New measures to combat the new omicron variant of coronavirus took effect in England on Tuesday, with face coverings again compulsory in shops and on public transportation, as the government said it would offer all adults a booster dose of vaccine within two months to bolster the nation’s immunity.
From Tuesday morning, all travellers returning to the U.K. must also take a PCR test and self-isolate until they receive a negative result. Previously they had been able to take a lateral flow test and no quarantine was required.
The reintroduction of mandatory face masks brings England closer in line with the rest of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — which had kept some restrictions in place after England lifted all mandatory measures in the summer.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the new measures will “buy us time” in the face of the new variant. He said that while many people felt an understandable “sense of exhaustion” at the prospect of renewed restrictions, the U.K.’s position is “immeasurably better than it was a year ago.”
The government said Tuesday that 22 cases of the omicron variant have been identified across the U.K., a number that is expected to rise.
Much remains unknown about the new variant that was first identified in southern Africa, including how contagious it might be. It contains a large number of mutations that scientists say may make it more resistant to current vaccines than the currently dominant delta variant.
U.K. booster program expanding
Johnson’s government is expanding its booster vaccine program, with a booster dose to be offered to everyone 18 and up, three months after the second shot — halving the current gap. Until now, only people 40 and over and those deemed clinically vulnerable were eligible for the booster shot.
Britain has already delivered more than 18 million booster shots, and the change in advice makes another 14 million people eligible.
Johnson said at a news conference that the goal was to offer everyone a booster shot by the end of January. He said the shots would be given at hospitals, doctors’ offices, pop-up vaccination centres and more than 1,500 community pharmacies, with 400 troops called in to help medics and a “jabs army” of volunteer vaccinators.
“We’re going to be throwing everything at it in order to ensure that everyone eligible is offered that booster in just over two months,” Johnson said.
Jenny Harries, who heads the U.K. Health Security Agency, said that while there was still uncertainty in understanding the omicron variant, officials hope that the expansion of the booster shot rollout will “to some extent counter the potential drop in vaccine effectiveness we might find with this variant.”
She also urged people to be cautious and reduce socializing over the festive season if possible.
When asked if he agreed with Harries’ advice for the public to change their behaviour, Johnson told reporters “it’s always sensible to be careful,” but his government had no plans to change the “overall guidance about how people should be living their lives.”
WATCH | The omicron variant and what scientists will be looking for in weeks ahead:
Expert explains what we need to know about the new variant
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Researchers are expecting to get information this week on how effective current coronavirus vaccines are against omicron, says infectious diseases researcher Craig Jenne. Vaccine efficacy is one of four key areas that are being studied, he says. 8:54
It remains unclear where or when the variant first emerged — but that hasn’t stopped wary nations from rushing to impose travel restrictions, especially on people coming from southern Africa. Those moves have been criticized by South Africa and the World Health Organization (WHO) has urged against them, noting their limited effect.
Much is still unknown about the variant — though WHO warned that the global risk from the variant is “very high” and early evidence suggests it could be more contagious.
While it has urged against border closures, WHO has stressed that while scientists are hunting evidence to better understand this variant, countries should accelerate vaccinations as quickly as possible.
-From The Associated Press, last updated at 12:15 p.m. ET
What’s happening across Canada
WATCH | Omicron variant puts hundreds in isolation awaiting test result:
Omicron variant puts hundreds in isolation awaiting test results
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Hundreds of Canadians are in isolation after recently returning from one of the southern African countries on the no-travel list as officials determine what public health measures might be needed to prevent a spike in cases. 2:09
What’s happening around the world
As of early Tuesday afternoon more than 262.4 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to the case-tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 5.2 million.
In Africa, South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, is speaking out against travel bans, saying they punish his country for transparently disclosing information about a new variant.
“We are also insisting that these bans must be removed, they must be lifted,” the president said of bans on travellers from several southern African nations. “Because you do not try and contain a virus through imposing bans unscientifically and indiscriminately.”
In Europe, the omicron variant was already in the Netherlands when South Africa alerted WHO about it last week, Dutch health authorities said Tuesday, adding to fear and confusion over the new version of the coronavirus in a weary world hoping it had left the worst of the pandemic behind. The Netherlands’ RIVM health institute found omicron in samples dating from Nov. 19 and 23. WHO said South Africa first reported the variant to the UN health agency on Nov. 24.
The Dutch announcement Tuesday further muddies the timeline on when the new variant actually emerged. Previously, the Dutch had said they found the variant among passengers who came from South Africa on Friday — but these new cases predate that.
Epidemiological update for 30/11 on the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Omicron?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Omicron</a> variant: 44 confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron have been reported by eleven EU/EEA countries, according to information from public sources.<br><br>More info:<a href=”https://t.co/0WPE8IgGRy”>https://t.co/0WPE8IgGRy</a>
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 incidence rate has dropped slightly in Germany and Austria and stabilized in the Netherlands since the three countries introduced new measures to curb the spread of the virus, new data showed. After becoming hot spots in a new wave of infections in western Europe, Austria went into a fourth full lockdown last week and the Netherlands and Germany imposed new restrictions.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong expanded a ban on entry for non-residents from several countries as global health authorities raced to curb a potential outbreak of the omicron virus, while Australia is set to review containment steps after five people tested positive.
Cambodia barred entry to travellers from 10 African countries, citing the threat from the variant. The move came just two weeks after Cambodia reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travellers.
LISTEN | New variant sparks increased calls for vaccine equity and patent waivers:
The Current20:09Omicron variant drives calls for vaccine equity, waiving of patents
The emergence of the omicron coronavirus variant is sparking fresh calls for vaccine equity, including calls to temporarily waive patents around vaccine production. 20:09
In the Americas, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said everyone aged 18 years and older should get a booster shot either six months after their initial Pfizer or Moderna vaccine doses or two months after their Johnson & Johnson shot.
Ecuador will impose entry curbs on travellers flying from or via a number of African countries and will request vaccine certificates from those arriving from other countries due to the new omicron variant, President Guillermo Lasso said on Monday.
In the Middle East, Iran on Monday reported 4,310 new cases of COVID-19 and 82 additional deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University’s case tracker.
-From Reuters, The Associated Press and CBC News, last updated at 12:05 p.m. ET
Have questions about this story? We’re answering as many as we can in the comments.
Braxton Whitehead said Friday he has verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first member of a Canadian Hockey League team to attempt to play the sport at the Division I U.S. college level since a lawsuit was filed challenging the NCAA’s longstanding ban on players it deems to be professionals.
Whitehead posted on social media he plans to play for the Sun Devils beginning in the 2025-26 season.
An Arizona State spokesperson said the school could not comment on verbal commitments, citing NCAA rules. A message left with the CHL was not immediately returned.
A class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, could change the landscape for players from the CHL’s Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. NCAA bylaws consider them professional leagues and bar players from there from the college ranks.
Online court records show the NCAA has not made any response to the lawsuit since it was filed.
“We’re pleased that Arizona State has made this decision, and we’re hopeful that our case will result in many other Division I programs following suit and the NCAA eliminating its ban on CHL players,” Stephen Lagos, one of the lawyers who launched the lawsuit, told The Associated Press in an email.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson, of Fort Erie, Ontario, who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. And it lists 10 Division 1 hockey programs, which were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.
CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).
The implications of the lawsuit could be far-reaching. If successful, the case could increase competition for college-age talent between North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players.
“I think that everyone involved in our coaches association is aware of some of the transformational changes that are occurring in collegiate athletics,” Forrest Karr, executive director of American Hockey Coaches Association and Minnesota-Duluth athletic director said last month. “And we are trying to be proactive and trying to learn what we can about those changes.
Karr was not immediately available for comment on Friday.
Earlier this year, Karr established two committees — one each overseeing men’s and women’s hockey — to respond to various questions on eligibility submitted to the group by the NCAA. The men’s committee was scheduled to go over its responses two weeks ago.
Former Minnesota coach and Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Don Lucia said at the time that the lawsuit provides the opportunity for stakeholders to look at the situation.
“I don’t know if it would be necessarily settled through the courts or changes at the NCAA level, but I think the time is certainly fast approaching where some decisions will be made in the near future of what the eligibility will look like for a player that plays in the CHL and NCAA,” Lucia said.
Whitehead, a 20-year-old forward from Alaska who has developed into a point-a-game player, said he plans to play again this season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.
“The WHL has given me an incredible opportunity to develop as a player, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Whitehead posted on Instagram.
His addition is the latest boon for Arizona State hockey, a program that has blossomed in the desert far from traditional places like Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan since entering Division I in 2015. It has already produced NHL talent, including Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord and Josh Doan, the son of longtime Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who now plays for Utah after that team moved from the Phoenix area to Salt Lake City.
A community legal clinic in Kingston, Ont., is denouncing the mayor’s calls to clear an encampment and close a supervised consumption site in the city following a series of alleged assaults that left two people dead and one seriously injured.
Kingston police said they were called to an encampment near a safe injection site on Thursday morning, where they allege a 47-year-old male suspect wielded an edged or blunt weapon and attacked three people. Police said he was arrested after officers negotiated with him for several hours.
The suspect is now facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
In a social media post, Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said he was “absolutely horrified” by the situation.
“We need to clear the encampment, close this safe injection site and the (Integrated Care Hub) until we can find a better way to support our most vulnerable residents,” he wrote.
The Kingston Community Legal Clinic called Paterson’s comments “premature and misguided” on Friday, arguing that such moves could lead to a rise in overdoses, fewer shelter beds and more homelessness.
In a phone interview, Paterson said the encampment was built around the Integrated Care Hub and safe injection site about three years ago. He said the encampment has created a “dangerous situation” in the area and has frequently been the site of fires, assaults and other public safety concerns.
“We have to find a way to be able to provide the services that people need, being empathetic and compassionate to those struggling with homelessness and mental health and addictions issues,” said Paterson, noting that the safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub are not operated by the city.
“But we cannot turn a blind eye to the very real public safety issues.”
When asked how encampment residents and people who use the services would be supported if the sites were closed, Paterson said the city would work with community partners to “find the best way forward” and introduce short-term and long-term changes.
Keeping the status quo “would be a terrible failure,” he argued.
John Done, executive director of the Kingston Community Legal Clinic, criticized the mayor’s comments and said many of the people residing in the encampment may be particularly vulnerable to overdoses and death. The safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub saves lives, he said.
Taking away those services, he said, would be “irresponsible.”
Done said the legal clinic represented several residents of the encampment when the City of Kingston made a court application last summer to clear the encampment. The court found such an injunction would be unconstitutional, he said.
Done added there’s “no reason” to attach blame while the investigation into Thursday’s attacks is ongoing. The two people who died have been identified as 38-year-old Taylor Wilkinson and 41-year-old John Hood.
“There isn’t going to be a quick, easy solution for the fact of homelessness, drug addictions in Kingston,” Done said. “So I would ask the mayor to do what he’s trained to do, which is to simply pause until we have more information.”
The concern surrounding the safe injection site in Kingston follows a recent shift in Ontario’s approach to the overdose crisis.
Last month, the province announced that it would close 10 supervised consumption sites because they’re too close to schools and daycares, and prohibit any new ones from opening as it moves to an abstinence-based treatment model.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
