ALJAZEERA – Global airline carriers have cancelled more than 2,000 flights so far, according to the FlightAware website, as the spreading coronavirus Omicron variant affects holiday travel.
Meanwhile, South Africa eased a number of coronavirus curbs, despite being hit by a fourth wave of cases driven by the Omicron variant, with contact tracing for anyone who has come into close contact with an infected person also lifted.
Thailand reported its first Omicron cluster in the northeast province of Kalasin, saying 21 infections stemmed from a Belgium couple who travelled to the country earlier this month.
In Europe, Italy has reintroduced mandatory masks outdoors, and Greece has ordered people to wear face masks both indoors and outdoors.
In South America, Ecuador made vaccines compulsory for nearly all to combat coronavirus infections surging globally just before the Christmas holidays.
France’s President Macron to convene COVID-19 meeting
French President Emmanuel Macron will convene a meeting of public health officials on Monday to address the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, an Elysee presidential official has told the Reuters new service.
France is confronting a record number of new infections of COVID-19. The council includes Macron and ministers of Health, Defence, Economy and Labor with leaders of major public health institutions.
Christmas shopping in London falls 30 percent versus last week
Shopper numbers in central London on Christmas Eve were 30 percent lower than the previous Friday as fears of the Omicron variant kept many people from high streets, according to data from Springboard.
City centres outside London saw a 10 percent drop in shoppers in the hours up to midday versus a week earlier, the data showed. Footfall across all destinations was 21 percent lower than on Christmas Eve 2019, Springboard said.
United States to lift travel ban on 8 southern African countries
The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions to eight southern African countries on New Year’s Eve, December 31, the White House announced.
The restrictions, imposed when the Omicron outbreak was discovered last month, were meant to buy time for the US to prepare for its spread, President Joe Biden had said.
The November 29 travel ban barred most non-US citizens who recently have been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi from entering the United States.
