Here's the latest on the pandemic from around the world.
Europe
Italy
Italy reported 149,512 COVID-19 related cases on Sunday, after 180,426 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths fell to 248 from 308.
Italy has registered 141,104 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth highest in the world. The country has reported 8.71 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 18,719 on Sunday, up from 18,370 a day earlier.
There were 128 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 141 on Saturday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,691 from a previous 1,677.
Some 927,846 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with 1.22 million previously, the health ministry said.
Turkey
Turkey will no longer require unvaccinated individuals to take a PCR test for COVID-19 before using planes, buses or other transportation, or before attending events such as concerts, plays or movies, the state-owned Anadolu Agency said on Saturday.
Citing the interior ministry, Anadolu said unvaccinated civil servants, private-sector employees and school personnel will also not be required to take a PCR test.
Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi said separately on Twitter that the carrier will not require PCR tests on domestic flights.
Britain
Britain reported 70,924 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and 88 deaths within 28-days of a positive test.
That compares with 81,713 new cases on Saturday, and 287 deaths.
The government said data on new infections from Scotland was not included in Sunday's total due to a technical isssue.
Ireland
The number of coronavirus patients in Irish hospitals fell week-on-week for the first time since the Omicron variant drove cases to record highs last month, adding to confidence that restrictions will begin to be lifted shortly.
Ministers have said this week that they are increasingly confident of being able to end curbs introduced mainly on the hospitality and entertainment industry and that they will be guided by whether or not pressure on hospitals eases.
There were 965 COVID-19 patients in hospital on Sunday, down on 984 a week ago and an Omicron peak of 1,063 last Monday, the health department said. The numbers in hospital reached a pandemic high of just over 2,000 a year ago during Ireland's deadliest wave.
Hospitalisations tend to rise faster over weekends during waves of the disease in Ireland as more discharges occur on weekdays.
The proportion of patients requiring critical care has been stable throughout the Omicron wave and stood at 88 on Sunday compared to a barely manageable 221 this time last year. Case numbers have also been falling over the last week, health department data shows.
Netherlands
Thousands of protesters packed Amsterdam's streets on Sunday in opposition to the government-imposed COVID-19 measures and vaccination campaign as virus infections hit a new record.
Authorities were granted stop and search powers at several locations across the city and scores of riot police vans patrolled neighbourhoods where the demonstrators marched with banners and yellow umbrellas.
Regular anti-coronavirus protests are held across the country and Sunday's large gathering was joined by farmers who drove to the capital and parked tractors along the central Museum Square.
Hungary
Over a thousand people marched in Budapest protesting against COVID-19 inoculation at a rally organised by the far-right Our Homeland Movement, which has been campaigning on a fierce anti-vaccine and anti-immigration message ahead of April 3 elections.
"Vaccines should not be mandatory! We don't tolerate blackmail," said the slogan of the rally where people held up banners saying: "I am unvaccinated, not a criminal" and "Enough of COVID dictatorship."
Hungary's nationalist government has made COVID-19 vaccines mandatory only for teachers and healthcare workers.
With 10 million people and 40,237 deaths from COVID-19 so far, Hungary has a vaccination rate of just over 60 percent, which lags behind western European levels.
Just over six million Hungarians have received at least two shots, and 3.3 million have also received a third booster.
New infections have spiked this week due to the Omicron variant but there are hardly any restrictions in place. The government now offers a fourth jab after a consultation with a doctor and a six-month gap.
Asia-Pacific
India
India reported 271,202 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, its highest daily count in eight months, taking its total tally to 37.12 million, the federal health ministry said on Sunday.
Deaths from COVID-19 rose by 314 to 486,066, the ministry said.
Japan
Japan's southern prefecture of Okinawa reported record daily numbers of COVID-19 cases on Saturday, fueled by the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Okinawa, which hosts 70 percent of US military facilities in Japan, said it recorded 1,829 new coronavirus cases on Saturday.
The governor of the prefecture, Denny Tamaki, previously said he was "furious" about what he called inadequate infection controls at US bases that allowed the variant to spread to the public.
Australia
Australia's daily coronavirus infections on Sunday fell below 100,000 for the first time in five days, amid expectations that the Omicron wave had neared its peak in New South Wales, the worst-hit state.
A total of 85,824 cases were reported by midday, down from the pandemic high of more than 150,000 hit on Thursday, with infections steadily falling since then. Northern Territory, which has been reporting cases in the hundreds, and largely virus-free Western Australia are due to report later.
Health authorities on Saturday said modelling suggested Australia was close to the peak of its worst outbreak in the pandemic but warned cases would remain elevated over the "next few weeks".
After successfully restricting virus spread earlier in the pandemic, Australia has seen a runaway Omicron outbreak clocking more than 1.3 million cases in the past two weeks as states began easing strict COVID-19 curbs late last year when vaccination levels hit 70 percent -80 percent.
More people have also been admitted to hospitals than at any other time during the pandemic but authorities have said the health systems can cope with the rising cases.
Amid the Omicron surge, officials have been pushing for more residents to get vaccinated in Australia, where more than 92 percent of the population above 16 are already double-dosed.
Australia's total infections since the pandemic began topped 1.5 million on Sunday, while deaths stood at 2,673.
New South Wales reported 34,660 new infections, while neighbouring Victoria logged 28,128 and Queensland 17,445 cases.
Americas
Brazil
Brazil reported 112,286 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 251 COVID-19 deaths, the Health Ministry said on Friday.
The country has now registered 22,927,203 cases since the pandemic began nearly two years ago, while the official death toll has risen to 620,796, according to ministry data.
Friday's number of new cases is the highest since June 23 last year in regular records and represents a huge leap from the same day of the week last year, when 63,292 cases were recorded.
Brazil has the third highest number of deaths from COVID-19, behind the United States and Russia, and the third most confirmed cases, after the United States and India.
Middle East and Africa
Israel
Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Saturday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and would self-isolate but continue working from home.
"I feel good and will isolate in the next few days," Lieberman said on Twitter. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tested positive on Monday.
Lieberman has faced some public criticism for not providing more government aid to businesses as the Omicron variant has pushed Israeli infection rates to new highs, keeping many employees in isolation and customers at home.
"I will continue to pursue responsible economic policies from home, keep track of the data and plan future steps," Lieberman, 63, tweeted in an apparent response to the criticism.
On Jan. 10, Lieberman posted a photo of himself receiving a fourth COVID-19 vaccination dose. Israel began administering a second round of boosters to immune-compromised people in late December, expanding the campaign to its over-60-year-olds and medical staff in January.
The Health Ministry says that a first booster increases protection seven days after the shot but has not yet released data on the effectiveness of a fourth dose.
Israel, population 9.4 million, has confirmed around 1.7 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and more than 8,000 deaths.
Reuters
