Kamala Harris tests positive for COVID, says White House

US Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday but is asymptomatic and not considered a current close contact of President Joe Biden, the White House said.

"Today, Vice President Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on rapid and PCR tests. She has exhibited no symptoms, will isolate and continue to work from the vice president's residence," said Harris' press secretary, Kirsten Allen.

"She has not been a close contact to the president or first lady due to their respective recent travel schedules," Allen said, adding that Harris would "return to the White House when she tests negative."

Harris, 57, is the latest in a rash of cases sweeping through the Washington elite.

Her husband, Doug Emhoff, came down with Covid in March, although Harris herself remained negative.

As infections from the virulent, but dramatically less dangerous, omicron variant of the coronavirus mount, the White House has publicly aired the possibility of the 79-year-old Biden testing positive while downplaying any potential fallout.

"It is certainly possible that he will test positive for COVID, and he is vaccinated, he is boosted and protected from the most severe strains of the virus," White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said earlier this month.

High-profile cases in Washington recently include White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who contracted COVID in March and also last year, as well as House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who comes after Harris in the line of succession to the presidency.

In October 2020, before vaccines were available, then president Donald Trump spent three days in hospital receiving emergency treatment for COVID-19, which he had told Americans was not a danger.

More than 900,000 people in the United States have now died from COVID-19, which at its peak killed over 3,000 a day. Currently about 300 to 400 people die from COVID every day in the world's richest country.

Agence France-Presse

Thailand's economy rebounds in fourth quarter

BANGKOK - Thailand's economy rebounded in the fourth quarter of last year on the back of rising exports and the easing of coronavirus restrictions that allowed tourists to return, senior officials said Monday.

The 1.9 percent on-year expansion was more than double what was forecast and marked a strong bounce after a 0.2 percent contraction in the previous three months.

For the whole year the economy grew 1.6 percent, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council, and also beat expectations. 

Southeast Asia's second-largest economy was hit with a 6.1 percent contraction in 2020 -- its worst economic performance since the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis.

The NESDC said it saw growth of 3.5 to 4.5 percent this year as tourism picks up and government spending kicks in.

Council secretary-general Danucha Pichayanan said reopening the border to fully vaccinated foreign tourists in November had made some impact. 

Nearly 500,000 tourists have visited since November, well short of the country's target of 5 million, but the arrivals provided much-needed support to the economy.

The reopening was dealt a blow in December by the fast-spreading Omicron Covid variant.

The NESDC said it expected inflation of 1.5 to 2.5 percent for 2022. 

Agence France-Presse

Hong Kong foreign domestic workers 'abandoned' in COVID crisis

Hong Kong's foreign domestic workers are being "abandoned" in the current coronavirus wave sweeping the city, with some forced to sleep rough or being denied treatment after testing positive, charities warned Friday.

The Chinese financial hub is currently in the throes of its worst-ever coronavirus outbreak, registering thousands of confirmed cases a day as hospitals reach breaking point.

Hong Kongers live in one of the world's most densely packed cities and rely on some 370,000 foreign domestic workers, the vast majority women from the Philippines and Indonesia who cook, clean, and look after their families.

Foreign domestic workers must live with their employers, cannot swap jobs easily, and are only entitled to one day off a week.

On Friday a coalition of groups representing migrant workers said the already grim pandemic conditions have plunged further in the current outbreak.

Some workers had been sacked by employers after testing positive, forcing them to sleep outdoors. Others found themselves denied treatment at hospitals because they had lost their jobs.

Eni Lestari, an Indonesian domestic worker and activist, said her peers had been on the "frontlines" helping families throughout the pandemic.

"Now we are being neglected, we are being denied services, we are being abandoned," she told reporters. 

"We are very alarmed and we are very angry," she added.

- Calls for compassion -

Activists said many Hong Kong employers were refusing to let their domestic workers leave often cramped apartments even on their day off, while some had been fired for taking their rest day. 

"For us staying home means we have to work," said Dolores Balladares Pallaez from the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, adding workers needed "compassion and help" from both the government and wider society.

The coalition said Hong Kong police had also ramped up social distancing fines each weekend for domestic workers, adding that penalties can be higher than their monthly wage. 

Like mainland China, Hong Kong has stuck to a rigid zero-Covid policy that largely kept the virus out but left the international business hub cut off the last two years.

Those defenses have now come crashing down after the highly infectious Omicron variant entered the local community after infected flight crew and residents returned from overseas.

On Thursday authorities announced more than 12,000 positive cases. Prior to the current outbreak, Hong Kong recorded just 12,000 infections for the whole pandemic.

The current outbreak has caught the government off guard with few preparations in place for dealing with zero-Covid being breached.

Authorities have since scrambled to locate thousands of hotel rooms and unused public housing blocks to isolate the infected as well as a location to build a temporary hospital.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, who has currently ruled out a China-style citywide lockdown, said some 20,000 hotel rooms had now been located.

Agence France-Presse

BTS to hit the stage in South Korea for first time since COVID began

SEOUL — South Korean boy band BTS is to put on their first shows for their home fans since the coronavirus pandemic began, with three concerts in the capital, Seoul, next month, their agency said on Wednesday.

The concerts, part of their "Permission to Dance on Stage" tour that has been disrupted by the pandemic, will be at Seoul's Olympic Stadium on March 10, 12, and 13, and will also be live-streamed, Bit Hit Music said.

"We would like to thank all ARMY for patiently waiting for an in-person concert to be held in Korea," the company said on its online fan platform, Weverse, referring to the band's global fan base known as Adorable Representative MC for Youth.

Since their 2013 debut, the band has spearheaded a global K-Pop craze with catchy, upbeat music and dances, as well as lyrics and social campaigns aimed at empowering youngsters.

The seven-member band made history in November, becoming the first Asian artist to win the top prize at the American Music Awards.

Their last concert for South Korean fans was in October 2019, a couple of months before the coronavirus emerged.

As the pandemic spread in 2020, the band postponed and then called off what was meant to be their biggest international tour involving nearly 40 concerts. They held some online shows instead.

They played their first in-person concerts since the onset of the pandemic in November, in Los Angles, and some die-hard South Korean fans flew in for the shows.

The pandemic has also affected some members of the band, though all are fully vaccinated.

V, the singer, and songwriter whose real name is Kim Tae-hyung, was on Tuesday confirmed as the band's fifth member to contract COVID-19, Bit Hit said.

V had no symptoms apart from a mild fever and sore throat, and all other members had tested negative.

"He is currently undergoing treatment at home," the company said in a separate statement, promising a speedy recovery.

Rapper RM, vocalist Jin, and rapper Suga tested positive in December shortly after their return from the U.S. shows, and singer Jimin contracted the virus last month. 

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin Editing by Robert Birsel)

-reuters-

Thousands protest vaccine mandates in Australia

Thousands of protesters marched through Australia's capital to the parliament building on Saturday to decry Covid-19 vaccine mandates, the latest in a string of rallies against pandemic restrictions around the world.

Demonstrators packed Canberra's streets before massing outside the parliament, some waving the red Australian ensign flag associated with "sovereign citizens" who believe national laws do not apply to them.

Protesters, many with children, rallied under bright skies brandishing banners proclaiming "Fight for Your Freedom & Rights", "Free Aus Freedom Now", or "No forced drugs" written above a symbol of a syringe.

Police estimated there were up to 10,000 protesters. They were "generally well behaved", a police spokesman said.

Three people were arrested including one man who drove his truck through a roadblock. Two others were taken into custody for a breach of the peace.

Australia says 94 percent of people aged over 16 have had at least two Covid-19 vaccinations. 

Though getting the jab is voluntary, it is generally required for people entering the country and for those working in a range of professions deemed at particular risk such as caring for the elderly.

Some Australian states such as New South Wales have begun to relax proof-of-vaccine requirements for entry to pubs, restaurants or shops. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who must call a general election by mid-May, called on the protesters to act peacefully.

But the Australian leader also said he understood their concerns, and stressed that the states -- not the federal government -- were responsible for many of the vaccine requirements.

- 'Free country' -

"My message to them today is Australia is a free country and they have a right to protest and I would ask them to do that in a peaceful way and a respectful way," Morrison told reporters when asked about the rallies.

"Those who are protesting today are speaking up for the things that they feel strongly about."

Morrison said he wanted to be "very clear" that the federal government had only supported mandates that relate to aged care workers, disability workers and those working in high-risk health situations.

"All other mandates that are related to vaccines have been imposed unilaterally by state governments," the prime minister added. "So, I understand their concerns about these issues."

Anti-vaccine mandate rallies have also swelled outside the New Zealand parliament in Wellington, where protesters and police faced each other under heavy rain on Saturday with no clashes.

Though the protests have been mostly peaceful, New Zealand police arrested 122 people and used pepper spray to quell scuffles on Thursday before taking a more hands-off approach in tackling the demonstrations.

World attention has been focused on Canadian truckers who have jammed a key bridge linking Canada and the United States, defying a judge's order to leave Friday night. 

Thousands of people were also driving towards Paris on Friday hoping to blockade the capital in protest at Covid vaccination rules in France.

Agence France-Presse

Get vaccinated, or get punished? How jab mandates divide

Vaccine mandates have been divisive ever since the first rollout two centuries ago, and they continue to split public opinion today as governments scramble to inoculate populations against coronavirus.

With Austria set to become the first country in Europe to impose Covid-19 vaccinations on Friday, AFP looks at vaccine orders in Europe -- and whether they work:

Backlash, workarounds

In Austria, those who do not become vaccinated against Covid under the new mandate will face a 600-euro ($670) fine.

Tens of thousands have taken to the streets almost weekly to protest the decision.

In other countries, the authorities have flip-flopped on whether to impose a direct mandate or implement alternative measures to penalise the unjabbed.

But doctor and philosopher Anne-Marie Moulin, who advises vaccine policy in France, said hesitant governments can give the impression, true or not, of political motivations -- not just health concerns -- behind the measures.

And in France, even though no direct mandate exists, many have accused their government of infringing on their civil liberties.

There is evidence, meanwhile, that mandates may end up driving people away from jabs, while leaving people the choice can have positive results.

In September, when UK media reported the government was considering requiring health workers to get Covid-19 jabs, physician and vaccine expert Peter English warned that taking choice away could stimulate backlash.

"Most health care workers already choose to be vaccinated... and, as long as they are given the time required to get vaccinated, they do so," he commented at the time.

He said some of those not yet jabbed were hesitant, while very few held "irrational, faith-like anti-vaccine beliefs".

"You are unlikely... to shift the latter's beliefs, but you may be able to persuade the hesitant," he said, adding that a mandate risked hardening the undecided against jabs.

By some estimates, Sweden has managed to vaccinate over 90 percent of its population with no mandate.

And other Scandinavian countries also report high levels of vaccination without imposing consequences.

