View allAll Photos Tagged omicron
08/12/2021. London, United Kingdom. Prime Minister Boris Johnson-Omicron Press Conference . The Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairs a press conference on the Covid-19 variant Omicron in No9 Downing Street with Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
08/12/2021. London, United Kingdom. Prime Minister Boris Johnson-Omicron Press Conference . The Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairs a press conference on the Covid-19 variant Omicron in No9 Downing Street with Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
Fiz este retrato em nosso Curso de cinematografia digital aqui no Omicron Centro de Fotografia em seu núcleo de cinema. Ebert é um desses caras raros! Conhece seu ofício como poucos e é um ótimo mestre.
Espero que este retrato faça jus a sua personalidade.
saudações fotográficas mestre,
Osvaldo Santos Lima
The Lambda Rho chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi posed for portraits at TCU's Frog Fountain prior to attending a Victory event on September 26, 2014.. (I don't have the first clue what this event was, but I'm assuming it was a formal dance of some sort.) You can learn more about the chapter at the following sites:
www.facebook.com/AOIILambdaRho
This album is part of the event coverage for the Fort Worth Portrait Project. The project tells the story of Fort Worth from 2014 - 2044 one captioned portrait at a time, but I also enjoy covering events like this one too.
Please follow the Fort Worth Portrait Project:
www.redeemedexpressions.com/fort-worth-portrait-project/
www.facebook.com/fortworthportraitproject
www.twitter.com/FWPortraitProj
www.instagram.com/fortworthportraitproject
Do you want to be featured in the project? Just head to the following site with a photo and a caption:
12/12/2021. London, United Kingdom. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, gives a national television address concerning the Omicron variant of Covid and the government's booster jab program. 10 Downing Street. Picture by Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street
EHS Social Work honors students with induction. Phi Alpha Social Work Honor Society
Champlain College Chapter: Rho Omicron
Fall 2014. (Photo by Stephen Mease)
20/12/2021. London, United Kingdom. Prime Minister Boris Johnson Update after Cabinet on Omicron. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson updates the media in the study of No10 Downing Street after a Cabinet meeting on the Omicron variant . Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Omicron-brings-COVI...
Omicron brings COVID-19 vaccine inequity 'home to roost'
LONDON (AP) — The emergence of the new omicron variant and the world's desperate and likely futile attempts to keep it at bay are reminders of what scientists have warned for months: The coronavirus will thrive as long as vast parts of the world lack vaccines.
The hoarding of limited COVID-19 shots by rich countries — creating virtual vaccine deserts in many poorer ones — doesn’t just mean risk for the parts of the world seeing shortages; it threatens the entire globe.
That's because the more the disease spreads among unvaccinated populations, the more possibilities it has to mutate and potentially become more dangerous, prolonging the pandemic for everyone.
“The virus is a ruthless opportunist, and the inequity that has characterized the global response has now come home to roost,” said Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, one of the groups behind the U.N.-backed COVAX shot-sharing initiative.
Perhaps nowhere is the inequality more evident than in Africa, where under 7% of the population is vaccinated. South African scientists alerted the World Health Organization to the new omicron variant last week, though it may never be clear where it first originated. Researchers are now rushing to determine whether it is more infectious or able to evade current vaccines.
COVAX was supposed to avoid such inequality — but instead the initiative is woefully short of shots and has already abandoned its initial goal of 2 billion doses.
Even to reach its scaled-back target of distributing 1.4 billion doses by the end of 2021, it must ship more than 25 million doses every day. Instead, it has averaged just over 4 million a day since the beginning of October, with some days dipping below 1 million, according to an Associated Press analysis of the shipments.
Shipments in recent days have ramped up, but nowhere near the amount needed.
Meanwhile, richer nations often have a glut of shots, and many are now offering boosters — something the WHO has discouraged because every booster is essentially a dose that is not going to someone who's never even gotten their first shot. Despite the U.N. health agency's appeal to countries to declare a moratorium on booster shots until the end of the year, more than 60 countries are now administering them.
“What it highlights are the continuing and fundamental risks to everyone associated with not seriously addressing the inequalities still at play globally in the fight against disease and poor health," said Dr. Osman Dar, director of the One Health Project at the Chatham House think tank.
