Nikkei Asia is tracking the spread of the coronavirus that was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
Cumulative global cases have reached 262,699,410, according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The worldwide death toll has hit 5,214,403.
For more information about the spread of COVID-19 and vaccination progress around the world, please see our interactive charts and maps.
— Global coronavirus tracker charts
— Status of vaccinations around the world
Wednesday, Dec. 1 (Tokyo time)
4:32 p.m. Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has asked domestic and foreign airlines to suspend new bookings for all international flights arriving in Japan to strengthen its watertight measures against the omicron variant of COVID-19. For the time being, the suspension applies to bookings made through the end of December. The ministry says the emergency measure aims to stop the spread of infection until the the situation regarding omicron is known. International flights departing from Japan will not be affected.
4:01 p.m. Japan has found a second person who has tested positive with the COVID-19 omicron variant. The infected man, in his 20s, had been staying in Peru. He is quarantined at a medical institution. The first case of the variant in the country was discovered Tuesday.
3:51 p.m. India’s capital, New Delhi, which was one of the worst affected during the pandemic’s second wave in the country in April to May, is bracing for omicron. The city government, which is run by the opposition Aam Aadmi Party, says that 30,000 oxygen beds are ready and that the number can be scaled up to over 60,000 in a short span of time. It also says a two-month buffer stock of medicines is being built.