New York. About 7,900 flights were canceled worldwide by airlines over the Christmas long weekend due to the meteoric progression of the omicron variant of Covid-19, which is affecting aircraft crews in particular.
Europe is currently the region with the most cases, with 3,022,868 in the last seven days, 57% of the world total, as well as with the highest number of deaths, followed by the United States and Canada (1,421,516 new infections).
France crossed the threshold of 100,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours on Christmas Saturday, an unprecedented number. The government will assess the situation on Monday.
The infections detected fell yesterday: 27,697 new cases in 24 hours, according to official figures, a drop related to the closure of a large number of pharmacies and covid-19 testing centers on Christmas Day.
While in the United States, where there have been about 190,000 new daily cases in the last seven days, the health authorities of New York warned of an increase in hospitalizations of children, half of them being under five years old, who have not yet are eligible to be vaccinated.
According to the latest report on the website Flightaware, about 2,200 flights have been canceled yesterday alone and another 7,200 have been delayed. Furthermore, the shocks should continue on Monday (at least 735 planned cancellations) and Tuesday (160 so far).
Many companies had to quarantine pilots, flight attendants and other staff members who were exposed to COVID. For this reason, Lufthansa, Delta and United Airlines had to cancel flights.
“The peak in omicron cases across the country this week has had a direct impact on our crews and the people who run our operations,” said United Airlines, which said it is working to find solutions for affected passengers.
XI”an, tighten restrictions
The Chinese city of Xi “an, whose 13 million inhabitants are confined, announced yesterday a” total “disinfection and the tightening of restrictions, coinciding with a level of COVID-19 infections that has not been seen in the country since 21 months ago.
Yesterday, Xi “an announced 155 new cases of coronavirus, adding a total of 500 in recent weeks. To stop the spread, the authorities claim to have successively tested the entire population.
Some 29,000 people were isolated in hotels, He Wenquan, a senior Xi “an official, told reporters.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx