Covid-19: Air travel sees turbulent start to 2022 over Omicron worries

New York shatters the record for daily Covid numbers with over 85,000 cases

More than 3,000 flights were cancelled around the world on Sunday, more than half of them U.S. flights, adding to the toll of holiday week travel disruptions due to adverse weather and the surge in coronavirus cases caused by the Omicron variant.

Over 3,300 flights had been cancelled by noon GMT on Sunday, including over 1,900 entering, departing from or within the United States, according to a running tally on the tracking website FlightAware.com. Including those delayed but not cancelled, more than 4,800 flights were delayed in total.

The Christmas and New Year holidays are typically a peak time for air travel, but the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has led to a sharp increase in Covid-19 infections, forcing airlines to cancel flights as pilots and crew quarantine.

Transportation agencies across the United States were also suspending or reducing services due to coronavirus-related staff shortages.

Omicron has brought record case counts and dampened New Year festivities around much of the world.

The rise in U.S. Covid-19 cases had caused some companies to change plans to increase the number of employees working from their offices from Monday.

Chevron Corp was to start a full return to office from Jan. 3 but told employees in late December it was postponing the move indefinitely.

U.S. airline cabin crew, pilots and support staff were reluctant to work overtime during the holiday travel season, despite offers of hefty financial incentives. 

Many workers feared contracting Covid-19 and did not welcome the prospect of dealing with unruly passengers, some airline unions said.

New York sees record cases

New York state recorded more than 85,000 new coronavirus cases on the last day of 2021, the highest one-day total in the state since the pandemic began, officials announced Saturday.

The number of positive test results — 85,476, or roughly 22 per cent of the total tests reported by the state — once again outstripped a record set just the day before. And New York’s turbocharged increase in cases shows no signs of slowing, with new infections from holiday travel and gatherings most likely not yet reflected in official counts. “As we fight the winter surge, we need to keep the most vulnerable among us in mind — do what you can to keep others in your community safe from Covid-19,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement announcing the state’s latest totals. “Wear a mask, wash your hands and take advantage of the best tool we have at our disposal — the vaccine.”

New York is one of several hot spots — along with Washington, DC, and other Eastern states — leading a national surge. On Thursday, a record 585,013 new cases were recorded nationwide, and hospitalizations are trending upward acrossthe country.

In the previous 24 hours in New York state, nearly 90,000 vaccine doses had been administered, according to Hochul’s statement. Eighty-eight deaths in the state were attributed to Covid. Nationally, there were 1,181 Covid deaths recorded Friday, according  to a New York Times database.

Meanwhile, the U.K. is trying various strategies to limit the impact of record high Covid-19 cases on health care and other sectors, while attempting to stay true to a vow to avoid new lockdowns. 

Among the latest moves, Boris Johnson’s government is developing contingency plans to help companies and supply chains avoid disruptions caused by rising staff absences, the Financial Times reported. 

It’s asked private businesses to test the plans against a worst-case scenario of as much as 25% in workforce absences, according to the newspaper.

Surge in Omicron cases could help Israel reach herd immunity: Govt 

A surge of Omicron infections could see Israel reaching herd immunity, the country's top health official said on Sunday as daily cases continued to climb. Until late December, Israel managed to stave off Omicron to some degree but with infection rates now gaining pace, daily cases are expected to reach record highs in the coming three weeks. This could result in herd immunity, said director-general of the health ministry, Nachman Ash. "The cost will be a great many infections," Ash told a radio station. (Reuters)

China’s Xian continues to reel from Covid surge

The Chinese city of Xian, which has been under lockdown for the past ten days, continued to reel under a major Covid-19 outbreak in the New Year, with cases breaching the 1,500-mark, while 200 fresh cases were reported in other parts of the country, local authorities said. Xian reported 122 locally transmitted cases on Saturday.