The World Health Organization warns that although early studies indicate that it can cause milder illnesses, the Omicron coronavirus variant may overwhelm the healthcare system because of the decline in daily case records in Europe and the United States. China, South Africa and Germany Strict restrictions were restored to eliminate infection.
The surge of Covid-19 has caused severe damage worldwide, forcing many countries to make a difficult choice between economic penalties to limit and control the spread of the virus.
This America Halve the quarantine period For asymptomatic cases, an attempt is made to ease the interruption, and France has ordered the company to let employees work from home at least three days a week.
With Europe’s largest economy closing nightclubs and forcing sports competitions to be held behind closed doors, Germany implemented contact restrictions for the second year in a row to enter the new year.
Although the scale of the outbreak is much smaller compared to global virus hotspots, China It did not relax its “Zero Covid” strategy, and implemented stay-at-home orders in many places in Yan’an City.
Hundreds of thousands of affected residents there joined 13 million people in Xi’anAs China struggled with the highest daily number of cases in 21 months, he entered the sixth day of home quarantine.
“I am starving to death,” a Xi’an resident wrote on a Weibo platform similar to Twitter.
“I have no food, the dormitory will not let me go out, the instant noodles are almost running out…Help!”
Many Xi’an residents also complained about these restrictions on social media, which included a ban on driving and only allowing one family member to go out to buy groceries every three days.
The blockade is the largest in China since Wuhan, a similar city isolated from the world at the beginning of the pandemic.
South Africa Said that after the plan to cancel the measure is strongly opposed, it will resume its efforts to trace contacts of people infected with the coronavirus.
Health authorities said on Thursday that they will stop contact tracing in all places except prisons and schools because they believe that most people have been exposed to the virus through vaccination or infection.
After the revised regulations are issued and the Ministry of Health is overwhelmed by inquiries and comments from the media, stakeholders and the public, these agreements will be recalled.
The surge in many countries is highly spread Omicron variants,and Netherlands and Switzerland Both said on Tuesday that it has now become the main strain in their country.
Greece At the same time, 21,657 new daily records were reported, which health authorities said were related to the rise of Omicron.
Although preliminary findings indicate that Omicron may cause milder illnesses, the WHO warns against complacency.
The WHO European Covid-19 Incident Manager warned: “The rapid growth of Omicron… even when combined with a slightly milder disease, will still lead to a large number of hospitalizations, especially among the unvaccinated people, and impair the health system and others. Critical services cause widespread damage,” Katherine Smallwood.
However, the WHO highlighted a 29% decrease in the incidence of cases observed in South Africa-the country first reported the variant to WHO on November 24.
It said that early data from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Denmark-currently the highest per capita infection rate in the world-indicate that Omicron has a lower risk of hospitalization compared to Delta Air Lines.
However, further data is needed to understand the severity of Omicron’s clinical signs, including oxygen use, mechanical ventilation, and death. More data is needed on how the severity has been affected by previous Covid infections or vaccination.
In order to stop the trend, European countries brought back Containment measures with painful economic and social consequences.
Facing a record infection, France No stay-at-home orders were issued, but employers are called on to allow employees to work from home three days a week as much as possible.
Finland It was announced on Tuesday that foreign travelers who have not been vaccinated would be banned from entering the country. Only residents, basic staff or diplomats can be exempted.
Sweden Starting from Tuesday, on the second day after Denmark (currently the country with the highest infection rate per capita in the world) adopted the same measures, a negative test was required for non-resident travelers entering the country.
In Germany, private parties are now limited to 10 vaccinated people — or anyone in the two families who have not been vaccinated — and nightclubs are closed. All sports competitions will now be held behind closed doors.
“Measures must be taken to reduce the number of infections,” a Berlin resident told AFP TV.
But not everyone has accepted these measures.
Late Monday, thousands of protesters marched across Germany against curbs. Some threw fireworks or bottles at the police, causing at least 12 police officers to be injured.
In addition to social conflicts, this epidemic has also caused economic losses, especially for industries such as tourism.
About 11,500 Flight cancelled There have been tens of thousands of delays worldwide during the busiest travel period of the year since Friday.
Many airlines blamed the surge in Omicron cases for causing staff shortages.
The surge in the United States is driven by variants of Omicron, large numbers of unvaccinated residents, and lack of access to quick and easy tests.
President Biden said on Monday that some hospitals in the United States may be “overcrowded,” but the United States as a whole is well prepared.
He emphasized that Omicron will not have the same impact as this year’s initial Covid outbreak or Delta variant surge.
“Omicron is worrying, but it shouldn’t be the source of panic,” Biden said.
In order to prevent large-scale labor shortages during the surge, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday shortened the isolation period for asymptomatic cases from 10 days to 5 days.
The United States is the country most affected by the pandemic and is approaching the high of 250,000 daily cases recorded in January last year.
