Reuters is preparing a U.S. ban on Omicron, a ban on travel to African countries

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. health officials said on Sunday that they were preparing for the launch of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, which will begin restrictions on passengers in eight countries in southern Africa on Monday.

“Inevitably, it will be here,” although no case has been detected yet, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s head of infectious diseases, told ABC News “This Week.”

He added that U.S. health officials would talk to their South African counterparts later Sunday, saying the flight edges would give them more time to gather information and explore possible actions.

“It’s about preparing better, encouraging the vaccine, being ready for something that isn’t really a big deal, but we want to make sure we’re prepared for the worst,” he said separately. NBC News’ “Meet the Press” program.

A new variant of the omicron coronavirus was first found in South Africa https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/japan-tighten-border-controls-s-africa-others-new-virus-variant-jiji-2021 – Announced in 11-26 and in recent days, it has already been detected in more and more countries.

The U.S. should do “anything and everything” among the possible cases of the variant, but whether it is “too early to say” whether new blockades or mandates are needed, Fauci added on ABC.

Potentially more contagious https://www.reuters.com/world/how-worried-should-we-be-about-omicron-variant-2021-11-27 than previous variants, Omicron has raised concerns around the world, markets and the public bustle. -Health experts who have long been warned about the changes that are taking place in the novel coronavirus in the race to vaccinate against it.

“It’s clear he’s expressing his ability to convey quickly. That’s what worries us now,” Fauci told the “Meet in the Press.”

The appearance of the state may threaten to weaken the nation’s recovery by putting local health systems that have felt the weight of the latest Delta variant almost two years and more since the creation of COVID-19.

As the weather gets colder, the cases are forcing more and more people inside their homes amid doubts about the vaccine that has left many people unprotected in some U.S. regions, forcing some hospital systems and some U.S. states, including New York, to declare emergencies.

So far, 781,797 people have died in the United States as a result of COVID since early 2020, the most in any country in the world, with 48,288,375 infections, according to Reuters data.

U.S. President Joe Biden said he will return to Washington on Sunday after a Thanksgiving holiday weekend to announce the variant.

Meanwhile, the United States is teaming up with other nations to impose travel restrictions in an attempt to block transmission.

Starting at 12:01 a.m. Monday (0500 GMT), it will ban entry to almost all foreigners who have been in eight countries in southern Africa for the past 14 days and warned Americans to travel to those nations.

However, Delta Air Lines (NYSE 🙂 and United Airlines have said they do not plan changes to routes in South Africa and the US despite the limitations of the Biden administration. It was not immediately clear what further steps passengers from the region could take as flights continued over the weekend.

Fauci and other senior officials said the sudden explosion of the cases made Omicron worrisome, but it was still unclear how the current vaccines or what would affect the therapist. Vaccine authors Pfizer / BioNTech and Modern (NASDAQ 🙂 They said they expect more information soon.

“We need more data there before we can say for sure that the severe version of the virus is not certain, but we should know in the coming weeks,” Francis Collins told Fox News Sunday.

Fauci pressured Americans to continue getting COVID-19 vaccines and promoters while experts evaluated Omicron.

“This is a call … to get vaccinated,” he told NBC.