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THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS: The Netherlands confirmed 13 circumstances of the brand new omicron variant of the coronavirus and Australia discovered two on Sunday because the nations half a world aside turned the most recent to detect it in vacationers arriving from southern Africa.
A rising raft of curbs are being imposed by nations world wide as they scramble to gradual the variant’s unfold, with Israel deciding Sunday to bar entry to overseas nationals within the hardest transfer thus far.
Confirmed or suspected circumstances of the brand new variant have already emerged in a number of European nations, in Israel and in Hong Kong, simply days after it was recognized by researchers in South Africa. The “act first, ask questions later” strategy mirrored rising alarm concerning the emergence of a doubtlessly extra contagious variant almost two years right into a pandemic that has killed greater than 5 million individuals, upended lives and disrupted economies throughout the globe.
Whereas a lot stays to be discovered concerning the new variant, researchers are involved that it might be extra immune to the safety supplied by vaccines and will imply that the pandemic lasts for longer than anticipated.
The Dutch public well being authority confirmed that 13 individuals who arrived within the Netherlands on flights from South Africa on Friday have thus far examined optimistic for omicron. They have been amongst 61 individuals who examined optimistic for the virus on Friday after arriving on the final two flights to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport earlier than a flight ban was put in place. They have been instantly put into isolation, most at a close-by resort, whereas sequencing was carried out.
Authorities in Australia stated two abroad vacationers who arrived in Sydney from Africa turned the primary within the nation to check optimistic for the omicron variant. Arrivals from 9 African nations at the moment are required to quarantine in a resort upon arrival.
Israel moved to ban entry by foreigners and mandate quarantine for all Israelis arriving from overseas.
“Restrictions on the nation’s borders shouldn’t be a simple step, but it surely’s a short lived and vital step,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated in the beginning of the weekly Cupboard assembly.
Dr. Ran Balicer, head of the federal government’s advisory panel on COVID-19, instructed Israel’s Kan public radio that the brand new measures have been vital for the “fog of conflict” surrounding the brand new variant, saying it was “higher to behave early and strictly” to stop its unfold.
Many nations have restricted or banned journey from numerous southern African nations — among the many newest New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Saudi Arabia. Locations that already had imposed restrictions embrace Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Iran, and the U.S. This goes towards the recommendation of the World Well being Group, which has warned towards any overreaction earlier than the variant is totally studied.
The US’ prime infectious ailments knowledgeable, Dr. Anthony Fauci, stated he wouldn’t be shocked if the omicron variant was already within the U.S., too.
“We now have not detected it but, however when you have got a virus that’s exhibiting this diploma of transmissibility … it virtually invariably is finally going to go primarily throughout,” Fauci stated on NBC tv.
In Europe, a lot of which already has been fighting a pointy enhance in circumstances over current weeks, officers additionally have been on their guard.
The U.Ok. on Saturday tightened up guidelines on mask-wearing and on testing of worldwide arrivals after discovering two omicron circumstances. Spain introduced it will not admit unvaccinated British guests beginning Dec. 1. They’re at the moment allowed to enter with a destructive coronavirus check.
Italy was going by means of lists of airline passengers who arrived previously two weeks after a enterprise traveler who returned from Mozambique and landed in Rome on Nov. 11 examined optimistic for omicron.
“The part of trying to find the brand new variant has began. Controls at airports, ports and prepare stations have been strengthened,’’ stated the Lazio area’s prime well being official, Alessio D’Amato.
French Well being Minister Olivier Veran stated that whereas no circumstances have but been confirmed in France, “it’s a query of hours,” on condition that omicron infections have been reported in a number of neighboring nations. “It’s possible that there at the moment are circumstances in circulation,” he stated on a go to to a Paris vaccination heart.
Whereas it’s not clear but how current vaccines work towards the omicron variant, Veran stated the French authorities isn’t altering its technique to battle the most recent surge of infections pushed by the delta variant, which facilities on growing vaccinations and boosters.
David Hui, a respiratory medication knowledgeable and authorities adviser on the pandemic in Hong Kong, stated that although it’s not clear if present coronavirus vaccines are efficient towards the brand new variant, the town’s vaccination price ought to be elevated and booster doses ought to be carried out as quickly as potential.
He stated that the 2 individuals who examined optimistic for the omicron variant had acquired the BioNTech-Pfizer shot and exhibited very delicate signs, similar to a sore throat.
“Vaccines ought to work however there could be some discount in effectiveness,” he stated.
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