Omicron, storms disrupt US air travel on 4th straight day

Flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel stretched into Monday as airlines called off more than 1000 US flights because crews were sick with COVID19 during one of the yearrsquos busiest travel periods and storm fronts added to the havocFlight delays and cancellations tied to staffing shortages have been common this year Airlines encouraged workers to quit in 2020 when air travel collapsed and carriers have struggled to make up ground this year when air travel rebounded faster than almost anyone had expected The arrival of the omicron variant only exacerbated the problemldquoDuring the pandemic we have seen experienced airline personnel leave the industry and not return across the globerdquo said John Grant senior analyst at travel industry research firm OAG ldquoFilling those skill gaps was already a challenge in the recovery before the latest variantrdquoBut airlinesrsquo staffing levels are ldquoirrelevantrdquo when omicron is thrown into the mix said Atmosphere Research Group travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt ldquoWe canrsquot blame the issues wersquore seeing now on airlines not having enough employees to work What wersquore seeing happen is the employees who were available to work have come down with COVIDrdquo Since Friday more than 4000 flights to from or inside the US were cancelled according to FlightAware which tracks the cancellationsDelta United JetBlue and American have blamed the virus for staffing problems in the past several days European and Australian airlines also canceled holidayseason flights because of infected staff but weather and other factors played a role as well Winter weather in the Pacific Northwest led to nearly 250 flight cancellations to or from Seattle on Sunday as per Alaska Airlines Industry analysts said new guidance from US health officials could help airlines better navigate impact of omicron on staffing levelsGerman court orders rules to protect the disabled in triageGermanyrsquos highest court ruled Tuesday that officials must draw up rules to protect disabled people if hospitals end up having to triage decide the order of treatment of patients patients in the pandemic The Federal Constitutional Court said the parliament violated a clause in the constitution stating that no one can be discriminated against because of a disability and ordered it to rectify the situation ldquowithout delayrdquo The courtrsquos ruling came after complaints lfrom people with serious disabilities who worried that doctors could give up on them if there werenrsquot enough hospital bedsFrance imposes new virus measuresThe French government announced new measures on Monday in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus Starting next week big events will be limited to 2000 people indoors and 5000 people outdoors People will have to sit down during concerts and wonrsquot be allowed to stand up in bars PM Jean Castex said Eating and drinking will be banned in cinemas theaters sport facilities and public transportation Working from home will be mandatory three days per weekSixmonthold baby in Xirsquoan city spikeThe Chinese city of Xirsquoan in Shaanxi Province has registered 175 confirmed cases in a single day the highest daily increase since the outbreak earlier this month state media tabloid Global Times reported This is for the third consecutive day the city has reported over 100 cases Among 175 cases is a sixmonthold infant the youngest in these outbreaks in the country400488No of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours279114972Total no of cases worldwide5397580Total no of deaths worldwideSource WHOJohns HopkinsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever