Europe and Asia, concerned about variants of COVID, have tightened borders with Reuters

By Costas Pitas and Stephanie Nebehay

LONDON / GENEVA (Reuters) – World authorities have reacted with alarm to a new variant of coronavirus detected in South Africa on Friday, announcing tighter border controls in the EU, Britain and India, while scientists wanted to determine if the mutation was resistant to vaccines.

Great Britain https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-says-new-covid-19-variant-is-most-significant-yet-found-2021-11-26 Banned flights from South Africa and surrounding countries and asked British passengers returning in their forties, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aims to halt regional air travel.

Scientists are still unaware of the variant identified this week, but the news hit the world between https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/global-markets-wrapup-5-2021-11-26stocks and fears of oil. travel bans would have already shaken South Africa’s economy.

The variant contains a spike protein that is very different from the original coronavirus on which COVID-19 vaccines are based, the UK Health Safety Agency said, creating fears that current vaccines will be successful against the more popular variant. .

“Scientists have described (this is) the most significant variant they have found so far,” British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News.

The World Health Organization will hold a meeting at the https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-meeting-friday-designate-new-variant-b11529-2021-11-26 (WHO) in Geneva. 1100 GMT. Experts will discuss the risks involved and whether it should be designated as a variant of interest or a variant of concern, said WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier.

Nearly 100 sequences of the variant have been reported, and early studies show that it has a “large number of mutations” that require further analysis, Lindmeier said.

An epidemiologist said it may be too late to tighten travel limits.

“I think we need to recognize that this virus is probably in other places already. And so if we close the door now, it will probably be too late,” said Ben Cowling of the University of Hong Kong.

He will speak to British authorities in South Africa to try to reconsider the ban, the Pretoria Foreign Ministry said.

“Our immediate concern is the damage this decision will cause to the tourism industries and businesses in both countries,” Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement.

” PLAY INDOR, FAST AND NOW ‘

A variant called B.1.1.529 has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, according to the UK Health Safety Agency. Israel said it was banning citizens from traveling to South Africa after finding a case of a new strain of a traveler returning from Malawi.

“We are currently on the threshold of a state of emergency at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-pm-warns-state-emergency-due-new-coronavirus-variant-2021-11-26,” he said. said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, according to a note from his office.

“Our main principle is to play fast, strong and now.”

As European countries were already spreading reinforcing vaccines and tightening borders as the continent struggled with a fourth wave of coronavirus, driven by delta variants, many reported a record daily rise in cases.

The discovery of a new wave and a new variant has come as Europe and the United States enter winter, and more people are gathering inland for Christmas, offering a breeding ground for infection.

Italy has imposed an entry ban on people who have visited southern African states in the past 14 days, and Germany will declare South Africa a virus variant area, a Health Ministry source said.

India has given advice to all states to test and analyze international travelers from South Africa and other “endangered” countries after easing some of its travel restrictions earlier this month.

The Singapore Ministry of Health said it would also restrict arrivals from the region, and Japan tightened border controls for visitors from five other African and African countries.

In the two years since central China was identified, coronavirus has taken over the world, infecting nearly 260 million people and killing 5.4 million.

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