(VOVWORLD) - The world recorded more than 263 million cases of COVID-19, with 5.2 million fatalities as of Wednesday morning, according to worldometers.info.
 Medical staff collects samples for COVID-19 testing in Barcelona, Spain, March 27, 2021. (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
The US remains the hardest-hit country, followed by India and Brazil. The new Omicron variant has forced several countries to tighten their prevention measures.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control announced on Tuesday that 42 cases of infection with the COVID-19 Omicron variant have been confirmed in ten EU countries. Brussels residents over the age of 18 are eligible to receive a booster dose of any of the available COVID-19 vaccines. In England, face masks must now be worn on public transport and shops.
Health officials in Brazil on Tuesday reported Brazil’s first two confirmed cases of the Omicron variant, the first such cases in Latin America. Last week, the Brazilian Government temporarily banned flights transiting or departing from South Africa and five other African countries.
Cambodia says anyone who has been to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Angola, or Zambia will be banned from entering Cambodia. Malaysia has banned its citizens from traveling to South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, and will block the entry of anyone who has visited any of these seven countries in the past 14 days.