London, December 20

Britain may impose new curbs to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant after Christmas, media reported on Monday, a day after the Netherlands began a fourth lockdown and as other European nations consider putting a squeeze on Christmas. The country recorded another daily high of Omicron cases at 12,133.

Israel adds US, Canada to its travel ban list

• Jerusalem: Israel on Monday imposed travel ban on 10 countries, including the US, Canada and Germany, by adding them to its “no-fly” list, citing concerns over the spread of the new variant that has infected 175 persons in the country.
• Travel to and from these countries is expressly forbidden, unless permission is granted by a special committee. Those who return from these countries must remain in quarantine for seven days.

Davos summit delayed

ZURICH: The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Monday postponed its annual meeting in Davos due to the spread of the Omicron variant, putting off the event scheduled for January until mid-2022. Organisers said the event will now be planned for “early summer”.

The total number of confirmed Omicron cases in the UK stands at 37,101, taking the overall Covid-19 infections tally to 82,886 on Sunday. A further 45 Covid-related deaths have been reported.

UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, when asked about the lockdown, said, “I think we will have a much better Christmas than last year because of the vaccination level — both the overall vaccination level and particularly the impact of the booster campaign. People will need to be careful and cautious,” he said.

According to UK media reports, civil servants have produced three options for ministers to consider as future COVID measures, and they range in severity from stricter guidance on households mixing to early closures of shops and restaurants to limit gatherings.

PM Johnson under fire

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains under pressure of his own, with new images of what looks like a wine and cheese party in the garden of 10 Downing Street in May 2020 when strict rules were in place on different households mixing.

Downing Street has defended the image as a work meeting but it comes in the wake of an ongoing investigation into other such gatherings, which critics say undermine public trust as they appear in breach of lockdown restrictions in place last year.

$317 bn extra for Covid

Japan’s parliament on Monday approved a record extra budget of nearly 36 trillion yen ($317 billion) for the fiscal year through March to help out pandemic-hit households and businesses.

The budget largely is to fund Covid-19 measures, including booster shot vaccines and oral medicines. PM Fumio Kishida said the supplementary budget is meant to revive an economy not yet fully recovered from the pandemic and to achieve stronger growth and a more equitable distribution of wealth. — Agencies