The Overseas Situation Report Tuesday 4 January 2022

by Mike Evans

“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” 

Rainer Maria Rilke

A very happy new year to all our followers both on our Facebook page and on our website. We hope, despite the ongoing pandemic, that you were all able to enjoy the festivities with family and friends wherever you may be living.

As we enter a new year there are some signs that despite the onslaught that the Omicron variant has wreaked across the world there is evidence that this particular variant is not as deadly as those previous and that already in South Africa there seems to be a reduction in cases. However, this virus still has a long way to go before we can all say for sure that it is done with!

To start off the new year set of Overseas reports we will look at what has happened during the past week compared to the previous week around the world.

In the past week according to data from Worldometer.info there has been a 58% increase worldwide in new cases. In the week leading up to Christmas there were 5,803,843 new cases recorded across the world. In the past week, (up to 1/1/22) there have been 9,186,114 cases across the world.

Breaking down into regions we find that Europe was responsible for almost half of these with a total of 4,847,132 new cases, a rise of 58% on the previous 7 days. North America saw a 60% increase in cases with 2,768,645. In South America the number of cases in the past week more than doubled the previous week’s total with 401,469 new cases compared to 152,595 cases the previous week.

In Oceania, whilst the number of new cases is small compared to Europe this region still saw a 200% increase in cases to 140,068 compared to just 46,596 the previous week. Asia saw a change of 40% in cases this last week compared to before Christmas with 706,454 new cases compared to 503,424 the previous week.

Finally, in Africa, where many have suggested the new variant first appeared, the increase in new cases was just 2% over the previous week with a total of 304.346 new cases. The interesting statistic from Africa is that new cases in South Africa dropped by 48% in the past week. Across the world we are also seeing a drop in deaths with a 7% drop worldwide in the past week compared to the previous 7 days.

However, whilst Africa has seen a marked drop in infections the same cannot be said for deaths in the country. In the past week the number of people dying from Covid 19 increased by 7% which is a concern for their medical authorities.Coronavirus restrictions have been loosened in South Africa as case numbers wane in the country, though the government says that there is still reason for caution.

“All indicators suggest the country may have passed the peak of the fourth wave at a national level,” the government said in a statement Thursday, adding that the risk of infection remains “given the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant. “South Africa was the first country to detect the Omicron variant in November, and the subsequent wave drove the country’s seven-day rolling average of daily cases more than 70 times higher — from 327 on Nov. 17 to 23,437 a month later.

The government set an overnight curfew, restricted alcohol sales and capped public gatherings in an effort to slow the spread. When the government relaxed those restrictions Thursday, ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations, the rolling average of daily cases was down more than half from the mid-December peak — to 10,324 — and still trending downward in nearly every part of the country. South African researchers have found that those infected with Omicron in the country are, on average, less likely to end up in the hospital. They also appear to recover more quickly from illness, compared to the other variants. But it remains to be seen whether that will be the case in the rest of the world, as other countries begin to contend with their own Omicron surges.

Experts believe that because of South Africa’s past dramatic spikes and relatively low vaccination rate — less than a quarter of the population when the Omicron wave began — most South Africans had probably already been exposed to the coronavirus and had some amount of immune protection.

To look at some more of the details, let’s look at Europe. Despite many countries announcing new restrictions for the holiday period the rise in infections has continued unabated or so it seems. France has in the past week, seen new cases more than double with over 1 million new infections reported. The UK follows closely with a 51% increase in new cases to 1,096,712, Italy has the third highest new cases in the last week with 644,509, an increase of 150%.

More concerning for France and the UK is the fact that deaths are increasing as well. In France 1,305 people lost their lives to covid in the past week compared to 1,128 the previous seven days and in the UK, there was a 35% increase in deaths in the past week with 921 people losing their lives. As with the rest of Europe as we move into the colder weather there is the fear that this figure along with the rise in cases will increase even more over the next few weeks. We can all but hope this is not the case.

Other notable increases in new cases are Greece with a massive hike in cases in the past week with 170,029 compared to 39594 the previous week, Portugal saw a 148% increase in cases in the past week compared to the previous 7 days with 136,883 new cases. Whilst deaths in Portugal remain relatively low there is evidence to suggest that more people are dying from Covid now than they were previously. In the past week there has been a 6% increase in deaths compared to the previous week.  Whether this is due to the cold spell or the fact that the elderly are also prone to other infections like pneumonia could also be a factor.

