Several European countries today announced they are introducing new Covid restrictions including more red tape for UK holidaymakers in an attempt to stop the Omicron variant driving cases higher than ever.
The crackdown comes despite growing evidence from the UK and South Africa that the Omicron variant has less severe outcomes and will lead to fewer hospitalisations.
Italy will follow Spain in tightening restrictions in an effort to curb a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections, including making mask wearing mandatory outdoors again, the prime minister’s office said on Thursday.
Among other measures that look set to be approved when the cabinet meets later in the day are a reduction in the validity of COVID-19 health certificates, that give access to an array of places and services, to six months from nine months. The statement said Italy was also considering closing discos and clubs up until New Year’s Eve
From Christmas day, British holidaymakers to Austria will be required to quarantine unless they have been given three jabs (two doses and a booster) and can show a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours.
In Spain, the government also made it compulsory to wear a face mask outdoors again as part of a package aimed at containing Omicron, while Belgium banned shopping in groups of more than two.
Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium have reimposed partial or full lockdowns or other social distancing measures in recent days.
Germany’s health minister said he had not ruled out a full lockdown closing all but non-essential businesses.
Cases are already soaring in France, which as already banned UK tourists, but the gorvernment today vowed not to bring in new restrictions and rely on their booster programme.
Italy is preparing new measures and might make vaccinations obligatory for more categories of workers, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said.
However, the new Austrian travel rules that start on Christmas Day have sparked chaos because they inadvertently ban British 16-17-year-olds from entering the country at all.
While under-12s are exempt from travel the travel restrictions, 12-15-year-olds can enter without the need for a booster jab using a ‘Holiday Ninja Pass’ introduced for that age group.
Therefore, anyone who is 16 or over will require a booster jab or face the 10-day quarantine under the new rules. However, current UK guidance stipulates that only those 18 or over are eligible for a booster jab.
As a result, 16-17-year-olds are unable to get the required booster to enter Austria, leaving some families with teenagers from that age group hoping to travel there after Christmas in a difficult position.
To add to the confusion, as of midday Thursday, the UK travel advice website stated that children aged 12 to 18 could use the Holiday Ninja Pass, which conflicted from information on Austria’s own travel advice page.
Pictured: A graph showing the seven-day rolling average daily new confirmed Covid-19 cases per million people in the UK, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Austria
Speaking to MailOnline, Michelle Nichols said that her family’s holiday to Austria could be cancelled because of the rule change, with one of the members of their party being 17 and therefore not eligible for either Austria’s Holiday Ninja Pass or a booster jab in the UK.
‘We were meant to have gone to Austria for the last two Easters as a group of 11 adults, one 15-year-old and one 17-year-old. When it was cancelled again this year we moved it to January,’ Ms Nichols, from Towcester, said.
‘Under the current rules Dylan who is the 17-year-old can’t go and unless something changes we will be forced to cancel the entire holiday. It would be unfair on Dylan if through no fault of his own we all went without him.
‘So not only does the whole group miss out but the lovely chalet owners, who have been amazing all along, will lose a significant booking last minute which they probably won’t be able to fill with someone else.’
Ms Nichols said she had tried to contact the Austrian embassy but was unable to get through, with the only response being on Twitter from Austria UK confirming the age group would not be able to enter under the rules.
‘It just seems grossly unfair that one specific age group is being disadvantaged under the current rules,’ she said.
‘We are happy to pay for all the tests that are needed but the fact is Dylan isn’t allowed to have his booster until 90 days after his second jab and there is nothing we can do about that. Surely they need to make the Ninja pass applicable to everyone under the age of 18 to make it fair and logical.’
Northern Ireland ordered the closure of nightclubs from Sunday after reporting an all-time high of 3,231 COVID-19 cases. The Czech Republic is also among the EU countries considering new curbs.
Britain on Wednesday reported more than 100,000 new daily COVID-19 cases for the first time since widespread testing was introduced, leaving many industries struggling with staff shortages as workers self-isolate.
France reported 84,272 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, close to its all-time high. Spain, Italy and Sweden are also seeing a surge in cases.
‘There is no doubt that Europe is once again the epicentre of the global pandemic. Yes, I’m very concerned, but there is no reason for panic. The good news is… we know what to do,’ the WHO’s European head, Hans Kluge said Wednesday.
Austria’s latest coronavirus measures sees holidaymakers from the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark having to undergo mandatory quarantine upon entry from Christmas day – unless they have had a booster Covid vaccine and can show a negative PCR test.