Anna Marriott, health policy manager for Oxfam, said COVAX was limited from the outset after being pushed to the back of the vaccine queue by rich countries.
“The COVAX team may be delivering as fast as they can, but they can’t deliver vaccines they haven’t got,” Marriott said.
Just 13% of vaccines COVAX contracted for and 12% of promised donations have actually been delivered, according to calculations by the International Monetary Fund from mid-November. About a third of the vaccines dispensed by COVAX have been donations, according to the vaccine alliance known as Gavi, and the initiative is now partly a clearinghouse for those donated doses, the very situation it was set up to avoid.
Last week, COVAX sent out a news release praising a European Union pledge to ship 100 million vaccines to Africa by the end of the year — but only 1/20 of that amount was actually on planes.
Asked about the logistical challenges of distributing the other 94 million doses in only six weeks, Aurelia Nguyen, managing director of COVAX maintained that arrangements “are in place to move a vast number of doses between now and the end of the year."
In a statement, she said the issue was ensuring that “conditions are right on the ground for doses to be administered.”
In minutes released ahead of an executive meeting this week, Gavi fretted that the perception that rich countries are dumping older or lesser vaccines on poor countries could undermine the whole project. On Monday, in a joint statement with WHO and the African Union among others, it admonished that “the majority of the donations to date have been ad hoc, provided with little notice and short shelf lives.”
Fury over dose dumping is already very real. In Malawi and South Sudan, tens of thousands of out-of-date doses were destroyed.
But it's not just getting the vaccines into poorer countries that's a problem, according to some experts. COVAX is “falling short on getting vaccines from the (airport) tarmac into people’s arms,” said Dr. Angela Wakhweya, senior director for health equity and rights at CARE.
Authorities in Congo, for instance, returned their entire COVAX shipment this summer when they realized they would not be able to administer doses before they expired.
In a “risk management” report on COVAX, Gavi warned that “poor absorption” of vaccines by developing countries could lead to “wastage” of some doses. One problem is logistics — just getting the doses in the right country at the right time. But just as important is the ability of often underfunded national health systems to distribute the shots where they're most needed, along with syringes and other necessary gear. A third issue is persuading sometimes hesitant people to get the vaccines.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, however, has disputed distribution is a problem, saying the only obstacle to immunization in poor countries is supply.
Most COVAX doses distributed so far have been AstraZeneca’s vaccine, a shot that has yet to be authorized in the U.S. and whose botched rollout in Europe helped fuel anti-vaccine sentiment when the vaccine was linked to rare blood clots. The vaccines mostly used in the U.S. and much of Europe — made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — have only been available in tiny amounts via COVAX.
The U.S., which blocked vaccine sales overseas and exports of key ingredients for months, has donated 275 million doses in all, more than any other country but still less than a third of what the Biden administration pledged. The European Union, which has in general allowed vaccines manufactured in the bloc to be sold anywhere in the world, has actually delivered about a third of its 400 million promised doses.
Efforts to ramp up global production beyond a select group of manufacturers have stalled, which many activists and scientists blame on pharmaceutical companies' opposition to waive intellectual property rights for the highly lucrative vaccines.
Given that the pandemic has so far not devastated Africa as many had initially feared, some scientists on the continent are now discussing whether to withdraw their vaccine requests.
“I think what Africa could do to really shame the world is to stop asking for vaccines,” said Christian Happi, a Nigerian virologist who sat on the scientific advisory board of CEPI. “The vaccines have not arrived, and anyways it may turn out that we don’t need them as much as the West.”
www.cnn.com/2021/11/29/politics/omicron-variant-covid-19-...
Biden says new Omicron variant is 'cause for concern, not a cause for panic'
(CNN)President Joe Biden on Monday said the new Omicron coronavirus variant is "a cause for concern, not a cause for panic," as federal health officials brace for the first cases of the new variant to be detected in the US.
"Sooner or later we're going to see cases of this new variant here in the United States. We'll have to face this new threat just as we face those who have come before it," Biden said, speaking from the White House.
