What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

HERE'S what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:

China's Xian marks first week of lockdown

A lockdown of 13 million people in the Chinese city of Xian entered its seventh day on Wednesday, with many unable to leave their homes and virtually dependent on deliveries of necessities as new COVID-19 infections persisted.

Xian reported 151 domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms for Tuesday, or nearly all of the 152 cases nationwide, bringing the total number of local Xian cases to nearly 1,000 during the Dec. 9-28 period. No cases of the Omicron variant have been announced in the city.

Australia's Omicron outbreak strains testing clinics

Australia's COVID-19 infections surged to a record on Wednesday due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, overwhelming testing facilities in its most populous state. The crush at testing facilities in New South Wales, home to Australia's largest city of Sydney, has been partly blamed on neighbouring Queensland state requiring interstate tourists to return a negative PCR test result before arriving.

Queensland's so-called tourism tests came under severe criticism from New South Wales after holiday travellers crowded its testing hubs, causing delays in results of several days. Queensland authorities will relax requirements for interstate travellers with domestic arrivals needing only a negative rapid antigen test result to gain entry from Jan. 1 rather than the PCR test, state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Wednesday.

Delta, Alaska cancel hundreds of flights

U.S carriers Delta Air Lines and Alaska Air Group cancelled hundreds of flights on Tuesday due to bad weather and rising cases of the Omicron variant. Total cancellations as of 2 p.m. ET within, into, or out of the United States stood at 1,034, with 2,694 flights delayed, marking a fifth day of flight cancellations.

Despite the disruption, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday it was not considering recommending a vaccine mandate for domestic flights, responding to a suggestion the previous day by Dr Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert.

NYC to limit classroom closures, prioritize ramped-up testing

New York City will stop quarantining entire classrooms exposed to the coronavirus and will instead prioritize a ramped-up testing program so that asymptomatic students testing negative for COVID-19 can remain in school, officials said on Tuesday. Mayor Bill de Blasio described New York's new policy as "Stay Safe, and Stay Open" and said it will take effect on Jan. 3. About a million New York City public school students are scheduled to return from holiday break on Monday.

A day earlier, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shortened the recommended isolation time for Americans with asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 to five days from the previous guidance of 10 days.

France reports record daily high of new coronavirus cases

France reported a record high of 179,807 new confirmed coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period on Tuesday, one of the highest one-day tallies worldwide since the start of the pandemic.

It is the highest number of new daily infections in Europe, according to data on Covidtracker.fr. Since the start of the pandemic, only the United States and India have reported average daily new cases above 200,000. On Monday, the United States reported more than 505,000 new COVID-19 cases.