The Austrian government implemented the measure after declaring the four countries Omicron hotspots. Although Omicron is already present in Austria, it is hoped the latest measure will stop the variant from spreading more rapidly.
Austria introduced the stringent entry procedures along with a raft of other measures, including a curfew in the catering trade, which will be set at 10pm from 27th December, with an even earlier time set for New Year’s Eve.
Indoor events are also limited and there are different rules people must follow depending on group size.
The restrictions on travel are set to affect both British travellers and the Austrian tourist trade, as Austria is a popular winter sports destination among Brits.
Neighbouring Switzerland is set to reap the spoils of Austria’s new measures, as it has not, for the time being, introduced stringent measures of its own, and the slopes of Gstaad, Muerren and Verbier are hoping to pick up those visitors who are calling off their holidays to Austria.
Switzerland is already reporting that more Brits are holidaying in Swiss ski resorts than usual, with strict entry regulations in other countries cited as a possible reason.
Furthermore, in Switzerland, coronavirus rules regarding restaurants are laxer, making the country all the more attractive as a holiday destination.
Spain will make it compulsory to wear a face mask outdoors again as part of a package aimed at containing the fast spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters on Wednesday.
With nearly 80 percent of its population vaccinated and a booster programme gathering pace, Spain was largely spared the rampant wave of infections that led several northern European countries to toughen restrictions in the autumn.
But the recent arrival of Omicron has sent numbers rocketing, with a record of around 60,000 new infections on Wednesday, though hospital admissions and intensive-care cases remain fairly low compared to previous COVID-19 waves.
Some experts and opposition parties have criticised Sanchez for not reimposing restrictions on movement to due the spread of Omicron, as other European countries such as Portugal or the Netherlands have done, but he rejected this.
‘This is not March 2020 or Christmas 2020,’ said Sanchez, citing the high vaccination rate of the Spanish population in contrast with those earlier stages of the pandemic when vaccines were not available.
Indoor mask-wearing was already mandatory in Spain and many Spaniards choose to cover their faces outdoors too, although the legal obligation to do so was dropped in June.
Mandatory outdoor mask-wearing is to be approved on Thursday at an extraordinary cabinet meeting and take force on Christmas Eve.
However, Sanchez said there would be numerous exceptions, such as when people are in open spaces with live-in relatives.
Sanchez’s administration also plans to loosen rules on the type of home-testing kits pharmacies can sell and earmark 292 million euros to beef up the struggling primary-care sector, the government said in a statement.
Spain’s regions are responsible for their healthcare systems and have the power to limit indoor capacity and business hours, but most have made only non-binding recommendations to citizens.
Stark political differences between the regions complicate any broader agreement on concrete restrictions and mean local approaches to curbing infection vary widely.
A decree-law does not require a debate and vote in parliament before taking effect.
He also announced a raft of other measures, including an offer to deploy the armed forces to help the regions step up their vaccination rollout and put military hospital beds at their disposal if they are needed.
Also, Covid-19 tests for professional use will temporarily be placed on sale at pharmacies, amid a reported shortage of tests, and medical teams will be reinforced with retired staff and specialists who earned their qualifications outside the European Union.
Furthermore, fully vaccinated people will not need to quarantine if they have been in contact with an infected person – a measure that seemed to be aimed at avoiding the shortages of essential personnel.
Spain on Tuesday officially recorded almost 50,000 new cases of coronavirus. That is higher than last January, when a surge placed the national health system under severe strain.
Spain is reporting almost 700 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 14 days, more than double the accumulated cases before last year’s Christmas holidays. The Omicron strain has soared from 5% of new cases in Spain to 47% within one week.
Still, vaccinations are credited with sparing many people from the virus’s worst effects. While last January some 30,000 Covid-19 patients were in the hospital in Spain, now it is fewer than 8,000.
Mr Sanchez told the Spanish parliament that 90 percent of the target population aged 12 and over is fully vaccinated.
He told lawmakers: ‘Don’t worry, families will be able to celebrate Christmas. Spain has prevailed.’
Belgium decided on Wednesday to also further tighten restrictions in anticipation of the surging omicron variant, but shied away from a full lockdown like the neighbouring Netherlands did.
The authorities decided to close cinemas, theatres and concert halls and ban indoor activities. Sports fans will be closed out of stadiums and indoor halls.
Shopping will be curtailed with visitors forced to be spread out and groups entering a shop limited to two adults, possibly accompanied by children.
The measures will kick in Sunday.
