Entry restrictions to Puerto Rico Are About To Ease For Vaccinated US Travelers

Domestic travel to Puerto Rico is about to get easier, so long as you're fully vaccinated.

New entry requirements are set to take effect Wednesday and will scrap testing requirements for fully vaccinated domestic travelers. On-island restrictions also will ease, and capacity restrictions are set to lighten up across a variety of businesses.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi announced the changes Friday, citing a drop in COVID-19 cases. Puerto Rico reported 1,727 new cases on Thursday, a fraction of the more than 14,000 daily cases it reported in early January, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Unvaccinated travelers will still need to take a test no more than 48 hours before departure to avoid a seven-day quarantine. If they are unable to get tested before arrival, they can take a test within the first 48 hours on the island.

If a post-arrival test result comes back positive, they must quarantine for 10 days. Unvaccinated travelers who do not test before or after arrival will be subject to fines and must quarantine for seven days.

The island’s three open airports still require visitors to fill out a Travel Declaration Form before entry, and travel restrictions for international travelers visiting Puerto Rico will not change. International visitors must be fully vaccinated and show a negative antigen or PCR test taken within one day of departure.

Puerto Rico is also lifting restrictions that require businesses to close between midnight and 5 a.m. and blocks the sale of alcohol at those times.

Restaurants and other businesses that primarily serve food will be able to operate at 75% capacity indoors, up from 50%, and will be able to operate at full capacity outdoors. Bars and other venues that primarily serve alcohol will still need to operate at 50% capacity.

Customers visiting businesses that serve food or drinks will still be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative antigen or PCR test performed by an authorized health provider within the past 48 hours to enter. Masks are still required indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

People attending large-scale events will still be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test as well, but venues will be able to operate with more people. Large-scale events can exceed 250 attendees but will need to cap occupancies at 50%.

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/

Chinese Travel For Lunar New Year Despite Plea To Stay Put

Chinese are traveling to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest family holiday, despite a government plea to stay where they are as Beijing tries to contain coronavirus outbreaks.

The holiday, which starts with Chinese New Year’s Eve on Monday, usually is the biggest annual movement of humanity as hundreds of millions of people who migrated for work visit their parents and sometimes spouses and children they left behind or travel abroad.

Some 260 million people traveled in the 10 says since the holiday rush started Jan. 17, less than before the pandemic but up 46% over last year, official data shows. The government forecasts a total of 1.2 billion trips during the holiday season, up 36% from a year ago.

“I know we are encouraged to spend the New Year in Beijing, but I haven’t been back home for three years,” said Wang Yilei, whose hometown is Tangshan, east of the capital. “My parents are getting old and they are looking forward to seeing me.”

The Chinese capital, Beijing, is tightening controls to contain coronavirus outbreaks ahead of next week’s opening of the Winter Olympics, a high-profile prestige event.

China’s infection numbers are modest compared with India, South Korea and some other countries. But they challenge Beijing’s “zero tolerance” strategy that aims to keep the virus out of China by isolating every infected person.

Athletes, reporters and officials at the Winter Games are required to avoid contact with outsiders in hopes of preventing infection.

Some 106 of the 3,695 people who arrived from abroad for the Games so far tested positive for the coronavirus. Two are athletes or team officials.

Authorities in Beijing have ordered mass testing for more than 2 million people in the capital’s Fengtai district following outbreaks there. Some families were ordered not to leave their homes.

Elsewhere, 1.2 million people in an area 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Beijing that is being developed as a possible site for ministries to relocate were told to stay put.

Restrictions were imposed on Xiong’an New District this week after five cases were found in people who came from the capital, according to notices circulated online by residents. They said the controls would last seven days.

People who travel are required to show a negative result of a virus test within 48 hours before departure.

“We should go back home for the New Year as long as we can, if the local prevention policies allow us to,” said Wu Jinpeng, a university student who was en route from the southern island of Hainan to his hometown near Beijing.

Some travelers face the prospect of being ordered into quarantine if they arrive from areas deemed at high risk of infection.

Travelers are tracked by “health code” software on smartphones that records where they go and the results of virus tests.

“I called the government hotline of my hometown and they said I can go back, as long as my health code is green,” said Sun Jinle, a bank employee from Qinhuangdao, east of Beijing.

“If I live in Fengtai District of Beijing then I can’t (go home),” Sun said. “Luckily, I live in Tongzhou District,” which has no travel ban.

Queen Mary Ship Closed To Tourists To Get ‘Critical Repairs’

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The historic ocean liner Queen Mary, which has been a Southern California tourist attraction and hotel for decades, is being prepared for “critical repairs,” according to officials in the city of Long Beach, which owns the ship.

The ship will remain closed, except for film location work, until the $5 million worth of repairs are completed, a city statement said Thursday.

“One of the most critical repairs identified in the engineering reports was the removal of deteriorated lifeboats. The lifeboats exert stress on the side shell of the ship which has created severe cracks in the support system,” the statement said.

Two of the original lifeboats will be retained and 13 will be stored while the city gauges interest from museums and other organizations in preserving them.

Repair work will also include installation of new permanent bilge pumps and improvements to a water intrusion warning system, among other items.

The city, which regained control of the ship last year, said the needed repairs are a result of decades of deferred maintenance by the ship’s previous operators.

The city has already done electrical work to re-illuminate one of the ship’s funnels, which are a distinctive nighttime focal point.

The Queen Mary was launched in 1934 and arrived in Long Beach harbor at the end of its final voyage in 1967.

Philippines Lifts Ban On Foreign Tourists As Outbreak Eases

The Philippines will lift a ban on the entry of foreign tourists and businesspeople next month after nearly two years, in a move to revive the battered tourism industry as the latest coronavirus outbreak started to ease, officials said Friday.

Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said the country will reopen its doors to travelers from more than 150 countries with visa-free privileges starting Feb. 10. Foreign travelers will no longer be required to quarantine in government-designated centers upon arrival if they have been fully vaccinated and tested negative prior to arrival, officials said.

The government had initially planned to lift the ban on Dec. 1 but indefinitely postponed it as the more contagious omicron variant spread, which also prompted authorities to reimpose tighter restrictions.

President Rodrigo Duterte warned that unvaccinated Filipinos who defy orders to stay at home could face arrest. Commuters who have not been immunized were also prohibited from public transport in the capital region of more than 13 million people unless on urgent errands, for at least up to the end of the month. The decision has sparking protests from human rights and labor groups. The number of daily infections has dropped considerably in the capital in recent days.

“We’re done with border control,” Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire told a news conference, adding that government focus has shifted to preventing community transmission of the omicron variant, which has caused five deaths in the country so far.

“We are also aware that there is no room for complacency given the unpredictability of the virus,” Puyat said. “We will closely monitor the situation and ensure that health and safety protocols are strictly implemented in all tourism establishments.”

The number of tourists dropped by more than 6 million, and more than a million Filipinos lost their jobs in tourism businesses and destinations in the first year of the pandemic alone, according to government statistics. Tourism destinations, including popular beach and island resorts, resembled ghost towns at the height of pandemic lockdowns.

The Philippines has reported more than 3.5 million confirmed COVID-19 infections, with 53,801 deaths, the second-highest totals in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.

Poland: Auschwitz Foundation Created To Fight Indifference

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A new Polish foundation has been created that will distribute grants globally to groups that come up with novel ways to fight indifference to hatred and discrimination.

