The Irish cabinet will meet later to consider recommendations from health chiefs to end most of the state’s Covid restrictions.

It is understood the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has recommended that restrictions on hospitality can be lifted, including the 8pm curfew and an end to the leave requirement – pass Covid to enter the premises.

Nphet met on Thursday evening and issued a series of recommendations in a letter to ministers.

They include that live venues and sports venues can return to full capacity, an end to restrictions on household guests and a phased return to work.

Japan will introduce a curfew on bars and restaurants in Tokyo and a number of other regions starting today in a bid to stem the spread of the Omicron variant.

According to Associated press, the new variant of Covid-19 has caused large increases in cases in metropolitan areas across the country.

Okinawa, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures have been under similar restrictions since early January. Today’s announcement will see 16 areas subject to the same measures, equivalent to a third of Japan.

Leading charities have spoken out against the government’s scrapping of Covid-19 measures warning that clinically vulnerable people have suffered ‘collateral damage for political considerations’.

Those representing thousands of clinically vulnerable people have warned government decisions to remove Covid-19 restrictions are leaving people ‘marginalised’ and warned there is a risk to vulnerable children aged five and 11 who have not yet been vaccinated.

The lifting of Covid-19 restrictions next week will mean masks will no longer be compulsory, the government will no longer ask people to work from home, while Blood Cancer UK has called on the government to do more to support immunocompromised people, giving them priority. test.

Our health correspondent Rebecca Thomas see you:

Adele says “she’s embarrassed” as she announces in a teary-eyed Instagram video that she’s been forced to reschedule all of her shows in Las Vegas.

The original British Easy with me The singer postponed her new exclusive residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Hotel just 24 hours before her opening night.

“I’m so sorry, but my show isn’t ready,” she said in the video posted to Instagram on Thursday.

The artist said all shows would be rescheduled and blamed it on “delivery delays and Covid”.

A California woman has said her teenage son took his own life after feeling guilty over the death of his late father from Covid-19.

Stephanie Reyes, 37, said she and her whole family contracted Covid in August last year. Her husband Anthony, 46, died in September from complications related to the disease.

“At the end of August my family and I contracted Covid and within days I lost my husband,” Ms Reyes told Fox LA.

However, after a few months, Mrs Reyes discovered her son had taken his own life when she found his bedroom light on at 4am.

Zoos in India are planning to deploy a Covid vaccine trial on resident lions and leopards, the Times of India newspaper reports.

The trial will be conducted on 15 animals at six zoos across the country using a vaccine developed by ICAR-National Equine Research Center (NRCE)

.Vaccines will be given in two doses with an interval of 28 days after which animals will be monitored for antibodies.

The trial will begin once it receives final approval from the central government, according to the report.

The experimental big cat study comes after two lions died of Covid-19 at Chennai Zoo last year.

India has reported nearly 350,000 Covid-19 cases, another eight-month high after reporting more than 300,000 cases on Thursday as a third wave fueled by Omicron sweeps through the country.

As many as 703 people have died from Covid in the past 24 hours, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health. The daily positivity rate for nationwide testing rose from 16.41% to 17.94%, while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 16.56%.

The total number of Covid cases in the country has reached 38.57 million. The total number of the highly infectious Omicron variant reached 9,692 today with 29 states reporting cases – although only a tiny fraction of cases are genomically sequenced.

Daily locally confirmed cases in China have fallen to a nearly two-month low.

According to data released on Friday, the country recorded only 23 locally transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms in the past 24 hours, compared to 43 the previous day.

This is the fourth consecutive day of declining local symptomatic cases, with the lowest number of daily cases since November 29.

The central province of Henan and the northern city of Tianjin, two areas that have detected the most local cases in China over the past 10 days, each reported fewer than 10 confirmed local infections on Thursday.

The capital, Beijing, reported five, a slight increase from three the previous day. The southern city of Zhuhai and Xian in the northwest also reported a handful of new local cases.

The drop comes after a nationwide strategy to quickly curb outbreaks forced the worst-hit cities to lock down affected communities and reduce business activity.

An Australian aid flight to tsunami-hit Tonga has been forced to return to base due to a positive case of Covid-19 on board, a defense official said on Friday.

The Australian aid flight had left Brisbane on Thursday afternoon but was forced to turn back mid-flight after being told of a positive Covid case, an Australian defense spokeswoman said.

All crew members had returned negative rapid antigen tests before departure, but PCR tests later showed a positive result.

The supplies were moved to another flight which took off on Friday.

Tonga has only reported one positive case during the pandemic and has been Covid-free for a long time. It has a strict border control policy and requires contactless delivery of aid which began arriving by plane on Thursday.

Saturday’s volcano eruption and subsequent tsunami left Tongans struggling to find clean water with their island homes shrouded in volcanic ash.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday that the government would lift most of its Covid-19 restrictions in February, although the need for a vaccine pass and the wearing of masks indoors will remain.

The vaccination pass will come into effect on Monday, Mr Castex told a press conference. People will no longer be allowed to show a negative test to enter restaurants, bars, theatres, museums and stadiums or travel on trains – only proof of vaccination will be accepted.

“(The pass)… is necessary if we want to preserve and increase our vaccination coverage in the event of new variants,” Castex said on Thursday. The so-called vaccine pass “clearly imposes constraints on the unvaccinated”, he said.

From February 2, stadiums, arenas and other high-capacity venues will once again be able to operate at full capacity. Work-from-home requirements will be lifted, though still encouraged, and masks will no longer be required outdoors, as is currently the case in many cities.

“We are unquestionably in a new phase of the epidemic,” said the Prime Minister.