FRANCE 24 English published this video item, entitled “Covid-19 in the UK: ‘Ultimately, we can enjoy Christmas with our family without being too concerned'” – below is their description.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday he was looking at all kinds of measures to keep Omicron under control, cautioning that further restrictions might be needed. Dr. Paul Hunter, Professor of Medicine at the University of East Anglia, has reason for optimism and does not believe the UK would need to follow the paths of Austria and the Netherlands over the holiday season by imposing strict lockdowns. “It seems to have leveled off,” assures Dr. Hunter. “At the moment we’re not seeing a huge increase in hospitalizations.” This could very well be due, in part, to the UK’s decision to “carry on” during the summer months, and allowing there to be higher numbers of infections circulating, in the lead-up to the Omicron variant, asserts Dr. Hunter. “One of the advantages of opening up in July is that we would have more cases in the summer when we were better able to manage them.” He attests to the fact that this might have been a determining factor in allowing the UK to stave off the brunt of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
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About This Source - FRANCE 24 English
The video item below is a piece of English language content from France 24. France 24 is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris.
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked East Alpine country in the southern part of Central Europe. It is composed of nine federated states, one of which is Vienna, Austria’s capital and its largest city.
It is bordered by Germany to the northwest; the Czech Republic to the north; Slovakia to the northeast; Hungary to the east; Slovenia and Italy to the south; and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.
Austria occupies an area of 83,879 km2 (32,386 sq mi) and has a population of nearly 9 million people. While German is the country’s official language, many Austrians communicate informally in a variety of Bavarian dialects.
Covid-19 is the official WHO name given to the novel coronavirus which broke out in late 2019 and began to spread in the early months of 2020.
Symptoms of coronavirus
The main symptoms of coronavirus are:
a persistent new cough (non productive, dry)
a high temperature (e.g. head feels warm to the touch)
shortness of breath (if this is abnormal for the individual, or increased)
Latest News about Covid-19
Below are stories from around the globe related to the 2020 outbreak of novel Coronavirus – since the WHO gave the Covid-19 naming. Most recent items are posted nearest the top.
France is a republic and the largest Western European nation. Through expansion and colonisation in the 17th and 18th centuries France became a great power and still retains territories around the world. It has a seat on the UN security council and is the world’s fourth most wealthy country with a high standard of living and strong cultural identity.
The Netherlands, informally Holland, is a country primarily located in Western Europe and partly in the Caribbean, forming the largest constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In Europe, it consists of 12 provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with those countries and the United Kingdom. In the Caribbean, it consists of three special municipalities: the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. The country’s official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland, and English and Papiamentu as secondary official languages in the Caribbean Netherlands. Dutch Low Saxon and Limburgish are recognised regional languages (spoken in the east and southeast respectively), while Sinte Romani and Yiddish are recognised non-territorial languages.
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 (also known as B.1.1.529) has been declared a Variant of Concern.
The Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) is an independent group of experts that periodically monitors and evaluates the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and assesses if specific mutations and combinations of mutations alter the behaviour of the virus. The TAG-VE was convened on 26 November 2021 to assess the SARS-CoV-2 variant: B.1.1.529 – which is known as Omicron – the group declared the variant a Variant of Concern.