‘Omicron to be dominant variant by mid-January’

A migrant receives a booster Johnson and Johnson vaccine against COVID-19 at Karatepe refugee camp on Lesbos, Greece on Wednesday. Pic/AP

The head of the European Union's executive branch said Wednesday that omicron is expected to be the dominant coronavirus variant in the 27-nation bloc by mid-January, amid concerns that a dramatic rise in infections will leave Europe shrouded in gloom during the holiday season.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is well prepared to fight omicron with 66.6per cent of the bloc's population fully vaccinated. Von der Leyen expressed disappointment that the pandemic will again disrupt year-end celebrations but said she was confident the EU has the "strength" and "means" to overcome COVID-19.

Ursula von der Leyen, EC president

"Like many of you, I'm sad that once again this Christmas will be overshadowed by the pandemic," she said. Continental Europe can look to Britain for a sense of what lies ahead as omicron spreads.

The head of the U.K. Health Security Agency, Dr. Jenny Harries, said omicron is displaying a staggering growth rate compared to previous variants.

"The difficulty is that the growth of this virus, it has a doubling time which is shortening, i.e. it's doubling faster, growing faster," Harries told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday. "In most regions in the U.K., it is now under two days. When it started, we were estimating about four or five."

Harries said the variant poses "probably the most significant threat we've had since the start of the pandemic."

Alarming rises in cases as winter approached and the delta variant remained at large prompted many European governments to implement public health measures as excess mortality increased during the fall.

US COVID death toll hits 800,000

The US death toll from COVID-19 topped 800,000 on Tuesday, a once-unimaginable figure seen as doubly tragic, given that more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after the vaccine became available practically for the asking last spring. The number of deaths, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the population of Atlanta and St. Louis combined, or Minneapolis and Cleveland put together. The US has the highest reported toll of any country.

German polics raid over threats

Police in eastern Germany carried out raids Wednesday in an investigation of alleged threats to kill a state governor and others by opponents of COVID-19 restrictions and vaccinations. Five properties in Dresden and one in Heidenau were searched cops said.

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