The Auschwitz Pledge Foundation was announced on Wednesday, on the eve of the 77th anniversary of the liberation, by Soviet forces in 1945, of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in German-occupied Poland. January 27 is also International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The goal of the Warsaw-based group is to support innovative projects that fight indifference to hatred in societies, based on the idea that it can lead to violence and even genocide.

The foundation plans to start by issuing grants of 30,000 euros ($34,000) each to three projects and hopes to expand the program in coming years. The funds were donated by the BNP Paribas bank.

The foundation’s general director, Jacek Kastelaniec, told The Associated Press that Auschwitz survivors have often said one of the worst experiences they had was the indifference of bystanders.

“It’s what allows horrible things to happen,” he said. “Our goal is to find a ways to influence attitudes.”

The site of Auschwitz is now a memorial site and museum. Poland was the site of mass executions of Polish Jews and Christians, and is where the Nazi forces carried out much of their genocide of Jews from across Europe, transporting many to Auschwitz to be murdered in gas chambers. Today the Polish state is the guardian of Auschwitz and several other former German-run death camps.

UAE Sheikhdom To Allow Gaming As Wynn Resorts Plans Project

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — One of the seven sheikhdoms in the United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it will allow “gaming” while announcing a multibillion-dollar deal with Las Vegas-based casino giant Wynn Resorts.

The announcement by Ras al-Khaimah comes after months of rumors about gambling coming to the UAE, home to skyscraper-studded Dubai and oil-rich Abu Dhabi. Islam, the religion of the Arabian Peninsula, prohibits gambling.

While the other emirates haven’t announced similar deals, casino operator Caesars Palace operates a massive resort already in Dubai — without gambling.

Initially, a statement issued by Wynn Resorts and Ras al-Khaimah authorities only referred to “gaming,” without elaborating. The emirate’s Tourism Development Authority repeatedly declined to answer questions from The Associated Press on whether “gaming” involved cash betting.

However, a statement from the authority said a new gaming division would require “compliance with all applicable laws and regulations (including financial crime laws) from operators, suppliers and employees.” It also would “ensure responsible gaming at all levels.”

Gaming is often used as a euphemism for gambling in the United States.

Michael Weaver, a spokesman for Wynn Resorts Ltd., referred questions back to regulators in Ras al-Khaimah. However, all of Wynn Resorts’ locations in Las Vegas, Macau and Massachusetts feature resorts built around their casino floors.

A filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday by Wynn Resorts said it entered an agreement with Ras al-Khaimah for “the development and subsequent management of an integrated resort.” The term “integrated resort,” born in Singapore, refers to a hotel that includes a casino and other amenities.
Wynn stock closed up nearly 2% to $86.46 a share in trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market after the announcement. The casino industry as a whole has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

A statement on the deal, also posted to Wynn Resorts’ website, included repeated mentions of “gaming” facilities at the site.

“The newly announced integrated resort is still in its early design phase and due for completion by 2026,” a followup statement from Marjan, the Ras al-Khaimah developer involved in the deal, said. “These are all the details that can be provided at this stage.”

Ras al-Khaimah is the northern-most emirate in the UAE, a federation in which individual autocratic rulers wield wide powers in their emirate. Ras al-Khaimah, or “the top of the tent” in Arabic, is ruled by Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi and is most-widely known for its eponymous RAK Ceramics company.

But Ras al-Khaimah has been trying to raise its profile for years in the tourism market, which is dominated by Dubai. It draws tourists from India, Russia, the United Kingdom and Egypt. It has liberal alcohol rules and an area focused on beach resorts, while also advertising outdoor activities around Jebel Jais, the highest point in the country at 1,934 meters (6,345 feet) above sea level.

The Wynn Resorts development is planned to be built on Ras al-Khaimah’s artificial Al-Marjan Island and will include around 1,000 hotel rooms, a mall, a convention center, restaurants and the “gaming area.”

J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff said that Wynn Resorts’ move into the UAE would mean “significant foreign direct investment” and would benefit from the UAE’s local population of 9 million — which includes a vast population of foreign workers.

“We look at this beach resort as a super-regional-more-than-just-gaming high-end resort with solid (return-on-investment) prospects,” Greff wrote in an analysis of the deal.

Gambling remains rare in the wider Mideast, with casinos only in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia.

Casinos long have been rumored to be considered as a way to raise money in the UAE and boost its tourism industry, particularly in Dubai, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates. Already, duty-free car raffles bombard those flying through Dubai International Airport.

A 2004 U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks speculated that Dubai’s casino plans had “been put on ice due to deference” to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the country’s first president after unification in 1971.

But in recent years, rumors about casinos kept growing. Britain’s famed ship the Queen Elizabeth 2 opened as a hotel in Dubai in 2018 after over $100 million of repairs. It still has its deactivated slot machines on board. Caesars similarly opened in 2018. Construction work is ongoing involving projects for casino firms MGM, the Bellagio and Aria.

However, casinos and the large amounts of cash they generate raise the danger of money laundering. Already, war profiteers, terror financiers and drug traffickers sanctioned by the U.S. in recent years have used Dubai’s real-estate market as a haven for their assets. Ras al-Khaimah also found itself linked to the case of an Alaska man who laundered $1 billion held in South Korea for Iran.

Tourism Ireland Removes Almost All Covid Restrictions For Tourists

The Irish Government has announced today that almost all Covid-19 public health restrictions will come to an end. From tomorrow, restaurants and bars can resume normal trading hours; and restrictions on indoor and outdoor events, including sporting fixtures, will be lifted.

Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said:

“The announcement that most Covid-19 restrictions in Ireland will come to an end is excellent news for tourism and hospitality. It means that we can now move forward and begin planning holidays in Ireland with confidence for the year ahead.

We can now look to the future with optimism. Tourism Ireland’s priority for 2022 is to restart overseas tourism to the island of Ireland. We will be pulling out all the stops to set Ireland apart from our competitor destinations, to drive bookings and revenues for tourism businesses. Together with our industry partners, we will undertake our most extensive marketing campaign ever in 2022. Our message – and that of the entire Irish tourism industry – is very simple: we cannot wait to roll out the green carpet and welcome back visitors from around the world.”

For information on Ireland as a vacation destination please visit www.Ireland.com

Travelore News: UK To Lift Travel Test Requirements For The Vaccinated

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday his government will remove coronavirus testing requirements for vaccinated people arriving in England, news hailed by the travel industry as a big step back to normality.

Johnson said that “to show that this country is open for business, open for travelers, you will see changes so that people arriving no longer have to take tests if they have been vaccinated, if they have been double vaccinated.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is due to give details of the rule change later.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of airline industry body Airlines U.K., said it was “a landmark day.”

“Nearly two years since the initial COVID restrictions were introduced, today’s announcement brings international travel towards near-normality for the fully vaccinated, and at last into line with hospitality and the domestic economy,” he said.

Currently, travelers who have had at least two vaccine doses must take a rapid coronavirus test within two days of arriving in the U.K. Those who are unvaccinated face stricter testing and quarantine rules.

The government had already eased travel rules earlier this month, removing the need to take a test before traveling to Britain and replacing lab-confirmed post-arrival PCR tests with cheaper rapid lateral flow tests.

Russia Shortens COVID-19 Isolation To 7 Days As Cases Surge

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities are shortening the required isolation period for people infected with COVID-19 from 14 to seven days as the country faces another surge of COVID-19 cases, this time driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, who runs the country’s coronavirus task force, said Tuesday that health officials were “optimizing our approaches to quarantine and testing of our citizens, including shortening the quarantine period to seven days.”

Golikova added that other policy changes will be adopted in the coming days, without elaborating. She also didn’t explain the rationale for cutting the isolation period. Earlier rules required a two-week isolation period for those who test positive, with a mandatory follow-up test on day 11.

Russia already has by far Europe’s worst death toll in the pandemic at over 322,000 deaths by its official tally, a number that other statistics suggest is a significant undercount.

The daily number of coronavirus infections confirmed in Russia has doubled over the past week, going from over 15,000 on Jan. 10 to 31,252 on Tuesday. Officials say the surge could end up as the country’s biggest yet but so far haven’t announced any major restrictions to stem it.

Anna Popova, the head of Russian public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said last week that new daily cases might reach six figures. President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia has “a couple of weeks” to prepare for the unprecedented wave.

Rio De Janeiro Delays Carnival Parades As Omicron Spreads

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The world-famous Carnival festivities in Rio de Janeiro will be held in late April rather than the final weekend of February, as the number of coronavirus cases in Brazil spikes and the omicron variant spreads across the country.

“The decision was made respecting for the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and the need, at this time, to preserve lives and join forces to drive vaccination throughout the country,” said a statement issued Friday jointly by the cities of Rio and Sao Paulo, which also delayed the start of its Carnival parades until April 21.

Earlier in the afternoon, Rio’s Mayor Eduardo Paes and his Sao Paulo counterpart Ricardo Nunes held a video call along with their respective health secretaries and each city’s league of samba schools that put on the parade, according to the statement.

Paes announced weeks ago that his city’s raucous street parties, some of which draw hundreds of thousands of revelers, wouldn’t proceed in the manner they did before the pandemic, but without clarifying what shape they might take.

He said at the time, however, that samba schools’ parades through the Sambadrome would proceed as planned, in light of the relative ease with which vaccination status and negative coronavirus tests could be checked upon entry.

The parade through the Sambadrome is a major tourist draw for Rio and the central fixture of the city’s pre-Lenten party. It draws tens of thousands of spectators in its bleachers and tens of millions watch from home.

Travelore Cruise News: Luxury Line Crystal Cruises Suspends Operations For Three Months Amid Financial Trouble

Crystal Cruises is suspending operations for at least three months in the wake of a financial crisis at its parent company, Genting Hong Kong.

The Miami-based luxury line announced late Wednesday that it would halt operations in the coming days for all three of its vessels currently operating — Crystal Serenity, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Endeavor — through April 29.

The line’s five river ships, which aren’t currently sailing, also will go into an extended hiatus. Instead of restarting operations for the spring in March, as is normal, they will remain out of service through the end of May, the company said.

“Suspending operations will provide Crystal’s management team with an opportunity to evaluate the current state of business and examine various options moving forward”.
The line added that all three Crystal ships currently in operation will complete their current voyages before suspending operations.

Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity currently are sailing in the Caribbean on sailings that end Saturday and Jan. 30 in Miami and Aruba, respectively.

Crystal Endeavor, an “expedition” ship designed for adventurous sailings in remote places, currently is sailing in Antarctica and will end its current sailing in Ushuaia, Argentina, on Feb. 4.

The announcement from Crystal came just hours after parent company Genting Hong Kong said it was running out of cash and soon could shut down a significant part of its worldwide operations.

Genting Hong Kong early Wednesday said it had filed what is known as a winding-up petition with a court in Bermuda to appoint provisional liquidators who can sell off or shut down parts of its business as part of an orderly restructuring.

Genting Hong Kong, which owns Asia-based Dream Cruises and Star Cruises as well as Crystal, has been struggling financially ever since the COVID-19 pandemic forced a worldwide shutdown to cruising in early 2020.

“This was an extremely difficult decision but a prudent one given the current business environment and recent developments with our parent company, Genting Hong Kong,” Crystal president Jack Anderson said in a statement.

In the statement, Anderson suggested Crystal’s suspension was a temporary situation.

“Crystal has been synonymous with luxury cruising for more than 30 years, and we look forward to welcoming back our valued guests when we resume operations,” Anderson said. “We wish to thank our guests and travel advisors for their incredible support during these ongoing challenging times.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, the line continued to sell sailings as far out as 2024 on its website.

Crystal said the line’s customers and travel agents were being notified of the suspension.

The line said it would provide passengers on canceled sailings a full refund of the cruise fare paid, which will be processed automatically to the original form of payment. If the cruise was paid via a future cruise credit, the full value of the credit would be returned to customers.

In a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange, Genting Hong Kong Wednesday said some of its business activities including “but not limited to” the operations of Dream Cruises would continue as its liquidators pursue a financial restructuring “in order to preserve and protect the core assets and maintain the value” of these assets during the process.

But it said it expected the majority of its existing operations to “cease to operate.”

The filing did not mention the fate of Crystal specifically.

Source: https://thepointsguy.com/

Qatar World Cup Ticket Sales To Open, Lowest $70 Globally

Fans can start registering to buy Qatar World Cup tickets on Wednesday with prices for visitors starting at around $70, one-third cheaper than the tournament in Russia.

The category-three tickets on international sale will be 250 Qatari riyals ($69), two people with knowledge of the prices said Tuesday, compared to $105 for the equivalent in 2018. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the ticketing process.

The cheapest tickets — in category four only for Qatari residents — will cost 40 Qatari riyals ($11), the people said. The intended ticket prices will be the cheapest at a World Cup since $3 seats in Mexico — based on 1986 exchange rates — and half the price of those made available to locals at the equivalent of $22 in Russia in 2018.

The low entry point for tickets in Qatar could help to provide access to the low-paid migrant worker population for the Nov. 21-Dec. 18 tournament. The cheapest tickets at the 2019 world track and field championships were 60 Qatari riyals ($17) and entry was eventually made free for workers to fill empty seats.

FIFA tickets will be distributed through a regulated process rather than an open sale with the full range of prices still to be announced. Supporters requesting to attend matches at the Middle East’s first World Cup will only discover if they are successful based on a random draw at the conclusion of the first application phase which runs through Feb. 8.

The ticket process is beginning with only 13 of the 32 slots at the tournament filled and qualifying not concluding until the intercontinental playoffs in June.

FIFA aims to generate $500 million from hospitality rights and ticket sales from the World Cup, according to the governing body’s most recent financial report.

Unlike previous World Cups, little travel will be required once in Qatar with the eight newly built stadiums within a 30-mile radius of Doha.

Travel during the tournament figures to be the shortest since the 1954 tournament in Switzerland, but hotel availability could be tight.

Local organizers have reserved most hotels in Qatar so there was no availability showing on Tuesday to book for the duration of the tournament when searching online.

Rooms in hotels, apartments and cruise liners will be made available via a website later this year. Only around 90,000 rooms will be made available to the public with 40,000 set aside for teams, officials, sponsors and media.

While camping in the desert had previously been touted as a means of finding space for fans, that is now being downplayed as a significant option. There will be 4,000 cabins on cruise ships that will dock in Doha for the tournament.

Qatar Airways, a FIFA sponsor, is already selling packages including flights, hotels and tickets guaranteed to follow your country.

World Cup organizers have also said more than 1.2 million visitors will come. The group stage features 32 teams with games across 12 days when Qatar anticipates 559,000 flying in with a peak of 276,000 ticket holders around Nov. 27 and 28 requiring an estimated 128,000 rooms.

Some fans could still be deterred from flying to the World Cup after a decade of criticism of Qatar’s treatment of the migrant workers, who are largely from southwest Asia and have been relied on to build up the infrastructure since winning the FIFA hosting rights in 2010.

