The cases were identified among 61 passengers who tested positive for coronavirus. The Dutch health authority said the investigation has not yet been completed and the new variant may be found in more test samples.
The Dutch health authority said Sunday that it has found 13 cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant among passengers on flights from South Africa.
The cases were identified among 61 passengers who tested positive for coronavirus, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said in a statement.
In an ongoing sequencing study, the new coronavirus variant B.1.1.529, or Omicron, first reported in South Africa, has been identified in 13 of the positive tests, said the RIVM.
The investigation has not yet been completed and the new variant may be found in more test samples, according to the RIVM.
A “corona pass” is scanned at a canal boat tour departure in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Nov. 1, 2021. (Photo by Sylvia Lederer/Xinhua)
The RIVM called on returning travelers from Omicron-risk countries, including South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, to get tested if they have returned since Nov. 22, even if they have no complaints.
On Friday, 624 passengers from South Africa were tested for coronavirus. Of them, 61 received a positive test result.
The Netherlands on Friday suspended flights from southern African countries in an effort to keep out the new and potentially more transmissible variant.
Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said Sunday that he did not rule out the possibility of additional containment measures, which will depend on the seriousness and contagiousness of the new variant, about which little is known yet.
Photo taken on Nov. 1, 2021 shows a COVID-19 precaution notice to keep 1.5-meter distance in a shop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. (Photo by Sylvia Lederer/Xinhua)
The Karnak Temple Complex in Upper Egypts monument-rich city of Luxor is buzzing with tourists, as the North African country has witnessed a revival in tourism after a long recession amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Karnak Temple Complex in Upper Egypt’s monument-rich city of Luxor is buzzing with tourists, as the North African country has witnessed a revival in tourism after a long recession amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
This bustle and hustle around the temple and other archaeological sites in Luxor was more palpable especially when and after Egypt reopened the city’s ancient Avenue of Sphinxes on Friday after years of renovation work.
Visitors from different countries filed through the 2,400-year-old ancient walkway with 1,057 ram-headed and man-headed sphinxes lining both sides of it.
Egypt aspires to use the reopening of the historical avenue to promote Luxor as the largest open museum in the world and highlight its distinct diverse tourist and archaeological potentials.
Tourists visit the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, Egypt, on Nov. 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
“The place is rich in culture and history … It is very exciting to closely see the ancient Egyptian civilization,” Ray Rasmany, a U.S. young man, told Xinhua as he walked through the Karnak Temple.
Rasmany, who visited Egypt for the first time, said the country is safe and the people are friendly, adding anti-COVID-19 measures are well applied in the country.
As one of the key sources of income for Egypt, tourism accounts for about 12 percent of the country’s GDP. It brought Egypt a record 13 billion U.S. dollars in revenues in 2019 with the arrival of more than 13 million tourists.
The peak came after a few years of decline in tourism caused by a Russian plane crash over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015 that left 224 dead, and a later EgyptAir plane crash in May 2016 that killed all 66 people on board.
Later, tourism in Egypt began to decline again because of the COVID-19 pandemic and relevant lockdowns worldwide.
“A boom has been seen in tourism here after Russia resumed in August direct flights to Egyptian tourist cities after a six-year ban following the explosion of a Russian airliner,” Alaa al-Sahaby, owner of a hotel in Luxor, told Xinhua.
The middle-aged man noted that the precautionary measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing vaccination campaigns and the government’s decision to resume tourism activities helped revive the ailing sector.
“My hotel is unexpectedly fully booked … This is almost the case with most of the other hotels across Egypt, not only in Luxor,” al-Sahaby told Xinhua.
Tourists visit the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, Egypt, on Nov. 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
He expressed hope for Chinese tourists to come back soon to Luxor, saying the Chinese tourists used to come in large numbers and spend well in the city.
“Chinese tourists prefer cultural tourism. That is why they prefer to visit Luxor. A real boom will happen if Chinese tourists will visit again,” the hotel owner noted.
