Yesterday, Saturday, protest demonstrations took place in Austria and the Netherlands, in rejection of the measures applied by the authorities to contain the large increase in people infected with the emerging corona virus, while the first infections with the new mutant of the “omicron” virus were detected in countries in Africa, Europe and South America.

In the Austrian capital Vienna, more than 40,000 demonstrators participated in a march yesterday, Saturday, to protest against the general closure and the government's intention to make vaccination compulsory to reduce the Corona virus pandemic.

In the face of a jump in infections, the Austrian government has re-imposed the partial closure since last November 22, to be the first country in Western Europe to take this measure, and it also said that it will make vaccination compulsory starting next February.

On the third weekend of protests against Corona restrictions, demonstrators held signs with slogans reading "I will decide for myself", "Make Austria great again" and "New elections", in reference to the political turmoil that has seen Austria witness a succession of 3 advisors within two months.

Yesterday, Saturday, Austria witnessed the third weekend of protests against Corona restrictions (Anatolia)

medical freedom

In the Netherlands, several thousand gathered in the central town of Utrecht yesterday to protest against the new restrictions to combat the Corona virus, which took effect early last week.

Protesters marched through the town's streets, holding placards saying "Medical Freedom Now!" and waving the Dutch flag.

The police deployed heavily along the path of the march.

The protest is the first large demonstration in the Netherlands against the precautionary measures, which include closing bars, restaurants and most shops at night to stem an unprecedented wave of "Covid-19" infections, which the authorities fear will exceed the capacity of the country's health care system.

The Netherlands witnessed protests two weeks ago after the government announced plans to prevent most of those who had not received the vaccination from entering public places.

Those plans - which have not yet been implemented - are facing widespread opposition in parliament, including parties in the ruling coalition.

On the other hand, Dutch Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said - in a press conference - that his country recorded the highest toll of Corona virus infections in Europe, and for this reason the government decided to take stricter measures, adding that a large part of the restrictions related to education.

Yesterday and today, there were demonstrations rejecting the return of the precautionary restrictions, in other European countries such as Belgium, Italy, Germany and Greece.

Outside of Europe, the British newspaper "Daily Mail" reported yesterday that hundreds of demonstrators took to some streets in New York City in the so-called "freedom protest", in order to reject the restrictions imposed to contain the Corona pandemic.

outside Europe

The return of some precautionary restrictions was not limited to countries in Europe, which for weeks became the most affected regions in the world by the pandemic. Festivals and cultural and artistic manifestations for fear of the spread of the new mutant, according to a government statement.

And in Sudan, the authorities yesterday waved a complete closure of the country, to prevent the rapid spread of the Omicron mutator, which was first detected in South Africa two weeks ago, and the Sudanese Ministry of Health said that Abdel-Baqi Abdel-Qader, a member of the Sovereign Council and head of the Supreme Committee for Health Emergencies, waved to close the country in case he did not comply. Citizens, under the directives of the Higher Committee for Health Emergencies, and the Security and Defense Council directives calling for wearing masks in public places.

On the other hand, several countries in the world recorded yesterday and today the first injuries with the new mutant, as the authorities in Senegal monitored the first injuries in a tourist who participated in a demonstration last November in the capital, Dakar, and it is related to a 58-year-old citizen who came from another country from the West African region. .

In Romania, the Ministry of Health said that yesterday, Saturday, it had detected the first two cases of the Omicron mutant in Romanian citizens who returned from South Africa on November 30.

The Romanian authorities have implemented a travel ban on all non-European citizens coming from a number of African countries, following the discovery of the new mutation.

Chile also announced yesterday, Saturday, that it had detected the first infection with the Omicron mutant on its soil in a traveler who arrived from Ghana on November 25, and the health authorities in the country said that the infected person was a foreigner residing in Chile and had previously received two doses of the “Pfizer” vaccine.


In Palestine, Minister of Health Mai Al-Kaila said today that 100 samples of people infected with the Corona virus were transferred to the Israeli “Tel Hashomer” Hospital, to verify that they were infected with Omicron.

In a statement, the minister added that all the samples belong to citizens coming from abroad who are suspected of being infected with Omicron.

She explained that no infection with the new mutant has been recorded in Palestine so far.

It is noteworthy that more than 264 million people around the world have been infected with the emerging coronavirus since the first case was discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019, while the total number of deaths resulting from the virus reached more than 5 and a half million cases.

America tops the list of countries in the world in terms of HIV infections, followed by India and Brazil. At the Arab level, the list tops the list, followed by Jordan and Morocco.