L‘WHO predicts two “very hot” weeks in Europe regarding the increase of positive cases due to Omicron variant and concern is also growing in those countries most covered from a vaccination point of view.
What makes it less burdensome is the finding that the variant is indeed very contagious, but in front of vaccines it behaves more like a reinforced cold or a mild flu.
This allows us not to see numbers that grow exponentially in hospital, nor in intensive care, but it certainly leads different countries to take their precautions.
What France does
200 thousand infections in France exceeded. The government is pressing for Parliament to approve a law that allows the only vaccinated to be able to enter restaurants and cinemas, as we do in practice.
Meanwhile the mask is mandatory in public places for everyone at the age of 6. The schools have already been reopened with a reinforcement for the elementary schools of the contact tracing for children, with the obligation to subject the younger students to 3 swabs in 4 days after the identification of a positive case in their class.
Germany protects essential services
In Germany, the Omicron variant spreads quickly, 10 million people diagnosed in the seven days until Sunday 31 December. And in mid-January it could become the dominant strain in the country.
Therefore the Government is thinking about how to protect essential services more than anything else. The study is studying the shortening of quarantine times by avoiding shortages in hospitals, nursing homes and among the police.
Even for the largest European economy, the unvaccinated must be blocked with limits on public events and access to non-essential shops.
Case record in Sweden
In Sweden there was a record of infections since the beginning of the pandemic. 11,507 cases were diagnosed on 30 December. The King of Sweden Charles XVI Gustav himself and Queen Silvia tested positive and found themselves in solitary confinement.
Great Britain, emergency plans ready
The Omicron variant in Great Britain is frightening since about 1 in 25 people in England, around 2 million people, the positivity was detected in the week preceding the Christmas holidays, according to theOffice of National Statistics. In London alone, 1 out of 15. So much so that now to stem the wave real emergency plans are being prepared, with increased testing in schools and stores along with better ventilation of premises.
Israel focuses on the fourth dose
Israel also raises its guard against a new predicted outbreak of contagions from Omicron ( 50 thousand infections a day, the premier warned). And the country bet everything on the fourth dose of vaccine, four months after the booster recall, for all over 60. There are also incentives for those who have not yet immunized, with a Green pass one month after the first dose.
The variant is also rampant in the United States
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 it hits like a tsunami on the United States after the end of year holidays. According to data from Johns Hopkins University the cases of contagion on Monday were over a million, quadruple in just over a week. Moreover, with a possible underestimation due to the do-it-yourself swabs to be done at home.
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