WHO urges cancelling some holiday events over Omicron fears
People are being urged to cancel some of their holiday plans to protect public health as Omicron begins to spread all over the world at a rapid pace.
“An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled,” said WHO head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that “difficult decisions” must be made.
Travel curbs have begun to be introduced in an attempt to slow the spread of the variant.
Let's stay safe this festive season.
🧪 Test before meeting people
🪟 Open windows to let fresh air in when friends and family are over
😷 Wearing a face covering when required
💉 Get your Covid-19 booster vaccine if you're over 18
🏠 Isolate if you get a positive test pic.twitter.com/iagnMT4Vay
— NHS (@NHSuk) December 21, 2021
The US announced today that Omicron has taken over Delta to become the country’s dominant variant – now accounting for 73% of new infections.
President Biden is expected to address America on Tuesday but there are reportedly no plans on “locking the country down.”
Dr Anthony Fauci warned that Christmas travel would increase the spread of Omicron even among the fully vaccinated. Travel rules now advises Americans against travelling to more than 80 nations – including most of Europe.
In Europe, France and Germany have brought in travel curbs to fight Omicron and the Netherlands has introduced a strict lockdown for Christmas.
In the UK the PM has made clear that rules could be introduced in England as Omicron cases surged – but he failed to announce restrictions.
London’s New Year Eve celebrations have been cancelled “in the interest of public safety,” Mayor Sadiq Khan said.
The World Health Organisation’s Dr Tedros said there is evidence that the variant was “spreading significantly faster” than the previous dominant version, Delta.
Dr Tedros said that “all of us are sick of this pandemic. All of us want to spend time with friends and family. All of us want to get back to normal”.
But he said that everyone, “leaders and individuals”, had to make difficult decisions to protect people, including by cancelling or delaying events.
“It’s better to cancel now and celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later,” Dr Tedros said.
If 70% of the population of every country in the world is vaccinated by the middle of next year then the pandemic could be ended in 2022.
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