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Asian monetary hub Hong Kong banned flights from eight nations on Wednesday as a part of strict new virus curbs, with Omicron outbreaks spiralling uncontrolled from Europe to the US.
The brand new coronavirus variant is spreading quickly throughout continents, leaving governments speeding to roll out vaccine boosters and bolster healthcare programs as an infection numbers attain new highs.
Britain, the US, France and Australia have all introduced report case numbers in current days, whereas China has imposed lockdowns in two cities and rolled out mass testing for thousands and thousands because it doubles down on its “zero Covid” coverage forward of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Hong Kong chief Carrie Lam mentioned town was shuttering bars and gymnasiums and cancelling night restaurant eating after Omicron was detected within the worldwide enterprise hub.
The restrictions are the newest financial blow to a metropolis that has stored instances low however left residents lower off from the remainder of the world with tight border controls.
Like mainland China, Hong Kong has maintained among the world’s harshest controls — together with weeks-long quarantine intervals, focused lockdowns and mass testing.
Town had recorded 114 Omicron instances as of Tuesday night, with a small neighborhood outbreak traced to Cathay Pacific airline employees sparking the newest curbs.
Lam mentioned well being officers feared the pressure was silently spreading throughout the neighborhood.
Flights from Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Britain and the US will likely be banned for the following two weeks.
Hong Kong additionally ordered a cruise ship carrying 3,700 folks again to port for testing after 9 passengers had been discovered to be shut contacts of Omicron sufferers.
‘Underneath management’
To the north within the Chinese language metropolis of Zhengzhou, 13 million residents had been ordered to take Covid-19 assessments Wednesday after simply 11 Omicron instances had been detected.
The central metropolis is below a partial lockdown, becoming a member of thousands and thousands extra within the close by cities of Xi’an and Yuzhou additionally dwelling below stay-at-home orders.
However Xi’an’s case numbers fell to their lowest stage in weeks, with officers saying the outbreak had been “introduced below management”.
“The epidemic is displaying a downward pattern,” mentioned Ma Guanghui, deputy director of the well being fee in Shaanxi province.
China has caught to a inflexible strategy of stamping out Covid instances after they seem, with tight border restrictions and focused lockdowns, since Covid-19 first emerged within the nation in 2019.
However with lower than a month to go till the Beijing Winter Olympics, a sequence of small outbreaks throughout the nation has put the technique below stress.
The “zero Covid” strategy stands in marked distinction to the technique employed by many Western nations, which have chosen to reside with the virus somewhat than return to extreme restrictions.
The extra relaxed coverage has seen an explosion in case numbers within the West, with the US reporting greater than one million day by day instances on Monday.
Britain breached 200,000 instances for the primary time on Tuesday, Australia posted nearly 50,000 and France registered greater than 270,000, with all three international locations simply topping their earlier information.
India can also be bracing for a brand new surge, with 58,000 new instances confirmed on Tuesday, greater than double the quantity recorded three days prior.
A number of cities have imposed curfews and the capital New Delhi has ordered all residents outdoors of important employees to remain dwelling this weekend.
“There isn’t a room for complacency,” V.Okay. Paul, a health care provider working with the federal government on its coronavirus response, instructed a press convention.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron warned folks not but vaccinated that he deliberate to make life troublesome for them by limiting entry to key elements of life.
The federal government is looking for to push by laws that can make vaccination obligatory for cultural actions, to make use of inter-city trains or go to a restaurant, sparking a backlash amongst these against additional authorities edicts.
‘Appalling message’
Vaccine coverage sparked additional anger in Australia, the place world primary tennis participant Novak Djokovic was given a medical exemption permitting him to play at this month’s Australian Open.
The vaccine-sceptic Serbian has repeatedly refused to substantiate if he has been inoculated.
Match chief Craig Tiley mentioned that the defending champion had been given “no particular favour”.
However Stephen Parnis, a former Australian Medical Affiliation vice-president, mentioned it despatched an “appalling message” to folks making an attempt to cease the unfold of the virus.
“I don’t care how good a tennis participant he’s. If he’s refusing to get vaccinated, he shouldn’t be allowed in,” Parnis mentioned on Twitter.
In the meantime, Polish President Andrzej Duda examined constructive for the virus and was self-isolating, his chief of employees Pawel Szrot mentioned.
“The president is okay, has no extreme signs and is below fixed medical care,” Szrot mentioned on Twitter.
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