Europe gears up to impose more curbs as Omicron cases surge

DUBLIN/MADRID • European countries were preparing to impose further restrictions on travel and more in an effort to stem surging cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 that are threatening to stall a global economic recovery.

Germany and Ireland were considering further restrictions in the days before Christmas festivities kick off in earnest, following in the footsteps of France, which closed its borders this week to most non-resident Britons.

Denmark yesterday announced it would close cinemas, theatres and concert halls, as well as restrict restaurant opening hours, as it recorded an all-time high of more than 11,000 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.

"This is not a complete closure of the society, as we saw last winter," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a press conference yesterday.

"Our aim is still to keep as much of society open as possible."

The Scandinavian country has registered 11,559 Omicron cases so far.

Under rules that were expected to be announced yesterday, travellers to Germany from Britain would be required to quarantine for two weeks, a German Health Ministry spokesman said.

Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that in the face of a "cruel virus", the government had no choice but to consider unpopular measures, including early closing times for bars and restaurants.

"We're all feeling anger, frustration, dismay, depression, but that cannot deflect us from making the right decisions to keep our people safe," he said on Twitter.

The Irish government was meeting yesterday to consider the additional restrictions, including the possible closure of bars and restaurants at 5pm. The EU nation's hospitality sector is already required to demand proof of vaccination from all customers and limit groups to tables of six.

Fearing further economic damage, several ruling coalition lawmakers expressed opposition to the proposals, which state broadcaster RTE said had been recommended in a letter from the country's leading public health officials.

More than 8.5 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide to combat the disease - an effort now complicated by Omicron's outburst.

As more evidence emerges to support the need for booster doses to protect populations against Omicron, several countries raced to accelerate vaccination campaigns.

European Union governments agreed to order over 180 million doses of an adapted version of the Covid-19 vaccine against Omicron developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, the head of the European Commission said.

Pfizer-BioNTech began development of a prototype Omicron-specific shot on Nov 25, and said it could have it ready in March.

For its part, hard-hit France approved vaccination against Covid-19 for all children aged five to 11.

Parents across Europe are also facing the dreaded prospect of school closures again as the latest wave of Covid-19 infections hits the young.

With cases rising faster among children, many schools have shut early for Christmas break.

The question parents have is whether the schools will reopen as scheduled next month.

In Germany, where schools in some states have already closed, cases among those aged below 15 are running almost twice as high as the national average.

Britain is seeing a similar trend, as are EU countries including Austria and Ireland.

School closings would hit children's education and be a headache for employees and businesses, forcing parents to work from home, if they can, or take time off.

In France, there were so many class closures last month that the government backtracked on a rule that classes would shut for a week as soon as one student was found to be positive, instead requiring the entire class to get tested.

"Children are the biggest contamination pool at the moment," Dr Karine Lacombe, who heads the infectious diseases department at Saint-Antoine Hospital in Paris, said on RTL radio on Tuesday.

Denmark's government closed all primary schools on Tuesday, as much as a week ahead of schedule. That has also happened in the Netherlands and parts of Switzerland.

Since the coronavirus emerged in China almost two years ago, over five million people have died of Covid-19 globally and more than 272 million cases have been reported.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG