel from the uk, the uk where borisjohnson is talking about a tidal wave of omicron. the french want to delay this by november of that into the uk which is why t