Brussels, Nov. 29 (BUS): Countries around the world closed their doors again in a bid to preserve the new variant of omicron on Monday, even as more cases of the mutated coronavirus emerged and scientists raced to see how dangerous it could be. He is.
Japan has announced that it will ban entry to all foreign visitors, while new cases of a variant identified days ago by researchers in South Africa have emerged in places such as Hong Kong and Australia. New cases in Portugal and Scotland may already indicate the local spread of the variant outside South Africa.
“There may already be community transmission of this type in Scotland,” First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said after Scotland reported its first six cases.
The infection demonstrated the near impossibility of keeping the genie in the bottle in a globalized world of travel and open borders.
Yet many have tried to do so, even against the urging of the World Health Organization, which has noted that closing borders often have limited impact and can wreak havoc on lives and livelihoods, The Associated Press reports.
Some have argued that such limitations could save valuable time for new variable analysis. Not much is known about it, including whether it is more contagious, more likely to cause serious illness or more able to evade vaccine protection.
However, the World Health Organization warned that “the potential for more omicrons to spread globally is high. Depending on these characteristics, there could be future spikes for COVID-19, which could have serious consequences.”
While the initial global response to COVID-19 has been criticized as slow and indiscriminate, the reaction to the new alternative came swiftly.
“This time the world has shown that it is learning,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, pointing to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with praise. “Analytical work and transparency in South Africa and the sharing of its findings are indispensable in allowing a rapid global response. Undoubtedly saved many lives.”
The World Health Organization has praised Botswana and South Africa for quickly alerting the world to the existence of the new alternative – and many have warned that countries should not be penalized for their speed.
But that hasn’t stopped von der Leyen from pushing the 27-nation European Union toward imposing an immediate ban on flights from seven South African nations – similar to the actions many nations have taken.
Cases had already been reported in Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands before Portuguese authorities identified 13 cases of omicron among members of the Belenenses professional football team. Authorities reported that one of the members had recently traveled to South Africa. His match against Benfica at the weekend was abandoned at halftime due to a lack of players.
Quarantine also became an issue when Dutch military police had to arrest a husband and wife who left a hotel they were being held in after they tested positive and boarded a plane to Spain.
“Quarantine is not mandatory, but we assume that people will act responsibly,” spokeswoman Petra Faber said.
Risky Japan, which has not yet detected any cases of omicron, re-imposed border controls it eased earlier this month for business visitors, foreign students and short-term workers.
“We are taking this step as an emergency precaution to prevent the worst-case scenario in Japan,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. The new procedures begin Tuesday.
Similarly, Israel decided to ban entry to foreigners, and Morocco said it would suspend all incoming flights for two weeks starting Monday.
Despite the global concern, scientists have warned that it remains unclear whether Omicron is more worrisome than other versions of the virus that has killed more than 5 million people.
And in some parts of the world, the authorities have been moving in the opposite direction.
In Malaysia, officials have gone ahead with the partial reopening of the bridge linking it to the country of Singapore. New Zealand has announced that it will press ahead with plans to reopen internally after months of lockdown, although it is also restricting travel from nine countries in South Africa.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she does not expect any further restrictions and that bars, restaurants and gyms can reopen in Auckland, ending a coronavirus lockdown that began in August.
“We’ve been through Covid for the past two years in better shape than almost anywhere in the world,” Ardern said, noting the low death rates, the growing economy and high vaccination rates.
Meanwhile, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health, said there was no data yet to suggest the new variant causes more serious diseases than previous versions.
Collins has echoed many experts in saying the news should make everyone redouble their efforts to use the tools the world already has, including vaccines, booster shots, and measures like wearing masks.
The United States is banning travel from South Africa and seven other countries in South Africa starting Monday. “It will give us a period of time to beef up our preparedness,” the chief US infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on ABC’s This Week.
Fauci said it would take about two more weeks to get more specific information about the transmissibility, intensity and other properties of the omicron, according to the White House.