The President noted scientists and officials are learning more every day about the new variant. He said the new travel restrictions his administration put in place, which went into effect Monday and restricted travel from several countries in Southern Africa, gives the US more time to respond.
Biden said on Thursday he would put forward a "detailed strategy outlining how we're going to fight Covid this winter. Not with shutdowns or lockdowns, but with more widespread vaccinations, boosters, testing and more."
The President told reporters lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus were off the table "for now."
"If people are vaccinated and wear their mask, there's no need for lockdown," Biden said.
The President again urged Americans to get vaccinated and get their booster shots, saying it is the best protection against this new variant, as well as any other variants.
"We have the best vaccine in the world, the best medicines, the best scientists, and we're learning more every single day. And we'll fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed -- not chaos and confusion," Biden said.
He continued: "We have more tools today to fight the variant than we've ever had before, from vaccines to boosters to vaccines for children, 5 years and older and much more."
Biden was joined on Monday by Vice President Kamala Harris and his chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Officials briefed Biden for approximately 45 minutes Sunday on the new variant and again on Monday morning, with a heavy dose of caution about what's still unknown. Health officials say there are likely far more cases worldwide than is currently known.
Biden praised South African scientists for their transparency and quick work in identifying and reporting the new variant.
"This kind of transparency is to be encouraged and applauded because it increases our ability to respond quickly to any new threats, and that's exactly what we did," Biden said, adding that he does not believe the travel restrictions would make other countries less likely to report new variants.
The President said: "We needed time to give people an opportunity to say get that vaccination now before it, it's going to move around the world. I think it's almost inevitable that there will be at some point that strain here in the United States, but I don't think anyone is going to be reluctant to report."
Biden's team told him it will likely take one to two weeks to know more about the variant, including whether antibodies handle it effectively. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently sequencing coronavirus genomes and working closely with state health officials, two steps that will be critical to figuring out if the variant is already in the US.
Biden said to beat the pandemic, the world needs to be vaccinated, and said the US has shipped more than 275 million Covid-19 vaccines to 110 countries.
"Now we need the rest of the world to step us as well," Biden said.
Fauci said Sunday that hopefully scientists will be able to make a determination soon on whether the Omicron variant is resistant to current Covid-19 vaccines. It's also too soon to tell whether Omicron causes more severe disease.
Fauci said he doesn't think there's any possibility that Omicron could completely evade any protection from the vaccine, but that it may diminish the level of protection.
If there is a diminution of protection, Fauci and other health officials said getting a Covid-19 vaccine booster shot could help enhance protection, since boosters enlarge the capacity of the body to recognize all kinds of mutations on coronavirus variants.
Vaccine maker Moderna's chief medical officer told CNN that the Omicron variant has at least 50 mutations -- including 30 on the key spike protein, which allows the virus to enter human cells, alone. He added that Omicron has thrown a "new wrench" into the fight against Covid-19, but emphasized that having some vaccination will help fight even a very altered and highly dangerous variant.
Biden announced Friday the US would restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries starting Monday because of the new variant. The Biden administration is now restricting travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. The President was acting on advice from Fauci and the CDC.
The Omicron variant has already been detected on five continents -- North America, Australia, Africa, Europe, Asia -- and the travel restrictions are already generating push back, with South Africa's Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation saying they are "akin to punishing" South Africa.
The Omicron variant was the quickest to be labeled a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization because of its seemingly fast spread in South Africa and its many troubling mutations.
WHO designates coronavirus variants as either variants of concern -- meaning they look dangerous enough to bear close scrutiny and continual updates -- or as variants of interest, or variants under monitoring. Only five currently meet the definition for variants of concern: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron.
