AMMAN — Fears mounted Saturday that a
highly-infectious new coronavirus strain was pushing its way across the world
as countries globally brought the shutters down to contain the
new Omicron variant, AFP reported.
اضافة اعلان
Arab countries took strict measures to preemptively combat
the spread of the new variant, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
Moroccan authorities will suspend incoming flights from
South Africa and France starting Sunday, according to Moroccan News Agency.
The Bahrain Civil Aviation Authority said it was
reintroducing the red list system by adding six countries: South Africa, Namibia,
Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Eswatini, based on the recommendation of the
national medical team, according to Bahrain News Agency.
Both Saudi Arabia and Oman suspended flights from South
Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Eswatini over
fears of the new strain, according to the Saudi and Omani press agencies.
The Egyptian Ministry of Health also announced that the
level of readiness was being raised at all land, sea, and air ports to ensure
the health safety of arrivals, and that incoming flights from South Africa were
suspended, according to the Egyptian daily Youm7.
In Kuwait, the
Civil Aviation Authority said a negative PCR
test is required along with adherence to procedures related to vaccinated and
non-vaccinated individuals before arrival, under circulars issued in this
regard, according to the Kuwait News Agency.
The Palestinian Health Ministry announced it contacted
concerned countries to find out the nature of the new variant and the extent of
its spread, indicating that procedures will be tightened at crossings and
borders.
Global reaction
The UK confirmed its first two infections and suspected new
cases emerged in Germany and the Czech Republic, while Dutch authorities
quarantined 61 passengers from South Africa who tested positive for COVID-19.
South Africa complained it was being "punished"
with air travel bans for first detecting the strain, which the
World Health Organization (WHO) has termed a "variant of concern".
South Korea, Australia, and Thailand joined the US, Brazil,
Canada, and a host of other countries around the world restricting travel from
the region, fearing a major setback to global efforts against the pandemic.
Scientists are racing to determine the threat posed by the
heavily mutated strain, which is more transmissible than the dominant
Delta variant, and whether it can evade existing vaccines.
Anxious travelers thronged Johannesburg international
airport, desperate to squeeze onto the last flights to countries that had
imposed sudden travel bans. Many had cut holidays and rushed back from South
African safaris and vineyards.
"It's ridiculous, we will always be having new
variants," British tourist David Good told AFP, passports in hand.
"South Africa found it but it's probably all over the world already."
'Worrisome variant'
The virus has already slipped through the net with cases in
Europe, Hong Kong, and Israel.
Both cases in the UK were linked to travel from southern
Africa, and in response the government expanded travel restrictions on the
region.
Belgium said Friday it had detected the first announced
infection in an unvaccinated person returning from abroad.
Italy on Saturday said it had detected its first case of the
new Omicron strain of COVID-19 in a traveler from Mozambique.
Germany's suspect case, meanwhile, was fully jabbed.
"The Omicron variant has with strong likelihood already
arrived in Germany," tweeted Kai Klose, social affairs minister in the
western state of Hesse.
The neighboring Czech Republic was carrying out further
tests on a woman who had travelled from Namibia and was suspected to have the
new variant, prime minister Andrej Babis said.
The Netherlands meanwhile found around one in 10 — 61 out of
600 — people who had arrived at Schiphol airport on Friday from South Africa
were positive for COVID-19.
Those infected, who flew in on two KLM flights that took off
before the Dutch government announced a ban on travelers from the region, were
being kept quarantined in a hotel.
"The positive test results will be examined as soon as
possible to determine whether this concerns the new worrisome variant,"
the Dutch Health Authority said.
The WHO said it could take several weeks to understand the
variant, which was initially known as B.1.1.529, and cautioned against travel
curbs while scientific evidence remains scant.
'Draconian' measures
South Africa called the travel curbs "draconian"
and on Saturday said the flight bans were "akin to punishing South Africa
for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants
quicker."
"Excellent science should be applauded and not
punished," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The main countries targeted by the shutdown include South
Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, and
Zimbabwe.
US President
Joe Biden meanwhile said richer countries
should donate more COVID-19 vaccines and give up intellectual property
protections to manufacture more doses worldwide.
"The news about this new variant should make clearer
than ever why this pandemic will not end until we have global
vaccinations," he said.
But with memories still fresh of the way global air travel
helped the spread of COVID after it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan
in late 2019, countries clamped down swiftly.
Australia and Belgium became the latest to act, banning all
flights from nine southern African countries.
South Korea and Thailand restricted flights from eight
countries, as did the United States, Brazil, and Canada.
EU officials agreed in an emergency meeting to urge all 27
nations in the bloc to restrict travel from southern Africa, with many members
having already done so.
The
World Trade Organization called off its ministerial
conference, its biggest gathering in four years, at the last minute Friday due
to the new variant.
Vaccine manufacturers have held out hope that they can
modify current vaccines to target the Omicron variant.
Germany's
BioNTech and
US drugmaker Pfizer said they expect
data "in two weeks at the latest" to show if their jab can be
adjusted.
Moderna said it will develop a booster specific to the new
variant.
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