UK COVID-19 Cases Near 100,000 Daily... Frozen Year-End Consumer Sentiment

Omicron Variant Spreads Rapidly... 60% Increase Compared to Last Week
London Shoppers Down 8.5% in One Week... Germany Also Returns to Lockdown Mode

A shopper is walking down a quiet street in London, England, on the 20th (local time). [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Nearly 100,000 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the UK, which has been hit hard by the Omicron variant. This is the second-largest number since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite having declared a state of emergency last weekend, the number of cases continues to spread uncontrollably. As the Omicron variant rapidly spreads across Europe, the United States, and worldwide, consumer sentiment is slowing down heading into the year-end.

On the 20th (local time), the UK government announced 91,743 new COVID-19 cases and 44 deaths. The UK continues to break daily records due to the spread of the Omicron variant. The number of new cases on this day increased by 60.8% compared to the previous week. There were 8,044 additional Omicron infection cases reported on this day, bringing the total to 45,145.

Facing the worst situation since the pandemic began, Prime Minister Boris Johnson chaired a COVID-19-related virtual cabinet meeting to discuss strengthening quarantine measures, including lockdowns. The meeting reportedly considered three options: △ urging people to refrain from indoor gatherings without legal enforcement △ banning indoor meetings and restricting business hours of restaurants and others after 8 p.m. △ full lockdown.

After the meeting, Prime Minister Johnson said, "Hospitalization rates in London are rising sharply, and the government is monitoring the situation hourly," adding, "We are reviewing all options to control Omicron. We will not hesitate to take additional measures to protect the public, public health, and the healthcare system."

The UK government is expected to announce new guidelines this week. Local media anticipate that the implementation of strengthened measures will be after Christmas. The Times explained, "When introducing additional regulations, Parliament must be convened, which requires 48 hours, and since millions of people are expected to travel before Christmas, it seems realistically difficult to strengthen quarantine regulations before Christmas."

Although before the strengthening of quarantine measures, the UK economy has already been impacted by Omicron. According to global retail research firm Springboard, visitors to London's shopping district High Street last weekend decreased by 2.6% compared to the previous week. The total number of shoppers in London and other major cities outside London decreased by 8.5% and 6.4%, respectively, during the same period. Based on a single Saturday one week before Christmas, the number of shoppers increased compared to last year but was 19% lower than in 2019, before the pandemic. Springboard stated, "As consumer concerns about Omicron grow, the daily increase in shoppers has also decreased," adding, "This has led to poor performance for offline stores."

As Omicron spreads relentlessly worldwide, Europe and other regions have re-entered lockdowns. Germany will limit private indoor and outdoor gatherings to 10 people or fewer from the 28th, even for vaccinated individuals. Mandatory wearing of FFP2 masks, equivalent to KF94, reducing the maximum number of participants in indoor and outdoor events, and closing clubs and discotheques are also under consideration. Robert Habeck, Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, said on this day, "Additional restrictions will be introduced early next year." However, the plan is to avoid a full lockdown as much as possible.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on this day that Omicron has become the dominant strain in the U.S. just 19 days after the first infection was reported. The first Omicron-related death in the U.S. also occurred on this day. The deceased was a man in his 50s who was unvaccinated and had underlying health conditions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.