The US Government Just Allowed An Icelandic Airline To Offer Flights Between The US And Cuba, But Buying Tickets Comes With Restrictions.

North Americans now have another option when flying to Cuba.

Icelandair is known for connecting North America and Europe through its home country of Iceland. But a new route could see the flag carrier from the Land of Fire and Ice take passengers between Cuba and both Florida and Texas.

On January 13, the US Department of Transportation approved an application by Icelandair to fly 170 round-trip charter flights between Havana and the US cities of Miami, Orlando, and Houston.

The average American won't be able to simply buy a ticket on one of the flights as the US government limits the types of travel to Cuba that US citizens are permitted to do, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said, owing to continuing sanctions.

Travel for tourism purposes is prohibited for American citizens. Some permitted reasons for travel:

Family visits

Official business of the US government, foreign governments, and certain intergovernmental organizations

Journalistic activity

Professional research

Education activities

Religious activities

Athletic competitions by amateur or semiprofessional athletes or athletic teams

Support for the Cuban people

Humanitarian projects

Activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes

Exportation, importation, or transmission of information or information materials

Certain authorized export transactions

US airlines object to Icelandair

US and foreign airlines can bid to operate flights between the US and Cuba under the DOT's public charter system for flights to Cuba, which allows 3,600 annual flights to operate from the US. But Icelandair's request to fly between two countries that aren't its homeland did not come without objection from US airlines.

Swift Air, World Atlantic Airlines, and Global Crossing Airlines — three US airlines that primarily offer charter services using passenger airliners — strongly objected to Icelandair's entry into the market.

"Icelandair's primary reason for seeking approval on an additional 170 flights over a four-month period is to impose an economic hardship on the current US air carriers," Mark Schneider, an attorney for Global Crossing Airlines, wrote to the DOT. Icelandair responded to Global Crossing and Swift Air by saying it wasn't taking slots away from any carriers, and that its charter partner had already ruled out other US carriers.

"With no other applications for allotment from the pool before the Department, Icelandair fails to understand how it is taking any market share to the detriment of US based carriers," Jonathan Fuchs, Icelandair's general counsel for the Americas, wrote to the DOT.

Icelandair said its advantage over US carriers was in the baggage holds of its Boeing 757 aircraft. Even with Icelandair's relatively large aircraft, 54 bags had to be left behind because of space constraints on its first flight from Orlando to Havana.

Carriers operating smaller aircraft, such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families, Icelandair said, wouldn't be able to carry nearly the same amount of baggage. The DOT sided with Icelandair in the end and authorized the flights. It added that there were still additional slots open for which US airlines could apply.

Airlines have been adapting to the new reality of air travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and Icelandair has scaled back its transatlantic flying because of travel restrictions and fluctuations in demand as new coronavirus variants are found. The new route seeks to give Icelandair an additional revenue stream, even if the flights don't touch Iceland at all.

Icelandair plans to operate the 170 flights between February 1 and May 31.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/

Ground Is Broken On $100M Indoor Water Park In Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein broke ground Wednesday on a $100 million indoor water park on the Atlantic City Boardwalk that is designed to give families a year-round option in the seaside resort that doesn’t involve gambling.

The $100 million, 103,000-square-foot park will be called the Island Waterpark.

It will feature water slides, pools, a lazy river, food and beverage outlets, retails space, lounge areas, and a party room. It also will include an adult section with alcoholic beverages and amenities, including foot massages and manicures, Blatstein said.

“This water park is going to crush it,” he said confidently in a ceremony under a tent on a frigid January day as swimsuit models frolicked in a swimming pool set up for the occasion and others rode an indoor surfing machine.

Blatstein and Mayor Marty Small both said the project is needed to give families thinking of visiting Atlantic City something to do other than gambling.

“We need to diversify our entertainment offerings,” Small said.

Small cited a long history of water parks being proposed for Atlantic City — and then never being built, including a 2017 proposal for one at the former Atlantic Club casino.

“We’ve all heard stories of water parks coming here to Atlantic City and for whatever reason, it didn’t happen,” he said. “This is happening.”

Blatstein doubled down on the guarantee.

“How do I know it’s going to happen?” he asked. “Because I say so. It’s my money going into this place. I promise you, it’s going to happen.”

He said he would like to have the park open by Memorial Day weekend 2023.

It is to be built on a vacant lot next to the former Showboat casino, which Blatstein owns and operates as a nongambling hotel.

A 20-year state tax incentive will help finance the project. The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority in 2020 approved designation of the project as an entertainment retail district, which entitles it to an annual rebate of as much as $2.5 million in sales tax generated by it for 20 years. There also will be tax breaks on construction materials used for the project.

Blatstein refused to say Wednesday if he is still interested in opening a casino either at the Showboat or as new construction on land he owns nearby. He said as recently as 2019 he wants to open a casino at or near the Showboat site, but has been silent about that proposal in recent years as the water park plan advanced.

The water park will include parallel slides to allow for racing.

A retractable glass-paned roof will cover the entire project, enabling it to be open all year.

Beijing To Offer Olympic Tickets To ‘Selected’ Spectators

BEIJING (AP) — Only “selected” spectators will be permitted at next month’s Beijing Olympics because of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers said Monday.

Beijing had already announced that no fans from outside the country would be permitted at the events, and had not offered tickets to the general public.

Monday’s announcement posted on the organizing committee’s website confirmed expectations that the Winter Games would have few onlookers at the venues, under even more strict conditions than imposed during last year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

China has largely avoided major virus outbreaks with a regimen of lockdowns, mass testing for COVID-19 and travel restrictions, although it continues to fight surges in several cities, including the port of Tianjin, about an hour from Beijing. The capital itself confirmed over the weekend that a 26-year-old woman had contracted the omicron variant of the virus and has tested more than 13,000 people in search of cases of cross transmission.

In its statement, the organizing committee said its measures were intended to “create a pleasant environment for the holding of the Games.”

“Given the difficult and complicated work of controlling the epidemic, and to protect the health and safety of those involved with the Games, the original plan of offering tickets to the general public has been altered toward spectators from selected groups,” the statement said.

National Harbor Celebrates Cherry Blossoms, March 17 To April 17 With The Region’s Earliest Blooming Cherry Tree Waterfront Display

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.— National Harbor has become known for its spring display of hundreds of cherry trees lining the waterfront. The trees bloom each year in March and are some of the earliest blooms in the D.C. region.

To celebrate the spectacular display, National Harbor is hosting a Cherry Blossom Celebration beginning March 17 through April 17. The month long celebration will be filled with entertainment, hotel room packages, food and drink specials, classes and more.

“We are delighted to have become a destination for viewing cherry blossoms,” said Jackie Saunders AVP Marketing at National Harbor. “Because our trees bloom early, we provide visitors with an extended opportunity to view and celebrate cherry blossoms in the Washington, D.C. region.”

National Harbor’s more than 200 trees are Okame cherry trees—recognizable by their masses of striking pink flowers. They are more tolerant to cold than most other types of cherry trees and are early bloomers with flowers lasting up to three weeks. They also grow about two feet a year and are very desirable for areas that want quick, hardy, spectacular color. In a region that is known for its cherry blossom displays and celebrations, the trees at National Harbor have quickly become a large draw.

While National Harbor is again an official participant of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the property has expanded its offerings and created a month celebration including its popular Sakura Sunday event taking place on Sunday, April 3. Sakura Sunday will feature free cultural activities including Japanese inspired art, music and dance, culinary delights and much more! Art in Bloom artist Josue Martinez who has a gallery at National Harbor will update his chair in time for the festival.

