Omicron pushing COVID from pandemic to endemic: EU agency

The European Medicines Agency says the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant across the continent is pushing COVID-19 towards being an endemic disease that humanity can live with.Saudi Arabia registered its highest daily number of new COVID-19 infections so far, health ministry data showed on Wednesday, breaking through 5,000 cases.Meanwhile, Germany reported more than 80,000 new coronavirus infections, the highest recorded in a single day since the pandemic began, as daily coronavirus infections in Bulgaria reached a record high of 7,062.The European Medicines Agency says the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant across the continent is pushing COVID-19 towards being an endemic disease that humanity can live with.Other major developments:Here are the latest updates:39 seconds ago (12:00 GMT)Morocco is considering wage hikes for health workers and tax incentives to attract foreign investors and doctors to plug shortages in the health system as it battles the pandemic and expands medical insurance, its health minister said.Hospitals have an “acute shortage” of 32,000 doctors and 65,000 nurses, a number “that is difficult to rapidly train because only 1,200 doctors graduate a year”, Health Minister Khalid Ait Taleb told Reuters in an interview.The government is considering wage increases for health workers as part of efforts to keep doctors in public practice and to attract more staff from overseas.It has also allowed doctors with a permit to practice abroad to work in Morocco.11 mins ago (11:50 GMT)Germany’s president called for a thorough debate over plans for compulsory coronavirus vaccinations in the country, saying such a drastic measure needs to be comprehensively justified.Chancellor Olaf Scholz has backed calls for a vaccine mandate and lawmakers are expected to begin debating a bill later this month.“The exceptional situation of a pandemic increases the pressure for the state to act, but it doesn’t replace the requirement to weigh up arguments and balance interests,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the beginning of a roundtable debate with citizens on the issue.“A vaccine mandate means a debate mandate,” he added.Steinmeier, whose role is largely ceremonial, said he wouldn’t take sides in the debate but urged those involved to have “respect for other positions, but also respect for facts and reason that must be and remain our common currency.”45 mins ago (11:15 GMT)Around a hundred Rwandans have crossed to DR Congo in recent days, saying they are fleeing the country because of COVID-19 vaccination rules, local sources said.Small groups of Rwandans, travelling by canoe, have landed on the southern edge of Idjwi island in Lake Kivu which straddles the border, Karongo Kalaja, the administrator of Idjwi, told AFP.“We have already recorded at least 100” arrivals, Kalaja said.The authorities are interviewing them to find out why they crossed, he said.55 mins ago (11:05 GMT)Ireland should be in a position to start easing restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 from next month once the number of people requiring critical care remains stable, a senior minister said.The daily increase in the number of hospital admissions has also slowed in recent days and Communications Minister Eamon Ryan said that if the critical care figure holds steady, the economy would emerge from the current curbs.“I am very confident we will be able to ease restrictions as we go into February.