The Omicron variant continues to worry several nations. From Canada to Morocco, from Ireland to France, travel restrictions are increasing to contain the alarming spread of this variant, while European leaders call for accelerated vaccination.

Meanwhile, as the holiday season approaches, France is reinstating from Saturday the requirement to justify "compelling reasons" for travelers to and from the UK, where infections hit a new record high this Thursday, with 88,000 cases in the past 24 hours.

In the UK, the outbreak, linked to the Omicron variant, has led Britons to disrupt Christmas plans, with company parties and shows in London's West End block cancelled and travel plans to France cancelled.

The 95-year-old Queen Elizabeth II also canceled the traditional family reunion, which was to have been attended by about 50 people on Tuesday at Windsor Castle.

To this end, the validity of UK exit tests has been reduced from 48 to 24 hours and an isolation system has also been introduced on arrival in France, the French government announced, while calling on all travelers to "postpone travel" to the UK.

According to French government spokesman Gabriel Attal, the purpose of these restrictions is to slow down the arrival of cases of the Omicron variant on [French] soil as much as possible, while vaccination with booster doses takes place.

However, in Brussels, the difficult task of coordinating against the spread of the new variant was at the center of a summit of EU leaders this Thursday, as Omicron could become dominant in Europe by mid-January, according to the European Commission.