I haven’t heard about a lockdown over here. They are just expecting a huge jump in cases. At least they haven’t mentioned it yet, and it too late to stop most travelers anyway. 
Not a race you want to win!!
The US looks high because those are raw numbers and the US is large. This is a chart of the cases per capita. Europe is far surpassing the US in the number of cases per 100K.
The Dutch look like they are doing the hokey Cokey. At least the German chap hasn’t posted that night time Tractor protest from 2019 that was circulating on twitter as an anti covid lockdown protest.
Another postponement. Davos Economic Forum. Rich people deciding not to meet due to rising omicron cases.
Germany and Portugal are among nations announcing post-Christmas curbs and greater social distancing measures.
Omicron is already the dominant version in many European countries.
Spain has reported its highest number of daily cases since the start of the pandemic and France has warned daily cases there could soon pass 100,000.
French Health Minister Olivier Véran said the increase in daily infections in the country, currently at about 70,000, would be driven by the Omicron variant, which he said was likely to become the dominant variant by early January.
The surge in cases across Europe will push health systems towards the brink of collapse, the World Health Organization’s top official in the continent has warned.
Hans Kluge said “another storm” was coming and governments should brace for significant increases in cases.
Oh, blimey … 
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Who said it would be “just a handful”? But it’s not “the” Germans either.
There’s been vociferous “resistance” (that’s what they are chanting) ever since the first partial shutdown which has intensified since mandatory vaccination is publicly discussed and considered a possibility. Protesters are still a small minority and a mixed bag of people heavily infiltrated by the extreme right in the eastern part while in the western part esoterics dominate the protests. Protesters are very likely to become more radicalised.
Media outside Germany should also show the intimidation of leading politicians through SA-style torchlight processions in front of their private homes. One local politician had been shot in the head by right-wing extremists. Arms chaches were discovered.
It looks like more than a minority to me Dachs, and there must be thousands who agree with them and not attended the protests.
I am sorry to hear about the violence, it never solved anything.
However, in most protests there are small numbers of agitators with the express purpose of causing trouble and giving all the peaceful protesters a bad name. They could even be employed by the state to turn people away from the protest and consider the protesters cranks or conspiracy theorists. They also do it by calling all the protesters ‘Anti-Vaxxers’ but a lot of the protesters are vaccinated but they are protesting about mandatory vaccination.
There are dirty tricks and skullduggery being exhibited by both sides, but the establishment has the media on their side, which has more clout than anything else. People just suck it up and could never believe that their governments could stoop so low, but they will resort to anything to keep order and justify their positions.
Happy Christmas to you and your family by the way Dachs…
At the root of it all are anarchists and people with pet projects OGF. Then there are those who have been drawn in by all the hype and some who don’t like the government in general. The funny thing is that a lot of the people protesting about this as an infringement of personal liberty would like to infringe of personal liberties by imposing their own view of how we should live. .e.g I know a few anti abortion activists who are strongly anti-vaccine and covid deniers. Katie Hopkins is another example a controversial figure, possibly a heroine to some, but not someone I would see as particularly liberal, yet she has numerous you tube clips vociferously anti covid/mask wearing/vaccination. Do you think she is a government plant?!
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Do I think she is a government plant Annie? Possibly not. But after studying her theories I deduce that she is talking bollocks just for some media attention. But isn’t this why we must open our minds and investigate all theories, and not just consider the government line is the correct one, Katy Hopkins is not the only one with something to gain about making you believe her waffling.
Never in human history has a vaccine been sold to the world on such a grand scale, they are positively paying you to have it. They are restricting your freedoms if you don’t. Surely are you telling me that you can’t see something suspicious is going on? Why didn’t they just make the vaccine and tell people it’s there if you want it? I probably would have had it myself, and so would all of the people who felt that their immune systems had been compromised either through age or ill health - All the people who should have been protected in the first place, and who still are.
How many people had the voluntary Flu Jab? Most of the above. Giving people flu would kill an old person, why weren’t flu jabs made compulsory? The speed at which this vaccine has been rolled out and the governments of the worlds insistence that we should all have it or else, makes me, and millions of others question the true reasons why we should have it at all?
Of course, personally, there are many more reasons than this that made me refuse it.
Thank you, OGF, and wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a healthy New Year as well.
