we are seeing russian openness to conversations. but the intelligence we are seeing today is still not encouraging. we still have russian field hospitals been constructed near the border with ukraine and belarus and a can only be construed as a preparation for an invasion. more battalion tactical groups closer to the border. and according to the intelligence that we are seeing. mixed signals, i think, to the intelligence that we are seeing. mixed signals, ithink, at the moment. mixed signals or not, diplomacy with russia continues. this is germany s chancellor meeting vladimir putin in moscow today. olaf scholz said war in europe was unthinkable, but diplomacy wasn t exhausted. president putin was asked in a news conference if he could exclude the possibility of war in europe.
but actually, that thing you re really scared about is going to be all right. tulip mazumdur, bbc news, writtle in essex. all remaining covid restrictions in northern ireland have been lifted, and replaced by guidance on behaviour. ministers at stormont say the spread of the omicron variant isn t putting significant pressure on hospitals. but there is a warning that covid has not gone away. where does it become the first uk nation to the uk sjoint committee on vaccination and immunisation. for some, the lost ship of antarctic explorer sir ernest shackleton is the greatest of all undiscovered wrecks. endurance sank in 1915, and all 28 crew survived. now a major scientific expedition is trying to find the wreckage, in the weddell sea off antarctica. the search ship, endurance 22, left cape town ten days ago,
exposures, et cetera, that are a a lot of them are seeking testing. reporter: like previous waves, the sickest kids, those needing hospitalization, are having a tough time breathing. they re getting a lot of respiratory symptoms as we have been expecting. pneumonia, needing respiratory support to help them breathe better. reporter: viral spread expected to intensify in the weeks ahead, and even if the omicron variant isn t as severe the problem is that with so many children and adults infected, even if the percent of the percent hospitalization rate is lower, we re still we could see more children hospitalized over a very short period of time. that puts a strain on our healthcare resources. reporter: miguel marquez, cnn, houston, texas. so difficult to watch those children and families struggling. joining us now to discuss this is dr. richard besser, a former acting director of the cdc, also
4 you think that i don t know how we could do this again, and then we keep doing it again. reporter: as texas children s readies for a fourth coronavirus wave, already its er is seeing a spike in kids suffering mild symptoms. their parents seeking testing, bogging down triage for the seriously ill. we are seeing a lot of patients present with mild respiratory symptoms, cough, congestion, fever. known covid exposures, et cetera, that are really i think a lot of them are really seeking testing. reporter: like previous waves, the sickest kids those needing hospitalization are having a tough time breathing. so, they are getting a lot of respiratory symptoms as we have been expecting. um, pneumonias, needing respiratory support to help them breathe better. reporter: viral spread expected to intensify in the weeks ahead and even if the omicron variant isn t as severe the problem is that, with so
weeks ahead, and even if the omicron variant isn t as is severe the problem is with so many adults infected, even if the percent hospitalization rate is lower, we re still we could see more children hospitalized over a very short period of time. so that certainly puts a strain on our health care resources. reporter: miguel marques, cnn, houston, texas. thank you, miguel. well, medical experts in the u.s. keep warning parents that their children are at greater risk of getting sick from omicron variant, and that for most vaccination is an opportunity, of course, to keep them out of the hospital. here s one doctor s plea. even before this wave, hospitals were being overrun. they were being overrun because of delta, but also they are facing substantial staffing shortages and also many patients put off their medical care. and so hospitals that were already at the brink, even a little bit additional from omicron, is pushing them over