20/12/2021. London, United Kingdom. Prime Minister Boris Johnson Update after Cabinet on Omicron. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson updates the media in the study of No10 Downing Street after a Cabinet meeting on the Omicron variant . Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
08/12/2021. London, United Kingdom. Prime Minister Boris Johnson-Omicron Press Conference . The Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairs a press conference on the Covid-19 variant Omicron in No9 Downing Street with Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
08/12/2021. London, United Kingdom. Prime Minister Boris Johnson-Omicron Press Conference . The Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairs a press conference on the Covid-19 variant Omicron in No9 Downing Street with Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
29/11/2021. London, United Kingdom. Health Secretary Sajid Javid holds a call with his counterparts from the G7 to discuss the outbreak of the Omicron Covid-19 virus at the Department of Health and Social Care. Picture by Lauren Hurley / DHSC
The newest members of Dillard's Circle of the Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society, gather for the 2019 Initiation in Georges Auditorium on April 3, 2019. (Photo by Sabree Hill/ Dillard University Photographer)
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell infected with the Omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (orange), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
Grupp 1, SCHAPENDOES, DK UCH EUW-15 FI UCH NO JV-13 NO UCH NO V-13 NO V-14 SE UCH Carnac’s Outstanding Omicron
MyDOG, nordens största hundevenemang. www.mydog.se
At Toddington M1 motorway services. Costa coffee seating area and the bridge linking north and southbound carriageways.
A December 2021 memory of a happy date with " Thilinis " an MK beauty ( from the N. ) and a sad farewell over covid vaccination fear propaganda ( back to the S. )
Well, I'm undarted and had Omicron covid in the form of a waterfall nose for a day a few weeks back.. so now presume naturally immune.
T. was boosted up for life with god knows what untested experimental substances and probably still afraid to hug the unvaxxed. Lovely lovely lady, hope she'll be okay.
Heartbreakingly sad - what could have been; guess we've all kind of been there... but as the uber-wise Frank Zappa once said.. " Broken hearts are for assholes" .. and we can't be having any of that.
History & Glory
Galleria Storica
Anno: 1927 - 1936
Tara: 6,3 - 7,7 tonnellate
Lunghezza: 8300 - 9850 millimetri
Motore: Benzina
Cilindri: 6
Cilindrata: 7060 centimetri cubi
Potenza: 91,5 Cavalli (HP)
Velocità massima: 40 chilometri/orari
Anni 30 - Lo sviluppo del trasporto
Omicron é un autobus prodotto da Lancia tra il 1927 e il 1936, con la costruzione in totale di 601 modelli. E' stato sviluppato in diverse versioni con telaio corto o lungo per l'uso urbano, oltre ad una versione a due piani. Molto lussuoso per l'epoca, venne utilizzato anche per viaggi lunghi. Il telaio Omicron era disponibile in tre versioni, la C (versione corta) e L (versione lunga), entrambi con due assi, e un'opzione a tre assi. Il Omicron C aveva un passo di 8.300 millimetri e il Omicron L aveva un passo più lungo, di 9.530 o 9.850 millimetri. Il modello esposto venne utilizzato come officina mobile per gli autobus del trasporto pubblico a Roma. Rimase in servizio sino al 1956
12/12/2021. London, United Kingdom. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, gives a national television address concerning the Omicron variant of Covid and the government's booster jab program. 10 Downing Street. Picture by Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street
12/12/2021. London, United Kingdom. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, gives a national television address concerning the Omicron variant of Covid and the government's booster jab program. 10 Downing Street. Picture by Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street
“There are about five million Australians who effectively have tapped out of the vaccine program,”
-----
Pfizer loses $57 billion in value as COVID bonanza wanes
-----
The Australian federal government 'Covidsafe' smartphone app was a complete failure and has been switched off and de-commissioned.
-----
Boycott the Convid jabs.
The Lambda Rho chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi posed for portraits at TCU's Frog Fountain prior to attending a Victory event on September 26, 2014.. (I don't have the first clue what this event was, but I'm assuming it was a formal dance of some sort.) You can learn more about the chapter at the following sites:
www.facebook.com/AOIILambdaRho
This album is part of the event coverage for the Fort Worth Portrait Project. The project tells the story of Fort Worth from 2014 - 2044 one captioned portrait at a time, but I also enjoy covering events like this one too.
Please follow the Fort Worth Portrait Project:
www.redeemedexpressions.com/fort-worth-portrait-project/
www.facebook.com/fortworthportraitproject
www.twitter.com/FWPortraitProj
www.instagram.com/fortworthportraitproject
Do you want to be featured in the project? Just head to the following site with a photo and a caption:
12/12/2021. London, United Kingdom. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, gives a national television address concerning the Omicron variant of Covid and the government's booster jab program. 10 Downing Street. Picture by Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street
Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron virus particles (pink) replicating within the cytoplasm of an infected CCL-81 cell (teal). Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (blue) infected with the Omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (yellow), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
"Construí a casa em que moro sobre a casa em que morei. Num vício contido de mim mesmo me repliquei."