In France, jabs against Covid are not obligatory, but the state has imposed a compulsory vaccination pass to access most social activities, thus punishing the unvaccinated by barring them from places like restaurants and museums.

Historian Laurent-Henri Vignaud insisted, however, it was very different from a law requiring vaccination.

"In one case you're saying, 'the protective state is... telling you what you must do'," he told AFP of the option that was rejected.

"And in the other you're saying, 'do what you want, but your choice will be the difference between whether you can participate fully in social activities or not'."

Smallpox history lesson

Sweden was one of the first countries to impose a vaccine mandate in the early 19th century to contain a deadly smallpox outbreak.

Europe had for decades been ravaged by the highly contagious disease, which causes fever and a horrifying skin rash, and can lead to death.

Sweden lost as many as 300,000 lives between 1750 and 1800, before the world's first smallpox vaccine became widespread.

The Nordic nation imposed vaccines in 1816, and by the end of that century had become the first country to eradicate the disease.

The British government followed suit in 1853 with the "United Kingdom Vaccination Act", which required parents to vaccinate babies against smallpox within their first three months or face fines.

Across the Channel, French soldiers fighting the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 suffered huge losses due to smallpox and were ultimately defeated by their better-vaccinated adversaries.

But it would still take decades of parliamentary arguing for France to decide to make smallpox jabs mandatory for babies, in the country's first such law, in 1902.

In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, a major shift in public opinion had caused the government to backpedal and pass a new law in 1898 that allowed people to refuse jabs for moral reasons.

Protests against jabs, which were not as consistently safe or effective as today's vaccines, had begun as soon as Britain's mandate was imposed decades earlier.

The government eventually relented after thousands of parents were prosecuted for refusing the jab as part of a peaceful but hugely popular movement in the city of Leicester.

"By the time France opted to impose vaccination at the start of the 20th century, England had abandoned the idea and never went back," Moulin told AFP.

Today, Sweden and the United Kingdom have some of the laxest vaccine requirements in Europe.

Agence France-Presse

Greece allows music in bars and restaurants again as COVID cases ease

ATHENS - Greece will allow music in restaurants and bars again and extend their operating hours as it lifts some of the restrictions imposed last month now that coronavirus infections and the pressure on hospitals are easing, authorities said on Thursday.

The country last month forced bars, nightclubs and restaurants to close at midnight, with no standing customers and no music, following a surge of cases over the Christmas holidays due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

"We have decided to scale back the restrictions, taking into consideration the course of the pandemic in terms of cases which have been declining in recent weeks," Health Minister Thanos Plevris said in a televised statement.

He said that despite ongoing pressure on the health system, the rate of hospital admissions and discharges and a shorter duration and less severe illness for the Omicron variant compared to Delta allowed authorities to ease the curbs.

Capacity restrictions will remain in place for sport events, while a double mask is mandatory in supermarkets and transport.

Greece reported 19,712 new cases on Thursday. Infections have been easing since a record high of around 50,000 in early January.

A total of 23,083 deaths linked to COVID-19 have been reported since February 2020 and 1,867,935 cases out of a population of 11 million people. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou and Lefteris Papadimas; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

-reuters-

Apple poised for strong earnings despite supply constraints, Omicron

Apple Inc navigated pandemic-related supply chain issues better than rivals at the end of 2021, likely helping the iPhone maker surpass Wall Street revenue growth targets of 6 percent, some analysts estimate.

Apple, which is set to post quarterly earnings on Thursday, was buoyed by strong iPhone 13 sales globally, sales in China and continued growth in Mac shipments, several analysts told Reuters.

The market is closely watching earnings at Apple, Tesla and other tech companies to see if they quell the sell-off that has wiped out nearly $3 trillion in value from the Nasdaq 100. Investors are dumping tech stocks on fears that the Fed will hike interest rates fairly aggressively and erode the value of their future earnings. Some are concerned that the surge of pandemic at-home tech buying will not last as conditions improve.

"We expect Apple to reach its highest market share in China since Apple entered the market in 2008," said analyst Nicole Peng of Canalys.

Investment firm Wedbush Securities forecasts record iPhone sales of more than 40 million units during the holiday period from Black Friday to Christmas. Morgan Stanley estimates total holiday quarter iPhone shipments at 83 million, representing a 4 percent increase from the previous year.

Wall Street analysts expect Apple to post about $118.7 billion in revenue, representing 6.48 percent year-over-year growth, and quarterly earnings per share of $1.89, according to Eikon data as of Tuesday.

Apple posted a rare revenue miss in the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 25, which Chief Executive Tim Cook attributed to pandemic-related supply constraints and manufacturing disruptions that together cost the company an estimated $6 billion in sales.

Cook at the time forecast an even bigger drag in the holiday quarter, but analysts expect strong growth compared to competitors in the just-ended quarter, which began days after Apple started shipping the iPhone 13.

"Since Apple has many customized components going into the iPhones, Macs, Apple Watch and others and the scale (volume and price) at which it procures, Apple has been able to lock-in suppliers’ capacities to timely produce those parts with lesser delays," said Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research.

Shah added that Apple is seeing the highest demand for iPhones since the 2015 "supercycle."

Smaller rivals are struggling to keep up with production, leading to Apple market share gains in regions such as China, said Angelo Zino of CFRA Research in a research note.

Apple has said it expects iPads to be its only product with lower sales compared with a year ago due to supply constraints. Analysts say Apple likely prioritized iPhone units for components.

Preliminary holiday quarter data from IDC indicates almost 9 percent growth in Mac shipments, compared with a 1 percent rise in the PC market as a whole. 

