The Covid-19 omicron variant continues to spread rapidly worldwide

In total, almost five million new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Europe during the Christmas and New Year holidays, when most of Europe was actively traveling and visiting relatives. In France alone, a million new cases have been diagnosed in a week.

In Paris, a face mask must also be worn on the street

In order to try to control this worrying situation as effectively as possible, wearing protective masks in public places in France is also compulsory from the age of 6 in France. Until now, this age limit was 11 years. The rules apply to public transport, public institutions, sports complexes and religious institutions.

In some cities, including Paris, masks must also be worn on the street. According to French President Emmanuel Macron, the next few weeks will be very challenging, but not as difficult as a year ago. Macron has expressed hope that the Covid-19 pandemic could end this year.

In the UK, too, the number of people affected by the weekend has reached 300,000. Several school staff unions have called for more decisive action by the authorities to curb the spread of the disease. Despite the high scores, government officials are not looking at new restrictions and are hopeful that schools will be able to stay open all spring.

That’s why students will have to wear face masks in English schools this week. At the same time, students will need to take regular Covid-19 tests.

A fourth dose of the vaccine is available in Israel

In the Netherlands, where the house is still in force, government advisers plan to decide on Monday whether to open schools at all next week. The meeting follows a weekend protest against Covid’s restrictions. Although the authorities had banned mass gatherings, several protests and clashes took place in Amsterdam on Sunday, in which at least 30 people were detained.

Elsewhere in the world, India is also experiencing a sharp rise in infection rates, from 7,000 to 33,000 a day. The state health minister has called on the regions to make active use of the $ 3 billion Covid emergency fund set up last summer. One of the first steps is to vaccinate teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18.

But at a time when the World Health Organization is still actively advocating solidarity with the world’s poorest countries and giving their people the first dose of the vaccine, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has announced that medical workers and people over the age of 60 will receive a fourth pot. .

Crowd immunity could be achieved

In Israel, the number of cases is relatively lower, at around 4,200 cases per week, but in any case it is almost twice as high as a week earlier. In Israel, about half of the country’s population has already received three doses of the vaccine.

Nahman Ash, the government’s health adviser, said the spread of the Covid-19 omicron could lead to so-called “crowd immunity” in Israeli society. Experts estimate that by the end of January, four million of Israel’s nine million people could be infected with the coronavirus.

Ash emphasizes that crowd immunity is better achieved by vaccinating against Covid-19 than by the disease.

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 flights were canceled worldwide on Sunday, more than half in the United States, due to the spread of omicrons and bad weather. In total, more than 11,000 flights were canceled during the New Year holidays, when the number of air passengers is usually the highest. Many pilots and other crew members have been quarantined and there has been very little interest in working overtime due to the risk of infection. More and more countries are also calling on their citizens to refrain from flying directly to Europe.

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