Despite Covid Surge, Europe Eases Rules For Key Services

Classes Reopen Across Globe; Uganda Ends World’s Longest School Break

European governments arerelaxing Covid rules to ke-ep hospitals, schools and emergency services going as the much more contagious but less lethal Omicron variant changes their approach to the pandemic. Even though a rapid surge in infections has yet to peak in Europe, Spain PM Pedro Sanchez said the time was right to start evaluating the disease’s evolution “with different parameters”. The mass return of children to school after the Christmas holidays is evidence that few wish to see a return to the days of online-only learning.

In Uganda, students returned to institutions shut nearly two years ago. The lockout helped to control the pandemic — with only 3,300 deaths recorded —but the government estimates about a third of pupils will never return. “We faced temptations,” said 16-year-old Rachael Nalwanga, happily returning to classes while many of her former schoolmates worked in new jobs or cared for new babies. “It has not been easy”.