Analysts played down concerns about the impacts of the Omicron variant surge, saying closings of some retail stores did not likely have a big impact on Apple's online-heavy business. Analysts also are watching for signs that rising Omicron cases in China could impact Apple's production.

Apple, the first company worth $3 trillion, has been losing value along with the broader stock market. Apple stock has fallen 10 percent this month and the S&P 500 index has dropped 9 percent.

Analysts may also ask Apple management about App Store payment rules, after regulators in the Netherlands found that the US company had abused its market dominance by requiring dating app developers to exclusively use Apple's in-app payment system.

-reuters-

Italy’s coronavirus cases hit new daily record of 219,441 Thursday

MILAN—Italy reported a record daily number of new COVID-19 cases on Thursday at 219,441 against 189,109 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of coronavirus-related deaths fell to 198 from 231.

Italy has registered 138,474 deaths linked to the virus since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, and has reported 6.975 million cases to date.

There were 177 new admissions to intensive care units, sharply up from 132 on Wednesday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,467 from a previous 1,428.

Before Christmas just over 1,000 patients were in intensive care. Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 13,827 on Thursday, up from 13,364 a day earlier.

About 1.14 million tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the last day, compared with a previous 1.09 million, the health ministry said. (Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Sabina Suzzi)

-reuters-

New Year parties slashed as COVID wave hammers the world

PARIS - A New Year shorn of mass celebrations beckoned Friday for millions around the world as the number of daily COVID infections, driven by the omicron variant, surged through another symbolic high.

Coronavirus, first detected two years ago and declared a global pandemic in March 2020, has killed more than 5.4 million people, triggered economic crises and seen societies ricochet in and out of lockdowns.

The latest variant, omicron, while tentatively considered to cause milder illness, has pushed infection toll to record levels in recent days in the United States, Britain, France and other European countries, forcing governments to reimpose restrictions.

The number of daily new Covid cases worldwide crossed one million for the first time, according to an AFP tally Thursday, with more than 7.3 million in the last seven days.

From Greece to Mexico, from Barcelona to Bali and across swathes of Europe, authorities have canceled or curtailed public gatherings, either closing or imposing curfews on nightclubs.

Only South Africa, the first country to report the omicron variant, was bucking the trend. It lifted a midnight to 4 am curfew to allow celebrations to go ahead, after health officials said that a dip in infections in the past week indicated the peak of the current wave had passed.

In France, wearing masks outdoors will be compulsory while walking the streets of Paris from Friday for everyone over the age of 11. Nightclubs have been closed until well into January.

In Spain, public festivities have been cancelled across most regions and in the biggest cities except Madrid, where a stripped-down gathering is scheduled with the crowd limited to 7,000 people compared to 18,000 in 2019.

Britain's National Health Service said it would start opening temporary field hospitals to contain a possible overspill of patients in England, where the government stopped short of mandating curbs on New Year festivities.

'WAR FOOTING'

"Given the high level of COVID-19 infections and increasing hospital admissions, the NHS is now on a war footing," National Medical Director Stephen Powis said.

Indonesia, which has reported more than 4.2 million confirmed cases, warned that foreign travelers may be deported from the resort island of Bali if they are caught violating Covid health rules that bar carnivals, fireworks and gatherings of more than 50 people over the holidays.

"Get ready to be kicked out," said Bali immigration office head Jamaruli Manihuruk. 

Mexico City has canceled its massive New Year's Eve celebrations as a preventative measure after a rise in cases.

"I feel that this casts doubt on a lot of what we thought was already secure, because it is scary, it is worrying," said engineering student Aaron Rosas.

Israel meanwhile became one of the first countries to greenlight a fourth booster shot for immunocompromised people.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia reimposed social distancing measures at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, after recording the highest number of infections in months.

"I am highly concerned that Omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

'BRINK OF COLLAPSE'

"This is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted health workers, and health systems on the brink of collapse."

Omicron has already started to overwhelm some hospitals in the United States, the hardest-hit country, where the seven-day average of new cases has hit 265,427, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker.

Harvard epidemiologist and immunologist Michael Mina tweeted that the count was likely just the "tip of the iceberg" with the true number likely far higher because of a shortage of tests.

US health authorities advised people to avoid taking cruises over the holiday period, even if they are fully vaccinated.

"Half of my family has it," said Victoria Sierralta at a testing site in Miami. "It's like we're back in like the first stage of Covid. It's absolutely crazy."

The NBA, NFL and NHL are scrambling to keep teams competing and sports leagues are grappling with how best to adjust their coronavirus protocols to protect players, staff and fans while keeping schedules intact.

In China, residents in the city of Xi'an, where 13 million people are under lockdown, said they were struggling to find enough food, despite Beijing insisting there were adequate supplies.

State TV showed footage of workers in hazmat suits sorting eggs, meat and vegetables, before delivering food to residents door-to-door.

"I live on.... a bowl of porridge every day, just to keep alive," one resident surnamed Wang told AFP, saying she was working through all her supplies.

Russia said that more than 71,000 people died of coronavirus in the country in November, a new fatality record since the start of the pandemic.

Agence France-Presse

Thousands of flights worldwide scrapped as Omicron hits Christmas weekend travel

More than 6,000 flights have been cancelled worldwide over the long Christmas weekend and thousands more were delayed, a tracking website reported Saturday, as the highly infectious Omicron variant brings holiday hurt to millions. 

