As the omicron variant spreads around the world, some nations are implementing hardcore restrictions. Germany’s parliament is considering requiring vaccines for everyone, and is shutting out the unvaccinated. The Associated Press has the story:
Vaccination mandatory for those older than 60 in Greece
BERLIN – Germans who aren’t vaccinated are to be excluded from nonessential stores, cultural and recreational venues.
Also, Germany’s parliament is to consider a general vaccine mandate.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday the measures were necessary in light of concerns that hospitals in Germany could become overloaded with COVID-19 patients. Infections are more likely to be serious in those who haven’t been vaccinated.
Merkel said, “The situation in our country is serious.”
Infections have again topped 70,000 in a 24-hour period.
Officials have also agreed to require masks in German schools, impose new limits on private meetings and aim for 30 million vaccinations by the end of the year.
German lawmakers will debate the possibility of a vaccine mandate. If approved, it could take effect as early as February.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC:
— Omicron and delta spell return of unpopular restrictions
— What’s the status of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in the US?
— Japan retracts new flight bookings ban after criticisms
— Biden launching new winter COVID-19 booster, testing campaign
Go to https://APNews.com/coronavirus-pandemic for updates throughout the day.
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING TODAY:
KYIV, Ukraine – Ukraine has announced an entry ban for foreign nationals traveling from eight African countries in an effort to prevent the new coronavirus variant omicron entering the country.
Much remains unknown about the new variant, including whether it is more contagious, as some health authorities suspect, whether it makes people more seriously ill, and whether it can thwart vaccines.
Ukraine’s ban will take effect on Friday and affect foreigners traveling from countries where the spread of the new variant has been recorded, such as South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and several others.
Ukrainians and foreign nationals with permanent residency in Ukraine arriving from those countries will be required to quarantine for 14 days.
The ex-Soviet nation of 44 million people has reported a total of over 3.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 87,057 deaths in the pandemic.
SINGAPORE — Singapore’s Health Ministry says preliminary tests detected the new omicron variant of the coronavirus in two passengers who arrived on a plane from Johannesburg, the country’s first suspected cases.
The ministry said the two Singaporeans were isolated upon arrival on Wednesday and had not interacted in the community.
The results of their polymerase chain reaction test on arrival “revealed the presence of S-gene target failure which may be associated with the omicron variant,” the ministry said. It said it is conducting further tests to confirm the results.
The health ministry says the two passengers were both fully vaccinated and have mild symptoms of a cough and scratchy throat.
The ministry said 19 other passengers on the same flight tested negative for COVID-19 and have been placed under quarantine.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Officials in Norway say at least 50 people in Oslo have been infected with the omicron variant.
The cases are connected to a company’s recent Christmas party in a restaurant in the capital, officials said Thursday.
The Oslo Municipality said in a statement that more cases are expected. Officials are trying to trace transmission routes from the party.
Much remains unknown about the new variant, including whether it is more contagious, as some health authorities suspect, whether it makes people more seriously ill, and whether it can thwart vaccines.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health said that those affected live in Oslo and surrounding municipalities.
NEW DELHI — India has confirmed its first cases of the omicron variant, in two people who traveled abroad.
India’s Health Ministry said Thursday the confirmed cases are two men in southern Karnataka state. It did not say which country they had come from.
Balram Bhargava, the head of the Indian Council of Medical Research, India’s top medical research body, urged people not to panic and to get vaccinated.
Some Indian states have issued strict restriction guidelines for international arrivals as precautionary measures, including mandatory COVID-19 tests for those originating from South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong.
WASHINGTON— GlaxoSmithKline says its COVID-19 antibody drug appears to be effective against the omicron variant, based on initial laboratory testing.
The British drugmaker said Thursday it hopes to complete testing by year’s end to confirm whether the drug is effective against all the various mutations seen with the variant.
Earlier this week, rival drugmaker Regeneron cautioned that its antibody cocktail appeared to lose effectiveness against omicron.
Antibody treatments remain one of a handful of therapies that can blunt the worst effects of COVID-19, and they are the only option available to people with mild-to-moderate cases who aren’t yet in the hospital.
The U.S. government has purchased millions of doses of three antibody therapies from Regeneron, Eli Lilly and Glaxo.
ATHENS – Public health authorities in Greece have confirmed the country’s first case of the new COVID-19 omicron variant.
Health Minister Thanos Plevris said Thursday the infection was detected on the Greek island of Crete and identified the patient only as a Greek man who had traveled from South Africa.
Greece is facing its highest daily number of confirmed coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic. Parliament approved and late Wednesday mandatory vaccinations for residents over 60 years of age.
The penalty for non-compliance is a 100 euro ($110) monthly fine. The measure will take effect on Jan. 16.
PARIS – French health authorities say they have detected the first confirmed case of the new COVID-19 variant on the country’s mainland.
The Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency said Thursday a man in his 50s who lives in the Paris city area tested positive for the omicron variant after returning from a trip to Nigeria.
He showed no symptoms when he and his wife tested positive Nov. 25 on their return to France. The wife’s test is being screened for omicron. They have been quarantined at their home since the positive test.
A third person living in the same home with the couple was tested on Thursday to determine if they were infected and, if so, if they are carrying the new variant.
None of the three people are vaccinated, the statement said.
France reported its first omicron case on Tuesday in the island territory of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. The patient was identified as a man who had returned to Reunion from South Africa and Mozambique on Nov. 20.
