Omicron spoils the New Year for half the world. Travel chaos, but UK and France say no to restrictions – TIME

Omicron cast a shadow over the New Year. With this alternative spreading rapidly globally, there is still travel chaos: Flights canceled worldwide since the Friday before Christmas have risen to 8,000, and governments are evaluating any additional restrictions to contain infections. In the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson’s government decided not to launch new measures before the New Year for England, while in France the government – alarmed by the registration of more than 100,000 infections reached on Saturday – launched a “vaccination card”. Proof that entry to the building will require vaccination and will not be sufficient for a negative test. But he decided there would be no New Year’s Eve curfew. Meanwhile, Israel has begun a study of the fourth dose of the vaccine, the first of its kind in the world: At Sheba Medical Center, outside Tel Aviv, 150 medical staff who received a booster dose in August were given the fourth dose of the Pfizer vaccine. BioNTech.

In the UK, the situation will be mixed. For England, in fact, the government has not decided on further restrictions, and has reserved the right to adopt them in January. British Health Minister Sajid Javid said: “Celebrate outdoors if you can, keep the house ventilated” and “Please be careful” and “Do a quick test” before attending events. While Wales and Northern Ireland began closing nightclubs from Sunday, Scotland joined this measure from today.

In France, the news came from the Health Defense Council, headed by Emmanuel Macron, in the early afternoon at the Elysee, and from the subsequent extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers: despite the fifth wave of the Covid-19 epidemic and the further spread of the Covid-19 epidemic. In the cases of the Omicron variant, the government has decided not to impose a curfew on New Year’s Eve, and the start of the school year will not be postponed and remains scheduled for January 3. But the government is focusing on the vaccination permit on the Italian model. To access restaurants, bars, museums, theatres, media libraries, seminars, galleries, gymnasiums, sports facilities and shows, it will be necessary to prove that you have received the vaccination, and the test will not be sufficient. This new rule, if approved by Parliament, will take effect on January 15. From January 3, events will be allowed with a maximum of 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 people outdoors, and governors and mayors will be able to order outdoor masks in some city centers, and “from the beginning of the school year and for three weeks, at all businesses and for all employees who If it is possible for them, the use of remote work will be mandatory, for a period of at least three days a week, and four days if possible,” Prime Minister Jan Castex announced. Moreover, on the recommendation of the Haute Autorité de Sanité, from tomorrow in France it will be possible to get a booster dose of the Covid vaccine already after 3 months.