Compounding the travel chaos in the United States, severe weather in the country's west is due to wreak havoc on roadways and other routes there although it may well bring a white Christmas weekend to northwest cities Seattle and Portland.

According to Flightaware.com, nearly 2,800 flights were scrubbed around the globe on Saturday, including more than 970 originating from or headed to US airports, with over 8,000 delays as of 0130 GMT.

On Friday, there were around 2,400 cancellations and 11,000 delays, while Sunday cancellations have already surpassed 1,100.

Pilots, flight attendants and other employees have been calling in sick or having to quarantine after exposure to Covid, forcing Lufthansa, Delta, United Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines and many other short-staffed carriers to cancel flights during one of the year's peak travel periods.

"Help @united flight cancelled again. I want to get home for Christmas," one exasperated traveler from the US state of Vermont tweeted to the airline early Saturday.

Flightaware data showed United cancelled around 200 flights on Friday and nearly 250 Saturday -- about 10 percent of those that were scheduled.

A scramble to reroute pilots and planes and reassign employees was underway, but Omicron's surge has upended business.

"The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation," United said in a statement Friday.

"As a result, we've unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport," the airline said.

Similarly, Delta scrapped 310 flights Saturday and was already cancelling several dozen more Sunday, saying it has "exhausted all options and resources -- including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying."

"We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans," the company said.

The cancellations added to the pandemic frustration for many people eager to reunite with their families over the holidays, after last year's Christmas was severely curtailed.

Chinese airlines accounted for the highest number of cancellations, with China Eastern scrapping more than 1,000 flights, over 20 percent of its flight plan, on Friday and Saturday and Air China also grounding about 20 percent of its scheduled departures over the period.

- 'Treacherous' snow conditions -

According to estimates from the American Automobile Association, more than 109 million Americans were scheduled to travel by plane, train or automobile between December 23 and January 2, a 34 percent increase over last year.

But most of those plans were made before the outbreak of Omicron, which has become the dominant strain in the United States, overwhelming some hospitals and healthcare workers.

The state of New York announced Friday that it recorded 44,431 new daily positive Covid tests, a record, while new cases surged nationwide as well.

On the weather front, while unseasonably warm temperatures were bathing eastern states, the National Weather Service announced winter storm warnings including a deep freeze for significant parts of the west. 

"Anomalously cold conditions and a barrage of Pacific moisture results in prolonged periods of mountain snow and coastal/valley rain, some of which may fall heavy at times," the NWS said in an advisory.

An eye-popping two to four feet (61 to 122 centimeters) of snow was forecast to fall this weekend, with higher accumulation in some spots, in the northern and central Sierra mountains of California and Oregon.

Travel will be "treacherous to at times impossible" from the Sierras to the central Rocky Mountains at the weekend due to whiteout snow conditions, the NWS added.

Agence France-Presse

Omicron wave forces Lufthansa to axe 33,000 flights

German national carrier Lufthansa will cut its winter flight plan by "around 10 percent" as the spread of the Omicron variant fuels uncertainty about travel, chief executive Carsten Spohr said Thursday.

"From the middle of January to February, we see a sharp drop off in bookings", leading the airline to cancel "33,000 flights or about 10 percent" of its flights this winter, Spohr said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS).

"Above all we are missing passengers in our home markets of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium, because these countries have been hit hardest by the pandemic wave," Spohr said.

Europe's largest airline was currently running "about 60 percent" of flights compared with the pre-pandemic year 2019, carrying "roughly half" the number of passengers, the CEO said.

The number of cancellations would have been higher were the company not running 18,000 "extra, unnecessary flights just to secure our landing and takeoff rights," Spohr said.

The airline industry has been battered since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, with countless flights grounded in 2020 as countries closed their borders.

The European airports association ACI Europe estimated on Thursday that the number of passengers travelling through its members had dropped 20 percent since November 24, when the Omicron variant was first reported to the World Health Organization.

Germany has placed stricter limits on travellers coming from the United Kingdom and South Africa, among others, where the new variant has caused a surge in cases.

The sudden headwind for the industry also caused Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair to cut its planned January schedule by 33 percent this week.

- Sick pilots -

On Thursday, a Lufthansa spokesman told AFP the airline had already cancelled several transatlantic flights around Christmas, after the number of pilots calling in sick was greater than normal for this time of year.

Asked whether the absences were linked to the Omicron variant, the spokesman said he "could not speculate" as he did not have any information about the causes of illness.

In total, the airline has been forced to axe six flights between December 23 and 26, including services to Chicago, Boston and Washington.

The lack of personnel came despite Lufthansa's "big planned reserves" of crew, the spokesman said.

Swedish national carrier SAS on Wednesday also cancelled nine flights due to the coronavirus, after scrapping some 30 flights worldwide the day before.

Lufthansa posted its first operating profit since the beginning of the pandemic in the third quarter of this year, after a difficult 18 months.

The carrier booked an underlying, or operating loss of 5.5 billion euros ($6.2 billion) in 2020 and turned to the state for support.

In November, Lufthansa announced it had finished paying back the nine-billion-euro bailout it received from the government earlier than planned.

Agence France-Presse

Spain to adopt mask-wearing outdoors amid record virus surge

MADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is convening a special Cabinet meeting Thursday to pass a law by decree that makes it mandatory to wear masks outdoors, amid a record surge in COVID-19 cases.

Sánchez announced at a meeting with the leaders of regional governments Wednesday that he was consenting to their appeals to extend mask-wearing rules, his office said. A decree-law does not require a debate and vote in parliament before taking effect.

