Another COVID-19 wave mixed with the Omicron variant wreak havoc on the European travel industry
Updated:
According to statistics from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), roughly 337 infection cases with the Omicron form have been reported in 21 EU and European Economic Area countries as of December 8.
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Sweden, and Iceland are among the EU nations that have reported instances without an epidemiological relation to travel outside the EU.
This suggests that undetected community transmission may be occurring in several EU countries.
All of the instances for which information on severity is available were asymptomatic or mild. So yet, no Omicron-related fatalities have been documented.
These numbers should be used with caution since the number of verified instances is insufficient to determine whether Omicron's illness clinical spectrum varies from that of previously identified variations.
What kind of measures EU are taking to stop the spread of Omicron?
To prevent the virus from spreading further and regulate the transmission of the Omicron form, EU nations have implemented harsher entrance requirements, particularly for unvaccinated individuals, third-country visitors, and those traveling from Omicron-affected areas.
The United Kindom
On Sunday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of an impending "tidal wave" of Omicron and pushed back the deadline for giving over-18s a booster shot by one month, to the end of December.
After the country's medical experts upgraded the Covid Alert Level owing to a "rapid surge" in infection from the variation, he remarked in a televised address, "No one should be in any doubt: there is a tidal wave of Omicron approaching."
Under fire for allegedly breaking Covid limitations last Christmas, Johnson described the spread of the mutation as an "emergency," with Omicron doubling every two to three days.
Denmark
Denmark has Europe's most stringent screening program, with a high degree of testing and variant screening of all positive PCR tests, thus it can provide useful insight into what to expect from Omicron.
In a sample taken on November 22, the first Omicron infection in Denmark was discovered. Since then, 1,280 cases have been reported, with Omicron accounting for between 4.5 and 5% of all Covid-19 infections in the country as of early this week.
While the information from Statens Serum Institut is based on limited data that might be distorted, it also reveals that over 75% of individuals infected with Omicron had had two doses of Covid-19 vaccination.