Pequeno pensamento que me ocorreu quando olhei para nosso Centro de Fotografia. O Omicron Centro de Fotografia é uma grande família. Adoro ver os corredores movimentados e aulas acontecendo nos mais diversos temas. Os alunos são minha inspiração, minha força e o destino deste lugar. Salve, salve a fotografia que aproxima pessoas e destinos.
Osvaldo Santos Lima
Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron virus particles (pink) replicating within the cytoplasm of an infected CCL-81 cell (teal). Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron virus particles (blue) replicating within the cytoplasm of an infected CCL-81 cell (pink). Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron virus particles (blue) replicating within the cytoplasm of an infected CCL-81 cell (green). Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
Mais um Curso anual de Fotografia vai começar em agosto no Omicron Centro de Fotografia. Novos alunos, novas turmas, professores agregando cada vez mais conhecimento e boa vontade ao nosso curso.
Só há uma maneira de fazer: a maneira certa! Só há uma maneira de encarar nossos objetivos: olhando para o passado e percebendo que sempre devemos estar em movimento.
Aos alunos que chegam minhas boas vindas, aos que se formam,bem, eu não posso me despedir de vocês pois estaremos sempre juntos.
Osvaldo Santos Lima
David Mitchell's Omicron model. Folded from six A4 sheets using my very own silver rectangle version of the folding procedure for the basic unit.
Size: 10.5 cm x 10.5 cm x 10.5 cm
Paper design: Minecraft birch, sandstone, and spruce
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (gold) infected with the Omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (pink), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
Retrato que fiz hoje durante as filmagens do documentário "Leopoldo Plentz em ato contínuo" (título provisório) que eu e o Diretor curitibano Eduardo Baggio estamos dirigindo aqui em Porto Alegre. Agradeço imensamente ao Omicron Centro de Fotografia por produzir este material e, assim, valorizar a fotografia brasileira. Retrato feito com a Hassel com uma bela Hassel no segundo plano.
saudações fotográficas,
Osvaldo Santos Lima
Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron virus particles (yellow) replicating within the cytoplasm of an infected CCL-81 cell (red). Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron virus particles (orange) replicating within the cytoplasm of an infected CCL-81 cell (blue). Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (purple) infected with the Omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (blue), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (brown) infected with the Omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (purple), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/09/covid-omicron-va...
More states ease mask mandates, citing lower infection, hospitalization numbers
New York and Massachusetts announced Wednesday they will ease mask mandates, joining a long list of states making similar moves in recent days.
In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said a school mask requirement would end Feb. 28. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) let a mask-or-vaccine mandate for indoor businesses expire as of Thursday, but said masking would continue in schools and then be reevaluated the first week of March.
The governors of both states cited declining infection and hospitalization numbers, along high vaccination rates as allowing eased restrictions.
Here’s what to know
■ Norwegian Cruise Line will drop its mask requirement from covid protocols.
■ Hawaii is in discussions about eliminating all restrictions on travel in the coming months — barring any more covid surges. Currently, travelers have to quarantine for five days unless they provide proof of vaccination or a negative test result.
■ The Centers for Disease Control director says it’s not time to change mask guidance nationwide.
Psaki: Americans living in states that no longer recommend wearing masks should still follow CDC guidelines
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Americans living in states that have pulled back their mask mandates should still follow Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
During the daily news briefing, a reporter asked Psaki if parents, students and teachers living in places like New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware, which have recently announced the end of mask mandates in schools, should still follow the health agency’s guidelines on mask-wearing.
“Yes,” Psaki answered swiftly. “This is where we would advise any American to follow the CDC guidelines.”
Doctors, she said, are “constantly evaluating” recommendations “because the data is changing. The science is changing.” She said the White House respects local governments’ decisions to issue guidance and mandates, but the administration will continue backing experts’ advice, and encouraging Americans to follow it, too.
