Scrapped flights deliver holiday punch

NEW YORK－Holiday travel headaches and safety worries swelled on Sunday with thousands of flights canceled, events scrapped and new Omicron cases soaring, as people wrap up Christmas celebrations bruised by a resurgent pandemic of COVID-19.

About 8,300 flights were grounded and tens of thousands more delayed from Friday through Sunday－one of the busiest travel periods of the year－with many airlines acknowledging that Omicron spikes have prompted staffing shortages.

Effects have rippled worldwide and the hurt was expected to bleed into the work week, with more than 1,100 flights already facing cancellations on Monday and almost 300 more on Tuesday, according to the flight tracker FlightAware.

The highly transmissible Omicron strain has sent new cases skyrocketing across the globe, with countries reviving dreaded lockdowns, major sports leagues canceling Boxing Day football and rugby fixtures, and cruise ships returning to port with passengers infected with COVID-19.

Governments worldwide are also scrambling to boost testing and vaccinations.

In the United States, top pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci warned of a COVID-19 "testing problem" and vowed to make more tests available next month, as the virus overwhelms the nation.

"There are still some issues now of people having trouble getting tested," he told ABC News on Sunday.

"But we're addressing the testing problem," he said, adding that it should be corrected "very soon".

Still, cases have soared. The average number of new coronavirus cases in the US has risen 45 percent to 179,000 a day over the past week, according to Reuters.

Virus-hit cruise ships

Florida is a global hub for the cruise industry, and health authorities said dozens of ships were being monitored for possible infections after at least two vessels recorded COVID-19 outbreaks in recent days, despite taking comprehensive measures regarding vaccinations.

The Washington Post reported that several ships including the Carnival Freedom－whose parent company confirmed on Sunday that a "small number" of passengers tested positive onboard－were denied port in the Caribbean.

Brenda Hammer, who was set to board the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Odyssey of the Seas, said on Sunday that she was a little nervous about it. "I wasn't sure I still wanted to come," she said.

Earlier last week, 55 people on the ship tested positive for COVID-19, which spread among passengers and crew members despite 95 percent of those on board already vaccinated.

However, air travel remained the major global headache.

Aircrew and ground staff have fallen sick or gone into quarantine after exposure to COVID-19, many airlines said.

FlightAware reported that nearly 2,900 flights were canceled worldwide on Saturday, and 3,100 and counting on Sunday, with more than 1,300 of those taking off or landing at US airports. More than 14,000 Sunday flights were delayed.

Despite Omicron, US consumers appeared undaunted. Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards, reported on Sunday that holiday sales had risen 8.5 percent from a year earlier, the biggest annual gain in 17 years. Mastercard SpendingPulse had expected a 7.4 percent increase.

Australia on Monday reported its first confirmed death from Omicron, as it clocked 10,186 new cases nationwide, according to a Reuters calculation of state data, its first total over 10,000 since the start of the pandemic. Most new cases were in New South Wales and Victoria.

But the authorities refrained from imposing new curbs, saying hospitalization rates remained low.

Agencies - China Daily