“We don’t expect things are going to turn around in a few days to a week. It likely will take much longer than that, but that’s unpredictable.'
BRUSSELS — After struggling with the coronavirus for far too long, the world understands all too well Belgium’s word of the year, “knaldrang!” — the urge to party, the need to let loose. Yet as New Year celebrations approach, the omicron variant is casting more gloom.
“We don’t expect things are going to turn around in a few days to a week. It likely will take much longer than that, but that’s unpredictable,” he said on ABC. Travelers around the world faced flight cancellations and delays because of staffing shortages linked to COVID-19. FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, counted more than 2,400 cancellations worldwide by Monday afternoon — 884 of them within, into or out of the U.S.
But with indications that omicron might be a milder variant despite its extraordinary ability to infect people, politicians were caught in a bind over whether to spoil yet another party or play it safe to make sure health care systems don’t collapse. This piecemeal, often hesitant approach is visible through much of Europe. In Poland, a nation of 38 million where the daily death toll now often tops 500, now-closed nightclubs will be allowed to reopen on New Year’s Eve, with the government unwilling to go against the many voters opposed to restrictions and mandatory vaccinations.
In Belgium, people faced their first real test with several new measures on Monday. Shopping in large groups was banned, and movie theaters and concert halls closed at a time when countless families are on vacation together. The calls to close theaters and arts centers came in for especially heavy criticism.
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Omicron spreads global gloom over New Year's celebrations | AP NewsBRUSSELS (AP) — After struggling with the coronavirus for far too long, the world understands all too well Belgium's word of the year, “knaldrang!” — the urge to party, the need to let loose. Yet as New Year celebrations approach, the omicron variant is casting more gloom.
Read more »