British soldiers were deployed to hospitals in London to alleviate severe staff shortages caused by the COVID-19 omicron variant.
The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense said on Friday military medics would assist with patient care while other troops help fill gaps caused by other absences.
The deployment underscores the impact of the new omicron variant on Britain’s health service. Nearly 180,000 people in the UK were infected on Thursday.
“We have never known this level of staff absence before,” Chaand Nagpaul, council chairman of the British Medical Association, told Sky News.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday said hospitals were on “war footing” due to staff shortages, with many hospital groups declaring “critical incidents” because of the threat to essential services.
On Friday, the Royal College of Nursing’s director for England, Patricia Marquis, said the deployment was “too little, too late.”
“This is a clear admission that the NHS is not coping,” she said.
Here are the latest major developments on coronavirus from around the world:
Europe
In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the country’s 16 state premiers are considering new restrictions in response to a surge in omicron cases.
Scholz and the states leaders are expected to consider shortening self-isolation periods over fears that critical services could grind to a halt as case numbers spike. Stricter entry rules to restaurants and bars are also proposed.
Asia
As China reported a decline in new COVID infections on Friday, officials have warned hospitals and health care facilities against turning away patients.
Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said she was “pained and deeply ashamed” to hear about the difficulties people were facing in securing hospital services in Xian, a city of 13 million in northwest China.
“Medical institutions… must not simply turn away patients on any excuse during COVID control,” Sun said.
India has recorded 117,100 new daily infections on Friday, a five-fold increase in a week. This number, the highest reported in the country in over seven months, has been spurred by the fast-spreading omicron variant.
Thailand has announced an extension to the suspension of its quarantine waiver program, adding new restrictions after a spike in new coronavirus cases.
However, existing applicants of the country’s “Test & Go” waiver scheme can enter Thailand without quarantine until January 15, the COVID-19 taskforce announced.
Authorities in Sri Lanka have begun vaccinating children aged 12 to 15, as experts warned of a new wave of infections in the coming weeks. Children will be given a single dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, the Health Ministry said.
The authorization comes as schools get ready to fully reopen from Monday.
Japan has declared quasi-emergency measures in three regions to curb a surge in infections that may be linked to US military bases in the country.
These are the first such measures since September, when the country lifted emergency controls that had been in place for most of last year.
Oceania
Officials in Australia’s New South Wales have strengthened COVID curbs to temporarily ban singing and dancing in public hospitality venues to control a spike in new infections.
Under the new order, non-urgent elective surgeries will be paused until mid-February.
“Today we are making some sensible and proportionate changes as we move through this next period as the peak of Omicron comes through,” New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said at a briefing on Friday.
Perrottet said Australia’s most populous state was facing “a difficult few weeks.”
Americas
Close to 100,000 children in Peru lost at least one parent or primary caregiver to COVID, the government has reported.
“Unfortunately our country has almost 98,000 children who lost their father, mother or guardian during the pandemic,” said Peru’s Minister of Women Anahi Durand, citing figures from “The Lancet” medical journal.
Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado has announced that health authorities will begin vaccinating children between the ages of 5 and 11 against COVID-19 on January 11.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has criticized the country’s health regulator Anvisa for authorizing COVID-19 vaccination of children between the ages of 5 to 11. This comes a day after his health minister unveiled plans to begin inoculating that age group.
Africa
COVID-19 infections have hampered Egypt and Guinea’s Africa Cup of Nations campaigns.
The Egyptians delayed their departure to the tournament in Cameroon following infections in the team.
Coach Carlos Queiroz wrote on Twitter: “Better we stand together and focus on what we need to do to meet the challenges.”
Guinea’s team left for the tournament on Friday without defender Mikael Dyrestam and goalkeeper coach Kemoko Camara, who were isolating after testing positive. Striker Seydouba Soumah also tested positive earlier.
