Clara-Laeila Laudette and Conor Humphries

DUBLIN/MADRID – European nations are set to impose more restrictions on travel, including additional ones on Friday, in order to curb the Omicron variation of COVID-19 which is threatening to stall a global economy recovery.

Germany, Ireland, Denmark, and the United Kingdom were considering additional restrictions just days before the Christmas festivities begin in earnest. They follow the lead of France which has closed its borders to all non-resident Britons.

Leo Varadkar of Ireland, Deputy Prime Minister, said the government faced a “cruel disease” and had to make unpopular decisions like closing down restaurants and bars early.

He stated that “We all feel anger, frustration and dismay. But, it cannot stop us making the right choices to keep our people safe.”

A spokesperson for the German Health Ministry said that travellers from Britain to Germany would need to be quarantined for two weeks under rules which could be made public later Friday.

Diverging tracks taken this week by the major central banks reflect uncertainty about Omicron’s rapid spread on global economic recovery.

The Bank of Japan maintained an ultra-loose policy in monetary policy, but it increased emergency funds for the pandemic.

Christine Lagarde (president of the European Central Bank) stated that tighter control measures to prevent Omicron from spreading “could delay recovery”. The ECB did not signal a quick winding down of pandemic assistance programs.

The Bank of England raised rates to combat high inflation. This was the first G7 country to do this since the outbreak of the pandemic. Also concerned by prices, the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that it would tighten its belt next year.

Omicron-related infections have driven infection rates in Britain to levels that are close to the top in early 2021. But hospitalizations and death rates remain low. Infections have increased in the United States and Europe as well during December.

More than 5,000,000 people worldwide have died from COVID-19 since it was discovered in Wuhan (China) almost 2 years ago. There have also been more than 272 millions cases reported.

VACCINE ORDERS

Worldwide, over 8.5 billion COVID-19-vaccinates have been given to fight the disease. Omicron’s current outburst has complicated this effort.

Numerous countries have been racing to speed up vaccination campaigns as more evidence supports the necessity of booster doses in order to protect against Omicron.

Fumio Kishida, Japan’s prime minister, spoke with his main supplier. Pfizer Albert Bourla CEO, Inc (NYSE 🙂 spoke about oral treatments Friday and stated that Brazil aims to speed up booster shots for approximately 31 million of the most vulnerable.

According to the Head of the European Commission, over 180 millions doses of an improved version of the COVID-19 COVID-19 vaccine that is resistant to Omicron were ordered by European Union countries.

France, which suffered severe economic hardships, has approved COVID-19 vaccines for all children under 5 years of age.

South Africa, which first identified the variant, said it would donate roughly 2 million doses of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:)’s COVID-19 vaccine to other African countries next year, through a medical supplies platform set up by the African Union.

South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD-19) representative said that COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations have been increasing, although starting from very low levels.

In Denmark, almost 3,000 Omicron infection occurred in 24 hours from Thursday night – more than double the number of the day before – and overall daily infections set another record.

On Friday, parliament will be meeting with the government to discuss recent health authority recommendations. These are usually signs that there may be new restrictions.

The Irish government met on Friday to discuss additional restrictions. This could include the possibility of closing bars and restaurants around 5 p.m. Already, the EU country’s hospitality industry is required to request proof of vaccination for all its customers. It also limits groups to six.

Fearing economic harm, many lawmakers in the ruling coalition opposed the plans. RTE reported that the proposal had been suggested by the nation’s top public health officials.