Germany tightens restrictions on UK travellers: COVID live news | Coronavirus pandemic News
Germany imposes quarantine on travellers from Britain and requires a negative COVID-19 test for entry into the country.
Germany has ruled out a Christmas lockdown but warned a fifth COVID-19 wave could no longer be stopped amid the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
The country imposed restrictions on travellers from the United Kingdom on Monday in an attempt to slow the spread of the new variant, which is surging in parts of the UK.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands entered a lockdown aimed at stopping an expected surge in infections, and the top infectious diseases expert in the United States warned that a new COVID wave could strain hospital capacity.
“One thing that’s very clear… is (Omicron’s) extraordinary capability of spreading,” Fauci told NBC News. “It is just… raging through the world.”
Here are the latest updates:
Israel to ban travel to US, Canada over omicron variant
Israeli ministers agreed to ban travel to the United States, Canada and eight other countries amid the rapid, global spread of the omicron variant.
The rare move to red-list the US comes amid rising coronavirus infections in Israel and marks a change to pandemic practices between the two nations with close diplomatic relations. The US will join a growing list of European countries and other destinations to which Israelis are barred from traveling, and from which returning travelers must remain in quarantine.
A parliamentary committee is expected to give the measure final approval. Once authorised, the travel ban will take effect at midnight Wednesday morning.
Germany tightens restrictions on UK travellers
Travellers from the United Kingdom entering Germany must have a negative test and quarantine for two weeks, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.
The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases (RKI) – a federal health agency – announced the new rules as it classified the UK as a virus variant area of concern, the highest COVID risk level.
German nationals and residents will still be allowed to enter from the UK.
EU drug regulator to decide on Novavax vaccine
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said its human medicines committee would hold an extraordinary meeting to decide on whether to approve a COVID jab by Novavax, and “will communicate the outcome”.
Novavax’s jab, a protein-based vaccine of the kind used around the world to protect against many childhood illnesses, would be the fifth coronavirus shot authorised for the European Union.
Novavax says its vaccine showed 90.4 percent efficacy against COVID-19 in a North American trial.
Chief executive Stanley Erck said the firm “looks forward to providing an additional vaccine option in Europe, built on a proven, well-understood technology platform”.
Sydney resists calls to restore tough curbs
Despite the threat from the more transmissible Omicron variant, life returned to near normal in Sydney last week, with almost all tough curbs lifted ahead of Christmas, as vaccination rates rank among the world’s highest.
“There will always be new variants of this virus,” said Dominic Perrottet, premier of the most populous state of New South Wales.
“The pandemic is not going away and we need to learn to live alongside it,” he told reporters. “We need to also move away from fear and move to hope and confidence.”
Thailand reports first local Omicron case
Thailand is considering reinstating mandatory quarantine for foreign visitors due to concerns over the spread of Omicron, as the health ministry reported the country’s first case of local transmission of the coronavirus variant.
The public health ministry will propose scrapping a quarantine waiver for vaccinated visitors and revert to hotel quarantine and a “sandbox” programme, which allows free movement in specific locations, minister Anutin Charnvirakul said.
The proposal was driven by worries over the spread of Omicron, Anutin told the Inside Thailand television show, adding it will be made to the government’s COVID-19 taskforce “soon”.
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