Egypt’s official statistics showed China became the fourth largest source of tourists to Egypt in 2017, and according to the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, more than half a million Chinese tourists visited Egypt in 2018.
For 2021, Egypt targets revenues of 6 billion dollars to 9 billion dollars in tourism and hopes to receive more than 6 million tourists.
Egypt received about 3.5 million tourists during the first half of 2021, while the total revenues were about 4 billion dollars, according to the tourism ministry’s data.
All variants of COVID-19, including the Delta variant that is currently dominant worldwide, can cause severe disease or death, in particular for the most vulnerable people, and thus prevention is always key.
It is not yet clear whether the Omicron COVID-19 variant is more transmissible, or causes more severe disease compared to other variants including Delta, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday.
WHO said it’s not yet clear whether Omicron is more easily spread from person to person compared to other variants, even though the number of people testing positive has risen in South Africa where this variant was involved.
It’s also not yet clear whether Omicron causes more severe disease, but preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization in South Africa, which however may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected.
WHO confirmed that there is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants, as understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks.
People walk on a commercial street in Cape Town, South Africa, Nov. 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran)
All variants of COVID-19, including the Delta variant that is currently dominant worldwide, can cause severe disease or death, in particular for the most vulnerable people, and thus prevention is always key.
However, WHO said preliminary evidence suggests there may be an increased risk of reinfection with Omicron, but information is limited. More information on this will become available in the coming days and weeks.
It added that current PCR tests continue to detect Omicron, while further studies are still going on to understand how the Omicron variant will impact on available vaccines and treatments to COVID-19.
WHO classified on Friday the latest variant B.1.1.529 of SARS-CoV-2 virus, now with the name Omicron, as a “Variant of Concern” (VOC).
According to WHO’s definition, a VOC, with a degree of global public health significance, demonstrates one or more of mutational changes, such as increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology, increase in virulence or change in clinical disease presentation, and decrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or available diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics.
WHO has since called on countries to enhance surveillance and sequencing on circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, submit complete genome sequences and metadata to a publicly available database, and report initial VOC cases or clusters to WHO.
It has also recommended field investigations and laboratory assessments to better understand potential impacts of the VOC on COVID-19 epidemiology, the effectiveness of public health and social measures and antibody neutralization.
A health worker prepares to administer the COVID-19 vaccine on the Transvaco Vaccination Train in East London, South Africa, Oct. 8, 2021. (Photo by Yeshiel/Xinhua)
As a preventive measure, France has decided, along with other Europe Union countries, to suspend flights from seven Southern African countries.
French Health Ministry reported Sunday night eight suspected Omicron COVID-19 cases among passengers who tested positive after their African trips over the past 14 days.
Eight positive COVID-19 cases “with a negative screening for the mutations found in the other variants (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta)” require further confirmation by sequencing, French Health Ministry said in a press release, noting that it could take “several days.”
France’s neighboring countries have already reported confirmed Omicron COVID-19 cases.
A resident talks with a medical worker at a COVID-19 fast screening center in Paris, France, Nov. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
Speaking to BFMTV Sunday morning, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that “from the moment it (Omicron) circulated at our neighbors, it is possible that it’s circulating at ours.”
As a preventive measure, France has decided, along with other Europe Union countries, to suspend flights from seven Southern African countries.
It is still not yet clear whether the Omicron variant is more transmissible, or causes more severe disease compared to other variants including Delta, the World Health Organization said on Sunday.
A customer walks past a sign indicating a COVID-19 vaccination center inside a shopping mall in Levallois-Perret near Paris, France, Nov. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
“As the monitoring and testing continue with provinces and territories, it is expected that other cases of this variant will be found in Canada,” said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.
Two people in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa have tested positive for the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19, according to the Ontario provincial government on Sunday.
The two people recently traveled to Nigeria.
“Ottawa Public Health is conducting case and contact management and the patients are in isolation,” according to a statement issued by Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott and the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Kieran Moore on Sunday.
“The Ontario COVID-19 Genomic Network is continuing to actively monitor for all potential variants circulating in the province, including the Omicron variant, and is conducting genomic sequencing on 100 percent of eligible COVID-19 positive samples.”
