The latest The massive wave of omicron variant infections in South Africa is subsiding quickly. Just a week ago, the country was seeing soaring positivity rates and long lines for testing. Now, cases are dropping sharply. It's hopeful news from the first country to detect the new pathogen, but it's too early to tell whether omicron will follow the same course in the United States and the rest of the world. South Africa's population skews younger than the U.S. population, and some 70 percent of South Africans had already been infected with other variants, meaning many people had some protection through natural immunity. Researchers in Britain reported Wednesday that omicron may be less likely to send people to the hospital than the delta variant. One small, non-peer-reviewed study focused on a well-vaccinated population, finding that people infected with omicron were almost 60 percent less likely to be hospitalized than those infected with delta. The results are encouraging, but, like the infection trends in South Africa, they aren't enough to draw broad conclusions about omicron's severity — and experts warn omicron's sheer transmissibility could still strain hospital capacity. After months of anticipation, federal health regulators on Wednesday authorized the first antiviral pill to treat covid-19. Pfizer's drug, Paxlovid, got the green light after clinical trials showed it was 89 percent effective at keeping high-risk patients from becoming severely ill when given within three days of symptoms starting. The move could hardly have come at a more important time, with omicron sweeping across the country and thwarting many treatment options, including monoclonal antibodies. Early supplies of the pill are ready to be distributed to health-care providers, but doctors are expected to burn through them quickly. Pfizer executives say they're racing to ramp up capacity in the coming months. President Biden says lockdowns and school closings are off the table as omicron surges. "This is not March of 2020," the president said in a Tuesday speech seeking to recast America's pandemic response. "We're prepared. We know more." He outlined plans to distribute half a billion at-home tests and deploy more federal health resources to hard-hit hospitals. He also reiterated calls for Americans to get vaccines and boosters, calling it a "patriotic duty." At the same time, the administration isn't yet pursuing new relief money, even as the economy shows signs of weakening. Officials say they're optimistic that the stimulus package passed earlier this year gives policymakers the funds they need to stave off serious economic damage. While omicron accelerates in much of the world, Japan's cases are plummeting. Nobody seems to know exactly why. Japan has high vaccination numbers and widespread masking, offering one possible explanation for the current low numbers. But so does neighboring South Korea, which is in the middle of a record surge. Scientists are hunting for whatever potential "X factor" may be giving Japan an edge on the new variant. Earlier this year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency set up a phone assistance line to help families offset funeral costs for victims of covid-19. Calls have flooded into the program, which is funded with billions of dollars set aside by Congress. My colleague Hannah Dreier dives into the lives of the roughly 4,000 contractors hired to become de facto grief counselors. Other important news In what may be a global first, Israel's health ministry announced it will offer a fourth coronavirus vaccine dose to at-risk citizens. "The world will follow us," Israel's prime minister said. Convalescent plasma is showing promise as a treatment for omicron infections. Researchers say it reduces the risk hospitalization if administered early. The U.S. population grew by just 0.1 percent last year, the lowest rate since the nation's founding. The pandemic is largely to blame. Are you traveling for the holidays? Here are some tips on how to prepare. China locked down a city of more than 200,000 because of a single coronavirus case. The heavy-handed response comes as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics in February. An unvaccinated Houston-area man may be the United States' first death from the omicron variant. | 
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