He also announced a raft of other measures, including an offer to deploy the armed forces to help the regions step up their vaccination rollout and put military hospital beds at their disposal if they are needed.

Sánchez said he is targeting 80% of the 60-69 age group to have received booster shots by the end of next week, among other goals.

Also, COVID-19 tests for professional use will temporarily be placed on sale at pharmacies, amid a reported shortage of tests, and medical teams will be reinforced with retired staff and specialists who earned their qualifications outside the European Union.

Furthermore, fully vaccinated people won’t need to quarantine if they have been in contact with an infected person - a measure that seemed to be aimed at avoiding the shortages of essential personnel.

Spain on Tuesday officially recorded almost 50,000 new cases of coronavirus. That’s higher than last January, when a surge placed the national health system under severe strain.

Spain is reporting almost 700 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 14 days, more than double the accumulated cases before last year’s Christmas holidays. The omicron strain has soared from 5% of new cases in Spain to 47% within one week.

Still, vaccinations are credited with sparing many people from the virus’s worst effects. While last January some 30,000 COVID-19 patients were in the hospital in Spain, now it’s fewer than 8,000.

Sánchez told the Spanish parliament Wednesday that 90% of the target population 12 and over is fully vaccinated.

He told lawmakers: “Don’t worry, families will be able to celebrate Christmas. Spain has prevailed.”

-Associated Press-

US Fed signals 3 rate hikes in the cards in 2022 as inflation fight begins

The Federal Reserve said it would end its pandemic-era bond purchases in March and pave the way for three quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes by the end of 2022 as the economy nears full employment and the US central bank copes with a surge of inflation.

"The economy no longer needs increasing amounts of policy support," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a news conference in which he contrasted the near-depression conditions at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 with today's environment of rising prices and wages and rapid improvement in the job market.

The pace of inflation is uncomfortably high, he said after the end of the Fed's latest two-day policy meeting, and "in my view, we are making rapid progress toward maximum employment," a combination of circumstances that has now convinced all Fed officials, even the most dovish, that it is time to exit more fully the pandemic policies put in place two years ago.

The scenario laid out by the central bank in its new policy statement and economic projections envisions the pandemic, despite the spread of the Omicron variant, giving way to a particularly benign set of economic conditions - a "soft landing" in which inflation eases largely on its own, interest rates increase comparatively slowly, and the unemployment rate is pinned to a low 3.5 percent level for three years.

Some analysts were skeptical.

"This is a forecast that implicitly has favorable developments that allow them to leave accommodation but get favorable inflation," said Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at Dreyfuss & Mellon, noting that the three-year rate hike cycle projected by Fed officials never reaches levels that would be considered restrictive, yet inflation is still expected to fall.

"Is that the way to bet?" he said.

The core of Fed officials thinks so. In their new economic projections, policymakers forecast that inflation would run at 2.6 percent next year, an increase over the 2.2 percent they projected in September, but then fall to 2.3 percent in 2023 and 2.1 percent in 2024.

Unemployment is seen dropping to 3.5 percent next year, well below the point Fed officials feel is sustainable in the long run, and remaining there through 2024.

As a result of that combination of rising prices and strong employment, officials at the median projected the Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate would need to rise from its current near-zero level to 0.90 percent by the end of 2022. That would kick off a hiking cycle that would see the policy rate climb to 1.6 percent in 2023 and 2.1 percent in 2024 - still loose by most estimates.

Dropped from the latest policy statement was any reference to inflation as "transitory," with the Fed instead acknowledging that price increases had exceeded its 2 percent target "for some time."

Annual inflation has been running at more than double the Fed's target in recent months.

To open the door to higher borrowing costs, the Fed announced it was doubling the pace of its bond-buying taper, putting it on track to end the purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) by March. Until recently, the central bank had been buying $120 billion of Treasuries and MBS each month to help fuel the economic recovery.

US stocks closed higher, with the S&P 500 gaining more than 1.6 percent, while yields on Treasury securities were also up. The dollar initially strengthened after the release of the Fed statement and projections before surrendering the gains to trade lower on the day against a basket of major trading partners' currencies.

Traders in interest rate futures were pricing a first rate hike in May, and two more by the end of 2022.

PRICE STABILITY

Though the Fed made any rate hikes contingent on some further improvement in the job market, the new policy projections left little doubt that borrowing costs will rise next year, absent a major economic shock. All 18 policymakers indicated at least a single rate increase would be appropriate before the end of 2022.

All told, the new projections and policy statement began to pin down the central bank's plan to exit the extraordinary monetary policy put in place in the spring of 2020 to nurse the economy through the fallout of the pandemic.

The health crisis is still underway, the Fed acknowledged, with the new variant adding to uncertainty about the course of the economy.

Powell, for example, told reporters that he would like to know how the US labor market will function after people are free of healthcare, childcare and other pandemic worries, but "it doesn't look like that is coming anytime soon."

Yet he also downplayed Omicron's potential economic risks, saying he did not expect the Fed would have to resume emergency bond purchases or take other steps to counter any fresh COVID-19 wave, and that economic performance would be less and less influenced by the pace of coronavirus infections.

Fed officials projected US economic growth of 4.0 percent next year, an increase over the 3.8 percent forecast in September and more than double the economy's underlying trend.

In some of his most pointed comments about inflation yet, Powell said that sharply rising prices had now emerged as a bigger threat to jobs than the pandemic.

"What we need is another long expansion," he said. "That's what it would really take to get back to the kind of labor market that we'd like to see, and to have that happen we need to make sure that we maintain price stability."

