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The rebound in Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant has caused the Netherlands to prohibit non-essential citizen meetings, while the United Kingdom does not rule out emulating the measure before the holidays and Spain announces that it will intensify restrictions in the face of the imminence of a new wave . At the same time, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy and Germany have registered citizen protests against the compulsory nature of vaccination and the imposition of the health pass.
The emergence of the Omicron variant has changed the scenario with which Europe faces one of the most mobile seasons of the year: the Christmas and New Year holidays. And as the need for stricter protocols to control the spread becomes imminent, protests against such measures also intensify.
Almost 10 thousand infections are registered every day in Belgium, the United Kingdom recorded 90,418 new cases on Saturday, a figure that almost doubled that of a week ago, and the World Health Organization warns that the incidence of Omicron in countries where there is already transmission community could double every 36 hours.
Ómicron approaches the prospect of new restrictions in Europe
Faced with this scenario, the Netherlands has become the first nation in the bloc to return to confinement, limiting public meetings to essential activities. The prospect of similar measures being taken in neighboring Belgium sparked protests in the streets of Brussels.
While in France, the Government of Emmanuel Macron declares itself willing to do everything necessary to avoid a new confinement, and its Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, has assured that schools will remain open even if stricter measures are imposed for the circulation.
No to mandatory vaccination and health pass
Thousands of people showed their disgust in the Belgian capital at provisions that increasingly open the door to mandatory vaccination. Among the protesters who protested with banners against the booster doses, there were health workers opposed to the three-month period that begins to run on January 1, within which they must be vaccinated if they do not want to lose their jobs.
Similar demonstrations were registered in Luxembourg, Germany and Italy. The small principality was the first to demonstrate, on Saturday, December 18, to oppose the policy that makes it mandatory to present a vaccination certificate or negative Covid-19 test to enter recreational centers and restaurants.
In Germany, the marches began on Saturday in Hamburg and Göppingen, and continued on Sunday in Nuremberg, in most cases called by far-right organizations such as the identity movement, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and even neo-Nazi groups.
In Rome, a group of health professionals broke into an assembly of the College of Physicians of the Italian capital shouting “gangsters” and “shame”, to complain about the measure that empowers the institution to suspend unvaccinated doctors.
In Vienna, 30,000 people gathered on the city’s main avenue, Ring, in a silent vigil to remember the more than 13,000 fatalities the pandemic has left in Austria. Unlike the other countries, there were no slogans against mandatory vaccination that will take effect in February, and which provides fines of 3,600 euros ($ 4,050) for those who fail to comply.
A future behind closed doors
Despite the protests, the speed with which the Omicron variant is multiplying in Europe puts the countries of the bloc before the prospect of increasingly stringent measures to contain the spread.
The UK Health Minister, Sajid Javid, did not rule out new mobility restrictions on Christmas dates, although for now he simply announced that a strict surveillance will be maintained on the evolution of infections.
Germany, where, unlike other countries, contagion rates are falling, will evaluate the imposition of travel restrictions from the United Kingdom, given the high transmission figures of the Omicron variant in that country.
Russia also adopted measures against flights from Hong Kong and some southern African countries, and in Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for “intensifying measures” in the face of the imminence of a sixth wave.
With AP, EFE, Reuters and AFP
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