France, India and Peru imposed additional measures to limit the spread of the Corona virus (Covid-19) during the New Year celebrations, while the rate of hospitalizations of children in the United States increased with the spread of the highly contagious "Omicron" mutant, which puts pressure on health systems.
The actions of the French authorities included obligating citizens to put masks on the streets, establishing new protocols for cafes, restaurants and public places, as well as canceling many celebrations.
This comes after French Health Minister Olivier Veron warned that the number of infections may exceed a quarter of a million per day by the new year, after he announced yesterday, Wednesday, that the number of injuries had reached 208 thousand.
Cancel and block
In India, officials said today, Thursday, that New Year's parties were canceled and more than 4 people were prevented from gathering in public places in Mumbai, the country's financial center, while the number of infections with the Omicron mutant from the Corona virus increased.
A spokesman for the city's civil organization said, "New Year's celebrations and parties in any closed or open place, including restaurants, hotels, bars, resorts and clubs, have been banned from December 30 to January 7 next."
Gathering of 4 or more people is prohibited until the 7th of next month, under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code.
No rules were set for house parties, but the institution appealed to citizens to take precaution, caution and be responsible.
And the new daily infections in the city rose from 1,769 on December 14 to 5,803 on Wednesday.
In Peru, the authorities announced the closure of all beaches and swimming pools throughout the country during the New Year celebrations, due to the high rate of infection with the Corona virus significantly.
This came in the words of Health Minister Hernando Cevallos, during a press conference held on Wednesday, in which he revealed new measures to prevent the spread of the virus and prevent crowded gatherings.
The number of people infected with Corona virus increased in India (Reuters)
tally and panic
The number of daily infections with Covid-19 has risen to record levels in several countries, with the spread of the mutated Omicron of the Corona virus and its out of control, which led to workers staying in their homes and crowding of examination centers.
Nearly two years after China discovered the first outbreak of "viral pneumonia" in Wuhan, the highly mutated virus is still causing panic in many regions of the world, forcing governments to reconsider examination and quarantine procedures.
In the United States, the latest data indicates that thousands of children infected with Covid-19 were hospitalized within weeks due to the spread of Omicron, which raises new concerns for large numbers of Americans under the age of 18 who are not vaccinated in the new wave.
Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that the average daily hospital admissions during the 7 days between December 21 and 27 increased by more than 58% nationwide in the past week to 334, compared to about 19% for all age groups.
The centers indicated that less than 25% of the 74 million people under the age of 18 in the United States were vaccinated.
A tent for virus testing in the United States (Anatolia)
Warnings and concerns
Experts have warned that Omicron infections are expected to increase at a faster pace in the United States, when schools reopen after the holiday next week.
Doctors say it is too early to know if Omicron causes more severe symptoms in children compared to other coronavirus mutants, but its high ability to spread infection is one of the main factors in increasing hospital admissions rates.
They added that the more severe symptoms of Covid-19 that they detected in children being treated in hospitals this month, include difficulty breathing, fever and dehydration.
For its part, the National Health Service in England announced that it would allocate new units in hospitals, in preparation for a possible wave of Omicron patients.
And the health service indicated that this week it will start establishing 8 temporary units, each of which can accommodate 100 patients.
Yesterday, the British Ministry of Health recorded more than 183,000 infections with the Corona virus, the highest daily toll since the start of the pandemic.
It is noteworthy that the World Health Organization described the increasing number of injuries as a "flood of injuries", which puts enormous pressure on exhausted health workers, and that health systems are on the verge of collapse.
More than 935,000 cases of Covid-19 were detected daily, on average, between 22 and 28 of this month.