In Europe deaths have dropped by 6% in the past week and most of the countries showing increases are from the North or east of Europe. Portugal stands alone in being the only southern European country with an increase in the past week.

Across the Atlantic the USA saw a rise of 54% in new cases in the past week with a total of 2,469,121 new cases compared to 1.598,175 the previous week. The good news is that deaths in the USA are down by 7% in the past week.

In Canada there was a doubling of new cases in the past week with over 240,000 cases compared to 103,242 in the week up to Christmas. However, more concerning is that deaths in the past week have gone up by 87% with 193 people succumbing to the disease compared to 103 in the previous week. Several provinces have again set new highs in COVID-19 cases, reporting on the first day of 2022 that the highly transmissible Omicron variant continued to drive up infections across Canada.

Ontario on Saturday reported 18,445 cases, an increase from 16,713 new cases reported on New Year’s Eve. Infectious disease experts have said for several days that the actual number of new cases is likely far higher than those reported each day because many public health units in Ontario have reached testing capacity. The provincial public health department said 12 more people have died due to the virus and 85 more people were in hospital.

Quebec reported 17,122 new cases, marking the fifth straight day a record number of new infections have been reported in the province. It also recorded eight additional deaths.

Outdoor New Year’s Eve celebrations in the province were prohibited as of 10 p.m. ET because a curfew, lasting until 5 a.m., went into effect on Friday. The curfew is Quebec’s second of the pandemic. A previous curfew, announced in early January 2021, was in place for nearly five months. New restrictions also include banning nearly all indoor gatherings and the closing of restaurant dining rooms. Indoor gatherings involving more than one household bubble have been prohibited.

Records were also set on Saturday in Nunavut, which reported 50 new cases, and Newfoundland and Labrador, which logged 442 new infections.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, Health Minister John Haggie said he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was isolating with cold-like symptoms. The province’s surge in cases will affect health-care services in St. John’s. Eastern Health says non-urgent services will be temporarily scaled back as of Tuesday to allow for a greater focus on booster vaccine clinics and testing for COVID-19. The health authority says it plans to focus on urgent or emergent acute care services within the city. However, prenatal appointments will continue, as will those for cancer treatment. The medical imaging program will be performing exams on a priority basis, and those patients will be contacted only if their appointment has been cancelled, Eastern Health said in a statement issued Friday. All non-urgent appointments have been cancelled, it said.

Boosting vaccination efforts is one of the country’s top priorities as 2021 turns to 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his year-end statement on Friday. Trudeau said Canadians will need to continue working together to end the pandemic, adding that the “strength, determination and compassion” they’ve demonstrated over the past year will “keep inspiring and guiding us in the new year.”

Until the next time Stay Safe.

Total Cases Worldwide – 289,818,031

Total Deaths Worldwide – 5,458,811

Total Recovered Worldwide – 254,311,371

Total Active Cases Worldwide 30,047,849 (10.4% of the total cases) 

Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 259,770,182

Information and Resources:

https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/weekly-trends/#countries

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/coronavirus-covid19-canada-world-jan1-2022-1.6301813

 

 

The Overseas Situation Report Friday 24 December 2021

by Mike Evans

“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.”

—Arnold Bennett

If I may start this report by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. This will be the last Overseas Report until the new year and whilst it would be good to end the year on a happy note the way the surge in Infections of the omicron variant is moving across the world makes it difficult to remain optimistic that life will eventually get back to some semblance of normality.

Throughout the year we have sought to bring you news and information from reliable and safe sources on what is the true situation regarding the Pandemic. Until we see the end we will continue to offer you an insight into what is happening around the world. As we enter the Christmas holiday period there is very little good news regarding the Covid 19 pandemic, however there is some heartening news courtesy of the Washington Post, coming out of Asia and especially Japan which we are delighted to bring you for this last edition before 2022.

In Japan, As the omicron variant surges around the world, Japan’s overall coronavirus cases and deaths have been plummeting. And no one seems to know exactly why.

Call it the hunt for a potential “X factor,” such as genetics, that may explain the trend and inform how Japan could deal with the next wave. While the new highly transmissible omicron variant has appeared in the country and experts suspect there is already some community spread, the overall transmission rate of the virus and coronavirus-related deaths in Japan have remained low.

