England rules out new Covid restrictions before New Year


Tim Stickings
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England will not face new coronavirus restrictions before the New Year, the UK's Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced on Monday.

The government delivered its verdict after Prime Minister Boris Johnson was briefed on the latest figures, which showed an uncertain picture as the Christmas weekend led to incomplete data on the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

The UK reported 98,515 new cases on Monday as part of a three-day batch of figures. It was not enough to persuade ministers to impose restrictions which are fiercely opposed by many of their own Conservative MPs.

Mr Javid said people should take lateral flow tests and celebrate the New Year outside where possible, but said there would be no new measures before December 31 — making England an outlier after the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland brought in restrictions on Boxing Day.

“When we get into the New Year, of course we will see then whether we do need to take any further measures — but nothing more until then at least,” Mr Javid said.

He said vaccines were the best defence against the variant, with disproportionate numbers of unprotected people being admitted to hospital with Covid-19. The large infection numbers and staff sickness in the National Health Service have led to fears of medical facilities being overwhelmed.

In the first data release since Christmas Eve, Britain announced more than 300,000 new cases over three days, with 113,628 reported on Christmas Day and 108,893 on Boxing Day.

While the raw numbers would imply a slowdown in infection growth since last week, the government cautioned that the figures were incomplete over the Christmas weekend. There were 146 new deaths announced over three days.

Although England will not impose New Year restrictions, many people had their travel plans thrown into chaos as the Omicron variant causes fresh havoc for the air industry.

The travel problems continued into Monday as dozens of transatlantic flights were cancelled amid staff shortages linked to the pandemic. It followed a Christmas weekend plagued by logistical issues, with multiple airlines describing shortages of staff due to sickness and isolation.

Monday’s cancelled flights included trips to North America from London, Amsterdam and Berlin, with almost 2,000 journeys scrapped in all, tracking website FlightAware showed.

  • A member of staff walks through a ward for Covid-19 patients at King's College Hospital in London. PA
    A member of staff walks through a ward for Covid-19 patients at King's College Hospital in London. PA
  • A sign urging residents to wear face masks in Nottingham. People who have tested positive for the coronavirus will now be able to leave home on day seven if they have two negative tests. AP
    A sign urging residents to wear face masks in Nottingham. People who have tested positive for the coronavirus will now be able to leave home on day seven if they have two negative tests. AP
  • A waiter cleans a table at an empty restaurant in London. Authorities are still urging people to stay at home amid fears over the Omicron coronavirus variant. Reuters
    A waiter cleans a table at an empty restaurant in London. Authorities are still urging people to stay at home amid fears over the Omicron coronavirus variant. Reuters
  • Passengers wearing Santa hats sit on the top deck of a tour bus as they view the Christmas lights in central London. AFP
    Passengers wearing Santa hats sit on the top deck of a tour bus as they view the Christmas lights in central London. AFP
  • Nurses work at a desk surrounded by Christmas decorations in a ward for Covid-19 patients at King's College Hospital. PA
    Nurses work at a desk surrounded by Christmas decorations in a ward for Covid-19 patients at King's College Hospital. PA
  • Empty tables outside a restaurant in the Seven Dials district of London. Covid-19 infections have surged in recent days, authorities say. AFP
    Empty tables outside a restaurant in the Seven Dials district of London. Covid-19 infections have surged in recent days, authorities say. AFP
  • People receive a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at a temporary clinic set up in the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast. AFP
    People receive a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at a temporary clinic set up in the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast. AFP
  • Shoppers stroll through Carnaby Street in London. AP
    Shoppers stroll through Carnaby Street in London. AP
  • People, most of them without masks, skate around the Christmas tree at the Natural History Museum in London. Reuters
    People, most of them without masks, skate around the Christmas tree at the Natural History Museum in London. Reuters
  • Health workers speak with a patient inside a vaccination centre in Liverpool. AFP
    Health workers speak with a patient inside a vaccination centre in Liverpool. AFP
  • Tourists cross Westminster Bridge in London. AP
    Tourists cross Westminster Bridge in London. AP
  • A sign outside the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, which has been forced to close its doors for a week due to staff shortages related to coronavirus. PA
    A sign outside the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, which has been forced to close its doors for a week due to staff shortages related to coronavirus. PA
  • Commuters at a quiet Waterloo Station in south London. PA
    Commuters at a quiet Waterloo Station in south London. PA

Lufthansa, Delta, United Airlines, British Airways, Alaska Airlines are among the airlines that have been forced to cancel flights. US travel stocks retreated on Monday, with Delta and American Airlines showing some of the biggest declines.

The airline JetBlue said it entered the holiday season with “the highest staffing levels we've had since the pandemic began".

But “despite our best efforts, we've had to cancel a number of flights, and additional flight cancellations and other delays remain a possibility as we see more Omicron community spread”, it said.

The spread of the Omicron variant has dealt a setback to the resumption of international travel after two bruising years of restrictions. London’s busy Heathrow Airport is advising passengers to arrive three hours early even for short-haul flights because of the extra checks needed.

Many governments in Europe have also brought back domestic curbs, such as limits on social gatherings and reduced opening times for restaurants, while they race to hand out booster vaccines against Covid-19.

Although there are early signs that Omicron causes less severe illness than the previously dominant Delta variant, the picture was thrown into uncertainty by limited testing over the Christmas period.

NHS staff outside the Royal London Hospital in the UK. EPA
NHS staff outside the Royal London Hospital in the UK. EPA

Debate over new measures

Some German states introduced tougher measures from Monday, including limits of 10 people meeting indoors and 50 outdoors. The Netherlands is spending the holiday season under a strict lockdown.

French ministers are looking at tightening restrictions to slow the spread of the variant. One idea being considered is closing the current get-out clauses in France's health pass so that only fully vaccinated people have access to restaurants, cinemas and cultural venues.

And while the British government has said it would not enact New Year's restrictions, measures announced by the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland took effect on Sunday, limiting crowds at traditional Boxing Day sports fixtures.

One MP, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said it was too early to judge the impact of higher cases on hospital admissions. He said the other UK nations were “doing more damage to people’s liberties than they need to” by moving to limit social contacts.

“At the moment, I would urge caution because of the damage to the economy and the damage to individuals by locking them down unnecessarily,” he told Times Radio.

On the other side of the debate, the government’s scientific advisers said that the NHS could be overwhelmed by rising admissions.

Alison Leary, chairwoman of healthcare and workforce modelling at London Southbank University, said as much as 40 per cent of the capital's NHS workforce could be off work under her “worst-case scenario” workings.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World At One programme, she said: “The NHS is in a fairly fragile state in terms of workforce anyway — that's fairly well documented — and the increased absence rate due to Covid and Omicron in particular are putting a lot more strain on the system.”

The Book of Collateral Damage

Sinan Antoon

(Yale University Press)

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

Five hymns the crowds can join in

Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday

Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir

Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium

‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song

‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar

‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion

‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope

The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’

There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia

The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ

They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening 

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Draw for Europa League last-16

Istanbul Basaksehir v Copenhagen; Olympiakos Piraeus v Wolverhampton Wanderers

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Results

Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent

Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent

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Total eligible population

About 57.5 million people
51.1 million received a jab
6.4 million have not

Where are the unvaccinated?

England 11%
Scotland 9%
Wales 10%
Northern Ireland 14% 

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Updated: December 27, 2021, 5:38 PM