UK, Germany and Italy detect cases of Omicron variant, Israel closes borders Reuters

By Costas Pitas, Madeline Chambers and Toby Sterling

LONDON / BERLIN / AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Britain, Germany and Italy detected cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new steps to contain the virus as more nations imposed restrictions on travel from South Africa.

The discovery of the variant sparked global concern, a travel ban or a wave of restrictions and selling in financial markets on Friday, as investors worried Omicron could halt a global recovery from a nearly two-year pandemic.

Israel said it would ban the entry of all foreigners into the country and re-introduce counter-terrorism phone tracking technology to sustain the spread of the variant.

Two cases linked to Omicron seized in Britain were linked to a trip to South Africa, British Health Minister Sajid Javid said.

Johnson enacted measures that included stricter test rules for people arriving in the country, but in some settings he was left with no limits to social activity that required wearing a mask.

“We will require anyone entering the UK to undergo a PCR test by the end of the second day after arrival and self-isolation until a negative result,” Johnson said in a press conference.

People who contacted people positive for an alleged Omicron case would have to self-isolate for 10 days and the government would tighten rules for wearing face masks, Johnson said, and the steps would be reviewed in three weeks.

The German state ministry of Bavaria also announced two confirmed cases of the variant. The two people entered Germany at Munich airport on November 24, before Germany designated South Africa as a virus variant area, and the ministry said they were now isolated, without explicitly stating that people had traveled from South Africa.

In Italy, the National Institutes of Health said they had detected a case of a new variant in Milan in a person from Mozambique.

Czech health authorities also said they were investigating an alleged case of a variant of a person who had been in Namibia.

Omicron, designated a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization, is more contagious than previous variants of the disease, although experts still do not know whether COVID-19 will be more severe or more severe compared to other strains.

England’s chief medical officer, Chris Witty, said at the same press conference in Johnson that there was still a great deal of uncertainty about Omicron, but “there is a reasonable chance that at least this variant will have some degree of vaccine escape”.

The variant was first found in South Africa and has since been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Israel and Hong Kong.

FLIGHTS TO AMSTERDAM

Dutch authorities said 61 out of 600 people who arrived in Amsterdam on two flights to South Africa on Friday were positive for coronavirus. Health authorities were conducting more tests to see if those cases brought a new variant.

A traveler who arrived from South Africa on Friday, Dutch photographer Paula Zimmerman, said she had given a negative but was eager for the coming days.

“I’ve been told that they expect a lot more positive people to come out in five days. It’s a little scary to be on a plane with a lot of people who have tested positive,” he said.

Financial markets fell on Friday, mainly with shares of airlines and others in the travel sector. Oil prices fell about $ 10 a barrel.

It may take weeks for scientists to fully understand the mutations in the variant and whether existing vaccines and treatments are effective against it.

TRAVEL CURVES

Although epidemiologists say it may be too late to stop moving Omicron worldwide, many countries around the world – including the United States, Brazil, Canada and the European Union – announced bans or restrictions on travel in southern Africa on Friday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Department added to the travel restrictions previously announced by Washington on Saturday, recommending travel to eight countries in southern Africa.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters that the administration will take it “one step further” when asked about additional travel restrictions. “We’ve done what we deem necessary for now,” Harris said.

Also on Saturday, Australia said it would ban access to non-citizens who have been to nine countries in South Africa and would require Australian citizens returning from it to undergo 14 days of controlled quarantine.

Japan and Britain said they were expanding restrictions on travel to more African countries, while South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Oman, Kuwait and Hungary announced new travel restrictions.

South Africa is concerned that the borders will harm tourism and other sectors of its economy, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, adding that the government is in contact with countries that have imposed travel bans to persuade them to review them.

Omicron was created because many European countries are facing the rise of COVID-19 infections, and some have re-imposed restrictions on social activity in an attempt to stop the spread. Austria and Slovakia have joined the blockades.

Vaccinations

The new variant has also focused on the differences in the extent to which the world’s population is vaccinated. Although many developed countries are providing third-dose promoters, less than 7% of people in low-income countries have received the first shot of COVID-19, according to medical and human rights groups.

Seth Berkley, co-director of the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which co-leads the COVAX initiative with the WHO, said it was essential to promote the correct distribution of vaccines so that more variants of the coronavirus could emerge.

“Although we need to know more about Omicron, we know that while large parts of the world’s population are unvaccinated, the variant will continue to appear and the pandemic will continue to spread,” he told Reuters. .

“We will prevent the emergence of variants only if we are able to protect the entire population of the world, not just the rich parts.”