Omicron eruptions prompt Europe to mull fresh curbs on travel and eateries

Dublin/Madrid — European countries prepared to impose further restrictions on travel and bars on Friday in an effort to stem surging cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus that are threatening to stall a global economic recovery.

Germany, Ireland and Denmark were all considering further restrictions in the days before Christmas festivities kick off in earnest, following in the footsteps of France, which closed its borders this week to most nonresident Britons.

Ireland’s deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar said that in the face of a “cruel virus”, the government had no choice but to consider unpopular measures including early closing times for bars and restaurants.

“We’re all feeling anger, frustration, dismay, depression, but that cannot deflect us from making the right decisions to keep our people safe,” he said on Twitter.

Under rules that could be announced later on Friday, travellers to Germany from Britain would be required to quarantine for two weeks, a German health ministry spokesperson said.

Uncertainty about the effect of Omicron’s quick-fire spread on a global economic recovery was reflected in diverging paths taken by major central banks this week.

The Bank of Japan maintained its ultraloose monetary policy on Friday, though it dialled back emergency pandemic funding.

Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), said tighter containment measures to stop Omicron’s spread “could delay the recovery” and the ECB stopped short of signalling a rapid wind-down of pandemic support programmes.

In contrast, battling high inflation, the Bank of England hiked rates, becoming the first Group of Seven economy to do so since the pandemic began. The US Federal Reserve, also worried about prices, signalled plans to tighten in 2022.

The Omicron variant has driven infections in Britain close to peak levels seen in early 2021, though hospitalisations and deaths remain much lower. European countries and the US have also seen infections spike in December.

Accelerate

Since the coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China almost two years ago, more than 5-million people have died of Covid-19 globally and more than 272-million cases have been reported.

More than 8.5-billion doses of vaccines have been administered worldwide to combat the disease — an effort now complicated by Omicron’s eruption.

As more evidence emerges to support the need for booster doses to protect populations against Omicron, several countries raced to accelerate vaccination campaigns.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke to his country’s main supplier Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla, about oral treatments on Friday and said the country aims to accelerate booster shots to around 31-million vulnerable people.

And EU governments agreed to order more than 180-million doses of an adapted version against Omicron of the vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, the head of the European Commission said.

For its part, hard-hit France approved vaccination against coronavirus for all children 5-11 years old.

SA, which first identified the variant, said it will donate roughly 2-million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine to other African countries in 2022, through a medical supplies platform set up by the AU.

A representative from SA’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases said Covid-19 hospital admissions and deaths have started increasing nationally, but from a very low base.

Denmark logged almost 3,000 Omicron infections in the 24 hours to Thursday evening — doubling the previous day’s count — while overall daily infections broke another record.

The government is due to meet parliament on Friday to discuss the latest recommendations from health authorities, typically a sign that new restrictions are in the pipeline.

Ireland’s government was meeting on Friday to consider the additional restrictions, including the possible closure of bars and restaurants at 5pm. The EU nation’s hospitality sector is already required to demand proof of vaccination from all customers and limit groups to tables of six.

Fearing further economic damage, several ruling coalition lawmakers expressed opposition to the proposals, which state broadcaster RTE said had been recommended in a letter from the country’s leading public health officials.

Reuters