WHO warns omicron could lead to overwhelming health systems

China placed hundreds of thousands of people under lockdown while infections reached new highs across Europe and several US states.

The Covid-19 surge has wreaked havoc across the world, forcing many countries to make the difficult choice between financially punitive sanctions and controlling the spread of the virus.

The United States has halved isolation periods to try and blunt disruption for asymptomatic cases, while France has ordered companies to allow employees to work from home at least three days a week.

Contact restrictions were in place in Germany at the start of the new year for the second year in a row, as Europe’s biggest economy shut down nightclubs and forced sporting events behind closed doors.

Despite facing far fewer outbreaks than a global virus hotspot, China has not eased its “zero COVID” strategy, with many parts of Yan’an city ordering stay-at-home orders.

Hundreds of thousands of affected residents joined Xi’an city’s 13 million people, who entered a sixth day of home confinement as China battles its highest daily number of cases in 21 months.

“I’m going to starve,” wrote one Xi’an resident on Twitter-like Weibo platforms.

“There’s no food, my housing complex won’t let me out, and I’m about to run out of instant noodles… please help!”

Many Xi’an residents have similarly complained on social media about the restrictions, including a ban on driving and allowing only one member of the household to go out for groceries every three days.

The lockdown is the most widespread in China since a similarly-sized city of Wuhan was cut off from the world in the early days of the pandemic.

– ‘widespread disruption’ –

The surge in several countries has been prompted by the highly permeable Omicron variant, with both the Netherlands and Switzerland saying on Tuesday that it has now become a major strain in their countries.

Greece meanwhile reported a new daily record of 21,657 cases, which health officials said was linked to the rise of Omicron.

The WHO warned against complacency, although preliminary findings suggest that Omicron may cause minor illness.

“The rapid growth of Omicron … even if combined with slightly milder illness, will result in large numbers of hospitalizations, especially among uninsured groups, and will cause widespread disruption to health systems and other vital services.” “WHO warns of Europe’s Covid incident. Manager Katherine Smallwood.

To stem the tide, European nations rolled back sanctions with painful economic and social consequences.

Faced with record-high infections, France stopped issuing a stay-at-home order but called on employers to allow employees to work from home where possible, three days a week.

Finland said on Tuesday it would ban the entry of unvaccinated foreign travelers. Only residents, essential workers or diplomats will be exempted.

Nordic countries such as Sweden began requiring negative tests for arriving non-resident travelers from Tuesday, a day after Denmark – which currently has the world’s highest rate of infections per capita – implemented the same measure.

In Germany, private gatherings are now limited to 10 vaccinated people – or two homes where any unvaccinated people are present – and nightclubs have been closed. All sporting events will now be held behind closed doors.

“Something has to be done to bring down the infection figures,” a Berlin resident told AFP TV.

But not everyone accepted the measures.

Thousands of demonstrators marched across Germany late Monday against restrictions, with some fireworks or bottles being thrown at police and at least 12 officers injured.

– Travel Chaos –

Beyond the social strife, the pandemic is economically punishing, especially for sectors such as travel.

Around 11,500 flights have been canceled around the world since Friday, and thousands more have been delayed during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

Many airlines have blamed staff shortages for the spikes in Omicron cases.

The boom in the US has been caused by the Omicron variant, as well as large pockets of unvaccinated residents and a lack of access to quick and easy testing.

President Joe Biden said on Monday that some US hospitals may be “overrun”, but the country was generally well prepared.

He stressed that Omicron will not have the same impact as earlier this year’s Covid outbreak or the growth of the delta version.

“Omicron is a source of concern, but it should not be a source of panic,” Biden said.

In an effort to stem the massive labor shortage during the surge, 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, and is closing in on its daily high of 250,000 cases recorded last January.