Lockdowns, protests and Omicron – what happened around the world with COVID-19 in 2022?
Next year could see the end of COVID-19 as an emergency worldwide, but global healthcare systems are still at risk of being overwhelmed, the World Health Organisation has told Sky News.
From lockdown protests in China, to the long-awaited reopening of Japan, to President Joe Biden declaring the pandemic over in the US, coronavirus remained in the headlines worldwide in 2022.
Now as we close out the third year of the pandemic, and look towards the fourth, Sky News looks at how different regions have dealt with everything from vaccines to disinformation – and what to expect in 2023.
One of the biggest storylines this year was the growth of the Omicron strain, which has come to dominate the global COVID-19 caseload.
“We reached a peak of more than 23 million cases reported in a week,” the WHO’s Dr Maria Van Kerkhove told Sky News.
“We had to re-draw our scale. On the one hand while we saw that huge increase in transmission, on average Omicron was not as severe as Delta but still in some countries caused more deaths because of just the sheer number of cases.”
Omicron may have become the dominant variant, Dr Van Kerkhove says, but it is still evolving and changing, with around 500 sub-lineages in circulation.
She added: “And this is why surveillance needs to continue.
“We need to track the known variants. We need to be able to detect new ones.”
Deserted streets in China were a common sight as the country pursued aggressive lockdown policies
But despite the changes with Omicron, the original vaccines are continuing to hold up against severe disease, Dr Van Kerkhove says.
There is more to do in terms of vaccine coverage worldwide however, she added.
While more than 13 billion doses of vaccines have been administered globally, the WHO target of 70% of populations in each country has not been reached.
This is one of the areas where inequalities in access can be seen.
Worldwide some 79% of people aged 60 or over have received their primary vaccine, but that number is only 60% in Africa.
“We’re not reaching those targets. And we have to in every single country, but predominantly in lower income countries, we’re missing those individuals.”
A mental health worker with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) attends to a patient in Caracas, Venezuela
Dr Van Kerkhove urged those who have yet to get the vaccine to do so, saying that it is not too late.
“And what we see right now is the people that are requiring hospitalisation, the people who are dying, are the people who have either not received any vaccine at all or they haven’t received the full number of doses that they need.”
Looking back at 2022, she says the year was marked by countries adjusting their strategies as they opened up and sought to live with COVID-19.
Some countries in the Asia and Pacific regions, for instance, had been much more closed off during the pandemic as they sought to seal themselves off while rolling out vaccination programmes.
Thailand, which is highly dependent on tourism, was one of the first Asian countries to open up, while Japan and Hong Kong were some of the last.
There remains a prevalence of mask wearing in those regions, which has been largely abandoned in other parts of the world.
People hold white sheets of paper in protest over COVID-19 restrictions in Beijing, China
Protests in China over the country’s strict lockdowns have spread into some of the most significant unrest the regime has seen since Tiananmen Square.
But after most zero-COVID restrictions were suddenly reversed in the wake of the protests, the virus swept through the country largely unchecked.
The new wave led some leading scientists in recent weeks to warn it could be too soon to declare the end of the pandemic.
“It’s clear that we are in a very different phase [of the pandemic], but in my mind, that pending wave in China is a wild card,” Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans, who sits on a WHO committee tasked with advising on the status of the COVID emergency, said this December.
Canada saw its own protests earlier in the year, as trucks rolled into the nation’s capital in a demonstration against mandatory vaccines that turned into a larger protest against government overreach.
This inspired others across the Atlantic in France and Belgium, with a “freedom convoy” demanding an end to COVID-19 restrictions.
A great unknown in Asia is what is happening in the secretive North Korea, which was reluctant to report having any cases at all.
President Joe Biden receives an updated vaccine
India, however, has seen very little impact from coronavirus this year compared to the devastation it caused in 2021.
Markets, schools, colleges, factories, manufacturing units, government and private offices are all open, while work from home has been largely withdrawn after becoming the norm.
This has been helped by the country’s large-scale vaccination programme that has seen 2.2 billion vaccines administered, covering almost 70% of the population with two jabs.
In the US, President Joe Biden declared that the “pandemic is over” in September.
This was despite hundreds of Americans dying with the virus every day at the time – down from more than 3,000 deaths a day earlier in his presidential term.
A man is escorted by police amid protests over vaccine mandates in Ottawa, Canada
However despite more countries opening up in 2022, Dr Van Kerkhove said there remains a risk that healthcare systems could be overwhelmed.
“In countries around the world the virus is spreading unchecked and healthcare systems right now are extremely fragile everywhere.
“Health workers are absolutely exhausted. Many have retired. Many have left. And we don’t see that strength in the system that we need to see.”
But she added that despite COVID-19 being here to stay, next year could see an important change in the way the virus is viewed.
A visitor walks past an illuminated COVID-19 model in Paris, France
“We’re hopeful next year we can end this as an emergency everywhere because countries are better at dealing with it.
“The big wildcard is the virus. The wildcard is the mutations and the evolution of this virus.”
Long COVID is a “significant concern” and will be a big emphasis going forward as more research is done into what it is and how to treat it, she said.
Another huge issue that remains is around disinformation and partisan politics about the virus.
