Live updates: UK travel industry decries French COVID rules

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LONDON — Travel manufacture officials person expressed dismay astatine French restrictions connected arrivals from Britain, describing the caller rules to forestall the dispersed of the omicron variant arsenic a hammer stroke to the industry.

The comments by Mark Tanzer, main enforcement of question and commercialized relation Abta, came aft aesculapian officials expressed alarm astatine what they described arsenic the phenomenal velocity astatine which the variant is spreading. Travel officials demanded authorities assistance to assistance battered businesses.

“The wintertime sports and schoolhouse question markets are peculiarly exposed, and the authorities indispensable present bring guardant a enactment bundle if we are not to spot institution failures and occupation losses," Tanzer said.

Tanzer said the assemblage has had small accidental to marque wealth since the commencement of the pandemic, and volition present beryllium faced with different question of cancellations.

The caller French measures spot limits connected reasons for traveling and requiring 48-hour isolation upon arrival. The caller rules instrumentality effect archetypal happening Saturday.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC:

— EU leaders discussing emergence of infections, dispersed of omicron

— France to restrict question from Britain to combat omicron

— Vaccine skeptics successful Eastern Europe having change of heart

— US sports leagues cope with COVID-19 outbreaks amid variants

— New California rules end favoritism for vaccinated workers

— Israel to donate 1 cardinal COVID vaccines to African nations

Go to https://APNews.com/coronavirus-pandemic for updates passim the day.

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING TODAY:

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s Health Ministry has confirmed the country’s archetypal lawsuit of corruption with the omicron coronavirus variant successful a pistillate from Lesotho.

The lawsuit was recovered successful a illustration examined successful Katowice. The ministry tweeted Thursday that the 30-year Lesotho national feels good but has been enactment successful infirmary isolation.

It said nationalist wellness authorities person taken indispensable steps. That usually means contacting, investigating and putting nether quarantine radical who person had interaction with the infected person.

The archetypal Polish idiosyncratic diagnosed with omicron was a teen who travelled to China this period and tested affirmative connected arrival.

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LISBON, Portugal — Portugal’s premier curate says helium intends to support tighter COVID-19 borderline controls successful spot beyond their planned extremity connected Jan. 9 due to the fact that of the menace from the highly infectious caller omicron variant.

He says Portugal is besides apt to supply different booster changeable adjacent twelvemonth for already vaccinated susceptible radical who are receiving a booster aft having the COVID-19 jab earlier this year.

Portugal requires a antagonistic trial for each passengers connected arriving flights.

Prime Minister António Costa told reporters Thursday that borderline controls volition proceed beyond Jan. 9 and could adjacent beryllium tightened. He didn’t elaborate.

The authorities had antecedently announced a “contention week” from Jan. 2-9, erstwhile moving from location is mandatory and schools volition beryllium closed.

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LONDON — British restaurants and pubs demanded authorities assistance arsenic the omicron variant threatened businesses with closure astatine the tallness of the important and lucrative Christmas season.

U.K. hospitality appealed to the authorities for concern rates alleviation and value-added taxation discounts, informing that fears astir the caller variant person already had an interaction connected the sector, with income already having plunged by a 3rd successful the past 10 days — reflecting 2 cardinal pounds ($2.6 billion) successful mislaid trade.

Jonathan Neame, the main enforcement of pub and brewery Shepherd Neame, said the authorities comments and concerns volition propulsion his concern backmost to the commencement of the pandemic.

“We’ve seen a important fig of cancellations and that’s accelerating each day, and volition accelerate adjacent further aft the quality past night, which seems to person thrown america backmost into that benignant of zombie satellite of the archetypal week of March, of the pandemic past year,” helium told Times Radio.

The U.K. recorded the highest fig of confirmed caller COVID-19 infections Wednesday since the pandemic began.

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ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey is offering COVID-19 booster shots for radical who received their 2nd shots astatine slightest 3 months agone arsenic a measurement to combat the omicron variant.

The measure, announced precocious Wednesday, cuts by 3 months the erstwhile six-month interval betwixt the 2nd changeable and the booster vaccine.

The state of astir 84 cardinal has truthful acold reported six cases of the omicron variant.

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BRUSSELS — A acme of European Union leaders is trying to coordinate enactment to tackle the surge of coronavirus infections crossed the continent and the emergence of the caller omicron variant portion keeping borders open.

The bloc’s leaders privation to debar a confusing substance of rules with the festive play looming. And they privation to guarantee each 27 subordinate states are connected the aforesaid leafage and that the COVID-19 certificates continues to warrant unrestricted travel.

But alarming rises successful infections person prompted galore European governments to instrumentality nationalist wellness measures and caller restrictions successful caller weeks.

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PARIS — France volition restrict arrivals from Britain due to the fact that of fast-spreading cases of the omicron microorganism variant.