-reuters-

Italy tightens border rules amid omicron threat

Italy will tighten restrictions for arrivals from the rest of the EU from Thursday, requiring coronavirus tests of everyone and a five-day quarantine for those who are not vaccinated.

Previously, EU arrivals had to show proof of vaccination, recent recovery or a negative test.

The decree signed by Health Minister Roberto Speranza late on Tuesday "provides for the obligation of a negative test on departure for all arrivals from European Union countries", a spokesperson said.

"For the unvaccinated, in addition to the negative test, a five-day quarantine is planned."

Unvaccinated people arriving from outside the bloc must already quarantine, and tests are required of those with jabs.

The new measures, valid from December 16 to January 31, come as Europe battles a fresh wave of coronavirus infections sparked by the spread of the new Omicron variant.

Early data suggests it can be resistant to vaccines and is more transmissible than the Delta variant, which currently accounts for the bulk of the world's coronavirus cases.

Italy was the first EU country to experience a major outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020. 

In recent months, it has sought to control infections through the use of health pass showing proof of vaccination, recent recovery or a negative test for everything from going to work to eating in restaurants.

More than 20,000 new cases were reported in Italy on Tuesday, and another 120 deaths.

Agence France-Presse

Dutch authorities say 18 passengers from South Africa had Omicron

THE HAGUE—Dutch health authorities said on Saturday the final tally of passengers on two flights from South Africa last week who had tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant was 18.

The Netherlands' Institute for Health (RIVM) added in a statement that its investigation on passengers on the two flights has now been wrapped up.

The flights had already taken off on November 26 when the Dutch government introduced new travel restrictions due to worries about the newly detected Omicron variant.

More than 600 passengers traveling on the flights were kept isolated and tested for COVID-19, with 61 testing positive, including the 18 who were found to have the Omicron variant.

Those who tested positive but have no symptoms will be allowed out of isolation on Saturday while others will have to stay longer, the institute said.

It did not give details on the number of passengers that will be released from isolation. (Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg Editing by Helen Popper)

-reuters

LeBron James cleared to play after testing negative for COVID-19

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, placed in the NBA's health and safety protocol earlier this week after it was announced he had tested positive for COVID-19, has been cleared to return to action Friday.

After registering multiple negative tests for the virus, James was given the OK to play. He missed the Lakers' game Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings because he was in COVID protocol.

"James was originally placed in the Protocols on Tuesday, November 30 after a series of tests delivered conflicting results, including an initial positive test that was collected on November 29," a statement from the NBA said Thursday. "Additional testing confirmed that he is not a positive case."

The Athletic on Thursday quoted sources as saying James has had several negative tests since he returned to Los Angeles from Sacramento on Tuesday evening. The initial positive test turned out to be inconclusive upon being re-run.

The Lakers will host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.

In September, James said he received a vaccine for COVID despite being skeptical at first.

Vaccinated players still have to quarantine if they test positive, whether or not they show symptoms. Vaccinated players are not required to be quarantined for a close contact of a positive case, but they would then be tested for the coronavirus.

James has played in only 11 games this season due to an abdominal strain. He is averaging 25.8 points, 6.8 assists and 5.2 rebounds a game.

-reuters-

Omicron in Europe before South Africa reported first cases

THE HAGUE - The Omicron coronavirus variant was present in Europe before the first cases were reported in South Africa, new data from the Netherlands showed Tuesday, as Latin America reported its first two cases in Brazil.

In the week since the new virus strain was reported to the World Health Organization by South Africa, dozens of countries around the world have responded with travel restrictions -- most targeting southern African nations.

But the World Health Organization warned Tuesday -- as Canada expanded its restrictions to also include Egypt and Nigeria -- that "blanket" travel bans risked doing more harm than good.

And the likely futility of broad travel restrictions was underscored as Dutch authorities reported that Omicron was present in the country before South Africa officially reported its first cases, on November 25.

The new variant -- whose high number of mutations the WHO believes may make it more transmissible or resistant to vaccines -- was found in two Dutch test samples from November 19 and 23, with one having no travel history.

With countries now on alert for the Omicron variant, a clearer picture is emerging by the day of where it has been circulating, and for how long.

So far, well over a dozen countries and territories have detected cases, including Australia, Britain, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy and Portugal.

Among European countries, Belgium and Germany have both reported cases of the new strain prior to November 25, but both linked to foreign travel.

Latin America reported its first two cases Tuesday -- in people who traveled from South Africa to Brazil -- and a first case was confirmed in Japan, one day after it barred all foreign arrivals.

VACCINE RESISTANT?

While much is still unknown about the Omicron variant -- it could take weeks to determine whether and to what extent it is vaccine-resistant -- it has highlighted that the global fight against Covid-19 is far from over.

Asian, European and US markets all fell on Tuesday, while the benchmark US oil price tumbled more than five percent after the boss of vaccine manufacturer Moderna warned existing jabs might be less effective against the new variant.

"All the scientists I've talked to ... are like 'this is not going to be good'," Moderna boss Stephane Bancel told the Financial Times, warning against a "material drop" in the effectiveness of current jabs against Omicron.

Moderna, US drugmaker Pfizer and the backers of Russian vaccine Sputnik V are already working on an Omicron-specific vaccine.

On the treatment front, meanwhile, a panel of US health experts voted Tuesday to endorse Merck's Covid pill for high-risk adult patients, which is already authorized in Britain.