“So trust is really at an all time low because of what everyone has gone through with the politicisation, attacks on science, misinformation.
“And we have to work really hard to build that. It’s so hard won, but easily lost.”
The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.
Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.
He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.
Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.
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Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.
Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.
The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.
Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.
The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.
(L-R) Raffaele Sollecito, Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox. File pic: AP
Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.
Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.
World
IDF blames ‘technical error’ after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike
The Israeli military says it missed its intended target after Gaza officials said 10 Palestinians – including six children – were killed in a strike at a water collection point.
Another 17 people were wounded in the strike on a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al Awda Hospital.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant but a “technical error with the munition” had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.
The IDF said the incident is under review, adding that it “works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible” and “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.
A wounded child is treated after the strike on the water collection point. Pic: Reuters
Officials at Al Awda Hospital said it received 10 bodies after the Israeli strike on the water collection point and six children were among the dead.
Ramadan Nassar, who lives in the area, said around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water.
When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.
Blood stains are seen on containers at the water collection point. Pic: Reuters
In total, 19 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health officials said.
Two women and three children were among nine killed after an Israeli strike on a home in the central town of Zawaida, officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.
Israel has claimed it hit more than 150 targets in the besieged enclave in the past day.
The latest strikes come after the Israel military opened fire near an aid centre in Rafah on Saturday. The Red Cross said 31 people were killed.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
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Palestinians shot while seeking aid, says paramedic
The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.
More than 58,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
Read more:
Palestinians shot while seeking aid, says paramedic
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US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough, as a new sticking point emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
World
‘At least 59 killed’ in Gaza after Israeli military opens fire near aid centre and carries out strikes
At least 59 Palestinians have reportedly been killed after the Israeli military opened fire near an aid centre in Gaza and carried out strikes across the territory.
The Red Cross, which operates a field hospital in Rafah, said 25 people were “declared dead upon arrival” and “six more died after admittance” following gunfire near an aid distribution centre in the southern Gazan city.
The humanitarian organisation added that it also received 132 patients “suffering from weapon-related injuries” after the incident.
The Red Cross said: “The overwhelming majority of these patients sustained gunshot wounds, and all responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites.”
The organisation said the number of deaths marks the hospital’s “largest influx of fatalities” since it began operations in May last year.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
It said in a statement: “Earlier today, several suspects were identified approaching IDF troops operating in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops, hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site.
“IDF troops operated in order to prevent the suspects from approaching them and fired warning shots.”
Palestinians mourn a loved one following the incident near the aid centre. Pic: Reuters
Mother’s despair over shooting
Somia Alshaar told Sky News her 17-year-old son Nasir was shot dead while visiting the aid centre after she told him not to go.
She said: “He went to get us tahini so we could eat.
“He went to get flour. He told me ‘mama, we don’t have tahini. Today I’ll bring you flour. Even if it kills me, I will get you flour’.
“He left the house and didn’t return. They told me at the hospital: your son…’Oh God, oh Lord’.”
Asked where her son was shot, she replied: “In the chest. Yes, in the chest.”
Somia Alshaar, pictured with her daughter, says her son was shot dead. Pic: Reuters
‘A policy of mass murder’
Hassan Omran, a paramedic with Gaza’s ministry of health, told Sky News after the incident that humanitarian aid centres in Gaza are now “centres of mass death”.
Speaking in Khan Younis, he said: “Today, there were more than 150 injuries and more than 20 martyrs at the aid distribution centres… the Israeli occupation deliberately kills and commits genocide. The Israeli occupation is carrying out a policy of mass murder.
“They call people to come get their daily food, and then, when citizens arrive at these centres, they are killed in cold blood.
“All the victims have gunshot wounds to the head and chest, meaning the enemy is committing these crimes deliberately.”
Israel has rejected genocide accusations and denies targeting civilians.
Two boys mourn their brother at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters
‘Lies being peddled’
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US and Israeli-backed group which operates the distribution centre near Rafah, said: “Hamas is claiming there was violence at our aid distribution sites today. False.
“Once again, there were no incidents at or in the immediate vicinity of our sites.
“But that’s not stopping some from spreading the lies being peddled by ‘officials’ at the Hamas-controlled Nasser Hospital.”
The Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah has recorded more than 250 fatalities and treated more than 3,400 “weapon-wounded patients” since new food distribution sites were set up in Gaza on 27 May.
Read more:
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’10 children killed’ waiting for Gaza health clinic to open
Israel says permanent ceasefire ‘questionable’
Palestinians inspect the wreckage after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah. Pic: AP
It comes after four children and two women were among at least 13 people who died in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli strikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the territory said.
Fifteen others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not responded to a request for comment on the reported deaths.
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Israeli has been carrying out attacks in Gaza since Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages on 7 October 2023.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The latest fatalities in Gaza comes as a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health ministry said.
Sayafollah Musallet, also known as Saif, was killed during a confrontation between Palestinians and settlers in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the ministry said.
A second man, Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, died after being shot in the chest.
Mr Musallet’s family, from Tampa Florida, has called on the US State Department to lead an “immediate investigation”.
A State Department spokesperson said it was aware of the incident but it had no further comment “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones” of the reported victim.
The Israeli military said the confrontation broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them.
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