“Honestly, we do not know the exact reason behind the sudden drop in covid deaths in Japan,” said Taro Yamamoto, professor of global health at Nagasaki University’s Institute of Tropical Medicine.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Japan has had much lower rates of infection and death than in many Western countries, though there was a severe spike over the summer that overwhelmed hospitals.

Milder outbreaks — compared with the ravages of the virus in Europe and the Americas — were found in many Asian countries and were attributed often to a public accustomed to health measures from previous experiences with respiratory illnesses like the SARS and MERS epidemics. Researchers had also looked into genetics, diet and other factors that may have spared East Asian countries like Japan and South Korea from the high death tolls elsewhere. In Japan, researchers have also examined factors like weather, cyclical patterns in the spread of the virus, and potential past exposure to mild coronavirus variants that may have led to lower numbers of cases and death counts. Experts have identified potential genetic characteristics among the Japanese that may have led to a stronger immune system response to the coronavirus but said there needs to be more research to draw definitive conclusions.

Japan has now vaccinated most of its population and has widespread masking, which may explain the current low numbers. But so does neighbouring South Korea, where authorities are rescinding reopening plans because of a spike in infections and record numbers of serious and critical cases. And Japan has barely begun rolling out its booster shots, lagging other countries in the region, including South Korea.

“Obviously vaccination, masking and social distancing are surely factors, but those alone cannot explain it, especially when comparing the situation to South Korea,” Yamamoto said. “It is unclear yet whether there is a factor X that exists specific to Japanese or East Asian people, but in determining this we hope it can help us to understand and control the virus.”

In the past month, the official daily case count in Japan has ranged from about 60 to under 200 in a country of 127 million. There have been fewer than five coronavirus-related deaths recorded most days since early November.

Those numbers come with a caveat, and probably are an undercount of the pandemic’s true toll because of the lack of widespread testing, systemic contact tracing or vaccine passports, and delays in reporting of deaths from municipalities.

The lack of testing and the prevalence of asymptomatic cases means the government probably recorded one-fourth to one-tenth of the true number of cases until recently, when more testing options became available, according to Michinori Kohara, a researcher at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science who led a study published last month on underreported and asymptomatic positive cases. But even taking into account the underreporting, the number of cases and fatalities are a small fraction of the United States and many European countries.

Because of those limitations in detecting the true number of cases in the country, experts are paying attention to pressures on hospitals to gauge how the health-care system is faring, and whether there is a significant number of unreported coronavirus cases.

So far, they say, the situation has vastly improved since the spike in the summer, when hospitals were so overwhelmed that the government asked patients to treat themselves at home because there weren’t enough beds to accommodate them. Seriously ill infections are now under control, experts say.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that the government aims to provide free and accessible testing starting at the end of this month. He has also called for a study of the government’s failures in responding to the spike this summer, including the cases where people died at home because the hospitals were full.

“There are some deaths and cases that may have been undercounted, but these numbers are not substantial enough to change the overall death rate or percentage,” Yamamoto said.

Japan has kept tight control on its frontiers, especially as the omicron variant emerged, though there is some doubt about the effectiveness of border control measures in preventing the spread of the virus. On Thursday, Japan recorded its first case of the omicron variant in someone who had not travelled. Japanese officials are watching the omicron variant closely, and there have been at least 159 confirmed cases of it. But the overall case count remains low: In the past week, the seven-day average of daily new cases in Tokyo was 25.

Taisuke Nakata, associate professor of economics and public policy at the University of Tokyo Faculty of Economics, led a team that tested six hypotheses to explain why the cases have plunged since the summer spike: 120-day cycle of outbreaks, people avoiding places with high infection risks, vaccinations, weather, herd immunity, or that Japan is seeing a low reproduction rate of the coronavirus.

They found that the final factor, which represents how many people are infected by one positive case, was most probably the only one at play. But they still could not explain why the reproduction rate was low, or how it stayed low even as the government lifted the “state of emergency” status in October and more people were out in society.

The low case counts in Japan are particularly confounding given the situation in South Korea, which had often experienced similar periods of ebbs and flows. “Many of us [in South Korea] are perplexed by how COVID-19 cases and deaths are approaching zero in the neighbouring country,” wrote Lee Duk-hee, professor of preventive medicine at Kyungpook National University in Daegu, in a blog post last month.