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What we have been through in the UK is much better than in previous pandemics. You must know the story of Eyam where they agreed to seal the village off to stop the spread of the plague and this meant people either died of plague or hunger. In the past they would send lepers to colonies and when they had the great plague they would lock houses shut to stop people getting out and spreading it and guards would be placed outside. During the Spanish flu people protested against wearing masks, cities were locked down, reopened, locked down again. Here’s an article about the US authorities mishandling of communication during the Spanish flu :
Also the conspiracy theories at the time :
Efforts to contain the virus grew in reaction to the mounting death toll. Mask mandates were a popular strategy to slow the spread of the disease. Citizens, finding the mask mandates troublesome and, as some claimed, a violation of their rights, organized together to utilize their First Amendment rights and protest the mask mandates. In San Francisco,the first city to issue a mask mandate an Anti-Mask League was formed to more effectively protest the mask mandates. On a January 25th, 1918, meeting, 4,000-5,000 people gathered to attend an anti-mask rally. The president of the League, suffragist, attorney, and labor rights activist Mrs. E.C. Harrington, and a fierce critic of the mayor who issued the mask mandate, suggested that the mask mandates were politically motivated. The debate was heated. Some objections to the ordinance were based on questions of scientific data while others considered the mandates an infringement on civil liberties.
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Personally I have no complaint about lockdowns, mask wearing, social distancing or any other method you can think of to prevent catching or spreading the Virus Annie, and since this whole covid circus started I have observed the rules and Isolation during the dark days of infection.
However, I consider being made to have untested chemicals injected into my bloodstream is a step too far. Further, while ever air travel is allowed to continue unabated into the UK I will laugh at the puny attempts to stop the virus, but I will continue to take as many measures as is necessary to prevent further infection to myself and those around me.
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France has reported Europe’s highest ever number of new daily Covid cases as countries across the continent struggle to contain the Omicron variant.
But France, with its 179,807 cases on Tuesday, was not alone in breaking records, as Italy, Greece, Portugal and England all reported record highs too.
The figures could be due in part to reporting delays over Christmas. Countries had been reporting rises running up the festive period, driven by the more contagious Omicron variant. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that a surge in cases across Europe will push health systems towards the brink of collapse.
Elsewhere in Europe:
- Infections in Italy topped 78,000 cases, hitting a new record since the start of the pandemic. It also recorded 202 deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 136,753
- Portugal also recorded a new total of 17,172 cases on Tuesday, a rise on Monday’s total
- Greece’s Health Minister, Thanos Plevris, called for calm after the country reported 21,657 cases
- Cyprus also recorded a single-day record high of infections, with 2,241 new cases
- Meanwhile, health authorities in England reported a record 117,093 cases.
The worst is yet to come … 
Why indeed?
Covid now is virtually the same as flu in all respects.
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And regular boat trips across the Channel! 
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Wearing masks outdoors to be mandatory in Paris as new cases top 200,000. Starts Friday, New Year’s eve 2021.
If Germany counts as being part of Europe, flu epidemics had never been as bad as the Covid pandemic. Clinics had never been on the verge of collapsing nor had the critical infrastructure in general. Triaging with fatal consequences had never been necessary. Patients didn’t have to be flown out by the Air Force either. Even in the worst flu epidemic there had always been sufficient resources and medical staff. Nobody ever saw a need to pay bonuses to nursing staff or even raise their salaries simply because they were just doing the job which they were paid for and were far from being overworked. Even during the worst wave of the flu there were 25,000 deaths compared to 112,000 due to Covid which would have been way higher, hadn’t there been vaccines against it rolled out in record time. Comparing the two is like comparing apples to oranges. Mandatory vaccination does not mean vaccinating people by force as it is often spread.
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I am in the last flows of covid right now damned thing ruined my Christmas…it was like having a bad case of flu in my case however my daughter almost died of it …thats the problem its the luck of the draw some people get off lightly and others die…
I think all the tables and statistics from the various countries are pretty useless…we all test more than most other countries so yes we identify more cases
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Maybe this should go in a new thread, but in some places the lockdowns are now easing. In Denmark, some restrictions are easing, with more expected on Jan 31.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Denmark-lifts-COVID-restrictions-opens-many-16779357.php