New Delhi, January 03:
The highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which is said to be capable of undergoing frequent mutations, has taken the world by storm, already becoming the dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2 in many countries even as the calendar turns to welcome in 2022, the new year.
Major cities across the world are making changes to their travel guidelines and coronavirus disease (Covid-19)-related protocols. Contingency plans are already in place in the United Kingdom to prepare for a scenario where the Omicron variant leads to alarming staff shortages in hospitals and schools. On the other hand, dozens of colleges and universities in the US have started adapting to the coronavirus case surge by returning to online classes.
Here are the top, most recent Covid-19 related developments from around the world:
- In England, secondary school students will be required to wear face masks when they return to classes after the Christmas holidays. Similar guidance on masks for students ages 11 and above was already in place for schools in Scotland and Wales.
- The highly transmissible Omicron variant has driven coronavirus infections in the UK to record levels, the country saw a daily caseload as high as 189,000 during the time the classes were off.
- France insists that getting more people vaccinated and ramped with booster shots is possibly the best way yet to contain the Omicron variant. The country has vaccinated 77 per cent of its population and is now rushing on to booster doses; however, more than four million adults still remain unvaccinated, including more than a million people over the age of 65.
- Paris has also put the United States on its Covid-19 travel “red list”, meaning unvaccinated people traveling from the US will have to self-isolate in France for 10 days under supervision from local authorities in line with the government restrictions. Unvaccinated travelers from the US previously were required to self-quarantine without supervision for seven days.
- Israel, which had last week approved booster doses only for a limited population with underlying illnesses, has now decided to expand its second booster campaign to people over the age of 60 as it copes with the Omicron variant.
- The United States is looking to add a negative Covid-19 test requirement, along with the five-day mandatory isolation restrictions, for asymptomatic patients. Top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now considering including the negative test as part of its guidance after getting significant “pushback” on its updated recommendations last week.
