Malta reports a record for the second consecutive day of 1,337 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 49,625.
Greece reports a record for the third consecutive day of 28,828 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1,134,713.
Despite the number of cases caused by the Omicron variant reaching a record high, Spain reduces the isolation period for people who test positive for COVID-19 and the mandatory quarantine for people who had close contact with someone who tested positive to seven days due to staffing shortages and disruptions in some industries.
Australia reports a record for the ninth consecutive day of 18,243 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 341,437. Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania all report record numbers of new cases.
Despite the number of new cases caused by the Omicron variant reaching a record 98,030 cases, Italy completely lifts the mandatory quarantine for those who received COVID-19 vaccinebooster shot and reduces it to five days for the vaccinated people whose most recent dose was more than 120 days before exposure.
France reports a record for the second consecutive day of 208,099 new cases of COVID-19, which is also the highest daily total recorded in any European nation since the beginning of the pandemic.
Pro-democracy digital media website Stand News shuts down in Hong Kong as police raids its offices and arrest senior executives. The senior executives are later charged with sedition in the latest crackdown related to the national security law. The Hong Kong government says that the news site's assets have been frozen and that more arrests could occur.