During the same timeframe, National Harbor will light up every night as The Capital Wheel and lights throughout the property turn pink in honor of the celebration.

Hotels and shops at National Harbor will have a variety of specials and displays. MGM National Harbor will have its beautiful conservatory installation that includes cherry blossoms. In the Waterfront District, shop windows will be creatively decorated to celebrate the cherry blossoms and retailers will feature a wide array of cherry blossom promotions. Some of the classes that will take place during the celebration include origami, cherry blossom painting, flower making, Japanese gardens and more.

For more information on National Harbor and cherry blossom activities and offerings, go to https://www.nationalharbor.com/cherryblossom/. Events and activities will be added to the schedule in the coming weeks.

Hong Kong Bans Transit Flights From Over 150 Countries

Hong Kong International Airport said it will ban transit passengers from 150 countries and territories starting Sunday, tightening stringent travel controls in an effort to stem the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant.

Authorities also said Friday they will extend social distancing restrictions, including a ban on dining in after 6 p.m., by another two weeks over the Lunar New Year holidays to Feb. 3. Large-scale events, such as Lunar New Year fairs held annually in Hong Kong, will be canceled.

The transit ban and extension of distancing rules come as the city grapples with an omicron outbreak of the coronavirus, with most of the cases traced to two crew members of Cathay Pacific who had broken isolation rules and dined at restaurants and bars in the city before testing positive.

Over the past two weeks, authorities have locked down multiple residential buildings across the city and mass-tested thousands as they sought to stamp out omicron infections.

“We’re worried that there may be asymptomatic Hong Kong carriers who are still missed in the community,” said Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam during a news conference Friday.

“So our assessment on this basis is that there is still a risk of an outbreak,” she said.

Airline passengers who have stayed in over 150 places deemed “high risk” in the last 21 days, including the United States and Britain, will be banned from transiting in Hong Kong from Jan. 16 to Feb. 15, according to a notice posted by the airport.

Over 50 local infections have been reported in the community since the end of 2021. Prior to that, Hong Kong went three months with no community transmissions and had been in talks with the mainland to resume quarantine-exempted travel with the rest of China.

Last week, Hong Kong imposed a two-week ban on incoming flights from the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Britain, India, Pakistan and the Philippines.

By ZEN SOO

Cruise News: Viking Neptune Floats Out At Fincantieri In Ancona

The Viking Neptune was floated out on Thursday at the Fincantieri shipyard in Ancona, Italy.

It's another 930-guest, 47,800-ton ship for Viking, the eighth in the series. Another nine ships (including options) are planned through 2027.

Viking Neptune is slated to enter service later this year.

Fincantieri started its partnership with Viking in 2012.

Today, the cooperation which first began with an order for two ships, has reached a total of 20 units, including the order awarded to VARD for two expedition cruise ships, the Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, and the two options.

About Viking

Viking was founded in 1997 and provides destination-focused journeys on rivers, oceans and lakes around the world. Designed for experienced travelers with interests in science, history, culture and cuisine, Chairman Torstein Hagen often says Viking offers guests The Thinking Person’s Cruise® in contrast to mainstream cruises. With more than 250 awards to its name, Viking has been rated the #1 River Cruise Line and #1 Ocean Cruise Line by Condé Nast Traveler in the publication’s 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards. Viking has also been consistently rated the #1 ocean cruise line and one of the best river cruise lines in Travel + Leisure’s “World’s Best” Awards. For additional information, contact Viking at 1-800-2-VIKING (1-800-284-5464) or visit www.viking.com. For Viking’s award-winning enrichment channel, visit www.viking.tv.

Source: https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/

Travelore News: Delta Extending Expiring Travel Vouchers From Pandemic

Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it will extend through 2023 the window for customers to rebook credits earned when they purchased but then canceled flights during the pandemic.

Before the announcement, Delta flight credits were set to expire at the end of 2022. The new date will also apply to all tickets bought in 2022. Customers will be able to use the credits throughout 2024 if the trip is booked by Dec. 31, 2023, the airline said.

The move was not immediately matched by American Airlines or United Airlines, where credits are set to expire March 31 and Dec. 31, respectively.

Passengers are entitled to refunds under federal law if the airline cancels their flight. But if the passenger cancels, airlines generally provide only some form of credit or voucher, typically with a one-year expiration.

Refunds have become a major source of airline consumer complaints to the U.S. Transportation Department. Congress is considering legislation that would require airlines to cover lodging, meals and other costs that consumers incur when airlines cancel their flight.

As Mardi Gras Nears, New Orleans Brings Back Mask Mandate

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans will reinstitute an indoor mask mandate to fight the spread of COVID-19 while readying for an influx of visitors for the Mardi Gras season, the city health director said Tuesday.

Dr. Jennifer Avegno said the mandate takes effect Wednesday at 6 a.m. and will apply to participants in the annual Mardi Gras balls that take place in the city.

Avegno said Louisiana’s statewide coronavirus daily hospitalization numbers have grown in three weeks “by a factor of seven.” She said those cases have put a strain on hospitals, with emergency room waits as long as 12 hours in some facilities.

Growing numbers of coronavirus cases, driven by the omicron variant can affect treatment for people seeking treatment for other illnesses or injuries, Avegno said.

And, while Avegno said she’s hoping cases will subside in coming weeks, she added hospitalizations and deaths show up weeks after cases are reported. That could mean continued pressure from coronavirus cases about the time emergency rooms face an annua uptick in patient numbers as Mardi Gras nears and tourists, some of them overindulging in alcohol, flood the city.

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, falls on March 1 this year. Major parades, which draw as many as a million locals and visitors to city streets, begin in the last two weeks of February.

The city already has a requirement that people show proof of vaccinations or negative tests for entry into bars, restaurants and numerous other venues.

Mardi Gras in 2020 became what officials later realized was an early Southern superspreader of COVID-19. Festivities were largely canceled last year. This year, officials are determined to proceed with Mardi Gras events, while enforcing vaccine and testing requirements.

The state health department said Tuesday that just over 1,900 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Louisiana as of Monday, up from about 200 in mid-December.

Universal Shuts Down Iconic Attraction For Good

Shrek 4-D is one of the first attractions that Guests were able to visit when they enter Universal Orlando Resort and was created in 2003 after the success of Shrek in 2001. Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Universal Studios Japan would all open the attraction in 2003, and later in 2010, Universal Studios Singapore joined in.

In 2017, Universal Studios Hollywood closed down the attraction, and replaced it with Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest attraction is located in the theater. That being said, it has not been confirmed what will take over the theater after the attraction shuts down, but considering the location of the attraction is front and center in the Park, it seems likely that something new will one day come in its place.

The show features Kong Fu Panda, and here’s what Universal Hollywood says about the attraction:

Get ready for another level of awesomeness at DreamWorks Theatre Featuring Kung Fu Panda, now open. Discover the all-new multi-sensory attraction using state-of-the-art visual effects and cutting-edge technology, including the first-ever interior projection mapping, 360 surround sound audio and sweeping physical effects, to engulf you in a world of adventure. Join Master Po and more from DreamWorks’ blockbuster franchise on a thrilling journey of awesomeness destined to stimulate your senses, exercise your wit and unlock the hero within through the power of kung fu.

We can speculate that another theater-type attraction will live in the space, as Halloween Horror Nights uses the space as well for their houses, but that is purely speculative. We know that Epic Universe will be utilizing a lot of DreamWorks IP, so perhaps we will see another DreamWorks attraction in place of Shrek 4-D as Universal continues to highlight those specific films.

