Berlin:
The WHO warned on Tuesday that the Omicron coronavirus variant could lead to overburdened health care systems, although early studies suggest it leads to milder illnesses as China and Germany have put in place strict restrictions to stamp out new waves of infection.
China locked hundreds of thousands more people while infections hit new highs in multiple US states and European countries.
Covid-19 waves have wreaked havoc around the world, with many countries trying to strike a balance between economically punishing restrictions and controlling the spread of the virus.
The United States has halved the isolation period for asymptomatic cases to reduce disruption, while France has ordered companies to allow employees to work from home at least three days a week.
In Germany, contact restrictions were in place for the second year in a row heading into the new year, when Europe’s largest economy closed nightclubs and forced sports competitions behind closed doors.
Despite a much smaller outbreak compared to global virus hotspots, China has not relaxed its “zero Covid” strategy, imposing stay-at-home orders in many parts of Yan’an city.
The hundreds of thousands of affected residents joined the 13 million people in Xi’an city who went into a sixth day of house arrest as China struggled with its highest daily number of cases in 21 months.
“I’m about to starve to death,” a Xi’an resident wrote on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
“There’s no food, my housing complex won’t let me out, and I’m running out of instant noodles… please help!”
Many Xi’an residents have similarly complained on social media about the restrictions, including a driving ban and only one household member allowed to go out to buy groceries every three days.
This lockdown is the most drastic in China since the equally sized city of Wuhan was cut off from the world in the early days of the pandemic.
– ‘Widespread disruption’ –
The spikes in many countries have been propelled by the highly transmissible Omicron variety.
The WHO warned against complacency, although preliminary findings suggest that Omicron could lead to milder disease.
“Rapid growth of Omicron…even coupled with slightly milder disease, will still result in a high number of hospital admissions, especially among unvaccinated groups, and cause widespread disruption to health systems and other critical services,” it warned. Covid incident from WHO Europe Administrator Catherine Smallwood.
To stem the tide, European countries brought back curbs with painful economic and social consequences.
France faced record high infections and stopped issuing a stay-at-home order but called on employers to allow staff to work from home three days a week whenever possible.
Sweden and Finland demanded negative tests for incoming non-resident travelers from Tuesday, a day after Denmark – which currently has the world’s highest per capita infection rate – applies the same measure.
In Germany, private gatherings are now limited to 10 vaccinated people – or two households where unvaccinated people are present – and nightclubs are closed. All sports competitions will now take place behind closed doors.
“Something needs to be done to bring the infection rates down,” a Berlin resident told AFP TV.
But not everyone accepted the measures.
Thousands of protesters marched through Germany against the curbs late Monday, throwing some fireworks or bottles at police, injuring at least 12 officers.
– Travel chaos –
Social struggles aside, the pandemic has been tough economically, especially for sectors like travel.
Since Friday, some 11,500 flights worldwide have been canceled and tens of thousands more delayed, during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
Multiple airlines blame staff shortages due to spikes in Omicron cases.
The wave in the US has been fueled by the Omicron variant, as well as large groups of unvaccinated residents and a lack of access to quick and easy tests.
President Joe Biden said Monday that while some US hospitals could be “flooded”, the country was generally well prepared.
He emphasized that Omicron would not have the same impact this year as the first Covid outbreak or the Delta variant.
“Omicron is a cause for concern, but it should not be a source of panic,” Biden said.
In an effort to avoid massive labor shortages during the Gulf, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday reduced the isolation period for asymptomatic cases from 10 to five days.
The US is the country hardest hit by the pandemic, approaching the daily peak of 250,000 cases recorded last January.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)