LISBON, Portugal – Health authorities in Portugal say they have confirmed five more cases of the new omicron variant, making a total of 19, all of them linked to a Lisbon soccer club.
The country’s Director-General of Health, Graça Feitas, said other suspected omicron cases are being investigated across the country.
Freitas told public broadcaster RTP the number of new daily COVID-19 infections in Portugal could double by the end of the month, to around 9,000.
Despite having one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe, with almost 87% of its 10.3 million people inoculated, Portugal is scaling up its pandemic response amid the emergence of the omicron variant.
It administered some 117,000 COVID-19 tests on Tuesday – the highest number in a single day since the pandemic began.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — More than half of a group of airline passengers who flew to the Netherlands from South Africa and were ordered into isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 are being released from quarantine.
The local health authority said Thursday that more than half of the remaining 44 people who are in isolation at a hotel near the airport are being allowed out after testing negative.
Local health authority director Bert van de Velden paid tribute to the travelers who arrived last week at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport for their “good cooperation in what was for them a difficult situation of isolation.”
More than 600 passengers underwent testing last week on the last two flights to arrive in the Netherlands after the government imposed a flight ban prompted by the discovery of the omicron variant in southern Africa.
Those who tested positive to the coronavirus had to go into isolation. Sequencing later established that at least 14 of them had the new variant.
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has broken its daily record for coronavirus infections for a second straight day, with more than 5,200 new cases.
The rapid delta-driven spread comes amid the emergence of the new omicron variant.
South Korea confirmed its first five omicron cases Wednesday night linked to arrivals from Nigeria, prompting the government to tighten its border controls.
The country will require all passengers arriving from abroad over the next two weeks to quarantine for at least 10 days, regardless of their nationality or vaccination status.
Health experts have called for the government to reimpose strict social distancing rules that were eased in November to improve the economy, raising concerns that hospital systems could become overwhelmed.
BUDAPEST, Hungary – The number of daily COVID-19 deaths in Hungary has reached a high not seen since a devastating wave last spring, with 218 reported Thursday.
Hungary now has the highest number of daily deaths per million inhabitants in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, with 17.7 deaths per million in the country of fewer than 10 million people.
Just under 60% of Hungary’s total population is fully vaccinated, below the European Union average of 66.2%.
As many of the Central European country’s neighbors have instituted lockdowns, nighttime curfews and other measures, Hungary’s government has opted to keep its economy open.
Despite a mass vaccination drive that began last week, a surge in new cases has continued and the number of daily deaths reached the highest since April 16.
MILAN – Italy’s drug agency has approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine for children aged between 5-11.
The decision Thursday came less than a week after the European Union drug regulator said it was safe to use the jab for children.
Italian officials said children will be administered one-third of the dose authorized for adults and adolescents, in two doses at a distance of three weeks, beginning Dec. 15.
In Italy, 77% of the total population is fully vaccinated and officials are urging the eligible population to get a booster shot.
LONDON – Britain has ordered a further 114 million doses of coronavirus vaccines as it ramps up a campaign to give all adults a booster shot.
Health officials hope the increased protection will help keep the new and potentially more transmissible omicron variant at bay, even if it proves more resistant to vaccines than other strains.
The government says 60 million Moderna doses and 54 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will be delivered in 2022 and 2023 — a sign authorities think further booster shots may be required.
The World Health Organization has criticized wealthy countries for stockpiling vaccines when many nations have received few or none.
Britain says it will give 100 million doses of vaccine to developing nations by mid-2022, but most of them have not yet been delivered.
ATHENS, Greece — Greek lawmakers have approved legislation making vaccination for COVID-19 mandatory for all people aged over 60 living in the country on pain of a monthly fine, to deal with an infection surge and the emergence of the omicron variant.
The draft law backed Wednesday by the center-right government and a center-left opposition party — but rejected by all other opposition parties — targets the country’s age group that is most vulnerable to death or intubation from the coronavirus.
Some 17% of Greeks aged over 60 have not yet been vaccinated. They have until Jan. 16 to get their first jabs, or will be fined 100 euros ($113) for every month they remain unvaccinated.
Parties that opposed the measure said it was too harsh on low-income people who don’t want to be inoculated.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa hospitalizations from the coronavirus have reached a high for this year with 721 people being treated in hospitals.
The last time hospitalizations reached that level was mid-December of 2020 when the state was coming down from the historic peak of COVID-19 activity in November.
Hospitalizations peaked at more than 1,500 patients in mid-November 2020. Iowa Department of Public Health data released Wednesday indicates 10 children age 11 or younger are in the hospital. All are unvaccinated.
An additional unvaccinated child between ages 12 and 17 is hospitalized. The state also confirmed 91 additional deaths in the past week, with some dating back to mid-September. Iowa officials report a total of 7,445 COVID-19 deaths.
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s new cases of COVID-19 nearly doubled in a day, authorities reported Wednesday, signaling a dramatic surge in the country where scientists detected the omicron variant last week.
New confirmed cases rose to 8,561 Wednesday from 4,373 a day earlier, according to official statistics.
Scientists in South Africa said they are bracing for a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases following the discovery of the new omicron variant.
“There is a possibility that we are going to see a vast increase in number of cases being identified in South Africa,” Dr. Nicksy Gumede-Moeletsi, regional virologist for the World Health Organization, told The Associated Press.
The omicron variant has been detected in five of South Africa’s nine provinces and accounted for 74% of the virus genomes sequenced in November, the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases announced Wednesday.
