Back Story Newsletter
Good morning,
Covid Spread, Again
It’s hard to imagine this Christmas is again becoming uncertain in a current wave of Covid driven by Delta and Omicron variants.
Around the world covid cases are spiking, and people are being urged to get a booster jab because the two dose vaccines are not sufficient.
In the UK the Queen has cancelled a pre Christmas family lunch, with the spread of Covid now as high as an ‘R rate of 5, meaning for every one person with Covid, 5 more are being infected by that person.
The numbers of cases is doubling every 2 days with record highs of infected in one day'; 88,000 people in Britain yesterday.
In the U.S. President Biden has warned of “a winter of severe illness and death”.
The G7 has called the Omicron variant the “biggest current threat to global public health”, warning it is now “more important than ever” for countries to “closely cooperate”.
French President Macron has said he would decide on further measures to protect the public based on hospital numbers rather than infections. But here’s the problem with that approach - there is a two to three week lag in being able to reduce infections with public distancing measures from the time a Government acts.
This virus spreads so quickly, that it will potentially swamp hospitals and if authorities don’t act sooner, to slow it down, it could be devastating for Doctors and health care workers. There are questions about how severe the Omicron will be, but it’s not to be compared to a flu virus. It is severe and causes death.
Expect more lockdowns or severe public restrictions as the virus spreads.
The 27 leaders of the European Union have struggled to find a common position on travel restrictions and additional measures to prevent the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
Following a summit in Brussels, they released a statement saying that any new restrictions should be "based on objective criteria and not undermine the functioning of the Single Market or disproportionately hamper free movement between EU member states."
Politics in Britain
Over night Boris Johnsons Conservative party took a thumping loss in a North Shropshire, and the Liberal Democrat party claimed victory.
It’s a major loss for Johnson because it all boils down to him embroiled in a scandal that won’t go away, swirling around emerging details how he and his staff participated in parties at Number 10 Downing Street, the official residence last year.
The British public are furious because at the time people were in lockdown, unable for instance to see loved ones dying in hospital, or to visit elderly in nursing homes.
Details of boozy parties and secret Santa’s and the P.M. hosting a quiz are front page news for the last week.
This may well spell an end to Boris Johnsons leadership as his own Conservatives will now demand he step down over the election loss and the party scandals.
Russia Court
Oooops. A Russia corruption case court decision mentions the theft of ration supplies intended for Russian troops in Eastern Ukraine, in Donetsk and Luhansk, and the diversion of funds in a theft/fraud case.
The defendant in the case was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.
Thing is, Russia has maintained its not in Ukraine and that there are only pro Russia rebels fighting Ukrainian troops. And the Kremlin spokesman was caught flat footed;
“This is probably the mistake of those who wrote this text. Because this is impossible. There were not and are not armed forces of the Russian Federation of the territory of the self-proclaimed republics” said Dmitri Peskov.
Western nations have tracked Russia forces and weapons in Ukraine despite the denials for the last 8 years of war.
Other News…
-At least 27 people have died in an apartment fire in Osaka, Japan. Police are looking into the possibility that the blaze was deliberately started, said public broadcaster NHK.
-European Union leaders agreed on Thursday they would impose further economic sanctions on Russia if the Russian military invaded Ukraine, although they encouraged more diplomacy with Moscow
-The Montreal Canadians Hockey team played to an empty arena against the Flyers last night. The game was cancelled for public viewing 2 hours before the game because of requests from health officials over Covid
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Dana
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20211217-eu-leaders-agree-to-impose-new-sanctions-on-russia-if-it-invades-ukraine
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/12/16/it-s-probably-a-mistake?utm_source=email&utm_medium=briefly&utm_campaign=2021-12-17
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20211217-eu-leaders-agree-to-impose-new-sanctions-on-russia-if-it-invades-ukraine