The Overseas Situation Report Tuesday 21 December 2021
by Mike Evans
“Don’t give up! It’s not over. The universe is balanced. Every set-back bears with it the seeds of a come-back”
– Steve Maraboli
With the holidays drawing even closer this report is looking at the latest situation in many parts of the world with the surge in new infections with the Omicron variant. The World Health Organization reported Saturday that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 89 countries, and Covid cases involving the variant are doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in places with community transmission and not just infections acquired abroad. This variant seems to be spreading a lot faster than the previous strains and it is for this reason that many countries are looking to close their borders as well as put their citizens under a lock down during the Christmas period.
Nations across Europe moved to reimpose tougher measures to stem a new wave of Covid infections spurred by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, with the Netherlands leading the way by imposing a nationwide lockdown.
All non-essential stores, bars and restaurants in the Netherlands have closed until 14 January 2022, caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte said at a hastily arranged press conference Saturday night. Schools and universities will shut until 9 January, he said.
In what is surely to prove a major disappointment, the lockdown terms also rein in private holiday celebrations. Residents only will be permitted two visitors except for Christmas and New Year’s, when four will be allowed, according to Rutte. The Netherlands is going into lockdown again from tomorrow,” he said, adding that the move was “unavoidable because of the fifth wave caused by the Omicron variant that is bearing down on us. “In the Netherlands, shoppers fearing the worst swarmed to commercial areas of Dutch cities earlier Saturday, thinking it might be their last chance to buy Christmas gifts.
Rotterdam municipality tweeted that it was “too busy in the centre” of the port city and told people: “Don’t come to the city.” Amsterdam also warned that the city’s main shopping street was busy and urged people to stick to coronavirus rules. “I can hear the whole of the Netherlands sighing,” Rutte said in his lockdown announcement.
“All this, exactly one week before Christmas. Another Christmas that is completely different from what we want. Very bad news again for all those businesses and cultural institutions that rely on the holidays.”
It wasn’t just the Dutch seeking to slow the spread of Omicron. Alarmed ministers in France and Austria tightened travel restrictions. France, having already banned UK travellers, banned concerts and fireworks displays on New Year’s Eve.
Prime Minister Jean Castex called on people to limit the size of holiday gatherings this Christmas during a news conference in a bid to curb rising “fifth wave” infections. Paris cancelled its New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Denmark has closed theatres, concert halls, amusement parks and museums. Ireland imposed an 8 pm curfew on pubs and bars and limited attendance at indoor and outdoor events.
Germany is the latest country after France to impose a ban on UK arrivals into the country, and it is not just in Europe where countries are banning travellers. As the omicron coronavirus variant takes hold across the world, Israel has placed a ban on all travel to the United States. Germany has also been added to the “no-fly” list. Israel announced on Monday that its citizens would be banned from traveling to the US without special permission as of midnight local time on Wednesday (22:00 UTC Tuesday).
A statement issued by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office cited concerns over the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus as the reason for the ban, which also now includes Germany, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Morocco, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland and Turkey.
The statement said Cabinet ministers had voted to instate the ban on these countries on Monday following advice from the Health Ministry.
Israeli citizens are now banned from traveling to more than 50 countries. Israeli citizens and permanent residents will not be able to travel to the US unless they have special permission.
All travellers, including those who are vaccinated or recovered and carry a valid COVID-19 certificate, will have to go into isolation for 14 days upon their return from the US. Those who are not vaccinated or recovered will have to isolate in a managed facility unless they have a negative result from a PCR test taken on arrival. In that case, they will be permitted to complete their isolation period at home if they declare that no one other than them lives or stays where they are isolating.
Non-Israeli citizens coming from the US will not be allowed to enter Israel unless they have special permission. The same rules apply to all the countries on Israel’s “red list” of countries considered to pose a high coronavirus risk.
In Germany, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach warned on Friday of a “massive fifth wave” of the coronavirus the country is facing with the arrival of the omicron variant. At a press conference in Hanover, Lauterbach said, “We must prepare for a challenge that we have not yet had in this form.”
Although omicron may be milder than other variants, this might “keep deaths low for two to three weeks, before the growth of the virus would eat up this advantage,” Lauterbach said, underlining that a difficult period ahead was “inevitable.” With an eye toward the approaching Christmas holiday, Lauterbach appealed to those traveling this holiday season to get tested frequently.
Germany has reimposed health restrictions following high case numbers, barring unvaccinated individuals from restaurants and non-essential commerce. The government has also placed an advance order for 80 million doses of omicron-specific vaccines being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
All of this comes on the back of a drop in new cases in the past week according to the Robert Koch Institute. The Institute registered a continuing decline in infections. On Friday, 50,968 new infections were reported, making that over 10,000 less than one week ago.
The nationwide seven-day incidence rate also dropped further to 331.8 from 340.1 the previous day. Germany recently implemented several new restrictions, particularly applying to unvaccinated people.
Germany also registered neighbouring France and Denmark as well as Andorra, Lebanon, and Norway as “high-risk” areas. The classification means people who are not vaccinated or have not recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection are required to quarantine for a minimum of five days.
In Austria, the health ministry said it was tightening rules on entry to the country. As of Monday, only those with proof they have received three jabs or recovered from COVID-19 will be permitted to enter the country.
Those lacking a third booster will have to show negative PCR test results or quarantine for five days on arrival in Austria.
Denmark announced it will close all cinemas, theatres and concert halls, and restrict restaurant opening hours over a record number of daily cases. The government also plans to close other gathering places such as amusement parks and museums.
“Theatres, cinemas and concert halls, they will have to close,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a press conference. “We need to limit our activity. We all need to limit our social contacts,” she added.
Meanwhile on the other side of the World, The Australian state of New South Wales reported a record 2,213 new infections on Friday, the highest number since the pandemic began. However, state Premier Dominic Perrottet said he had no plans to return to the lockdowns and restrictions that were previously imposed to keep the spread of the virus in check, now that 93.3% of the eligible population is vaccinated.
The new peak followed the 1,742 cases reported in New South Wales state on Thursday, which had topped the previous record set in September. The state government is using hospital admissions, particularly the number of patients in intensive care, as a gauge of the pandemic’s severity. There were 24 people in ICUs on Friday. New South Wales on Wednesday eased rules on mask-wearing and the need to provide proof of vaccination at some venues, allowing the unvaccinated to participate more fully in social events.
Finally, to end this report we look at the USA, where infections are also on the increase due to the Omicron variant. Following the Federal mandate on vaccinations for the armed forces, all US military services have now begun taking disciplinary action and discharging troops who have refused to get the mandated coronavirus vaccine, officials said, with as many as 20,000 unvaccinated forces at risk of being removed from service.
On Thursday, the Marine Corps said it had discharged 103 Marines so far for refusing the vaccine, and the Army said it had reprimanded more than 2,700 soldiers and will begin discharge proceedings in January. The Air Force said earlier this week that 27 airmen had been discharged for refusing the vaccine order.
According to the services, at least 30,000 service members are not yet vaccinated, but several thousand of those have gotten temporary or permanent medical or administrative exemptions approved.
Until the next time Stay Safe.
Total Cases Worldwide – 275,137,925
Total Deaths Worldwide – 5,372,873
Total Recovered Worldwide – 246,910,593
Total Active Cases Worldwide – 22,854,459 (8.3% of the total cases)
Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 252,283,466
Information and Resources:
https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/19/netherlands
https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus