reporter: well, you mentioned the figures, rosemary. it really speaks for itself. we are seeing those rising number of coronavirus cases and in particular, a rising number of the omicron variant. that has really stoked concerns here in the uk. but in terms of the restrictions, we saw the prime minister, boris johnson, meeting with his cabinet ministers yesterday in downing street to get an update on those figures to discuss the government s response to the pandemic, and there were expectations that further restrictions would be enforced. now, at this stage, the government is sticking to its plan b restrictions. so what we ve seen already in force at this stage is mandatory mask wearing in shops and on public transport, the introduction of a covid nhs pass to enter places like theaters and restaurants and nightclubs. and also now of course people being encouraged to work from home unless they absolutely have to go into their offices. but what is really being considered now and what we
edge. wall street took a big hit on monday, but despite those losses, major markets in asia are showing some gains. you can see some movement there north, which is what we like to see. but omicron fears weren t the only factor in monday s massive sell-off. cnn s alison kosik explains. reporter: 2021 is at risk of ending like it began, with covid cases surging on both sides of the atlantic. this time it s the omicron variant triggering a global sell-off on the market. major averages in the u.s., europe, and asia were all lower to start the week. the dow fell almost 700 points at its worst point of the day, and oil prices also fell sharply. with the netherlands entering a new lockdown and european countries restricting travel, even with boosters, health systems could be overrun, and severe restrictions like the
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is a medical doctor, is germany for the first time really since the pandemic started is really acting very preemptively. essentially what they re saying is right now you actually have falling infection rates here in germany. but they believe they need to act preemptively because of the omicron variant. of course in places like the united kingdom, in denmark, the germans are saying it s only a matter of time before all of that arrives here as well. right now the projections for germany, rosemary, are that this new wave most probably will hit this country at the beginning or the middle of january, and right now what you have is the authorities taking these measures that they say they don t want to affect christmas, but they certainly will affect new year s eve. and you do have public gatherings not being allowed of even vaccinated of over ten people at once. that makes it very difficult for folks to have public gatherings or have big gatherings for new year s eve. that counts, by the way
all testing positive for the virus. health workers and government officials increasingly focused on boosters. we see that those who are vaccinated, those who have received their booster aren t coming into the hospital at the same rates. reporter: moderna today announcing preliminary data show it s half-dose booster shot increased antibody levels against omicron, noting that a larger size dose raised them even more. the company says it s working on variant-specific boosters as well. right now, you need that third dose. i wish we d stop calling it a booster. it s a three-dose vaccine. reporter: with doctors reminding us that basic mitigation measures like masking can help slow the spread of covid, washington, d.c. s mayor is reinstating an indoor citywide mask order after lifting it only a few weeks ago. the district is seeing its highest daily coronavirus case count since the pandemic began. this new measure goes into effect tuesday and lasts until the end of january. athena jon