The accelerating outbreak of "Omicron" - the new mutant of the emerging coronavirus (Covid-19) - cast a shadow over the atmosphere of Christmas, which also came faint this year, while airlines were forced to cancel more than two thousand flights around the world.
Although record numbers of injuries were recorded, especially in Europe, billions of people are looking forward to meeting with their relatives and exchanging Christmas gifts, amid more restrictions and warnings.
Tonight, in the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, a midnight mass will be held, to celebrate the birthday of Jesus - peace be upon him - in the Church of the Nativity.
The Corona pandemic has limited the manifestations of the celebrations, especially after the Israeli authorities’ decision to prevent the entry of foreign tourists.
The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism confirmed that the size of the losses as a result of the pandemic amounted to 3 billion dollars in the tourism sector within two years.
Scouts teams began at nine in the evening their traditional marches in the Old City, and the sounds of drums and psalms added some joy in the vicinity of the Church of the Nativity, where the Child Jesus was born, according to Christian beliefs.
As in 2020, the midnight mass will be restricted to a small circle of worshipers, who can attend it exclusively by invitation.
Pope Francesco celebrates Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome (Reuters)
Limited gatherings
In the Vatican, thousands attended Pope Francis' traditional Christmas mass at St Peter's Basilica in Rome, compared to just 200 people allowed to attend last year.
Millions of Americans are preparing to move within the United States, even if the Omicron wave exceeded the maximum spread of the "Delta" mutator before, reaching 171,000 daily infections on average over a week.
Airlines were forced to cancel more than 2,000 flights around the world, about a quarter of them in the United States.
According to the "Flight Aware" website, at least 2,116 flights were canceled on Friday, including 499 flights related to the United States, whether international or domestic.
Several companies attributed this to the new wave of the epidemic affecting aircraft crews, in particular.
In this context, the White House announced that travel restrictions will be lifted on 8 African countries on December 31.
For its part, Morocco extended until the end of next January the closure of its air borders, which has been in effect since November 29.
the best gift
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that a vaccination certificate would be the most beautiful gift under the Christmas tree.
On Friday, the United Kingdom recorded 122,000 new injuries, according to the daily report of the health authorities, in a new record number caused by the mutant Omicron.
The country, which is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, recorded 137 additional deaths during the past 24 hours.
In France, the number of tests conducted by the French before meeting their loved ones at Christmas reached a record high of more than 6.2 million last week.
Another record was recorded in France related to the number of confirmed infections, which reached 91,608 yesterday, Thursday.
tightening restrictions
To limit the spread of the epidemic, the Italian authorities decided to tighten restrictions to curb a significant increase in Covid-19 infections;
It banned all public celebrations of the New Year, with daily infections rising to a record level.
Moreover, parties and gatherings in open spaces will be banned until January 31, and dance halls and clubs will be closed until that date, in an effort to prevent large gatherings during the holiday period.
The German government intends to include Spain and Portugal, starting from Saturday, among the high-risk areas for Corona infection, due to the large numbers of injuries in the two countries, which are among the favorite tourist destinations for Germans.
In Australia, it was allowed to resume internal travel for the first time since the outbreak of the epidemic, which revives the atmosphere of celebrations, despite the country recording a record number of injuries.
Yesterday, Thursday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the emergency use of an anti-Covid-19 drug in adults at high risk, and the drug is produced by the “Merck” laboratory, the day after allowing the use of a similar pill developed by Pfizer.
This drug can be taken in the five days following the onset of symptoms of infection, and it reduces the risk of hospitalization and death by 30% for those in poor health.