covid-19

During almost any other year, a look ahead to what the future holds for aviation would almost certainly be centered on exciting things like new airplanes, airlines and airports. But it would be impossible to discuss any developments in the industry for 2022 without making reference to Covid-19 variants, restrictions and challenges to airlines.

Ongoing legal complaints about the COVID-19 vaccine pass system are feared to be hampering the government's booster shot rollout, which may cause setbacks in its quarantine strategies amid the increasing spread of the Omicron variant.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he "really wants to p**s off" unvaccinated people, intensifying a heated political debate over strict new rules for those who have refused the shot.

Japan's central and local governments as well as many companies started the year's first day of work Tuesday amid growing fear over the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

The highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been spreading rapidly in India, where daily infections are setting new records.

Debate is heating up over the government's planned expansion of the coronavirus vaccine pass system to department stores and large retailers, which has prompted a strong backlash from unvaccinated individuals, who argue that their freedoms will be excessively limited if the system is implemented there.

The French and British governments have confirmed that Britons living in EU countries other than France will be allowed to drive through the country to return home over the holiday period.

2021 wasn't supposed to end like this. The year dawned in a blaze of hope that new, effective Covid-19 vaccines -- free and available to all -- would deliver the country from the worst public health emergency in 100 years, in which 350,000 Americans had already died. The promise of a new President, Joe Biden, to shut down the virus rang in the nation's ears after his predecessor had lied about Covid-19's severity, botched the government response and prized his political goals over its health.

The UN health agency chief expressed optimism during a press briefing on Wednesday that 2022 may be the year the world ends the acute stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Omicron still poses a "very high" risk and could overwhelm healthcare systems, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.