COVID-19 Positive Staff, UK Rail Network Operator Cancels All Direct Services To London

JAKARTA - Train operators in the UK have been forced to suspend all direct services to the busy London Victoria station until January 10, after staff tested positive for COVID-19, causing others to go into quarantine.

Southern Rail, one of the UK's rail operators said on Twitter that, due to isolation and the coronavirus disease, there would be no direct service to or from London Victoria, disrupting commuter routes from south London and lines stretching to the south of the country. .

The UK is known to be facing another major wave of the coronavirus pandemic driven by the Omicron variant, with a record 183,037 daily cases reported on Wednesday. Office workers have been asked to work from home where they can to reduce transmission.

While the government has said that the Omicron variant appears to be lighter than the others, it is highly contagious and businesses across the country have been hit by staff shortages.

Separately, in the United States, airlines were forced to cancel thousands of flights over Christmas as COVID-19 reduced the number of available crew.

To note, the UK will not impose new COVID-19 restrictions until the end of the year, Health Minister Sajid Javid said on Monday, as the government awaits more evidence on whether health services can cope with the high infection rate.

"There will be no further action before the new year," Minister Javid said.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to reject the new measures, which would not be popular within his own party, even though Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all adopted the new rules.