European countries will have a Christmas with restrictions and uncertainty

The pandemic is once again felt strongly in Europe, where the unstoppable expansion of the new wave of coronavirus, after the entry on the scene of the omicron variant, makes the continent face the Christmas holidays in a scenario of restrictions, uncertainty, nervousness, warnings and calls for calm from public leaders.

The European state that took the restrictive plan further was the Netherlands, which this Sunday entered a confinement that put an end to all non-essential activity and that places it as a possible model of neighbors in distress who think about forceful measures, such as the United Kingdom , whose Government did not rule out implementing them before Christmas, or Germany, which tightened the conditions for the entry into its territory of travelers from British territory.

On the contrary, France opposes the confinement and closure of face-to-face teaching, the maintenance of which it considers essential, and Spain shows concern and caution in the face of the sixth wave of COVID-19 and plans possible mechanisms of action whose execution it leaves in the hands of the communities autonomous.

The Dutch confinement, described as “strict” by the Government, paralyzed today and until January 14 all non-essential activity, closed the activity of the educational centers and limited the outdoor groups and home visits to two people, before the fear that omicron will be the dominant variant in the Netherlands in a maximum of ten days, despite the fact that daily infections have been on a downward trend for more than a week.

The measure means that only supermarkets, pharmacies and gas stations will be able to open until 8:00 p.m., in addition to the minimum services, but a curfew is not applied nor is it prohibited to go out.

In the United Kingdom, the Minister of Health, Sajid Javid, today expressed his uncertainty about the effects of omicron and, therefore, the need for caution after the United Kingdom registered this Saturday, according to the latest official figures, 90,418 new cases , almost double than a week ago.

For now, the authorities recently imposed the obligation to wear a mask in public transport and closed spaces, as well as to present a COVID-19 pass, to enter large events, which shows that a person is vaccinated or has a negative test.

Germany, where the cumulative incidence of COVID-19 continues to decline, will consider the United Kingdom as a risk zone due to virus variant as of next midnight, which implies a tightening of measures for the entry into German territory of people from British territory.

In a week, the cumulative incidence fell from 390.9 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days to 315.4, compared to 321.8 yesterday and 372.7 a month ago, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) of Virology updated last morning.

Russia, which registered 27,967 new infections and 1,023 deaths from COVID-19 this Sunday (thus reaffirming a downward trend and the return to the levels of last October), reported 25 cases of the new omicron variant and imposed restrictions for the entry into the country of foreigners from Hong Kong and some southern African countries.

Spain recognized this Sunday the “real risk” of the sixth wave of coronavirus infections, which is advancing unstoppably, and the president of his government, Pedro Sánchez, asked to “intensify” the measures to stop it, while committing to coordinate them with the autonomies, for which he called for a meeting with the regional presidents for Wednesday.

Four days before the beginning of the Christmas holidays, Spain is at maximum risk of viral transmission, with more than 33,000 new cases reported just last Friday, when it seems that the omicrón variant, much more contagious, will end up being the dominant one in the country.

The French Government assured today that it will do everything possible to avoid another confinement with the new wave that is coming over with the omicron variant, according to the Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, who insisted that if there are new restrictions “the school is the last thing to close ”.

Dissatisfaction with the restrictive measures led to protest measures in Belgium and Italy today, following on Saturday in Luxembourg. In the Belgian capital, around 3,500 people, according to the Police, and 50,000 according to the organizers, demonstrated against the covid digital certificate, which in Belgium is required to access the hotel industry or cultural events, and against the mandatory vaccination between the toilets or the fire brigade.

A group of participants in Brussels threw firecrackers, branches, cobblestones and glass bottles at the Belgian police, to which the agents responded with tear gas and thirteen arrests, according to public radio television RTBF.

In the Italian capital, a group of health workers stormed the assembly of the College of Physicians in Rome to protest against the obligation of the coronavirus vaccine and for the suspension of colleagues who did not comply with this provision.

The assailants, some forty doctors, broke into the assembly, which took place at the Villa Palace hotel in the capital, shouting “shame” and “gangsters”, according to local media, with videos showing moments of tension and struggles.

In the field of vaccines, the European Commission (EC) agreed this Sunday with BioNTech-Pfizer to accelerate the delivery of its coronavirus vaccine to community countries, with which the Twenty-seven will receive 20 million additional doses during the first quarter of 2022.

Likewise, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will decide this Monday on whether Novavax can be the fifth anti-COVID-19 vaccine in the European market, which if approved would come a year after the green light to Pfizer, the cornerstone of the European vaccination campaigns. (I)