The Hague: The Netherlands announced a Christmas lockdown and London declared a “major incident” as Europe tries to rein in rising Covid-19 case numbers and the highly mutated Omicron strain takes hold.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has warned that the Omicron variant could be dominant in Europe by mid-January.
Many countries are reimposing travel restrictions and other measures weeks after the variant was first detected in South Africa.