Patients infected with the omicron variant of the coronavirus have a lower risk of hospitalization compared to those who contracted the delta variant, and are significantly less likely to develop severe symptoms.

In a study by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), patients testing positive for omicron are 50% - 70% less likely to be admitted to the hospital and 30% - 45% less likely to go to emergency rooms.

The UKHSA analysis mirrored those by Public Health Scotland and Imperial College London on Wednesday which also found omicron to be milder than previously thought when compared to the delta variant.

Despite the positive outlook, UKHSA revealed that the effect of booster jabs in protecting against the new variant is waning in some patients.

The efficacy of the jab in preventing symptomatic disease 10 weeks after it was administrated dropped 15% and now stands at 25%.

Studies by the health agency were based on those younger than 40 and have the highest rates of omicron infection.

The new variant is still not as common in those aged 60 and older and who are more likely to develop severe symptoms from the virus.

The agency said more studies and tests will be needed to arrive at a more credible and representative conclusion.

Despite the waning efficacy of the booster jabs, the majority of those who are at high risk have received their booster jabs a little more than two months ago and UKHSA believes booster protection still offers longer lasting defenses against the variant.

Health experts have warned, however, that milder variants will still cause infections to increase which will inevitably result in higher hospital admissions.

On Thursday, 119,789 people tested positive for the virus. In the week beginning Dec. 17, a total of 678,165 people had a confirmed positive test result, representing a 53.3% increase compared to the previous week.

There were 147 reported deaths and 784 fatalities reported within one month of testing positive for the virus -- a 2.4% decrease when compared to the previous week.

The number of people who received their first dose of the vaccine was 51,617,091 with 47,210,053 receiving their second by the end of Wednesday.​​​​​​​/aa

A 33-year-old man was arrested in Belgium as he tried to get his ninth coronavirus vaccine on behalf of anti-vaxxers, media reports said Thursday.

The man was caught in the vaccination center in Fosses-la-Ville trying to receive the vaccine, according to the De Standaard newspaper.

Employees in vaccination centers in the cities of Namur and Charleroi alerted police after they noticed the man had returned for new jabs.

Police disguised as vaccine center stewards made the arrest when he showed up for the new shot.

According to his testimony, he received eight jabs and was paid between €100 - €150 ($113 - $170) each time by anti-vaxxers to use their identity cards to obtain COVID Safe Tickets.

Only those who are vaccinated can attend bars and restaurants in Belgium. And many employers demand staff to be vaccinated.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of anti-vaxxers protested in Brussels against coronavirus restrictions./aa

At least 26 people were killed overnight Wednesday in the Lodjo gold mining area in Djugu territory in Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, UN radio reported Thursday.

It said the attacks continued Thursday and the killers have been identified as the rebel militiamen with the Cooperative for Development of the Congo (CODECO), a loose association of various Lendu militia groups.

Several of the militias affiliated with the rebel movement have been accused of war crimes by UN officials.

A local leader of the area, Chief Olumba Mabilindey, said the victims were in a mining area when the militiamen made a surprise attack, killing indiscriminately. He said women were among those killed.

Mabilindey said the first attack took place last night in the Ngama and Dieumerci mining sites in Lodjo, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Mungwalu center.

He said the attackers, armed with guns and machetes, broke into homes and killed the victims in cold blood.

"In the night attack, 19 people were shot dead. Some died on the spot, others who were still breathing were finished off by machetes," he said.

Mabilindey said the attackers went to the mining squares of Matalatala and Maporo early Thursday where they cowardly slaughtered seven gold diggers before removing minerals found. He said residents in the areas have fled.

A security officer in Ituri province, Lieut. Philip Mosoye, said police and the army are pursuing the killers./agencies

European stock markets closed higher Wednesday, while two indices posted gains of more than 1%.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, rose 4.65 points, or 0.97%, to close at 483.01.

London's FTSE 100 added 31 points, or 0.43%, to end at 7,373. Germany's DAX 30 rose 162 points, or 1.04%, to close at 15,756.

France's CAC 40 increased 54 points, or 0.77%, to 7,106. Italy's FTSE MIB 30 added 188 points, or 0.7%, to close at 27,016.

Spain's IBEX 35 was the best performer of the day, adding 104 points, or 1.24%, to finish at 8,563./aa

The international community must hold “Israel” to account for its 54-year occupation of Palestine, a UN human rights expert said on Thursday, five years after the UN Security Council called for all settlement activities in Palestinian territories to end.

"On the fifth anniversary of the adoption of Resolution 2334 by the United Nations Security Council, the international community has to take its own words and its own laws seriously," said Michael Lynk, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.

"Without decisive international intervention to impose accountability upon an unaccountable occupation, there is no hope that the Palestinian right to self-determination and an end to the conflict will be realized anytime in the foreseeable future," Lynk said.

Resolution 2334, adopted by the Security Council on Dec. 23, 2016, designates “Israeli” settlements as "a flagrant violation under international law."

The resolution says that all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, must "immediately and completely cease."

“Israeli” settlers

"One statistic above all illustrates the remarkable unwillingness of the international community to enforce its own directions respecting the “Israeli” occupation," the UN expert said.

In 2016, when Resolution 2334 was adopted, there were an estimated 400,000 “Israeli” settlers in the West Bank and 218,000 in East Jerusalem, he said.

Five years later, there are 475,000 settlers in the West Bank and 230,000 in East Jerusalem."

The resolution says that the expansion of settlements threatens the viability of a two-state solution, and that international law must govern the occupation and relations between “Israel” and Palestinians.

It also called on states to distinguish between the territory of the State of “Israel” and the territories “Israel” has occupied since 1967.

"If this resolution had been actually enforced by the international community and obeyed by “Israel”, we would most likely be on the verge of a just and lasting peace," said Lynk.

"Instead, “Israel” is in defiance of the resolution, its occupation is more entrenched than ever, the violence it employs against the Palestinians to sustain the occupation is rising, and the international community has no strategy to end the world's longest military occupation."

The Special Rapporteur noted that in 20 reports delivered to the Security Council since the resolution was adopted, the secretary-general or his representative "have stated on each occasion that Israel has not complied with any of the directions of the Security Council."

"Only an approach based on accountability, equality, and full rights for all can create the possibility of a prosperous and shared future for Palestinians and Israelis alike," said Lynk./aa

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a second at-home drug treatment for coronavirus one day after the agency gave a green light to the first.

The FDA approved the antiviral pill manufactured by Merck & Company, used to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults who are at most risk for severe disease, with the goal of keeping them out of a hospital.

The drug, Molnupiravir, is said to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by around 30%, based on clinical trials of adults with high-risk factors.

But, as with Pfizer's Paxlovid, the Merck drug has to be administered within a few days of symptoms to be effective.

There is concern that by the time some patients realize they have the virus and they get a prescription for either drug, the window of effectiveness will close.

And the Pfizer drug is considered the better option of the two.

Paxlovid was shown to be about three times as effective as Molnupiravir, and the Merck drug will come with a warning about possible side effects to unborn children when given to pregnant women.

An FDA panel gave pre-approval to the Merck drug last month but warned it should only be given to patients who fit in a narrowly-defined "high-risk" category of coronavirus.

Still, the arrival of the Merck drug should help ease the demand for the Pfizer drug, which, initially, is expected to be rationed to the parts of the US that are hardest hit by the virus.

The Merck and Pfizer drugs are expected to treat the omicron variant of the coronavirus which is now the dominant strain in the US./aa

The interim Taliban government on Thursday assured minority communities in Afghanistan that the country is a “common home for all.”

“Afghanistan is a common home of all Afghans. All ethnic groups and citizens of the country have the right to live in security and to contribute to the development of the country,” Abdul Kabir, a deputy prime minister in the Taliban administration, said in a meeting with representatives of the Hindu and Sikh communities.

Leaders of the Council of Hindus and Sikhs said they have always had a share in the development of the country and want to continue playing a constructive role in its future, Inamullah Samangani, a Taliban deputy spokesperson, said in a statement.

They expressed confidence in the security situation of the war-torn country, he added.

According to the spokesperson, the Hindu and Sikh community leaders demanded efforts for the return of “their usurped lands.”

Kabir assured them that the Taliban will protect every group in the country and “does not discriminate with any citizen of Afghanistan.”

“The Islamic Emirate has brought security for all and our policy is for everyone, including minorities, to live in prosperity and peace,” the statement added./aa

Major US stock indexes opened higher Thursday with positive macroeconomic data.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 119 points, or 0.33%, to 35,873 at 9.33 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 was up 16, or 0.34%, to 4,712.

The Nasdaq increased 31 points, or 0.2%, to 15,553.

Personal income in the US increased 0.4% in November, while personal spending rose 0.6% from the month before, according to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis report.

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims also remained unchanged at 205,000 last week, compared to the previous week's revised figure, said the Labor Department.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, declined by 1.56% to 18.34 shortly after the opening bell.

The dollar index was up 0.18% to 96.25, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes added 0.61% to 1.467%.

Precious metals were mixed with gold adding 0.04% to $1,804 per ounce, but silver decreasing 0.36% to $22.73.

Crude prices were slightly up with Brent crude trading at $75.37 per barrel with a 0.15% gain. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was at $72.84 -- a 0.11% increase./aa

People who have received at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are substantially protected against hospitalization if they get infected with the highly contagious omicron variant, according to a research study published on Wednesday.

The London-based Medical Research Council Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis carried out a study on omicron patients who tested positive with PCR testing, as well as with those hospitalized for at least one day.

The researchers discovered evidence of a lower risk of hospitalization for omicron infections when compared to the previous delta variant.

“Our estimates suggest that individuals who have received at least two vaccine doses remain substantially protected against hospitalization, even if protection against infection has been largely lost against the omicron variant,” the scientists explained.

A previous infection reduces the risk of any hospitalization by approximately 50%, while also lowering the risk of a hospital stay of more than one day by 61%.

The data showed differences in the effectiveness of vaccines on the omicron variant. “Hazard ratios for hospital attendance with Omicron for Pfizer/Moderna are similar to those seen for Delta in those vaccination categories, while omicron hazard ratios are generally lower than for Delta for the AstraZeneca vaccination categories,” it stated.​​​​​​​/aa