Category: Life & Style

The weekly number of COVID-19 cases has crossed 10 million since last Sunday fuelled by the highly mutated Omicron variant that originated from Africa. The new weekly figure is double the previous record of 5.7 million that was seen during April last year. According to the estimate, almost twice the number of people were diagnosed Covid-19 positive in the past week due to the havoc created by the new highly contagious Omicron variant. The increasing number of cases has caused worry across the globe especially to the countries with a massive population such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia where it is spreading at a much faster pace.

The rising cases disrupted the holiday season across the globe as many counties had to impose strict regulations to curb the spread of the disease which was supposed to be gone by now. However, many countries like the U.S are expanding the Covid-19 boosters to fight the Omicron variant and making the boosters accessible to most of its citizens, including children of 12-15 years of age. Even the United Kingdom is taking strict steps to fight the new variant as its Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that they are doing their best to spread the vaccinations to as many citizens as possible.

The United States witnessed a massive air travel crisis on Saturday due to the worsening weather conditions in various parts of the country and the surge in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant. The United States reportedly canceled 2,700 flights on Saturday accounting for more than half of the flights canceled worldwide. As per the tracking website FlightAware, most of the flights were canceled around 11 pm the night which was close to the new years’ celebrations at midnight. Furthermore, around 5,993 flights were delayed too in the U.S. According to the sources, the SkyWest airline was the worst hit as it had to cancel almost 23% of its scheduled due to the prevailed situation. The state of Chicago in the United States witnessed very bad weather on Saturday night with the expected heavy storms due to which, all its airports canceled several of their flights.

Not only the bad weather, but another significant reason behind the cancellation of the flights was the heavy impact of the pandemic in the United States. As the entire world is facing the havoc caused by the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, the United States is not left behind in being affected by it. Most of its operations, including air travel, are getting affected by it.

The United Arab Emirates recently announced a travel ban on all its citizens who are not vaccinated and received the Booster shot amid the rising cases of COVID-19 pandemic fuelled by the Omicron variant in the country. The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) stated that only the citizens who have received both doses of vaccination along with the booster shot would be allowed to travel by air, the booster shot is compulsory for the vaccinated citizens as per the country’s protocol. The air travel ban will commence on the 10th of January, 2022 and would go on until the Government announced its upliftment.

However, the country will allow the citizens who are medically exempt from receiving the vaccination on humanitarian grounds, but only that case being the exception. The ban has been announced due to the rising threat of the COVID-19 pandemic which is already causing a great crisis in Europe and the United States. According to the Ministry of Health and Prevention, the UAE on Saturday reported 2,556 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours adding to its total number of cases which is now 264,493. Seeing the worsening situations, it was high time for UAE to take strict actions concerning its air travel.

Passengers will be able to fly between India and Saudi Arabia, under the new air travel bubble agreement soon. The Indian Embassy in Riyadh has said that this agreement will come into effect starting January 1, 2022. Traffic carried to/from India shall comprise of passengers originating from/destined to Saudi Arabia only, and similarly, traffic carried to/from Saudi Arabia shall comprise of passengers originating from/destined to India only. Air travel bubbles are temporary arrangements between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Saudi Arabia is the 34th country to have an air travel bubble agreement with India. India’s scheduled international passenger flight operations are suspended until January 31, 2022. Out of the ten countries that the Indian government had proposals for air travel bubble agreement, two have already been confirmed, and these are Saudi Arabia, and Australia. The major countries to follow the suit are New Zealand, South Korea, Italy, Israel, the Philippines, Thailand, Switzerland. Fortunately, Saudi Arabia had recognised India’s Covaxin as a COVID-19 vaccine just last week. So this is a good news for Indian travellers who have taken this vaccine.

The US and France have once again reported the highest single-day rise in Covid cases led by the spread of the more contagious Omicron variant. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO chief, has expressed concerns over a surge in Covid-19 cases across the world. According to him, the Omicron and Delta variants of coronavirus combining to produce a “tsunami” of cases. The number of Covid-19 cases recorded, by WHO, worldwide increased by 11 per cent last week (December 20-26) compared with the previous week. More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of Covid-19 in the US have soared to their highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant. Per day new cases have more than doubled over the past two weeks, bediming the old mark of 250,000, set in mid-January. France is seeing a “tsunami” of Covid-19 infections, with 2,08,000 cases reported over the past 24 hours. It has been breaking infection records repeatedly over the past few days with 180,000 cases already the highest for a country in Europe.