The Shrek and Donkey meet and greet location that can be found at Universal Studios Florida will seemingly continue to live on, so Shrek fans can still get their fix.

At the moment, Revenge of the Mummy is also under a massive refurbishment at Universal Studios Florida. That being said, Guests can still enjoy attractions such as Rip Ride Rockit, MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack, Transformers: The Ride, and more. Visit Diagon Alley in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter where you can venture into Gringotts! Islands of Adventure has some amazing attractions like the new Jurassic World VelociCoaster, Jurassic Park River Adventure, The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Doctor Doom’s Fearfall, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, and more! Volcano Bay is also open for those who want to get their splash on.

Source: https://insidethemagic.net/

In Israel, Omicron Drives Records, Zigzag Policy, 4th Shots

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel opened to tourists for the first time in nearly two years. After just a month, it slammed shut. Now the omicron variant has set a widely-expected record for new infections in the country, which will once again crack open on Sunday — but only to travelers from certain nations.

The back-and-forth has created whiplash for many Israelis. Even in the relatively small, wealthy Mideast nation - an early global leader against the coronavirus pandemic - the omicron variant is outpacing the government’s ability to make and execute clear pandemic public policy. What once was a straightforward regimen of vaccines, testing, contact tracing and distancing for the nation of 9.4 million has splintered into a zigzag of rules that seem to change every few days.

The confusion here, on everything from tourism to testing, quarantines, masks and school policy, offers a glimpse of the pandemic puzzle facing governments worldwide as the omicron variant burns through the population. Someday, the World Heath Organization will declare the pandemic over. But in the meantime, leaders are weighing how much illness, isolation and death people are willing to risk.

In Israel as elsewhere, what’s clear is that the ultra-contagious omicron variant has pushed the fight against COVID-19 into a messier phase of rules governed by a key assumption: Large portions of the public will contract the omicron version, which is more contagious but appears to cause less severe illness and death, especially among vaccinated people. But vaccinated people are catching the variant too, driving a surge fed in part by gatherings over the winter holidays.

On Wednesday, the government reported a record for the pandemic in Israel, with 11,978 new infections a day earlier. That beats the previous high of 11,345 infections in a single day set on Sept. 2 during the delta variant wave.

“There is no control of the omicron wave,” said Sharon Alroy-Preis, the Health Ministry’s top public health official on Israel’s Channel 13 this week.

“Probably no one is protected from infection,” said Jonathan Halevy, president of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

The new goal is to protect society’s most vulnerable people without another national lockdown — the red line Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the country’s 7-month-old government are laboring to avoid.

“It’s a different ballgame altogether,” Bennett said during a press conference Sunday as he warned that the number of daily infections is expected to soar to new records in the coming weeks.

“We must keep our eye on the ball if we want to continue engaging and working with an open country as much as possible,” he added.

In everyday life, that’s meant a morass of confusion as Bennett and the coalition government he leads struggle to agree on rules and communicate their decisions to the public.

“Education Ministry Leaves Principals to Contend With COVID-19 Chaos Alone,” blared a headline in the Haaretz daily Tuesday. A lack of national guidance, the story said, is forcing some school principals to decide on their own whether to hold classes in person, remotely or some combination.

Bennett at the press conference argued the government was staying agile in the face of the more challenging variant. This included a government decision, after some back-and-forth, to give a fourth vaccination to the immunocompromised and people at least age 60. Israel is believed to be the first country in the world to offer segments of its population a second booster shot.

On Tuesday, Bennett announced that a preliminary study at Sheba Medical Center found the fourth jab produced a five-fold increase in antibodies in the blood. Israel also is on the cusp of making available drugs that could help people in at-risk groups avoid severe infections.

“Most ministries are working together now better than they were under the old government,” led by divisive former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Dr. Nadav Davidovich, who heads Ben-Gurion University’s school of public health and sits on the national advisory committee on coronavirus.

So the government’s decision, for example, to shutter Israel’s borders in late November bought time to raise the country’s vaccination rates, which rose toward the middle and end of the month. It also allowed hospitals to prepare for a likely wave of illness.

The vaccinated population has been steadily on the rise, but is limited in part by ultra-Orthodox Jews and some Arabs who have been slow to roll up their sleeves. About 63% of people in Israel have been vaccinated twice, while around 46% have received three jabs.

Our World in Data ranks Israel 17th in the world for vaccination rates, behind other wealthy nations like the United Arab Emirates and the United States — and just ahead of archrival Iran. Back in June, Israel was No. 1 on the list.

But it’s been clear for days that a new wave has arrived. Government data showed new infections in Israel spiking to 10,815 on Monday, some 7,000 more than a week earlier. Severe illnesses have stayed mostly constant for several months and daily deaths from coronavirus have not exceeded two since Dec. 13, government records show.

Still, the process remains messy and confusing given the variant’s fast-moving spread.

On Wednesday in the shadow of the record-setting spike of infections, there was more change. Israel’s health minister announced that the demand for testing was slowing the results and recommended more at-home rapid testing to ease the burden.

Quarantines that two weeks ago were required of anyone who might have been exposed to the virus are being scaled back in order to prevent the economy from grinding to a halt.

Contact tracing has become more complicated given the shortage of tests.

Israel’s list of countries whose tourists are banned has been scaled back, with the Health Ministry on Monday recommending that Canada, France, South Africa, Hungary, Nigeria, Spain and Portugal be removed.

Travel to and from the United States and United Kingdom remains forbidden.

There’s been considerable hand-wringing over any suggestion of “herd immunity” — when enough people have either been vaccinated or recovered from a past infection to stop the virus’ uncontrolled spread.

Israel’s health chief, Nachman Ash, said the fourth shot could be offered to more Israelis, but it’s not certain whether it could be rolled out quickly enough.

“The price of herd immunity is very many infections, and that may end up happening,” Ash told Radio 103FM on Sunday. “But we don’t want to reach it by means of infections.”

France Eases Rule For Vaccinated Travelers From South Africa

France is allowing vaccinated travelers from South Africa to enter its territory without having to observe a coronavirus quarantine.

The French government published a decree Thursday that removed South Africa from the list of places subject to highly restricted travel rules.

Unvaccinated people coming from South Africa still must quarantine in France for 10 days under supervision from local authorities.

France almost completely banned travel to and from South Africa after the first COVID-19 cases involving the omicron variant were detected in South Africa in November.

The highly contagious variant has since spread around the world, causing record daily cases in the United States and parts of Europe.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday that omicron is now estimated to represent 70% to 80% of all infections in France.

France, which has one of Europe’s most-vaccinated populations, reported more than 332,000 new virus cases on Wednesday. The number set a European record for the highest single-day national count of confirmed cases.

Travelore News: Ryanair To Close Base At Germany’s Frankfurt Airport

Budget airline Ryanair said Friday that it plans to stop serving Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s busiest, at the end of March. and close its base there.

Ryanair said it is closing its base in Frankfurt and reallocating its five planes there to other airports that “have responded with lower airport charges to stimulate traffic recovery.”

The airline complained that instead of providing incentives as the aviation industry struggles with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Frankfurt Airport “has chosen to increase prices even further, making Frankfurt uncompetitive with European airports.”

The Ireland-based company said that all Frankfurt-based flight crew “can secure alternative positions within the Ryanair network” and that passengers affected by cancellations would receive notifications and refunds “over the coming days.”

A Season Of Joy -- And Caution -- Kicks Off In New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Vaccinated, masked and ready-to-revel New Orleans residents began ushering in Carnival season Thursday with a rolling party on the city’s historic streetcar line, an annual march honoring Joan of Arc in the French Quarter and a collective, wary eye on coronavirus statistics.

