Europe and China impose new curbs as WHO warns of Omicron overload

Europe and China have announced new COVID-19 restrictions to tackle the surge in infections as concern rises around the globe over the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

WHO’s weekly Covid update published on Tuesday showed that the number of cases of all Covid variants in Europe grew by 57% in the week before Dec. 26, while in the Americas it grew by 30%.

China also faced a sudden rise in COVID cases in the recent weeks as 209 Covid cases were reported on Tuesday. This is the highest single-day tally since March 2020, when the pandemic initially broke out from the city of Wuhan.

Considering the rapidly growing Covid infections, following restrictions have been imposed in Europe and China.

Europe:

• Starting the week of January 3, 2020, working from home will be mandatory in France, for at least three days per week.
• Public gatherings will be limited to 2,000 people indoors, and to 5,000 people for outdoor events in France.
• Many cities – including Paris, London and Berlin – have cancelled official New Year’s celebrations.
• Italy has altogether banned outdoor events and closed nightclubs.
• Consumption of food and drink will be banned on public transport, cinemas, theatres and sports facilities.

The moves in France came after it recorded more than 100,000 COVID-19 infections in a single day, on Saturday, for the first time since the pandemic erupted.

China:

• Northern city of Xi’an is under a lockdown which is part of the “strictest” possible curbs, as said by the authorities.
• Households are limited to sending out one person every three days to buy groceries.
• Businesses have been shuttered and hundreds of thousands of people in the district of Yan’an are ordered to stay indoors.
• Students have also been banned from leaving university dormitories unless necessary.

More than 800 coronavirus cases have been recorded in Xi’an since Dec. 9 where 4,400 sampling sites have been set up and more than 100,000 people deployed to handle the latest round of testing, according to a state broadcaster CCTV.