A few weeks after easing Covid19 restrictions, South Korea is all set to reinstate stricter rules, which includes social distancing in public and also indoors. The new restrictions begin from January 2, wherein not more than four people who are not fully vaccinated can gather in one place. Restaurants, cafes and bars have been asked to shut by 9 p.m. and movie theatres and internet cafes by 10 p.m.

Restaurant owners issued a series of statements protesting the decision which will see them make big losses, and will stage a rally next week.

South Korea’s daily coronavirus tallies continue to grow, adding to strains on the country’s medical system. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told an intra-agency meeting the government is making all-out efforts to overcome the pressing crisis by expanding the country’s medical capacity and vaccination campaign. He further said that they can go beyond this crisis only by beating down the current spread as soon as possible through strong social distancing.

Kim also said the government will soon announce plans for “even larger financial support” for the businesses which will get affected by the new restrictions.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has been reporting more than 7,000 cases each day this week.

Tourists from Singapore will not be allowed to travel to Italy for leisure from 16 December until January 31 next year. The Italian embassy said its health ministry has moved Singapore and Brunei onto a list of countries deemed to be of higher risk of Covid-19 infections, but the embassy did not specify the reason for changing Singapore’s risk classification. In fact, Covid cases in Singapore have reduced in recent weeks, down from a high of more than 4,600 on October 27 to less than 500 a day this week.

Only those travellers from Singapore will be allowed who are traveling for work, health or study reasons, out of absolute urgency or to return to their homes; while exemptions can be granted in specific cases, including if the person is an EU citizen.

This move doesn’t affect Singapore’s unilateral vaccinated travel lane from Italy. Eligible travellers who are in Italy will still be able to use the program to enter Singapore without having to self-isolate for days.

Currently, the Omicron variant has been spreading rapidly and the World Health Organisation has asked countries to take steps to curb the spread.

Citizens in Canada have been advised by their government to avoid foreign travel over the Christmas holidays, saying the Omicron variant of Covid “makes us fear the worst,” including soaring infections and travel disruptions.

If the cases keep rising, public health restrictions will be imposed soon, while the travel advisory will be re-evaluated in four weeks. Covid testing of travellers at Canadian airports will be increased. Last year during the year-end holiday season, all arriving travellers to Canada were required to quarantine for 14 days.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told a news conference that now is not the time to travel because the rapid spread of the Covid variant on the global scale is making the government apprehensive. Mr Duclos also said that the information currently available suggests a significant resurgence of infections, even without taking into account the new Omicron variant.

Earlier at an emergency meeting, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had proposed closing the border, but the measure was roundly rejected by provincial leaders.

The World Health Organization has also warned countries about the rapid spread of the variant, asking them to try to impose measures to slow its spread.

Public health authorities in Denmark and Norway on Monday released worrisome projections about the omicron variant of covid19 in their respective countries. As per the predictions, the variant will see a rapid spike in both countries in the coming days, potentially increasing pressure on hospitals. While it is still not clear if the variant leads to severe diseases, the release says that hospitals are likely to be filled to capacity even if the symptoms are mild.

The variant has largely spread to several countries in the world. Researchers testing Covid samples in the US have recorded a rapid rise in cases with a mutation that is characteristic of the Omicron variant. While scientists have said that the variant can partially evade existing immune defenses, they are still researching the severity of the virus.

In India, too, the variant has been spreading at an unprecedented rate. Maharashtra is currently the worst-hit state, where the tally of Omicron cases is now 28.

While some researchers say that the vaccines already available in the market will provide some bit of protection from Omicron, others say that the efficacy of the vaccine is now declining for all variants.

21 years after Lara Dutta was crowned Miss Universe in 2000, the title is back to India. Harnaaz Sandhu has won the 2021 edition of the beauty pageant which was held in Eilat, Israel. In winning the crown, the 21-year-old from Punjab edged out Paraguay’s Nadia Ferreira and South Africa’s Lalela Mswane. She was presented the crown by Andrea Meza, former Miss Universe 2020 from Mexico.

During the final question and answer round, Ms Sandhu was asked what advice she would give to young women on how to deal with the pressures they face. In her response, she said that the biggest pressure the youth of today is facing is to believe in themselves, and that they need to stop comparing themselves with others and talk about more important things that are happening worldwide.

The young model has previously won the Miss Diva 2021, Femina Miss India Punjab 2019 and was placed in the Top 12 at Femina Miss India 2019. Besides that, she has also worked in Punjabi films like “Yaara Diyan Poo Baran” and “Bai Ji Kuttange”. On the academic front, she is pursuing her master’s degree in public administration.