South Korea announced last week it would reimpose social distancing controls as the record spike of the coronavirus stymies the country’s reopening plans. The announcement came about 45 days after the government began its “living with covid-19” reopening plan.

Last week, South Korea’s daily caseloads surpassed 7,000 for the fifth time this month, with rising numbers of patients with serious or critical conditions. The health authorities have introduced at-home treatment for virus patients with light symptoms amid a shortage in hospital beds.

Some Japanese researchers have pointed to studies that found genetic or health conditions in Japan, including low prevalence of obesity. A study published this month by Japan’s Riken research institute, the country’s largest scientific research body, found that a genetic feature found in the white blood cells of up to 60 percent of Japanese people mounts an immune response to the coronavirus. The immune response was seen in 80 percent of the people with this genetic feature, and researchers found that it may explain one theory about Japan’s experience with the coronavirus.

This genetic feature, called HLA-A24, is common in East Asian countries and has been found in many countries that have had less severe experiences with the coronavirus, including Japan and Korea. But now, with the diverging experiences of Japan and Korea in the past two months, researchers said they hope to see more work done to find out more about what’s going on.

“Covid cases and deaths were low in Korea until now, but with the surge now and comparison with Japan, it would be interesting to examine what the immunity situation looks like now,” said Shin-ichiro Fujii, team leader at Riken’s immunotherapy laboratory.

Around the world the Scientific Community is learning more and more about the virus, and it can only be a matter of time until humanity can say that we have the “Cure”. Until that happens, we owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to protect each other as much as possible from the ravages this virus can cause.

Until the New Year Stay Safe.

Total Cases Worldwide – 277,687,256

Total Deaths Worldwide – 5,396,811

Total Recovered Worldwide – 248,911,553 

Total Active Cases Worldwide – 23,378,892 (8.4% of the total cases) 

Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 254,308,364

Information and Resources:

https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/22/japan-covid-omicron-falling-cases/

 

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

https://who.it

 

 

 

The Overseas Situation Report Friday 17 December 2021

by Mike Evans

“Stay safe, stay healthy and above all, stay positive!”

– Anonymous

With the Christmas holidays getting ever closer this report is bringing you the latest news on travel around Europe and even further afield.

We start with the latest news from France where the fear of the Omicron variant has forced the Government to impose new restrictions on travellers from the United Kingdom from midnight tomorrow. (18 December 2021). All non-essential travel between the two countries has been banned, so anyone looking to visit friends or take a skiing holiday in France over Christmas are going to be unlucky.

Currently only French or EU citizens will be allowed to enter France from the UK from Saturday. According to a list on the French Government website the only Britons allowed in are those with registered homes in France plus Transport workers and students. These new rules apply to both vaccinated and non-vaccinated people. Anyone able to make the journey from the UK are required to register prior to travelling on a digital platform to record their address in France where they will have to be isolated for 7 days. This isolation requirement may be lifted to 48 hours subject to being able to justify a negative PCR or TAG (antigen) test.

Meanwhile in Italy, the number of hospitalisations dropping in Italy and with the vaccination rates increasing each day, the COVID-19 situation has somewhat improved in the country. However, the country is currently in an emergency state as it emerged from a lockdown that lasted for a couple of months after battling with a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though the country has shown positive figures, it’s unclear whether the emergency state will end anytime soon as the new COVID-19 Omicron variant has already reached Italy.

To keep the Coronavirus situation under control, Italy launched its EU COVID-19 Passport on June 15, which means that the country has long ago started to issue and accept proof of vaccination, proof of recovery, or negative COVID test certificates.

Nonetheless, due to the widespread of the virus and the detection of the new Omicron variant, the country has made several modifications regarding the entry rules as well as the documents that are required to be permitted entry to the country.

European Union nationals travelling to Italy will have to test for COVID-19 before their trip and present negative test results upon arrival in Italy, regardless of their vaccination and recovery status.

The move was taken on Tuesday, December 14, in a meeting of the Italian Council of Ministers, who also agreed that travellers from other EU and Schengen Area countries should be subject to the obligation of quarantine in cases when they haven’t been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19.

“For those who also come from EU countries but are not vaccinated, it will not be enough to show the negative swab to circulate in Italy, but they will incur the obligation of quarantine.  The vaccinated will also be asked to show a negative swab result,” the Ministers agreed.

