World Becomes Desperate To Contain ‘Omicron’

Web Desk — Omicron – the new and reportedly the most lethal and a highly-infectious coronavirus variant, discovered in South African, has mounted fears in Europe and other parts of the world.

New cases were suspected in Germany and the Czech Republic, while Dutch authorities quarantined passengers from South Africa who had tested positive for Covid-19.

According to the South African government, it has been “punished” with bans on air travel for discovering the strain, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has deemed a “variant of concern.”

Australia and Thailand have joined the United States, Brazil, Canada, and a host of other nations in restricting travel from the region, fearing a major setback to efforts against the pandemic.

Scientists are racing to figure out how dangerous the heavily mutated strain is, given that it is more transmissible than the dominant Delta variant, and if it is immune to current vaccines.

Anxious travelers thronged Johannesburg International Airport, desperate to catch the last flights to countries that had imposed sudden travel bans. Many cut back their holidays and rushed back from South African safaris and vineyards.

It is even more concerning that the virus has already slipped out of Africa as cases have already been reported in Europe, Hong Kong, and Israel.

Germany is the second European country to find a suspected case of the new strain after Belgium. “The Omicron variant has with a high probability already arrived in Germany,” tweeted Kai Klose, social affairs minister in Hesse.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the Czech Republic is testing a woman from Namibia suspected of having the new variant.

On Friday, the Netherlands became the latest European country to tighten its Covid restrictions.

Countries Affected By Shutdown

South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe are among the countries affected by the shutdown.

Australia became the latest country to ban flights from nine countries in southern Africa.

Meanwhile, Thailand restricted flights from eight countries, as did the United States, Brazil, Canada, and Saudi Arabia.

During an emergency meeting, EU officials agreed to encourage all 27 nations in the bloc to restrict travel from southern Africa, with many already doing so.

In response, South Africa has called the travel curbs “Draconian” and said on Saturday the flight bans amounted to punishing the country for its advanced genomic sequencing and ability to detect new variants more quickly.

The South African foreign ministry said in a statement that excellent science should be praised and not punished.

The WHO said it could take several weeks to understand the variant, initially known as B.1.1.529, and cautioned against imposing travel restrictions until more scientific evidence is gathered.

Vaccine for Omicron
Manufacturers of vaccines have hoped to modify current vaccines to target the Omicron variant.

German BioNTech and US drugmaker Pfizer said they expect data to show whether their jab can be adjusted “in two weeks at the latest.”

Moderna says it will develop a booster specifically for the new variant.

UK Measures Against Omicron

On Saturday, the British government announced new measures to try to slow the spread of the newly identified Omicron coronavirus variant. A top health official admitted vaccines could be less effective against it.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said incoming visitors from all countries must self-isolate until they receive a negative PCR test result, that face masks must be worn in retail settings, and that booster vaccinations were in order.