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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 12 January 2022
Israeli PM: Omicron unstoppable but no need for 'hysteria'

By LAURIE KELLMAN are seen as less accurate
Associated Press but ease the burden on
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Prime testing centers.
Minister Naftali Bennett on In Israel as in other coun-
Tuesday tried to calm Israe- tries, the variant has shat-
lis anxious about the rapid tered infection records
spread of the omicron vari- but appears to cause less
ant, insisting the govern- severe illness and death
ment is managing the crisis — especially among vac-
better than most and ruling cinated people.
out a national shutdown. Pandemic policy has shift-
Bennett said during an eve- ed dramatically in recent
ning press conference that months, causing public
Israel was weathering an confusion over airport pol-
"unstoppable storm" of in- icy, testing, quarantines
fection by protecting the and whether and how to
most vulnerable people send kids to school.
and keeping the economy Bennett acknowledged
open. He also called on that Israel is in the midst of
people to take personal an unstoppable wave. He
responsibility for protecting said there is no democratic
themselves, their children country that can stop this.
and older relatives. Associated Press "We are in a situation that
More than 400,000 vulner- There's no place for hyste- handling of the crisis poorly. serving newly developed happens once in an era,
able Israelis — mostly peo- ria. We will get through this Bennett has warned that drugs for them. and we are managing it in
ple over 60 — have gotten together," Bennett said, between 2 million and 4 With massive lines clog- the right and responsible
a fourth coronavirus vac- adding that the govern- million people among Isra- ging testing centers, he way," he said, accusing his
cination and hospitals are ment is handling a once-in- el's population of 9.4 million also urged people to avoid political opponents of try-
prepared for an influx of a-lifetime crisis "in the right people are expected to be taking PCR tests unless they ing to create "unjustified
severe illness. Bennett ar- and responsible way." infected by the variant. absolutely have to, so they hysteria."
gued that these steps are He spoke after a poll for Is- On Tuesday, he said the can use them for the elder- "The situation in Israel is
evidence the situation is rael's Channel 12 showed government's focus is ly. Instead, he recommend- managed better than al-
under control. nearly two-thirds of Israelis on keeping seniors safe ed that people try to use most all of the world," he
"There's no place for panic. viewed the government's through vaccines and re- home antigen tests, which added. "Look around."q

China locks down 3rd city, raising affected to 20 million

By KEN MORITSUGU The lockdowns are the of man's will, so we leave
Associated Press broadest since the shut- our options open."
BEIJING (AP) — A third Chi- ting down of Wuhan and In Hong Kong, city leader
nese city has locked down most of the rest of Hubei Carrie Lam announced the
its residents because of a province in early 2020 at closure of kindergartens
COVID-19 outbreak, rais- the start of the pandemic. and primary schools after
ing the number confined Since then, China's ap- infections were reported
to their homes in China to proach has evolved into in students. Schools are to
about 20 million people. one of targeting smaller close by Friday and remain
The lockdown of Anyang, areas hit by outbreaks for shut until at least the Lunar
home to 5.5 million people, lockdowns. New Year holiday in the first
was announced late Mon- The approach of the Winter week of February.
day after two cases of the Olympics, which open Feb. The semiautonomous Chi-
omicron variant were re- 4 in Beijing, and the emer- nese city has tightened
ported. Residents are not gence of omicron have pandemic-related restric- Associated Press
allowed to go out and brought back citywide tions in recent days after been found on what are tive in the city of 14 million
stores have been ordered lockdowns in a bid to snuff discovering the omicron called oracle bones. people: 49 with symptoms,
shut except those selling out outbreaks and prevent variant had spread be- The city said that non-es- 15 without symptoms and
necessities. them from spreading to yond people arriving from sential vehicles are banned 33 awaiting further verifica-
Another 13 million people other parts of China. overseas. from streets in a lockdown tion.

have been locked down A Beijing Olympics official The Anyang omicron cases notice shared online by Xi'an and Yuzhou are both
in Xi'an for nearly three responsible for disease are believed to be linked to state media late Monday. battling the delta variant
weeks, and 1.1 million more control, Huang Chun, said two other cases found Sat- The number of cases is still and neither has reported
in Yuzhou for more than a organizers are counting on urday in Tianjin. It appears relatively low, with 58 new any omicron cases.
week. It wasn't clear how the cooperation of athletes to be the first time omicron ones confirmed from the More than 2,000 people
long the lockdown of Any- and officials to prevent an has spread in mainland start of Monday to 8 a.m. have been infected in Xi'an
ang would last, as it was outbreak that could affect China beyond people who Tuesday morning. in China's largest outbreak
announced as a measure participation. arrived from abroad and Tianjin, a major port that is since the initial one in Wu-
to facilitate mass testing of "If the mass cluster trans- their immediate contacts. less than an hour from Bei- han. The ancient capital is
residents, which is standard mission happens, it will im- Anyang is an important jing by high-speed rail, has a popular tourist stop that
procedure in China's strat- pact the Games and the archeological site, the an- locked down only affected is home to the Terracotta
egy of identifying and iso- schedule for sure," Huang cient capital of the Shang areas as it carries out mass Warriors ruins and also a
lating infected people as said. "The worst scenario, if dynasty and where the testing. As of noon Tuesday, Samsung computer chip
quickly as possible. it happens, is independent earliest Chinese writing has 97 people had tested posi- factory.q