People wearing face masks to curb the spread of coronavirus walk in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is convening a special Cabinet meeting Thursday to pass a decree-law that makes it mandatory to wear masks outdoors, amid a record surge in COVID-19 cases
Shoppers wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19 walk along the Christmas market at Tuilerie garden in Paris, Monday, December 20, 2021
Pictured: Shoppers wearing a face mask as a protection against Covid-19, walk past Christmas lights in the streets of Madrid, on December 22, 2021
Students from the Free University sit socially-distanced exams in the RAI, in Amsterdam on December 23, 2021, despite the lockdown, the students were allowed to take their exams, with the tables spread out in order to limit the risk of the virus spreading
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that ‘there is reason for concern. We are facing omicron.’ He added that ‘what we know about it is bad news,’ referring to its high transmissibility. It remains unclear how badly it affects the body.
‘It is a tough package,’ said virologist Marc Van Ranst. Bars and restaurants though would be allowed to remain open until 11 p.m. under restrained conditions.
Several virologists and epidemiologists in Belgium say they expect a fifth Covid wave within days, leaving little respite as the fourth fades.
The country of 11.5 million people, nestled between France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany, has recorded 28,000 Covid deaths over the entire pandemic.
Authorities counted a daily average of 8,300 infections over the past week, a drop of a third over the week before.
But that was the Delta chapter of the pandemic. Now, more than 27 percent of new infections are of the Omicron variant, according to eight genetic sequencing labs.
Omicron is expected to become the dominant strain within days, as has already happened in other countries, such as the US, Denmark and Britain.
Staff at a Belgian hospital told AFP news agency they are already at breaking point.
Doctors and nurses are in a state of ‘extreme exhaustion,’ said Martial Moonen, head of the infectious diseases service at the public hospital in Liege.
He said his ward, currently holding 70 Covid patients of whom 14 are in intensive care, was struggling with ‘permanent saturation’.
A patient with severe Covid could fill an intensive care bed for up to four weeks, significantly longer than the three-day average for other conditions at the hospital, he said.
For the 50-year-old specialist, the calculation is brutal: ‘While you’re treating 15 Covid patients in intensive care for a month, you are preventing between 100 and 150 other people from accessing that care.’
He said temporary reinforcements were no longer available to cover for nurses’ absences through illness or burnout.
For those still working, ‘there is exhaustion, so much exhaustion,’ he said.
The ‘vast majority’ of hospitalised patients are unvaccinated, Moonen said.
Meanwhile in Germany, the country’s health minister said on Thursday that he expects a surge in coronavirus cases around New Year and that people will likely need a fourth vaccine shot to maintain the best immune response against Covid-19.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told public radio network WDR 2 that Germany hasn’t yet seen a big, rapid wave of new infections from the omicron variant like some other European countries.
‘That will change around New Year and in the first week of January,’ Lauterbach said.
The government is urging Germans to limit their contacts over the holiday period and to get vaccinated, including with booster shots if they’ve already had their initial vaccines.
Official figures show 70.7 percent of the population have received a full course of vaccine, while 35 percent have had boosters.
Demonstrations against new pandemic restrictions and a planned vaccine mandate have flared up in Germany over the past weeks.
Police said about 5,000 protesters gathered in the centre of Munich late on Wednesday, with some participants attacking officers. Eleven people were detained.
A woman wearing a face masl walks around A Coruna, Galicia, Spain, 23 December 2021. Spain has once again made wearing face masks outdoors mandatory amid a spike in Covid-19 cases and a shortage of tests
People queue up to receive a dose of Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Barcelona, Spain, 23 December 2021, following a spike in Covid-19 cases
Police officers try to stop a demonstration march of opponents of the Corona policy in front of the main train station in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, December 22, 2021
The Italian government is also preparing new measures to battle a surge in COVID-19 infections and might make vaccinations obligatory for more categories of workers, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.
Key officials are due to meet on Thursday to discuss tightening COVID-19 curbs as concerns grow over the highly infectious Omicron variant.
Draghi told reporters that among the measures that would be considered were a return to obligatory mask-wearing outdoors and the use of more protective Ffp2 masks in some enclosed spaces. He also said vaccine mandates might be reviewed.
‘They have already been extended to some categories, and we’ll consider extending it to other categories. I don’t know if we will talk about it tomorrow … but if data on contagions continue to worsen it will be the subject of discussion in a very short while,’ Draghi said.
In an effort to curb COVID-19 infections, the government has already made vaccinations mandatory for health care workers, teachers, law enforcement officers and the military.