“No parent who wants to send their kid with a mask should be penalized,” Psaki added. “No teacher or ... who wants to wear a mask should be penalized or school district who makes that choice should be penalized.”
Norwegian Cruise Line to drop mask requirement from covid protocols
Norwegian Cruise Line will soon ease several coronavirus protocols for passengers, including a requirement for customers to wear masks. The changes arrive while the omicron-variant-fueled surge that tore through the cruise industry for months continues an overall decline.
Norwegian said in an update to its Sail Safe guidance that it will nix masking rules for all departures starting March 1. The company recommends passengers wear masks indoors — except when they are actively eating or drinking — and outside when social distancing is not possible. Norwegian will continue to enforce mask requirements on European sailings depending on local government rules.
For sailings that embark after Feb. 28, “the decision to wear a mask covering when onboard is at the discretion of each guest,” the Norwegian guidance said.
In an advisory last updated Jan. 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintained a Level 4 warning, its most severe, recommending against cruise travel because of the risk of coronavirus exposure. Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement that it was easing its protocols “given the progress in the current public health environment.”
CDC director says it’s not yet time to change guidance nationwide
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday that despite encouraging trends in coronavirus case rates that have prompted Democratic governors in several states, including New Jersey and Connecticut, to relax key mitigation methods, the country as a whole has not reached that point.
“We’re not there yet,” Walensky said at a White House briefing.
Instead, Walensky said, “We continue to recommend masking in areas of high and substantial transmission. That’s much of the country right now, in public indoor settings.”
The current seven-day daily average of cases is about 247,300 cases per day, according to CDC data, a decrease of about 44 percent from the previous week. Hospitalizations have also dropped by about 25 percent, while death rates, which lag behind those indicators, have increased by about 3 percent over the previous week to reach what Walensky called “a tragic new mark of 900,000 deaths in this country from covid-19.”
At the briefing, Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, emphasized that booster shots are “critically important” to reducing hospitalizations and deaths and said that the next step in vaccinations for children under 5 would progress only after full review of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy in that age group. He said the need for a fourth dose would depend on data.
“You measure laboratory phenomenon, but you measure the real-world data on the efficacy in preventing, for example, hospital visits as well as hospitalizations,” Fauci said. “And I believe that you’re going to be hearing data about that as the data become available.”
Walensky described the CDC’s ongoing surveillance methods, including wastewater and genomic surveillance as well as monitoring the safety and efficacy of vaccines. She said that any change in guidance would be based on data from these monitoring systems.
“I know there will come a time when we move from a phase of crisis to a point where covid-19 is not disrupting our daily lives,” she said. “And as we all look forward to this next step, I want to instill in everyone that moving forward from this pandemic will be a process that’s led by our surveillance and our data.”
Stacey Abrams apologizes for posing maskless with elementary students: ‘That was a mistake’
Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said Tuesday night that “excitement” prompted her to pose maskless for a photo last week with a group of elementary schoolchildren — a move that has generated a rash of mostly Republican criticism.
On CNN’s “OutFront,” Abrams explained that she was in the Decatur, Ga., elementary school classroom for a Black History Month reading event on Friday. She said she kept her mask on until she reached the lectern and took it off only because she was reading to students who were “listening remotely as well.” Abrams added that she was socially distanced from the students and told them she would take off her mask for the reading.
“And then the excitement after I finished — because it was so much fun working with those kids — I took a picture and that was a mistake,” Abrams told host Erin Burnett. “Protocols matter, and protecting our kids is the most important thing, and anything that can be perceived as undermining that is a mistake. And I apologize.”
As European nations shed restrictions, some experts say bid to move past pandemic may be premature
Denmark started a trend when it announced in late January that it would end most coronavirus restrictions and attempt to forge a path out of the pandemic that other highly vaccinated countries can follow.
“We say goodbye to the restrictions and welcome the life we knew before” the pandemic, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at the time. “As of Feb. 1, Denmark will be open.”
Other European countries have followed — though not all on the same schedule — and set off a furious debate among public health experts about whether it is too soon to let down their guard.
