In order to maintain the critical infrastructure, more and more governments are taking new measures. In view of the threat of staff shortages, the quarantine rules for infected people and contact persons are currently being adjusted. In Austria, Omikron overtook the long dominant delta variant for the first time in the last calendar week of 2021. 3,629 Delta cases sequenced from random samples were compared to 5,568 Omicron evidence, according to the latest late reports to the Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) on Tuesday. The federal and state governments want to discuss new measures on Thursday.
An overview of what is happening in selected other countries:
GREAT BRITAIN: Omikron has raised the number of infections to new heights. The seven-day incidence was last at 1,597 (as of December 30). In Scotland and England, Omikron was already dominant before Christmas – in England it is now more than 90 percent of the cases. In order to cushion massive staff losses in systemically important industries, the mandatory quarantine for infected people has been shortened to seven days. Nevertheless, several clinics have already declared a disaster because of infected employees. Public transport is also affected. School directors also expect a lot of absenteeism when school starts again.
FRANCE: Omikron has been dominant here since last week. At the beginning of the last week of December, the health authority recorded a share of 62.4 percent in the addiction tests. The quarantine period for vaccinated people was reduced earlier this week. Health Minister Olivier Véran said that, under certain conditions, medical staff should be able to continue working even if they are infected if those affected have no or hardly any symptoms. The government is advising how it can be ensured that schools, police, energy generation and public transport continue to operate.
DENMARK: Omikron became dominant there a few days before Christmas. The variant now accounts for more than 90 percent of all new infections examined. But there is hope: According to the technical director of the SSI Health Institute, Tyra Grove Krause, everything indicates that Omicron infections are milder than those with Delta. The risk of hospitalization seems to be significantly lower. There are currently almost 800 people with corona infections in the hospital, around a tenth of them in the intensive care unit. A further burden on the health system is expected.
USA: Omikron has been the dominant variant since just before Christmas. The CDC health authority last week shortened the recommended length of isolation after a corona infection from ten to five days. The reason was that most infections occur early in the course of the disease. After the five days have elapsed, no negative test is required to end the isolation. Companies and representatives of the health sector had called for the isolation time to be shortened in order to avoid staff shortages. The number of new infections in the country with 330 million inhabitants recently rose rapidly to several hundred thousand per day.
Source: Nachrichten
