Omicron variable and bad weather cause more than 3,600 flight cancellations around the world

More than 3,600 flights were canceled worldwide on Sunday (2). More than half of them, about 2,100, are only in United State . In addition, more than 6,400 flights have been postponed. The information is from the FlightAware website. The main reasons for cancellations and delays are the rapid progression of the coronavirus omicron variant and, in some cases, bad weather.

Although the holiday season is traditionally the peak time for all airlines, the rapid spread of the Ômicron variant has spoiled the plans of many travelers. The main reason for the cancellation was the large number of flight attendants, pilots and airline staff in general who were unable to work due to contracting Covid-19.

The world has seen a rapid increase in new cases of the disease since October, according to the World Health Organization.

In the past week, the largest increase in the number of new cases occurred in the Americas, an increase of 39% from the previous week. In absolute numbers, there have been 1.4 million new infections: nearly 1.2 million have occurred in United State, 80,000 were seen in Canada and about 66,000 in Argentina.

In Europe, there were 2.8 million new cases per week, of which 611,000 were in the United Kingdom, 504,000 in France, and 257,000 in Italy.

Covid-19 vaccine – Publicity image Divinópolis City Hall – Photo: Divinópolis City Hall / Publicity

In December, Brazil recorded 4,355 deaths from Covid-19 – the lowest number since March 2020, according to data collected by the Federation of Press Vehicles from the country’s health secretariats (see chart below).

It is possible, however, that there is This number is underreported – that is, the number of deaths actually recorded per month is higher.

Despite the darkening of data for part of the month, vaccination was also responsible for the drop in deaths in Brazil: the country reached the end of 2021 with 67% of the entire population vaccinated against Covid-19.

The percentage is close to the target proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for all countries of the world by mid-2022. The entity has set as a target that each country should vaccinate 40% of its population by December last year. Brazil reached that percentage in September.

Experts consulted by G1 assessed that, for this year, measures such as mass vaccination and continuous surveillance (to quickly identify and isolate positive cases) should be strengthened – as well as clear communication from government officials and the use of masks.