be overwhelmed if gatherings get out of hand. she's also warning everyone to ditch the cloth masks saying they are aren't effective enough right now. most canadians are restricted to having ten people or less their homes over the holidays but situation is most acute in quebec where cases continue to rise dramatically, and that province has now closed bars, movie theaters, casinos. it is sending some schoolchildren home early for the holidays, and it says the situation right now there is critical. >> reporter: i'm ben wedeman north of rome. in cities across europe, including landon, paris and rome, public holiday festivities are being cancelled as a wave of covid, including the highly contagious omicron variant, sweeps across the continent. france is seeing the highest number of severely ill covid patients since may of this year,