European countries were preparing on Friday to impose new travel restrictions and other measures in an effort to curb the rise in cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, which threatens to cripple the global economic recovery.
Germany, Ireland and Denmark are considering imposing new restrictions in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays, following in the footsteps of France, which closed its borders this week to most non-resident Britons.
Irish Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that, faced with a “cruel virus”, the government had no choice but to consider unpopular measures, such as the earlier closure of bars and restaurants.
“We all feel anger, frustration, dismay, depression, but that can’t detract us from making the right decisions to keep our people safe.”, He declared on Twitter.
Under the rules, which could be announced later on Friday, travelers to Germany from the UK would have to be quarantined for two weeks, a spokesman for the German Health Ministry said.
The uncertainty about the impact that the rapid spread of omicron will have on the global economic recovery was reflected in the divergent paths taken by major central banks this week.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) maintained its ultra-expansive monetary policy on Friday, although it reduced emergency financing due to the pandemic.
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), said that the tightening of containment measures to stop the spread of omicron “could delay the recovery” and the ECB did not go so far as to signal a rapid reduction in support programs due to the pandemic.
Instead, the Bank of England (BoE), which is fighting high inflation, raised rates, becoming the first G7 economy to do so since the pandemic began. The US Federal Reserve, also concerned about prices, pointed to tightening plans for next year.
The omicron variant has seen infections in Britain approach the highs of early 2021, although hospitalizations and deaths remain much lower. Other European countries and the United States have also seen infections skyrocket in December.
Since the coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, about two years ago, more than five million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide and more than 272 million cases have been reported.
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