The 2021 Christmas celebrations will be remembered around the world as less joyous than usual.
Against the backdrop of the spread of the omicron strain, many of the mass incidents have been eliminated, new restrictions are being added, and the number of cases detected continues to rise.
About 4,500 flights were canceled over the Christmas weekend, and another 10,000 were delayed - leading to many disruptions and uncertainty among passengers.
According to the Reuters news agency, airlines around the world canceled at least 2,400 flights yesterday, Christmas Eve, which is usually characterized by congestion on flights.
About 1,800 flights were canceled today, and another 400 scheduled for Sunday.
USA: 45% jump in morbidity
A quarter of the canceled flights are flights arriving in or departing from the United States, as well as domestic flights between the countries in its territory.
Meanwhile, the omicron strain is spreading across the United States with almost 75% of cases diagnosed being in the new strain, and in some areas such as the East Coast, the omicron constitutes about 90% of the morbidity.
The average number of new corona cases in the U.S. has risen 45 percent over the past week, with the daily number of infections now standing at about 180,000 a day. New York reported more than 44,000 new infections yesterday. At least 10 other states set new case records in two days In addition, there has been an increase in hospitalizations, and particularly congestion in the Midwestern United States.
UK: 1.7 million infected per week
The UK set a weekly record for the outbreak of the corona virus yesterday, with more than 1.7 million people being infected with the coronavirus last week.
This is the highest figure since the outbreak of the plague in the country.
Christmas in London.
Immigrant morbidity, Photo: Getty Images
In England more than a million and a half people became infected, one in every 25 people.
In the capital London, the largest city in the country and the focus of the outbreak of the virus, one in every 20 residents is infected with the virus.
Despite the lack of comprehensive data, experts in the country estimate that the omicron variant of the virus is behind the explosion of cases in the country.
British Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the country's media outlets that a new decision on population restrictions would not be announced until after Christmas, but made it clear that tougher measures against the spread of the virus were certainly on the London government's agenda.
At the same time, two British studies published in the Kingdom have shown encouraging data regarding the danger of the Omicron variant, and it seems that it is indeed less dangerous than the Delta version.
"There's a glimmer of hope for Christmas ... but we're definitely not at a point where the severity of the virus can be downgraded," Jenny Harris, head of the UK Health Security Agency, told the BBC.
France: Preparing for new restrictions
France recorded another record number of Corona cases yesterday, with the daily number reaching almost 100,000.
At the same time, the number of hospitalizations from the virus reached a peak of seven months, prompting the government to convene a special meeting on Monday, immediately after Christmas, during which new restrictions may be decided.
Queue for tests in France // Photo: Ai.
times,
New Zealand: Celebrating without Omicron
Compared to the rest of the world, New Zealand celebrates Christmas with few restrictions.
This is one of the countries that has not been severely affected by the omicron, with the virus barely spreading.
The only cases of the new strain were detected at the entrance to the country and isolated at the border.
While the corona has spread around the world in the last two years, New Zealand has adopted a strict policy, and by Christmas this year, New Zealand had recorded only 50 deaths in a population of 5.5 million people.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us