China confines millions as the omicron variant multiplies in the world

The 13 million residents of the Chinese city of Xi’an entered strict lockdown on Thursday due to an outbreak of coronavirus covid-19 at the gates of Beijing-2022, while various parts of the world observe a rapid increase in cases due to the omicron variant, which has led to new restrictions in Europe.

Although it barely registers a few dozen cases a day, far from the 100,000 in the United Kingdom or 60,000 in Spain, China is committed to a virus eradication strategy, especially a month and a half after the Winter Olympic Games in its capital.

LOOK: COVID-19: What are the symptoms of the omicron variant of the coronavirus so far known

After the appearance of a hundred cases in Xi’an, known for hosting the famous “Terracotta Warriors”, its 13 million inhabitants must stay home from Thursday at midnight “except for imperative reasons.”

Only one person per household is allowed to go out to shop every other day, and all “non-essential” businesses had to close.

• Greece cancels public celebrations due to the spread of omicron and imposes the universal use of the mask
• “Here they will put the fourth dose and perhaps there will be a fifth”: Israel’s strategy against the omicron variant
• AstraZeneca Announces Third Dose Of Its Vaccine Strongly Boosts Omicron Variant Antibodies

This cautious approach has allowed the Asian giant, where the virus was first detected two years ago, to maintain the number of people sick with covid-19 in just over 100,000.

The Beijing Olympic Games will take place with the most restrictive measures for a sporting event since the beginning of the pandemic, since there will be no international spectators and all participants will have to remain in a health “bubble” that will include daily anti-covid tests.

“Effective tool”

In the United Kingdom they exceeded that number in a single day, with a record 106,000 infections on Wednesday. Spain also beat a maximum number of daily infections, with more than 60,000 cases, almost half due to omicron variant.

LOOK: Israel records the first death from the omicron variant: a man with pathologies who had two vaccines

Faced with this situation, the Spanish government, which has one of the most widely vaccinated populations of Europe, announced on Wednesday the reinstatement of the mandatory use of the mask outdoors that had been lifted six months ago.

“The mask has proven in recent months to be an effective tool in prevention”said the Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, pointing out that it is a “temporary” measure that will be withdrawn “as soon as possible.”

The director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Europe, Dr. Hans Kluge, stated that “Ómicron is becoming, or already became, dominant in several countries, including Denmark, Portugal and the United Kingdom, where the numbers are doubling every day and a half to three days, with unprecedented transmission rates.”

With the multiplication of cases, governments recover restrictions and try to accelerate the inoculation of booster doses and the immunization of children between 5 and 11 years old.

Less serious but more infectious

The general director of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, cautioned against the illusion that giving booster doses would suffice to overcome the covid-19 pandemic.

“They could even prolong the pandemic rather than end it, by diverting available doses to countries with high vaccination rates, thus giving the virus more possibilities to spread and mutate,” added.

The highly infectious nature of this new variant can neutralize its apparent lower severity, first observed in South Africa and now reinforced by two British studies conducted in Scotland and England.

These studies indicate that those infected with omicron are significantly less likely to end up hospitalized than those infected with delta.

The Scottish study indicates that the risk of hospitalization with omicron is reduced by two thirds. English, meanwhile, points to a 40-45% reduction in hospitalizations of one night or more.

“While the reduction in the risk of hospitalization with omicron is reassuring, the risk of infection remains extremely high”said Azra Ghani of Imperial College London, a co-author of the English study.

And is that despite its apparent less seriousness, the rapid spread can increase the base of infected people with what, in absolute numbers, hospitalizations and deaths with omicron can be equal to or worse than with delta.

The pharmaceutical laboratory AstraZeneca said Thursday that a third dose of its vaccine against covid-19 “significantly” increases the level of antibodies against the omicron variant, citing a clinical study.

100 million cases in America

The new variant has already been detected in 18 countries and American territories, the Pan American Health Organization indicated on Wednesday when announcing that that continent had exceeded 100 million cases of covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.

The latest data from this organization point to a decrease in infections in Central and South America, but instead there was an increase in the Caribbean.

In the United States, where omicron represents 73% of new infections, the honorary Oscar gala scheduled for January was postponed, although the grand awards ceremony for March 27 remains for now.

The country’s drug regulator approved Pfizer’s covid-19 pill on Wednesday that, according to this laboratory, reduces the risk of hospitalizations and deaths among at-risk people by 88%.

The world has registered 5,376,527 million deaths and more than 276 million cases of covid-19 since the end of 2019, according to a balance established by AFP from official sources this Thursday.

_______________________________

• The day that ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán left a city without roses to bury his son
• Mexico will require a visa from Venezuelans to prevent them from reaching the United States
• The murdered actress Tania Mendoza and her love for the Mexican drug lord Arturo Beltrán Leyva
• “My husband cut off my hands with an ax”
• Tania Mendoza, actress of “La mera reina del sur” is shot to death in Mexico

.

Deshawn