The 7 feet tall numerals for the 2023 Ball Drop have arrived in New York’s Times Square, End of an era: hotels across Europe are banning tiny toiletries, Karnataka issues fresh COVID guidelines to avoid outbreak and more in top stories of the day.
The numerals for the 2023 Ball Drop have arrived in Times Square
If you needed a reminder of how close we are to the new year, just head to Times Square! In preparation for the big Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration and ball drop, the giant 2023 numerals are currently staged at the Times Square Plaza between 46th and 47th Streets. Eventually, they’ll be placed atop One Times Square and officially start their job ushering in the new year, lighting up at midnight on December 31.
The massive numbers were transported on a cross-country trip by a 2023 Kia Telluride XPro, from the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California, stopping at holiday events in Nevada, Tennessee, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania, before arriving at their final destination in NYC.
End of an era: hotels across Europe are banning tiny toiletries
Getting free, tiny bottles of toiletries like shampoo, soap and shower gel is one of the joys of staying in a hotel. However, the complimentary tiny toiletries often offered in hotels are also pretty terrible for the environment. These mini-gifts use up loads of plastic and paper – which is why the European Commission has announced it wants to ban them throughout the EU.
It isn’t just free tiny toiletries that the EU is getting rid of. Single-use fruit and vegetable packaging is also being banned, with the aim of promoting containers that can be refilled and reused. You can have a look at the European Commission’s full statement on wasteful packaging here.
Karnataka issues fresh COVID guidelines to avoid outbreak
In view of the rising COVID cases in China and other parts of the world, India is also stepping up its precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Karnatata has issued the following new guidelines to tackle the spread of virus in the state.
- The 2% random sampling of international arrivals will be carried out.
- International arrivals with symptoms at Bengaluru and Mangalore airports will be taken to designated medical facilities for quarantine and managing the cases as per the COVID protocol. Medical expenses to be borne by passengers.
- Those who undergo the RT-PCR test, they can leave the airport after giving the samples. However, they should remain under home quarantine, and if they start to develop symptoms, they should immediately contact the local health teams and go to the designated medical facility.
- All those samples with positive report and CT value below 25, will be sent for genomic sequencing to check if it is the BF.7 variant, which is causing a surge in cases in China.
- Karnataka on Monday made masks mandatory in public places such as schools, colleges, malls, pubs, restaurants and movie theatres of the state with immediate effect.
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