Germany’s health authority has announced that the United Kingdom had been added to its list of COVID high-risk countries, which will mean tighter travel restrictions, as Europe tries to rein in the rising number of infections linked to the highly mutated Omicron strain.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen has warned that the Omicron variant could be dominant in Europe by mid-January.
Many countries are reimposing travel restrictions and other measures weeks after the variant was first detected in South Africa.
Germany’s decision late on Saturday is a response to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, which forced London’s mayor Sadiq Khan to declare a “major incident” on Saturday in the British capital.
The change takes effect on Sunday at midnight.
More than 65,000 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in London over the past seven days, with 26,418 cases reported in the last 24 hours – the highest number since the start of the pandemic.
Here are the latest updates for Sunday:
Report: Iran announces 1st case of omicron variant
Iran has detected its first case of infection by the omicron variant of the coronavirus, state TV reported.
Iran has vaccinated some 60 percent of its population of roughly 85 million people with two doses of coronavirus vaccines.
Officials urged people who got two doses of the vaccine to get their third dose as soon as possible.
London Mayor: Inevitable we will have more COVID restrictions
New COVID-19 restrictions are inevitable as without them Britain will see public services such as the National Health Service (NHS) on the verge of collapse, London Mayor Sadiq Khan told BBC Television.
Khan declared a “major incident” on Saturday to help the capital’s hospitals cope with a surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant.
“I think it’s inevitable,” Khan told the BBC when asked about the likelihood of further restrictions. “If we don’t bring in new restrictions sooner rather than later you’re going to see even more positive cases and potentially public services like the NHS on the verge of collapse, if not collapsing.”
UK health minister Javid: I understand Frost’s reasons for quitting
British health minister Sajid Javid said he understood why Brexit minister David Frost, who quit over disillusionment with the direction of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, had resigned.
“I do understand his reasons. He is a principled man, principled people do resign from the government,” Javid told Sky News when asked about the resignation.
UK is monitoring COVID data closely, to act if necessary: health minister
The British government is monitoring the latest COVID-19 data on an almost hourly basis and will do whatever is necessary to tackle the spread, health minister Sajid Javid told Sky News.
Javid said analysis of the data suggested around 60 percent of all new COVID-19 cases in England are the fast-spreading Omicron variant, but the country was in a better position than last Christmas thanks to things such as vaccinations and testing.
Asked about reports of possible further measures, Javid said: “We will do what is necessary but it has got to be backed up by the data … we are watching the data, discussing it with our scientists and our best advisers almost on an hourly basis and we will monitor that very carefully we will keep the situation under review.”
China administered a total of 2.67bn doses of COVID-19 vaccines
China administered about 12 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on December 18, bringing the total to 2.67 billion, data from the National Health Commission showed.
Omicron less effective at attacking lungs than other variants: Study
British research has found Omicron might be less efficient at attacking the lungs than earlier COVID-19 variants.
The Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease study concluded mutations on the virus’s spike protein, which makes it able to avoid antibodies, may also reduce how it replicates in the lungs and causes severe disease.
“These observations highlight that Omicron has gained immune evasion properties whilst compromising on properties associated with replication and pathogenicity,” the study’s abstract stated.
Study leader Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at Cambridge, said there are still challenges ahead despite the seemingly positive findings.
He tweeted: “What does this all mean? Efficient infection of lung cells could correlate with the severity of lung disease. Syncitia or fused cells are often seen in respiratory tissues taken following severe disease. Delta was very good at both, in contrast to Omicron. Further work is needed.”
Biden to deliver Tuesday speech on Omicron variant amid COVID rise
US President Joe Biden will deliver a speech on Tuesday addressing the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, NBC News reported on Saturday, citing a White House official.
Biden is expected to go beyond his “Winter Plan” with additional steps to help communities in need, the report said.
Earlier, Vice President Kamala Harris admitted that the government “didn’t see Omicron coming”.
“And that’s the nature of what this, this awful virus has been, which as it turns out, has mutations and variants,” she said.
Australia says it is well prepared for mounting COVID-19 cases
Australian officials on Sunday said there was no need to clamp down on Christmas festivities even as new COVID-19 infections climbed in Sydney, with the country’s high vaccination rate helping keep people out of the hospital.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said he was confident Australia would not need to follow the Netherlands, which has reimposed a strict lockdown over the Christmas and New Year period to curb the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
“We’re going into summer, we have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world and a very different set of circumstances. So we don’t see that’s a likely situation in Australia,” Hunt told reporters in a televised media conference.
“We’re well prepared and people are overwhelmingly … continuing to do an amazing job,” Hunt said, referring to the more than 90% of Australians over 16 who have been fully vaccinated.
Dutch head into Christmas ‘lockdown’ to stop Omicron
The Netherlands will go into “lockdown” over the Christmas period to try to stop a surge of the Omicron coronavirus variant, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced.
All non-essential shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums and theatres must shut from Sunday until January 14, while schools must close until at least January 9, Rutte said on Saturday.
People are now only allowed two guests at home, except for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, December 26 and the New Year period when four guests are permitted.
“I stand here tonight in a somber mood,” Rutte told a televised press conference.
“To sum it up in one sentence, the Netherlands will go back into lockdown from tomorrow.
“It is inevitable with the fifth wave and with Omicron spreading even faster than we had feared. We must now intervene as a precaution.”
