The World Health Organixation on Monday said the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster than the Delta variant and is causing infections in people already vaccinated or who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease

“There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing in Geneva.

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Meanwhile, Israel has added the United States to its “no-fly” list, citing concerns over the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.

Acting on health ministry recommendations, Israeli cabinet ministers voted on Monday to put the United States, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland and Turkey on the no-fly roster.

In Europe, Germany has ruled out a Christmas lockdown but warned a fifth COVID-19 wave could no longer be stopped amid the spread of Omicron.

PM Johnson says COVID situation in UK ‘extremely difficult’

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that he was looking at all kinds of things to keep the Omicron variant under control as the situation was extremely difficult, cautioning that further restrictions might be needed.

“I have to say to the British public, and I say to everybody, we will not exclude the possibility of going further if we have to do things to protect the public,” Johnson said after a cabinet meeting.

“We will have to reserve the possibility of taking further action to protect the public.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks outside a back entrance to 10 Downing Street, in London, Britain, December 20, 2021 [Hannah McKay/Reuters]

Premier League games to continue despite virus surge

English Premier League teams have agreed to continue playing matches scheduled over the festive period despite a surge in COVID-19 cases postponing several fixtures, the BBC reported.

Ten Premier League games have been postponed this month due to outbreaks amid a busy schedule where teams are set to play three times between Boxing Day and January 3.

Only four of the 10 weekend’s fixtures were played after teams told the Premier League they were unable to name a full strength side.

China must share more data on virus origins: WHO chief

China must be more forthcoming with data and information related to the origin of the coronavirus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that there had been “many failures” during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a lack of rules or obligations under the WHO’s current 2005 International Health Regulations.

“We need to continue until we know the origins, we need to push harder because we should learn from what happened this time in order to (do) better in the future,” Tedros told a news briefing for Geneva journalists.

Omicron spreading faster than Delta and infecting the vaccinated: WHO

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster than the Delta variant and is causing infections in people already vaccinated or who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

“There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing for Geneva-based journalists, held at its new headquarters building.

“And it is more likely people vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 could be infected or re-infected.”

Austria’s double world ski champion Katharina Liensberger has announced she will not compete at this week’s World Cup meet at Courchevel, after testing positive for COVID-19.

“As I tested positive for coronavirus I will be unable to ski at Courchevel (two giant slaloms on Tuesday and Wednesday),” she said.

Source:.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/20