The authorities spokesperson said Thursday that France volition enforce limits connected reasons for traveling and a caller request of a 48-hour isolation upon arrival. The caller measures are taking effect archetypal happening Saturday.

The authorities is holding a peculiar microorganism information gathering Friday that volition code increasing unit connected hospitals successful France from rising infections successful caller weeks.

Delta remains the ascendant variant successful France. But omicron is spreading truthful accelerated successful Britain that it is raising concerns crossed the Channel. The U.K. recorded the highest fig of confirmed caller COVID-19 infections Wednesday since the pandemic began.

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Swedish authorities accidental citizens from chap Nordic countries volition person to amusement a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate erstwhile entering Sweden starting adjacent week.

As of Dec. 21, radical from Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland nary agelong volition person an exemption to the certificate request and indispensable besides amusement their passes to participate Sweden.

The country’s societal affairs curate besides encouraged each travelers to beryllium tested for the coronavirus upon introduction owed what she called a “deteriorating” nationalist wellness situation. Sweden has antecedently stood retired among European nations for its comparatively hands-off effect to the coronavirus.

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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Some erstwhile vaccine skeptics successful Eastern Europe are shifting implicit to the different side.

Fata Keco was acrophobic of imaginable adverse broadside effects erstwhile she rolled up her sleeve successful the Bosnian superior of Sarajevo to instrumentality her archetypal COVID-19 vaccine shot. but the worst she had to contend with was “moderately discomforting pain” successful her near arm.

The 52-year-old joined the planetary assemblage of vaccine-believers aft months of “being precise susceptible” to what she present describes arsenic “the astir ridiculous theories.” She is not alone. Countries similar Bosnia and Romania are seeing their vaccination rates emergence amid tighter COVID-19 restrictions.

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JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia has detected its archetypal lawsuit of the omicron variant of the coronavirus successful a cleaning idiosyncratic astatine a infirmary successful Jakarta.

The diligent has nary symptoms and is being quarantined astatine the Athlete’s Village exigency hospital, wherever the diligent worked.

The authorities created the installation successful March 2020 to dainty COVID-19 patients and arsenic a quarantine venue for Indonesians returning from abroad. Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the lawsuit was recovered connected Wednesday, and helium urged radical to proceed to travel recommended wellness protocols, including wearing masks and maintaining carnal distance.

He besides called for accrued investigating and to accelerate the country’s vaccination program.

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DENVER — U.S. sports leagues are seeing rapidly expanding COVID-19 outbreaks with dozens of players successful wellness and information protocols, amid an ongoing surge by the delta variant of the coronavirus and rising cases of the highly transmissible omicron mutation.

Both the NBA and NHL person postponed games implicit the past period with truthful galore players sidelined, and the men’s hoops teams astatine Tulane and the University of Washington person had cancellations.

But don’t expect the leagues to instrumentality to “bubble” play oregon unopen down until things subside. Experts accidental managing outbreaks is easier with highly vaccinated rosters, and there’s excessively overmuch astatine involvement to chopped backmost seasons.

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SACRAMENTO, California — Workplace regulators are poised to widen California’s coronavirus pandemic regulations into adjacent twelvemonth with revisions that businesses accidental could worsen the labour shortage.

The main alteration successful the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s revised regularisation Thursday is that it would erase existent distinctions betwixt vaccinated and unvaccinated employees.

Both would beryllium barred from the workplace if they travel successful adjacent interaction with idiosyncratic with the virus. Exposed, vaccinated but asymptomatic workers would person to enactment location for 14 days adjacent if they trial negative. If they instrumentality to work, they would person to deterioration masks and enactment six feet (about 2 meters) from anyone other during those 2 weeks.

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JERUSALEM — The Israeli authorities says it is donating 1 cardinal coronavirus vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX program.

The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the AstraZeneca vaccines would beryllium transferred to African countries successful the coming weeks. It says the determination is portion of Israel’s strengthening ties with African countries.

COVAX is simply a planetary inaugural that aims to supply coronavirus vaccines to poorer nations. Wealthier countries person acquired the astir of the world’s vaccine supplies, causing immense inequality successful entree to jabs. Israel was 1 of the archetypal countries to vaccinate its population. Early this year, it came nether disapproval for not sharing capable of its supplies with the Palestinians.

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NEW YORK — U.S. wellness officials accidental pets and different animals tin get the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. But the hazard of them spreading it to radical is low.

Dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, otters, hyenas and white-tailed cervid are among the animals that person tested positive, successful astir cases aft contracting it from infected people.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says radical with confirmed oregon suspected COVID-19 should debar interaction with pets, workplace animals and wildlife, arsenic good arsenic with different people. The champion mode to forestall the microorganism from spreading among animals is to power it among people.

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