Europe has updated daily highs for the incidence of COVID-19. The main reason for this was the rapid spread of Omicron. This strain is gradually conquering more and more countries. Over the past week, he has become dominant inNetherlands and Switzerland. The authorities of these countries impose new restrictions and declare lockdowns.
In France, an absolute record has been registered for the entire time of the pandemic — about 180 thousand infected per day. This is almost twice as much as the local Ministry of Health stated when making a forecast for the post-Christmas days.
At the same time, the percentage of vaccinated people among the French is quite high. And 23 million people have already received the third dose, noted Daria Zlotnikova, Kommersant FM’s own correspondent in France: “Despite the Christmas holidays, many people at work in the immediate environment are quarantining more and more people. And this is becoming a serious problem, including for the economy, since the number of contact cases is growing proportionally. There is still a lot of uncertainty in France about how many people should be on self-isolation. Someone is quarantined for 10 days, someone is quarantined for seven.
And the government is already saying out loud that it will revise the deadlines, especially for contact cases in which COVID-19 is not confirmed immediately, since a person can be kicked out to work much faster than it was envisaged. Again, this is a serious burden for the economy, sick leave is very expensive, and the absence of people at work is even more expensive. The majority of the French – 80% – have already been vaccinated.
And the authorities insist that this is the main weapon in the fight against the pandemic, they still say that the virus affects the unvaccinated population more strongly.
Many sign up for revaccination, which is much more difficult to do now. Most, of course, in the very first days when it began, rushed to sign up. And now it’s impossible to just come to any place and get your dose, you need to constantly search, go to another district or a neighboring city to get vaccinated again.”
The French authorities intend to introduce a vaccine pass from January 15, which will confirm that a person has been vaccinated. A negative coronavirus test from now on will not be considered sufficient to visit some institutions, Prime Minister Jean Castex said. InThere are no plans to introduce new restrictions in the UK, despite the fact that there are also record values for morbidity – about 130 thousand people per day. At the same time, The Guardian emphasizes that this is incomplete data — statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland have not yet been taken into account.
There are interruptions in the health care system in the Kingdom, a shortage of medical personnel and workers in other industries, Andrei Ostalsky, Kommersant FM’s own correspondent in London, said: “There are almost 118 thousand cases in England per day. There are already 130 thousand in the United Kingdom . So there is every reason to be alarmed. Moreover, the number of hospitalizations is not growing as fast and sharply as feared, but it is still growing. Perhaps one of the most acute problems is the shortage of medical personnel, which is caused by the fact that doctors dealing with the sick and infected themselves get sick. And even if COVID-19 is asymptomatic, doctors still go into quarantine, self-isolate, and as a result there is no one to work.
This is happening now in all sectors of the economy, for example, old people are being mobilized to drive buses, then there are not enough people. As for tough measures, the introduction of lockdown, the government has not yet made a decision. Although all sorts of backup plans are certainly being developed by scientists, specialists, relevant commissions and committees. But there is no political solution, because it will be extremely unpopular, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now very sensitive to the poll numbers. Part of the traditional conservative electorate adheres to the view that the economy should be protected, and, whatever it is, no harsh restrictive measures can be introduced, we must learn to live with the virus.”
In Russia, the incidence of coronavirus has been declining for seven weeks in a row, said the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova. Over the past day, a little more than 21 thousand cases have been detected. According to the latest data that Rospotrebnadzor announced on December 21, 41 people were infected with the omicron strain in the country. According to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, the level of collective immunity exceeded 61%.
Svetlana Belova