Advance of omicron forces the cancellation of more than two thousand flights

Airline personnel have been reported infected with the new variant of Covid-19

In mid-2021, everything seemed to indicate that the Covid-19 pandemic was coming to an end, thanks to the development of vaccines that were being distributed throughout the world, however, the dream of the new normal was frustrated with the arrival of omicron, the strongest variant of the virus so far.

In fact, in December many events had to be suspended due to the rebound in cases, an example of this was the Miss World, which would be held in Puerto Rico, however, because some candidates were infected with the virus, as well as than the work team, the event was postponed.

This Monday, December 27, the omicron continues to do its thing, since at least some 2,050 flights have had to be suspended and some 3,000 are delayed, according to the flight tracking web portal FlightAware.

According to reports, 705 flights correspond to trips in, to and outside the United States.

Between December 24, 25 and 26, the airlines had to cancel more than 6 thousand flights.

Flight cancellations and delays are mainly due to staff and crew reporting ill.

On Sunday, 1,448 flights were canceled in the United States, and more than 6,169 were delayed, representing the highest number of cancellations in a weekend since the arrival of the Omicron.

Ómicron in the United States

Ómicron is undoubtedly the new threat to normality that we all yearn for, since its appearance in South Africa, it took a few days to spread around the world, and it has already become the predominant variant in the United States.

According to the authorities' report, between December 12 and 18, 73.2% of the registered cases correspond to omicron, in fact in some areas of the country, it represents 90% of them.

The health authorities have indicated that, since the omicron arrived, the cases increased by 45%, the equivalent of 179 thousand cases per day.

In addition to this, in the North American country, it has been affected because there is a shortage of tests for the detection of the virus, because the demand for them has increased with the advance of the strain.

But the United States has not been the only affected nation, since European countries such as Portugal, Germany, Spain and Finland have reported new numbers of infected, which has led them to apply restrictions, in order to avoid a high-scale spread.

In France, 100,000 cases were registered in just one day, a record number since the arrival of the pandemic, and according to the authorities, hospitalizations have increased in December, so it is expected that this Monday, the government French impose new measures.

What you should know about omicron

Ómicron is the new strain of the coronavirus, detected a few weeks ago in South Africa, and was classified as "worrisome" by the World Health Organization (WHO), due to the various mutations it may have.

This variant has spread very quickly throughout the world, which implies its high contagion power, however, as worrisome as it may be, this does not mean that it is more deadly than the previous variants, which allows us to be a little calmer.

Despite this, the WHO suggests that we do not lower our guard, and increase biosecurity measures such as handwashing use of a mask and maintain social distancing of 2 meters, since it has not been shown to be less virulent than the delta strain, the most contagious until omicron arrived.

In fact, studies have revealed that the variant detected in South Africa multiplies at least 70 times faster in the bronchi, and this is said to be what causes it to be transmitted faster.

On the other hand, it has also been shown that omicron infection in the lung is less than with the original Covid-19.