December 31, 2021: Colorado wildfires, Truck driver sentence, Omicron children cases, South Africa

December 31, 2021: Colorado wildfires, Truck driver sentence lowered, COVID children hospitalization, Omicron, South Africa

1. A fierce, wind-driven wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes, injured at least a half dozen people and prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents in and around two towns east of the Rockies near Denver, authorities said.

2. Colorado Governor Jared Polis commuted the 110-year sentence of a truck driver convicted of vehicular homicide, reducing the prison term to 10 years after prosecutors went back to court this week in a rare move seeking leniency.

3. Within weeks, the Omicron variant has fueled thousands of new COVID-19 hospitalizations among U.S. children, raising new concerns about how the many unvaccinated Americans under the age of 18 will fare in the new surge.

4. U.S. health experts urged Americans to prepare for severe disruptions in coming weeks as the rising wave of COVID-19 cases led by the Omicron variant threatened hospitals, schools and other sectors impacting their daily lives.

5. South Africa has lifted a midnight to 4 a.m. curfew on people's movement with immediate effect, believing the country has passed the peak of its fourth COVID-19 wave driven by the Omicron variant, a government statement said.
 
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#Omicron
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#Children
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#Denver
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#SouthAfrica
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