'HEAVY BURDEN'

In a briefing to WHO member states, the body's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was understandable for countries to seek to protect their citizens "against a variant we don't yet fully understand".

But he called for the global response to be "calm, coordinated and coherent", urging nations to "take rational, proportional risk-reduction measures".

The UN agency cautioned in a travel advisory that "blanket" travel bans risked placing a "heavy burden on lives and livelihoods" and could ultimately dissuade countries from sharing data about the evolving virus -- as South Africa did in reporting the latest variant.

But it did advise that people not fully vaccinated and considered vulnerable to Covid-19, including over-60s, should put off travel to areas with community transmission of the virus -- after correcting a previous statement that indicated all over-60s should defer travel.

TOUGHER MEASURES

Omicron has emerged as much of the world was already bracing for a new winter wave of the pandemic -- leaving even nations with high vaccination rates scrambling to stem infections and prevent health services from being overwhelmed. 

Governments, particularly in western Europe, have already reintroduced mandatory mask-wearing, social-distancing measures, curfews or lockdowns -- leaving businesses fearing another grim Christmas.

In Germany, incoming Chancellor Olaf Scholz said parliament would vote on making Covid vaccines compulsory by the end of the year -- and a source from Scholz's party told AFP he had "signaled his sympathy" for such a rule.

Greece went ahead Tuesday in making vaccines compulsory for over-60s, while Norway will offer booster shots to all adults before Easter, as preferable to a lockdown.

Britain meanwhile set a target of delivering third jabs to all adults within two months, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying vaccination centers would be "popping up like Christmas trees."

Agence France-Presse

From Hollywood to Detroit, pandemic-weary companies cautious on Omicron

Pandemic-weary corporations struggled to assess the impact of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus on Monday, with industries from Hollywood movie studios to airlines and autos awaiting more details to help determine how it might affect their operations and profits.

The World Health Organization warned on Monday the Omicron variant carries a very high global risk of infection surges. Spooked investors wiped roughly $2 trillion off global stocks on Friday, but markets regained some ground on Monday.

Countries have swiftly imposed bans on travel from southern Africa, where the variant was first uncovered. Japan and Israel went even further, announcing bans on all foreign visitors.

Some airlines said they were not heavily changing schedules, but industry sources said big carriers moved swiftly to protect their hubs by curbing passenger travel from southern Africa.

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary saw no reason to cancel flights although he was worried about some countries potentially shutting air travel. Lufthansa, Germany's flagship airline, said its flights were still well booked.

US President Joe Biden met with chief executives of major retailers and other companies on Monday to discuss how to move goods to shelves as the US holiday shopping season begins in the shadow of Omicron.

Before the meeting, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon cited improvement in the supply chain, noting the retailer had seen a 26% increase in shipping containers going through U.S. ports over the past four weeks.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Monday it was too soon to tell if Omicron will have any impact on global supply chains.

The prospect of a fast-spreading variant has raised fears of a return of the sort of restrictions that shut down a swathe of industries in 2020.

In Hollywood, where production on film and television shows returned to pre-pandemic levels this summer thanks to stringent health and safety precautions, the studios were waiting to learn more about this latest mutation of the coronavirus.

"With COVID, it keeps shape shifting. It's like mercury -- we can't get our hands around it," said Dr. Neal Baer, a physician who was a longtime producer of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

"It's going to take a couple of weeks for us to know, one, how well vaccinations protect us, two, whether you need a booster and whether a booster helps or three, whether the vaccine needs to be modified to make it effective against this mutation."

Movie theater attendance has been returning in fits and starts since the summer, but a spokesman for the National Association of Theatre Owners said variants remain a concern -- especially after the pullback in attendance that accompanied the Delta variant.

In the United States, auto plants were closed for two months last year. Even after automakers restarted operations, they have curtailed production schedules due to semiconductor chip shortages and other supply-chain constraints. Automakers said it was too soon to predict the impact of Omicron.

"This is new," Nissan Motor Co's US spokeswoman Lloryn love-Carter said. "We're monitoring of course, but we still have a lot of pretty strict COVID protocols in place."

General Motors Co, the largest US automaker, said it was watching closely and its COVID-19 safety protocols remain in place at its plants.

"We continue to strongly encourage our employees to get vaccinated given the broad availability of safe and highly efficacious vaccines," GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal said in an email. "We will continue to review and adjust our protocols as new information regarding this variant becomes available."

Toyota Motor Corp said its US management team will meet on Tuesday to discuss the Omicron variant.

"Right now we're in the 'gathering info' mode," Toyota's U.S. spokesman Scott Vazin said. "Since most of our employees are based in plants, we've never stopped COVID protocols such as social distancing, health screenings, masking up." 

(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit, additional reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles, Tim Hepher in Paris and Alex Alper in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff, Bill Berkrot and Sandra Maler)

-reuters-  

Thailand bans entry from 8 African countries over COVID Omicron variant

BANGKOK—Thailand said on Saturday it would ban the entry of people traveling from 8 African countries it designated as high risk for the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Starting in December, travel from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, will be prohibited, senior health official Opas Karnkawinpong told a news conference.

Thailand will not allow travelers from these countries to register to travel to Thailand starting on Saturday, he said.

The announcement came as other countries in Asia tighten borders over worries about the B 1.1.529 variant. The World Health Organization designated it the latest "variant of concern," saying it may spread more quickly than other forms.

"We have notified airlines and these countries," Opas said adding that travelers from other African countries will not be allowed to use the country's quarantine-free travel scheme for vaccinated travelers. (Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and William Mallard)

-reuters-