Carnival officially begins each year on Jan. 6 — the 12th day after Christmas — and, usually, comes to a raucous climax on Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, which falls on March 1 this year. Thursday’s festivities came two years after a successful Mardi Gras became what officials later realized was an early Southern superspreader of COVID-19; and nearly a year after city officials canceled 2021 parades.

This year, the party is going on despite rapidly rising COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant.

“Without a doubt, we will have Mardi Gras 2022,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said during a Thursday morning kickoff event, where participants removed protective masks long enough to sample slices of king cake, a seasonal delicacy.

“Having a Mardi Gras, and a successful and healthy Mardi Gras, is as important to this region’s mental health as it is important to the economic health of this city,” added James Reiss, an official with the Rex Organization, a 150-year-old Carnival group.

Still, in a season known for excess, the virus prompted restraint. At Bywater Bakery, owner Chaya Conrad usually has a daylong block party with live music to mark the beginning of Carnival season. After a “virtual” recorded concert last year, she had planned to return to the big block party Thursday. But after the virus sickened many of her employees over Christmas, she canceled the extravaganza. Instead, a piano player on a flatbed truck played as customers snapped up king cakes.

“I don’t need the musicians getting sick. I don’t need my customers getting sick and I don’t need my other half of my staff getting sick,” Conrad said. “When this dies down then we’ll have the big block party.”

In what has become a traditional kickoff to the season, a group known as the Phunny Phorty Phellows boarded one of the historic St. Charles line streetcars Thursday night along with a small brass band. Vaccinations and protective masks were required and seating on the streetcar was limited.

Larger, more opulent parades will follow in February as Mardi Gras nears.

“It was certainly the right thing to do to cancel last year,” said Dr. Susan Hassig, a Tulane University epidemiologist who also is a member of the Krewe of Muses and rides each year on a huge float in the Muses parade. “We didn’t have vaccines. There was raging and very serious illness all over the place.”

Now, she notes, the vaccination rate is high in New Orleans, where 81% of all adults are fully vaccinated, according to the city’s statistics.

And while people from outside the city are a big part of Mardi Gras crowds, Cantrell’s anti-virus measures include proof of vaccination or a negative test for most venues.

Sharing Hassig’s cautious optimism is Elroy James, president of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, a predominantly Black organization whose Mardi Gras morning parade is a highlight of Carnival. Early in the pandemic, COVID-19 was blamed for the death of at least 17 of Zulu’s members.

“I think most krewes, particularly, I know, for Zulu, we’ve been very proactive, leaning in, with respect to all of the safety protocols that have been in place since the onset of this thing,” James said Wednesday. “Our float captains are confirming our riders are vaccinated. And part of the look for the 2022 Mardi Gras season is face masks.”

Reasons for concern remain in a state where the pandemic has claimed more than 15,000 lives over the past two years. Louisiana health officials reported 1,412 hospitalizations as of Wednesday — up from fewer than 200 in mid-December.

Asked whether Carnival krewes should be making contingency plans for their balls in case of future restrictions, Gov. John Bel Edwards said he is not currently planning restrictions on gatherings. But he added that people should be careful about spending time amid large groups of unmasked people.

“Does that apply to a Mardi Gras ball? I think its pretty self-evident that it does,” Edwards said.

Muses founder Staci Rosenberg said the krewe had planned to gather in a bar near the streetcar route to await the Phunny Phorty Phellows. The virus surge prompted a move outside.

Hassig says she won’t attend indoor gatherings. She, is, however, determined to ride in the Feb. 24 parade — vaccinated, wearing an N95 mask and knowing that outdoor activities are safer.

Hassig rode in her first parade in 2006 as the city struggled to recover from Hurricane Katrina. Now, she wants to participate in the recovery from the economic ravages of the virus.

“It’s incredibly important, financially, for the city that this go well,” she said.

Graceland Commemorating 45th Anniversary Of Presley’s Death

Elvis Presley’s Graceland will be celebrating the 45th anniversary of the singer and actor’s death with new museum exhibits, record giveaways, concerts and other special events at the tourist attraction centered around Presley’s life and career in Memphis, Tennessee.

Each year, Graceland commemorates Presley’s death with Elvis Week, which includes a candlelight vigil attended by fans from around the world. Presley died in Memphis on Aug. 16, 1977, at age 42.

This year, Graceland will be giving out 1,000 special Elvis 45 rpm records to visitors who tour on six select days. All records will feature a custom jacket.

Also planned are four new exhibits featuring Presley’s guitars, his clothing, a celebration of the 40th anniversary of his Graceland home opening to the public, and a fan tribute.

is also celebrating Presley’s birthday this week with a party, a sing-along to the film “Viva Las Vegas,” and a cake cutting He was born on Jan. 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Hong Kong Bans Flights, Imposes Other COVID-19 Restrictions

Hong Kong authorities announced a two-week ban on flights from the United States and seven other countries and held 2,500 passengers on a cruise ship for coronavirus testing Wednesday as the city attempted to stem an emerging omicron outbreak.

The two-week ban on passenger flights from Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Britain and the United States will take effect Sunday and continue until Jan. 21.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam also announced that restaurant dining will be forbidden after 6 p.m. for two weeks starting Friday. Game arcades, bars and beauty salons must also close during that period.
“We have to contain the pandemic to ensure that there will not be a major outbreak in the community again,” Lam said at a news conference, adding that the city is “on the verge” of another surge.

The measures came as new omicron clusters have emerged over the past week, many linked to several Cathay Pacific crew members who broke isolation rules and dined at restaurants and bars in the city before testing positive.

Hong Kong has reported 114 omicron variant cases as of Tuesday, with most being imported. On Tuesday, it reported its first untraceable case in nearly three months, which authorities said was likely caused by the omicron variant.

Hong Kong officials have moved swiftly to block the spread of the variant, locking down residential buildings where people have tested positive and mass-testing thousands of people.

That includes about 2,500 passengers who were being held Wednesday on a cruise ship in Hong Kong for coronavirus tests, after health authorities said nine passengers were linked to an omicron cluster and ordered the ship to turn back.

Authorities forced the Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas ship, which departed Sunday on a “cruise to nowhere,” to return a day early on Wednesday, according to a government statement.

The ship returned to Hong Kong on Wednesday morning and passengers were held onboard for most of the day while they awaited testing.

One passenger, Claudy Wong, said Royal Caribbean had tried its best to follow pandemic regulations.

“The pandemic has gone on for so long, actually passengers like us who board the cruise are already prepared for such situations to happen,” Wong said.

Royal Caribbean said in a statement that the nine guests were immediately isolated and all tested negative, and that the company was working closely with authorities to comply with epidemic prevention policies and regulations.

It said guests who were on the affected ship would receive a 25% refund on their cruise fare. The ship’s next sailing on Thursday was also canceled because the crew must undergo testing, and those guests will receive a full refund.

The city has reported a total of 12,690 confirmed coronavirus infections as of Tuesday, including 213 deaths.

Rodin’s Hands, February 4, 2022–December 2023, At The Rodin Museum In Philadelphia

“Rodin is the sculptor of hands—furious, clenched, rearing, damned hands,” wrote the French critic and poet Gustave Kahn, describing Auguste Rodin’s talent for concentrating emotion and storytelling into this body part. The exhibition invites visitors to consider how the artist’s modelling gives hands a tension and vitality that may be more expressive or dramatic than a figure’s face. Rodin almost obsessively explored the expressive power of hands, using them to convey an infinite variety of emotions and experiences.

