Austria imposes new restrictive measures on entry to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus. According to what was announced by the Ministry of Health of Vienna, until further notice, only those who can prove that they have had the triple vaccination or are cured of Covid-19 will be able to enter the country. Those who do not have the vaccination certificate will have to present a negative PCR test or will have to quarantine immediately upon arrival. The quarantine will be completed only after a test carried out after arrival is negative. The new rules will take effect on Monday.
Great Britain
The UK faces a new all-time record of Covid cases in the past 24 hours. It is the third consecutive: 93,045 new infections. The deaths in the last 24 hours have been 111.
The twenty Premier League clubs will meet on Monday to discuss how to move under the Covid emergency that is putting Great Britain under increasing pressure. Nine games have already been postponed this week, with five (out of ten) initially scheduled for this weekend. In a statement on Thursday, the Premier League announced that the matches will continue as long as the matches can be played safely. Some managers, such as Thomas Frank of Brentford, have called for the tournament to be stopped until December 26, others believe the break should be longer. Still others, like Jurgen Klopp, believe that the championship should not stop.
Germany
Germany has classified France and Denmark as “high transmission risk areas” of Covid-19.
Ireland
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin has announced that an 8pm curfew will be instituted for pubs, bars and restaurants until the end of January to combat the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Indoor events will no longer be allowed in the evenings after 8pm and there will be a reduction in the capacity of events that welcome the public.
The European Commission has launched some corrective measures for the Northern Ireland Protocol, to allow the supply of medicines from Great Britain to Ulster. In practice, the EU executive explains, the same medicines will continue to be available in Northern Ireland at the same time as the rest of the UK, while specific conditions will ensure that medicines authorized in the UK do not enter the EU single market. The solution follows discussions between European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič, and his British counterpart, David Frost. «I promised to do everything necessary – says Sefcovic – to guarantee the uninterrupted supply of medicines to Northern Ireland, all the more so considering these difficult times of pandemic. Today we are transforming this commitment to the citizens of Northern Ireland into a lasting solution. ‘ For Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health, an uninterrupted supply of medicines is essential for hundreds of thousands of patients in Northern Ireland, but also in Cyprus, Ireland and Malta, whose markets historically depend on medicines from the United Kingdom. Over the past few months, we have made a commitment to find a solution that works for all citizens. Now we must act quickly so that these proposals are approved and I urge the European Parliament and the Council to adopt them as soon as possible “.
Spain
There are 33,359 new cases of Covid notified in Spain by the government. The incidence over 14 days is still growing, reaching 511 infections per 100,000 inhabitants. Yesterday it was 472.9. Today’s bulletin of the Ministry of Health also reports that the hospital occupancy rate is 5.35% in ordinary wards (stable compared to yesterday) and 14.3% in intensive care (+ 0.11%). The deaths since the beginning of the pandemic are at least 88,708 (41 have been added to today’s data). On the vaccine front, over 450,000 doses have been injected in the last 24 hours: now 69.9% of those over 60 vaccinated have received the extra dose. National data on the vaccination campaign for children between 5 and 11 years, which started on Wednesday, have not yet been disclosed.
The president of the Spanish region of the Principality of Asturias, Adrián Barbón, was hospitalized in the afternoon after testing positive for a Covid test. He made it known himself on social media.
“Courage, Adrián. You will soon be fully recovered and you will be able to recover normalcy ”, is the message sent to him via Twitter by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Both are members of the Socialist Party.
France
In France, the deadline for the booster dose of the Covid vaccine will be reduced to 4 months. This was announced by Prime Minister Jean Castex, at the end of the Defense Council. The recall of the vaccine against Covid “will be possible as soon as we have exceeded the period of 4 months compared to the previous dose and no longer 5 months”, explained the premier.
“We calculate that the Omicron variant will become dominant in France as early as the beginning of 2022, as it is today in Great Britain,” said the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, in a speech to the French from the seat of government, Palazzo Matignon. The premier – who urged everyone to intensify vaccination – added that “there are already hundreds of cases in France”.
Due to Covid-19, French President Emmanuel Macron canceled the visit he planned to make to Mali to meet the transitional president and celebrate Christmas with French troops. The announcement was made by the Elysée. “This decision was made for coherence between the measures announced at the national level and the international agenda of the president and with the intention of not exposing our military device in a moment of degradation of the health situation in metropolitan France”, explained the ‘Elisha at the end of a defense council dedicated to the crisis called to decide on new preventive measures against the spread of the Omicron variant.
United States
“The imposition of restrictions on the entry into the US of people from Europe I don’t think will happen,” he said Sky TG24 Anthony Fauci, White House immunologist and chief medical advisor. “Omicron is already widespread enough in the United States, so trying to keep Omicron away from other countries may not be effective, because it is already very present in the United States.”