Omicron Threat: Travel chaos worsens
More than 7,000 flights have been canceled worldwide over the Christmas weekend and thousands more delayed, a tracking website reported yesterday, as the highly infectious Omicron variant brings holiday hurt to millions.
Severe weather is compounding the travel chaos in the United States, with storms expected to wreak havoc on roadways in the country's west, though they brought a white Christmas weekend to Seattle and parts of California.
According to Flightaware.com, more than 2,000 flights were canceled yesterday-- including more than 570 originating from, or headed to, US airports. More than 4,000 delays were reported.
Aircrew and ground staff have fallen sick or gone into quarantine after exposure to Covid, forcing Lufthansa, Delta, United Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines and other carriers to cancel flights during a peak travel period.
More than 2,800 flights were scrubbed around the globe on Saturday, including more than 990 originating from or headed to US airports, with over 8,500 delays. On Friday, there were around 2,400 cancellations and 11,000 delays.
The cancellations added to the frustration for many people eager to reunite with their families over the holidays after last year's Christmas was severely curtailed.
Chinese airlines accounted for the highest number of cancellations, with China Eastern scrapping more than 1,000 flights, over 20 percent of its flight plan, on Friday and Saturday -- and Air China grounding about 20 percent of its scheduled departures over the period.
The coronavirus has killed at least 5,392,347 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally Saturday from official sources compiled by AFP.
Overall, the United States has recorded the most Covid deaths, with 816,436, followed by Brazil on 618,392, India on 479,520 and Russia 303,250.
Record numbers of new infections since the start of the pandemic have been passed this week so far in the UK, Denmark, Spain, France, Canada, Finland, Australia, Kenya, Malta, South Sudan, Iceland and Monaco.
In China, the city of Xi'an, where 13 million residents are currently confined to their homes, announced tightened restrictions yesterday as the country recorded its biggest Covid-19 infection numbers in 21 months.
China has stuck to a "zero-Covid" strategy involving tight border restrictions, lengthy quarantines and targeted lockdowns. Authorities have been especially vigilant in recent months to avoid an outbreak before February's Beijing Winter Olympics, but there have been sporadic flare-ups.
But yesterday the country reported 206 new Covid infections -- the highest daily number since March 2020.
The northern metropolis -- about 900 km (560 miles) from the Olympics venues -- reported 155 new Covid patients yesterday, bringing the total to nearly 500 over the past few weeks.
About 29,000 people have been placed in hotel quarantine, He said.
Comments