Starting Wednesday, Sweden will begin “phasing out” restrictions, notably by eliminating limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings and the requirement to show proof of vaccination to attend events. Spain and Italy announced an end to their outdoor mask mandates this week, after France did the same last week. Beginning Friday, all testing requirements to enter the United Kingdom will be scrapped for vaccinated travelers.
The governments of these countries reason that now is the time to ease or eliminate restrictions because, while the omicron variant keeps case numbers high in Europe, hospitalizations have been manageable, and a majority of their populations are vaccinated.
The live-with-it strategy has divided public health experts: Some cheer the return to a more normal life after more than two years of restrictions, and others say the easing of rules will send a false signal that omicron is nothing to worry about.
One cause for concern is the vast disparities within Europe in vaccination coverage and national health-care systems’ capacity to handle surges in cases. The Balkans and Eastern and Central European countries are, as a whole, less vaccinated. Cyprus, Armenia and Slovenia have on average recorded some of the largest jumps in daily covid-19 deaths in the world over the past week, according to a Washington Post tracker.
Last week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news briefing that covid deaths are increasing in many parts of the world and warned it would be “premature for any country either to surrender, or to declare victory” against the coronavirus.
“We’re concerned that a narrative has taken hold in some countries that because of vaccines, and because of omicron’s high transmissibility and lower severity, preventing transmission is no longer possible, and no longer necessary,” he said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
How fast the omicron variant is spreading around the world
In the worldwide chart of coronavirus variants in the link below, the red omicron appears at the top right corner in the very end of November. This chart made in collaboration with GISAID represents countries where genomic sequences are publicly released, so some large countries are not included. It takes about a week for laboratories to identify virus variants, so this data is always time-lagged. Using the variant data, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that omicron was 99.9 percent of the covid cases in the country.
The giant blue delta spread began a year ago and covered the world by summer. Omicron has taken over even faster. As of early December, Delta was more than 99 percent of the cases worldwide. In late December Delta was still two-thirds of the cases. Omicron has taken over since then.
These charts show the mix of coronavirus variants in a selection of countries that currently have high levels of omicron. To capture the latest trends, this map uses three-week periods with the most recent ending last Saturday. In any country, the genomic sequences may be concentrated within a particular outbreak, or may miss some outbreaks, so it is not necessarily representative of the country as a whole.
Key coronavirus updates from around the world
Here’s what to know about the top coronavirus stories around the globe from news service reports.
■ Citizens of Saudi Arabia starting Wednesday will have to have received their booster dose of a coronavirus vaccine to travel outside the country, according to state media.
■ The European Union hopes to secure a global treaty to prevent future pandemics, and negotiators are set to meet Wednesday for the first time, Reuters reports.
■ Lawmakers in South Korea are exploring ways to allow people who have covid-19 to vote in next month’s presidential election.
■ Hong Kong health authorities said Wednesday that a chronically ill elderly man who tested positive for the coronavirus in hospital has died. If confirmed as linked to covid-19, the death would be the city’s first in five months, as it battles an omicron-fueled rise in cases.
■ In New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, a demonstration against vaccine mandates entered its second day as similar protests, inspired by truckers in Canada, spread around the world.
Koni-Omega Microfilm Camera HK-35
Manufactured by Konishiroku Photo Industries (distributed by Berkey Photo) fitted with Omicron 70mm f/5.6
© Dirk HR Spennemann 2012, All Rights Reserved
December 20, 2021 - New York City - Governor Kathy Hochul, joined by Jackie Bray, Acting Commissioner of New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, and Director of State Operations Kathryn Garcia updates New Yorkers on the Covid-19 spread in New York State, particularly on the Omicron variant, during a press briefing Monday December 20, 2021 in New York City. (Kevin P. Coughlin / Office of the Governor)
Title: Omicron Delta Kappa
Creator: Valdosta State University
Date: March 1981
Description: Alex McFadden; Gabard; ODK induction.
Source: Spectator Negatives, 1980-1985. Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections.
Subject: College students -- Georgia -- Valdosta; Faculty advisors -- Georgia -- Valdosta; Greek letter societies -- Georgia -- Valdosta;
Identifier:
Format: image/jpeg