Commercial airlines around the world canceled more than 4,300 flights over the Christmas weekend, as the rising wave of Covid-19 infections, operated by Omicron Edition, created more uncertainty and misery for holiday travelers.
Airline carriers canceled at least 2,366 flights on Friday, which falls on Christmas Eve and is usually a heavy day for air travel, according to a running tally on flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. Around 9,000 more flights were delayed.
The website showed that 1,616 Christmas Day flights around the world were called off, as well as 365 more that were scheduled for Sunday.
Commercial air traffic in or out of the United States and the country accounted for more than a quarter of all flights canceled over the weekend, FlightAware data shows.
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines were among the first US carriers to report a wave of holiday weekend cancellations, scrubbing nearly 280 flights combined on Friday alone, citing personnel shortages amid a surge in Covid-19 infections. Of.
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COVID-19 infections have increased in the United States in recent days due to the highly transmissible variant omicron, which was first detected in November and now accounts for nearly three-quarters of US cases and up to 90 percent in some areas, such as the Eastern as the beach.
The average number of new US coronavirus cases has risen 45 percent to 179,000 per day in the past week, according to a Reuters tally.
New York reported more than 44,000 new confirmed infections on Friday alone, breaking that state’s daily record. At least 10 other states set new one-day case records on Thursday or Friday.
Rising hospitalizations were hitting the health care system particularly hard in the US Midwest, with intensive care units in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan among the worst, even as they faced a chronic wave of delta variant cases. lived under pressure.
In Britain, many industries and transport networks were grappling with staff shortages as sick workers self-isolate, while hospitals warned of the risk of impact on patient safety.
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According to figures released on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics, one in 20 Londoners had Covid-19 last week, a figure that could rise to one in 10 by early next week.
Government data showed a record number of new infections nationwide at 122,186 on Friday, marking the third day in which the number of known cases crossed 100,000.
While recent research suggests that Omicron produces milder illness, and has lower hospitalization rates than previous variants of Covid-19, health officials maintain a cautious note about the outlook.
The head of the UK’s Health Protection Agency, Jenny Harris, told the BBC: “There is a glimmer of hope for Christmas, but it is certainly not at the point where we can mitigate that grave threat.”
France hit another Covid-19 infection record on Friday, with the daily number exceeding 94,000, while hospitalizations from the virus hit a seven-month high, prompting the government to convene a special meeting for Monday. which could trigger new public health restrictions.
Despite uncertainties and grim news around the world, millions of Americans plan to travel through a second pandemic-cloudy holiday season.
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Moses Jimenez, an accountant from Long Beach, Mississippi, flew to New York with his wife and three children, even as the latest torrent of coronavirus cases dashed his hopes of catching a Broadway performance of “Hamilton” or visiting some museums done.
“Hamilton” was one of a dozen productions to be canceled this week after members of the cast and crew tested positive for COVID-19. Museums were scratched from family itineraries as many now require proof of vaccination and two young children are ineligible for the shot.
Instead, Jimenez, 33, said his child would roam the city streets and parks, as well as see relatives and friends.
“We just wanted to get out of the house, really, take the kids out of town for Christmas,” Jimenez told Reuters at New York’s LaGuardia airport on Thursday.
New York plans to sharply limit the number of people allowed for its annual outdoor New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, in response to a surge of new coronavirus cases, limiting the number of attendees to 15,000 .
The White House said the Biden administration will next week lift travel restrictions imposed last month on eight southern African countries over concerns about the Omicron version.