London, November 28 (BNA) Britain, Germany and Italy detected cases of the new Omicron virus on Saturday, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new steps to contain the virus, while other countries imposed restrictions on travel from South Africa.
The discovery of the variant sparked global anxiety, a wave of travel bans or restrictions, and a sell-off in financial markets on Friday as investors feared that Omicron could halt the global recovery from the nearly two-year pandemic.
Israel has said it will ban all foreigners from entering the country and will reuse phone-tracking technology to combat terrorism to contain the spread of the alternative, according to Reuters.
British Health Minister Sajid Javid said the two Omicron-related cases discovered in Britain are linked to travel to South Africa.
Johnson instituted measures that included stricter testing rules for people arriving in the country, but fell short of restrictions on social activity other than requiring a mask to be worn in some places.
“We will require anyone entering the UK to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after arrival and to self-isolate until the result is negative,” Johnson said at a news conference.
Johnson said that people who have come into contact with people who have tested positive for a suspected case of Omicron will have to self-isolate for 10 days and the government will tighten rules on wearing face coverings, adding that steps will be reviewed within three weeks.
The Ministry of Health in the German state of Bavaria also announced two confirmed cases of the type. The ministry said the two people entered Germany at Munich airport on November 24, before Germany classified South Africa as a changing region for the virus, and are now isolated, noting without explicitly stating that the people had traveled from South Africa.
In Italy, the National Institute of Health said a case of the new variant was detected in Milan in a person from Mozambique.
Czech health authorities also said they were studying a suspected case of the variant in someone who had spent time in Namibia.
Omicron, described by the World Health Organization as a “worrying alternative,” is likely to be more contagious than previous variants of the disease, although experts don’t yet know whether it will cause COVID-19 more or less serious than other strains.
England’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said at the same press conference as Johnson that there was still a lot of uncertainty around Omicron, but “there is at least a reasonable chance that there will be some degree of vaccine escape with this variant”.
The variant was first discovered in South Africa and has since also been discovered in Belgium, Botswana, Israel and Hong Kong.
Dutch authorities said 61 of the nearly 600 people who arrived in Amsterdam on two flights from South Africa on Friday have tested positive for the coronavirus. Health authorities have been running more tests to see if those cases are related to the new variant.
Dutch photographer Paula Zimmermann, a passenger who arrived from South Africa on Friday, said she came back negative but was worried about the coming days.
“I was told they expect more people to test positive after five days,” she said. “It’s a bit of a scary thought that you’ve been on a plane with so many people who have tested positive for the virus.”
Financial markets fell on Friday, especially shares of airlines and others in the travel sector. Oil prices fell by about $10 a barrel.
It may take weeks for scientists to fully understand the mutations of the variant and whether existing vaccines and treatments are effective against it.
Although epidemiologists say travel restrictions may be too late to prevent Omicron from spreading globally, several countries around the world — including the United States, Brazil, Canada and the European Union — announced travel bans or restrictions on South Africa on Friday. .
On Saturday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Department added travel restrictions previously announced by Washington, advising against travel to eight countries in South Africa.
US Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters on Saturday the administration would take it “step by step” when asked about the additional travel restrictions. “We’ve now done what we think is necessary,” Harris said.
Also on Saturday, Australia said it would deny entry to non-citizens who have been in nine South African countries, and require a 14-day supervised quarantine for Australian citizens returning from there.
Japan and Britain said they had expanded travel restrictions to more African countries, while South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Oman, Kuwait and Hungary announced new travel restrictions.
South Africa’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that South Africa is concerned that the restrictions will harm tourism and other sectors of its economy, adding that the government is communicating with countries that have imposed travel bans to persuade it to reconsider.
Omicron emerged because many countries in Europe are already grappling with an increase in COVID-19 infections, and some have re-imposed restrictions on social activity in an effort to stem the spread. Austria and Slovakia have entered lockdowns.
The new format also highlighted disparities in the extent to which the world’s population is vaccinated. Even as many developed countries offer a third dose of a booster dose, less than 7% of people in low-income countries have received their first dose of COVID-19, according to medical and human rights groups.
This is needed to stave off the emergence of more variants of the coronavirus, said Seth Berkeley, CEO of the GAVI Vaccine Alliance who co-leads the COVAX initiative to push for the equitable distribution of vaccines with the World Health Organization.
“While we still need to learn more about Omicron, we know that as long as large parts of the world’s population are not immune, variables will continue to emerge, and the pandemic will persist for a long time,” he said in a statement to Reuters. .
“We will only prevent variants from appearing if we are able to protect the entire population of the world, not just the rich parts.”
HF