Through a provision of the decree approved by the Council, the obligation to carry a super Green pass in the white zone has been extended until March 31 as well. The same was set to expire on January 15. Italy permits entry to most European countries, more precisely to Austria, Andorra, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

All persons arriving in Italy from any country mentioned above can enter Italy for non-essential purposes if they have not stayed in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini and Malawi in the last 14 days before entering Italy.

Travellers from countries that are permitted entry to Italy need to present the COVID-19 Certificate, which proves whether the travellers have been vaccinated, recovered, or have e negative COVID-19 test result.

All people entering Greece must present a PCR test taken 48 hours before entry, authorities in the Hellenic Republic have announced. The measure, which applies to vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers, will enter into force on December 19 and has been introduced in an effort to keep the COVID-19 situation under control, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“As part of the Covid-19 pandemic control effort, our country will receive visitors from all countries with the demonstration of negative molecular control (PCR) for 48 hours. Excluded from the measure are travellers who have stayed in the countries for less than 48 hours,” the Greek Ministry of Health announced.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), earlier this week, 4,801 positive cases with COVID-19 have been reported in Greece, in addition to 77 deaths and 683 hospitalised patients. In comparison, the report of the National Public Health Organization EODY published on Tuesday showed that there were reported 5,736 cases COVID-19 cases, the second-highest death toll ever of 130, and 700 hospitalised, with 80.97 per cent of them being unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and the remaining patients (130, or 19.03 per cent) being fully vaccinated.

The highest number of infections, 1,486 of those, was registered in Attica, which represents the country’s most populated region, with the northern port city of Thessaloniki reporting 817. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) data, 34,257 positive cases with COVID-19 have been registered in the country during the last seven days, in addition to 660 deaths.

Furthermore, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) shows that five positive cases with the Omicron variant have been confirmed in Greece. Presently, Denmark (310), France (170) and Germany (102) hold the highest records of Omicron cases in the EU.

Across the Atlantic in Canada, people thinking of travelling overseas for the Christmas holidays have been given a bleak reminder by the Government, and that is “don’t travel”. Since early November, Canada has seen a steady rebound in coronavirus cases, according to a Dec. 10 epidemiology report published by the country’s public health agency. Now, with the rise of the Omicron variant — which spurred travel restrictions around the globe connected to several countries in southern Africa — the Canadian government has issued an advisory against all nonessential travel just over a week before Christmas.

“To those who were planning to travel, I say very clearly, now is not the time to travel,” the country’s health minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, said at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon. The advisory will be in effect for four weeks and will then be re-evaluated. The government also plans to increase testing at the border, Mr. Duclos said, and will provide more detail in future announcements.

The December 10 epidemiology report also shows that fewer than 1 percent of Covid-19 infections were contracted during international travel and that fewer than 1 percent were linked to an exposure to someone who had travelled.

Yet Mr. Duclos said avoiding travel was smart because Canadians abroad may not be able to gain access to health care if they get sick during travel.

“The situation abroad is already dire in many places,” Mr. Duclos said. “Once they have left Canada, there is very little we can do to help them.”

Fully vaccinated Canadians traveling by air or land for less than 72 hours will still be able to return home without providing proof of a negative coronavirus test, the country’s transportation minister, Omar Alghabra, said.

Over 76 percent of Canadians are fully vaccinated, according to federal data, with unvaccinated patients accounting for more than three-quarters of hospitalizations and deaths reported to the public health agency as of November. As the holidays near, the country’s most populated province, Ontario, is recommending that personal gatherings be limited to 25 people as cases mount, fuelled in part by the spread of new variants, including Omicron, which is estimated to infect 7.7 times as many people as the Delta variant, provincial health experts reported.

Provinces are racing to offer booster doses and free rapid antigen tests to Canadians through the holiday season, with an inventory of 16 million booster doses currently available and 35 million rapid tests scheduled for distribution by the federal government.

As the Omicron variant moves around the world many places will start to close their borders; the situation can, as we have highlighted here, change rapidly. Anyone thinking of travelling over the Christmas period should always contact their airline or the Embassy of the country they are travelling to in advance to get the latest advice.

Until the next time Stay Safe.

Total Cases Worldwide – 272,845,615

Total Deaths Worldwide – 5,349,796

Total Recovered Worldwide – 245,120,593 

Total Active Cases Worldwide – 22,375,226 (8.2% of the total cases)

Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 250,470,389

Information and Resources:

https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/