The exhibition highlights fifteen bronzes and plasters—many of them rare or unique to the Philadelphia collection—to discuss Rodin’s process. Drawing on a vast stock of sculpted hands in his studio, the artist reused, reoriented, and repurposed hands in his sculptures to create unexpected juxtapositions and infuse works with new meaning. It was not lost on Rodin or his contemporaries that sculptors are first and foremost modelers reliant on their hands.

Enlarged hands or those distended by age or disease were vital components of figural sculptures such as The Burghers of Calais, The Three Shades, or The Helmet-Maker’s Wife. Later in Rodin’s career, works like The Cathedral or The Hand of God are comprised of hands, cut at the wrist or forearm, that offer symbolist essays on humanity and creation.

Exhibition highlights include The Cathedral, a sculpture modelled in 1908 that depicts two over-life-size right hands whose fingertips are about to touch. The sculptor published a book on the Gothic cathedrals of France in 1914 and renamed this piece, formerly known as The Arch of Alliance, after the rib vaulting found in Gothic churches.

Rodin almost obsessively explored the expressive power of hands, using them to convey an infinite variety of emotions and experiences. It is thought that he conceived The Clenched Hand and The Left Hand as studies for The Burghers of Calais but rejected the hands as being too animated. Recently, Stanford University scientists have proposed that the model for The Clenched Hand suffered from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a nerve disorder that causes muscle contractions. Rodin’s desire to study nature and represent it truthfully inspired him to study medical specimens at the Dupuytren Museum in Paris.

A piece unique to the Rodin Museum is the bronze sculpture of clasping hands titled Two Lovers. The plaster model for it at the Musée Rodin in Paris is inscribed: “Hands of Rodin and Rose Beuret,” suggesting that the hands are those of the sculptor and his mistress and partner.

In Rodin’s vision of creation, The Hand of God emerges not from heaven but from earth and cradles a rock from which male and female figures emerge. The divine hand with its open, curving palm and outstretched index finger is identical to a right hand that appears twice in The Burghers of Calais: once on the figure of Pierre de Wissant, who raises it to his face in a gesture of acceptance and offering, and again for his brother Jacques de Wissant, from whom the hand hangs in a gesture indicative of hesitation and doubt.

Curator

Jennifer Thompson, the Gloria and Jack Drosdick Curator of European Painting and Sculpture and Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection

For more details, please visit: https://philamuseum.org/visit

Colorado Ski Towns Take Safety Measures As Omicron Spreads

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (AP) — Colorado resort communities are taking steps to control a surge in COVID-19 cases as seasonal visitors flock to the area for outdoor recreation.

Starting Thursday, people will have to wear masks in public indoor spaces in Summit County, home to several ski resorts. As of Wednesday, the county had nearly 3,743 new confirmed cases per 100,000 people, according to John Hopkins data analyzed by the Associated Press.

In a news release, the county’s public health department said the decision was made in response to an “alarming” increase in cases during the past week. Officials believe that’s due to the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant, likely at indoor holiday gatherings.

Summit county has among the highest incidence rates in the United States, as does the Aspen area in Pitkin County which saw around 3,506 new cases per 100,000 people as of Wednesday, according to AP data.

On Thursday, Pitkin County closed several municipal buildings to in-person services as the county experiences an influx of seasonal visitors and staffing issues due to the omicron variant spread, the Aspen Times reported.

Summit County leaders had been reluctant to re-impose a mask mandate partly because it would put service workers in the difficult position of enforcing it, the Summit Daily reported. However, they were also concerned about the number of workers who have had to quarantine and saw the move as a way to help businesses.

“To me, it’s just a really commonsense approach and something we need to take to help mitigate this, even if it’s minuscule in what it does,” county commissioner Elisabeth Lawrence said. “It also provides a level of comfort for our locals.”

On Tuesday, Denver extended its latest mask mandate through Feb. 3.

The Pitkin County administration building on Main Street is closed, but the departments are available by phone or online, including the Clerk’s Office, Human Services, Public Health, Community Development and Assessor’s Office. The Sheriff’s Department’s main office is closed to walk-ins.

Investments In New Projects On Tap For 2022 In Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City’s casinos are forging ahead with ambitious new projects in 2022, even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to make it harder to do business.

And non-casino projects involving family entertainment, education and the offshore wind industry will take flight in the new year.

But challenges lurk, as well.

In-person gambling revenue at seven of the nine casinos is down compared with 2019, before the pandemic hit. Sports betting and internet gambling revenue has filled some of the gap, but that money must be shared with third parties, including technology platforms and sports books, and is not solely for the casinos to keep.

A law passed signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in December gives the casinos some relief from big increases in payments they were due to pay to Atlantic City, Atlantic County and the schools system in lieu of property taxes.

A big unknown is how long and how seriously the COVID19 pandemic, and particularly the fast-spreading omicron variant, will affect customers’ willingness to come out and gamble in person in 2022.

And a big challenge is right around the corner when New York begins allowing people to bet on phones or other mobile devices anywhere in the state, as soon as January but almost certainly in time for the Super Bowl in February.

Gambling industry executives and analysts expect New Jersey to lose at least 20% of its sports betting volume as New York residents who formerly had to cross over into New Jersey to bet will be able to do it at or close to home.

Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts casino, said he is “tremendously optimistic for a great year” in 2022.

Starting in February, Resorts is renovating its rooftop pool, adding a retractable roof to enable it to be used year-round. Resorts also is investing $5 million into new table games and slot machines, remodeling its high-limit slots area, and creating a new VIP Asian-themed room.

The Ocean Casino Resort plans to begin a $75 million project in spring or summer to finish 12 floors of hotel rooms that were never completed when the casino first opened as Revel in 2012.

Caesars casino will start work in 2022 on a new theater and resident show due to open in the first quarter of 2023. The project will incorporate the facade of the former Warner Theatre from 1929, which is currently part of the casino’s exterior facing the Boardwalk.

Also planned for Caesars in 2022 is a new restaurant opened by a hospitality company involving actor Robert De Niro that also will renovate hotel rooms there. Caesars Entertainment is partnering with Nobu Hospitality for a project to be called Nobu Hotel Atlantic City.

Bally’s will unveil 750 renovated hotel rooms, a redone hotel lobby and bar, and an indoor-outdoor entertainment venue in 2022.

A $100 million indoor water park to be built next to the former Showboat casino, which now operates as a nongambling hotel, plans a ground breaking for early 2022.

Atlantic City will host a three-day country music concert on the beach in August headlined by Luke Bryan and Morgan Wallen.

Construction is to begin in 2022 on a new ShopRite supermarket in Atlantic City, designed to end the city’s status as a “food desert” without a major supermarket. The project should open in 2023.

Stockton University hopes to complete a new student residence hall in the city in 2022.

Atlantic City will play a big role in the burgeoning offshore wind energy industry. Atlantic Cape Community College plans to open a wind energy workforce training center on its city campus in the fall, and wind developer Orsted hopes to start work in 2022 on a maintenance and operations center in Atlantic City to support its offshore wind projects in the area.

And a plan that has gotten little attention outside of Atlantic City but which will affect most visitors to the city is due to begin in 2022.

The city plans to reduce Atlantic Avenue, one of its two main north-south thoroughfares, from two lanes in each direction to one lane in each direction, in the name of pedestrian safety.

But many residents and businesses oppose the plan, predicting that traffic that is already difficult to navigate under current conditions will become even worse with only one lane in each direction.