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In Costa Rica, officials are encouraging people infected with the coronavirus not to vote in the upcoming general election.
On the other side of the world, Beijing is isolating residential communities as the country anxiously awaits the start of the February 4 Olympics.
In Latin America and Asia, where the “Omicron” variant is newly emerging, some countries are imposing strong restrictions, while other countries are reluctant to impose such restrictions on populations tired of previous restrictions.
The Omicron variant quickly spread to countries where it first hit, such as South Africa, Britain and the United States, raising the level of infections to record highs since the pandemic began.
The Americas reported nearly 7.2 million new infections from Covid and over 15,000 related deaths over the past week, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday. Coronavirus infections across the United States doubled between January 1-8, from 3.4 million new cases, to 6.1 million.
Infections are accelerating in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru, as well as increasing hospitalizations in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, said PAHO director Carissa Etienne. The Caribbean is experiencing one of the highest increases since the pandemic began, Ms Etienne said.
“Although infection with the ‘Omicron’ variant seems to be easier, we continue to call for caution as the virus is spreading more actively than before.“, Said Mrs. Etienne.
Infections are also on the rise in Asia, as in the Philippines, which in recent weeks has experienced the worst spread of the coronavirus.
Countries in both of these areas of the globe are considering a combination of restrictions that their weary populations will be able to accept and that will not cause unnecessary harm to their economies.
“We are already entering the third year of the pandemic and the population is tiredSaid Carlos Lula, president of Brazil’s Council for Health Secretariats. “There is no longer room for such restrictions. We will have to face the third wave with protective measures like masks, distancing and vaccination“.
Argentina and Mexico have also ruled out imposing nationwide restrictions, relying more on the vaccination campaign and the fact that the Omicron variant has less severe symptoms.
Two other Central American countries, Panama and Honduras, have not imposed any restrictions despite their cases of infections doubling over the past week.
Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory and one of the worst-hit areas in the Caribbean where the rise in infections has swept across the region, tightened restrictions again this month as the level of positive tests with Covid 19 rose by 5% late last year at more than 40% in recent weeks.
In Chile, infections increased by 151% in one week, but the only limitation the government has set so far is the reduction of the capacity limit for public spaces. The country has a high vaccination rate, with more than 92% of people over the age of 18 and 78% of juveniles already receiving two doses of the vaccine. The government began offering a fourth dose this month.
However, in some South American countries, the Omicron variant has a severe impact.
A major hospital in Bolivia’s largest city stopped admitting new patients due to staff shortages and one of Brazil’s most populous states canceled operations scheduled for a one-month period. The Federation of Private Health Care Providers of Argentina estimates that about 15% of its employees are currently infected with the virus.
In Asia, South Korea eased somewhat this week its restrictions on rallies. But officials have expressed concern about an increase in infections during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins at the end of the month, when millions of people usually travel across the country to meet relatives.
In China, the capital Beijing has switched to online teaching and closed several office buildings. Japan, meanwhile, is tightening border controls as infections rise, but has taken no further action other than cutting working hours for restaurants and bars.
Hong Kong authorities have banned eating indoors after 6pm and ordered some businesses, such as museums and gyms, to close at least until early February. The city is also exterminating small pets, such as rodents, and banning their import and sale, as some rodents at a pet store tested positive for the coronavirus.
In the Philippines, officials this week began to exclude passengers who have not been fully vaccinated by public transport in the Manila region, a region of more than 13 million people. The move sparked protests by human rights groups. Confirmed daily infections increased from several hundred last month to more than 30 thousand last days.
Leaders of the Catholic Church in the Philippine capital were forced to cancel for the second year the January 9 procession of Black Nazarene, a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ. Because the event is one of Asia’s biggest religious holidays, attracting millions of mostly barefoot pilgrims, officials feared it could become a premise for a very high spread of the Omicron variant.
Warning that the sometimes weaker Omicron variant could continue to take life, President Rodrigo Duterte urged people to be fully immunized.
“If you are vaccinated, you have a chance to fight. If not, we will continue the burials, we will fill our cemetery“, Said Mr. Duterte in a speech broadcast on television./ VOA
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