Covid-19: A week ahead of Christmas, Biden warns of “winter of death”
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A week before the world prepares to celebrate Christmas, cautiously, US President Joe Biden warned of a “winter of severe illness and death” for those unvaccinated against Covid-19, while the G-7 called the Omicron variant the biggest threat to global public health, the media reported on Friday.
Victims of the fastest spreading variant of the pandemic virus, which has now spread to some 80 countries, number thousands among the 88,000-plus Britons afflicted by Covid-19 daily on a second consecutive day. A concerned France imposed “drastic” new limits on travel to the United Kingdom.
Medical practitioners and scientists are still uncertain how dangerous the highly mutated Omicron variant could be, but early data suggests it can be more resistant to vaccines and is more transmissible than the Delta variant.
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the strain has been reported in 77 countries and has “probably” spread to most nations undetected at a higher rate than any previous variant of the virus.
Several countries have already advised against foreign travel while ramping up domestic restrictions to battle Omicron and bolstering vaccination efforts.
On Thursday, the G-7 called the variant the “biggest current threat to global public health”, saying its emergence meant it was “more important than ever” for countries to closely cooperate and share data.
In a meeting hosted by group chair Great Britain, the countries’ health ministers emphasized the “increasing importance of booster campaigns and regular testing”.
US President Joe Biden’s warning about the winter came as he urged Americans, who have already had two shots to get boosters, and vaccine skeptics to step up and get jabbed.
“The only real protection is to get your shot,” he said, with the White House saying the administration did not intend to take specific restrictive measures but would instead focus on vaccination.
The United States, the hardest-hit country in the world, is currently averaging 1,150 Covid-19 deaths per day, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the first two weeks of December, the average daily cases of infection spiked in the US by 35 percent.
Across the Atlantic, however, the magnitude of the threat was felt the strongest, even as Britain stopped short of imposing formal limits on socializing as the government awaits further evidence of the severity of Omicron. Last year also, Christmas celebrations were drastically curtailed after the Alpha variant swept the country.
The new variant could overwhelm hospitals during the festive season, and many Britons are scrambling to change their plans.
Even Queen Elizabeth II canceled her traditional pre-Christmas family lunch next week as a precautionary measure, although Prime Minister Boris Johnson said such gatherings could still go ahead.
On Thursday, the Premier League postponed six more football matches, though it said it intended to “continue its current fixture schedule where safely remained possible”.
Canada also urged its citizens to avoid foreign travel over the Christmas holidays, with Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos saying the Omicron variant “makes us fear the worst.”
The Omicron risk echoed in an EU summit meeting in Brussels on Thursday, with predictions the variant could become dominant in the bloc as soon as next month. But leaders are struggling to forge a united approach to stop the spread.
Omicron is “of significant concern obviously, in terms of the capacity of that variant to spread rapidly and create pressure on our societies and our health systems,” Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said in Brussels.
Spain said boosters will soon be available for everyone aged 40 and older, down from 65 and older currently.
