In view of these health concerns, New Zealand continued to ease the restrictions that were imposed, earlier, in order to address the “Delta” mutator, which in turn raised major concerns when it first appeared, according to the “Washington Post”.
But New Zealand lifted the restrictions, after the rate of vaccination against the Corona virus in the country reached the 90 percent threshold, a level described as advanced and encouraging.
In this context, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is heading to hold her wedding, which has long been postponed due to the pandemic conditions that did not allow gatherings to take place.
But New Zealand’s borders are still almost closed, while those coming from abroad are forced to undergo a two-week quarantine inside hotels, which helped keep the number of “Omicron” cases within ten, which were fully detected before they caused transmission of infection to others.
Continuous lifting of restrictions
And in Australia, which reopened its closed borders almost completely, last November, controversy is being raised about easing some restrictions, such as the exemption from wearing the muzzle in closed places, while the number of new infections reached record levels, at the local level.
Health officials in the state of “New South Wales”, which includes the city of Sydney, lifted a number of restrictions, on the fifteenth of December, including wearing a muzzle and giving a certificate of the vaccine, after unvaccinated people were in a quarantine-like situation.
Unvaccinated people in this Australian state were unable to go to restaurants or go to sports clubs, and the activities available to them remained within the limits of entering stores for the purchase of basic items.
In the midst of this easing of Corona restrictions, 97 cases of corona were recorded during a dance party held in Sydney, on the tenth of this December, while about 600 people were considered contacts.
Health experts expect that the number of daily infections with corona in the first state of Australia in terms of population density will reach approximately 25,000 cases per day, by the end of next January, equivalent to the number recorded in Britain, last Friday.
‘European hardening’
In return for this easing, several countries in Europe have chosen to tighten restrictions, in an effort to contain the spread of the epidemic, especially since Christmas is approaching, and mass celebrations may lead to a “health setback.”
France announced that fireworks would not be set off during New Year’s celebrations, while Ireland imposed a nightly closure obligating restaurants, bars and cinemas to close at eight in the evening.
As for the Netherlands, it decided to go further, and imposed a strict closure, until mid-January, in order to contain the spread of the “Omicron” mutant.
These measures come as the World Health Organization had recommended countries not to tighten travel restrictions, because this step would not prevent the new mutant from entering their territories.
Scientists are so far studying the properties of “Omicron” to see if it is more lethal than the previous mutant, as well as to determine whether it is resistant to the immunity obtained by the human body thanks to vaccines, while the confirmed issue so far is that “Omicron” is faster spreading. Since it was first spotted in South Africa.
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