Coronavirus “Omicron explosion” messes up Christmas plans around the world: At least 1,600 flights canceled, Greece bans Christmas events, Bulgaria pays vaccine takers

Coronary pandemic and the omicron transformation that accelerated it has mixed up Christmas-time plans in many countries around the world.

The New York Times by at least 1,600 flights have had to be canceled worldwide, much of them in the United States and Australia.

For example, the American airline United Airlines said it canceled 150 flights on Christmas Eve and at least 44 flights on Christmas Day because the company is having difficulty getting enough staff to the airports and planes due to many cases of infection.

The same explanation for canceling flights was used by the low-cost airline Jetstar in Australia. According to the company, many workers have been quarantined for fear of being exposed to coronary infection, CNN says.

At least 80 out of 500 domestic flights have been canceled at Sydney Airport on Christmas Eve.

Reuters, a moderately headline news agency, reported on the situation in Australia over Christmas: “Australia is shortening the waiting time for booster vaccines while a microbial explosion turned the holidays into chaos.”

Authorities are reducing the number of booster vaccinations from the previous six months to three months since the previous vaccination, Australian Ministry of Health informed on Friday.

In Australia, some 9,100 new infections were recorded on Friday, breaking a previous record of 8,200 infections a day.

Quickly the worsening infection situation has been reflected in unpredictability and new restrictive measures in Europe as well. Politico site by The Spanish, Italian and Greek governments announced on Thursday that a mandatory mask will also be introduced outdoors.

In Spain, everyone over the age of six must wear a mask. However, the mask does not have to be used for sports activities or if the person is alone or with members of their household in the mountains or on the beach, Politico says.

In Greece, from Christmas Eve, “double masks” will have to be worn, ie two overlapping regular face masks or one more effective FFP2 respirator in public transport and supermarkets.

The Greek government also ruled that all public celebrations related to Christmas and New Year are prohibited. Foreign tourists are “strongly advised” to take a PCR corona test a few days after arriving in the country. Even before entering the country, there must be a negative test result, even if the tourist has a vaccination certificate.

Nikolai Lilkov was waiting for people who want coroner vaccinations at the vaccination point of the National Palace of Culture metro station in the Bulgarian capital Sofia in September. Picture: Sami Kero / HS

Bulgarian The government, for its part, announced on Thursday that citizens over the age of 65 will be paid around € 40 if they take the corona vaccine, The Sofia Globe says. In Bulgaria, only 27% of the total population have received a full vaccination series, compared with 68% in the EU and EEA, Statistics by the European Office of Communicable Diseases look like.

“People think vaccines put poison, microchips and all that shit. That Bill Gates wants to put a chip in your arm so he can keep track of where you are moving. It’s madness, sheer madness, ”he said Interviewed by HS in September vaccination point clerk Nikolai Lilkov Bulgarians, who have been the most vaccine-free people in Europe during the corona pandemic.

The locked-up city of Xian in China was quiet on Thursday. Picture: Shao Rui / Xinhua

In China Christmas is a rather marginal event, but even there the authorities are going through tough rounds due to new corona infections. The city of Xian, with a population of more than eight million, has been placed in a strict lockdown since Thursday for more than a hundred infections recorded in the city.

The confinement has been reported to affect about thirteen million people in the Xian region. According to government regulations, only one person from each household can go shopping every other day. Exceptions are allowed for professionals who are essential to the functioning of society, Reuters reports.

China preparing for the February Winter Olympics announced 87 new confirmed corona infections on Friday. On Thursday, exactly one hundred cases were reported.

In China, which is pursuing a zero-infection policy, there have been about 100,000 officially reported infections since the beginning of the pandemic and more than 4,600 deaths have been recorded.