Travelers wearing face masks line up to check in at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on Oct. 30, 2021. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)
According to the World Health Organization, the variant was reported by South Africa on Nov. 24, with the first confirmed case coming from a specimen collected on Nov. 9.
On Friday, several countries, including Canada, announced travel restrictions for southern African countries.
Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in a statement that he has spoken with his provincial counterpart about the new cases.
“This development demonstrates that our monitoring system is working,” he said. “As the monitoring and testing continue with provinces and territories, it is expected that other cases of this variant will be found in Canada.”
On Friday, the Canadian government announced it will ban the entry of foreigners who may have traveled through South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini in the past two weeks.
The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 13.54 million across Southeast Asia, with 26,786 new cases reported on Sunday (November 28), lower than Saturday’s tally at 32,379. New deaths are at 448, decreasing from Saturday’s number of 454. Total Covid-19 deaths in Asean are now at 290,969.
The Philippines temporarily suspended testing and quarantine protocols for countries/jurisdictions/territories classified as “green” starting Monday until December 15. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the revised guidelines, which include three-day quarantine for fully vaccinated travelers even with a negative Covid-19 test result and five days for the unvaccinated, with incomplete doses or without a negative Covid-19 test result.
Singapore is watching the new coronavirus variant Omicron closely and may be forced to roll back the easing up of safety measures as it moves forward to tackle the disease, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Speaking at the People’s Action Party (PAP) convention on Sunday, Lee said he is confident the country will be able to live with the virus, and held up how its people have made a lot of progress in dealing with the disease over the past two years.
MOSCOW – One of the most popular memes in Russia is, fittingly, an ode to Elon Musk – the Tesla chief executive, SpaceX founder, aspiring Mars colonizer and arguably Russians favorite international figure.
“How do you like that, Elon Musk?” said captions in a digital satire of Russia’s technological savvy. Examples include potholes covered up by grass or an old car driving in reverse on the highway.
Musk, also a lover of memes, responded to one in Russian: “haha how cool.”
As if Russians needed another reason to adore him.
Musk is rare figure who holds near-universal appeal in a country not easily impressed, especially by outsiders. But why?
Some say it’s his adventures in space exploration, a topic enveloped in Soviet-era nostalgia for Russians.
But others suggest that the Musk fandom is a commentary on Russian society, where big opportunities and entrepreneurial risk-taking are uncommon. Or maybe it’s a reaction against wealthy and state-protected oligarchs often accused of corruption – and lacking Musk’s eccentric and eclectic online persona.
And many Russians consider Musk’s story – immigrating to the United States from South Africa and finding success – an inspiration.
“He became a bright antithesis to Russian capitalism, a guide on how you can get rich in the right way and how you can spend the money you earned in the right way,” said Alexey Firsov, who founded the Platforma sociological research and consulting firm and authored a report on Musk’s mass popularity in Russia.
“The Russian environment could not produce this cultlike figure,” Firsov added. “And it is an easy import because Musk is not associated with some Wall Street billionaire, he is not a native American and he engages with Russia. So he is not perceived as a stranger, and this image is important to a stratum of people who are in need of one.”
While the mega-rich Musk has his critics in the United States and elsewhere – in large part because of tax issues and his hard-charging style – his fan club in Russia extends all the way to the Kremlin.
In February, Musk tagged the Kremlin on Twitter to ask for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on the Clubhouse social media app. Though a face-to-face between Putin and Musk isn’t currently being prepared – and it certainly wouldn’t happen via Clubhouse – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told The Washington Post that Moscow is genuinely interested.
“Putin shows great interest in the topic of technology, innovation and visionary ideas and we are convinced that in this area, there are many extremely interesting topics for him to talk about with Musk,” Peskov said. “The president very much appreciates the opportunity to communicate with such visionaries.”
A few months after Musk asked Putin to chat on Clubhouse, the Kremlin made its own request to Musk. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, invited Musk to address a student forum via video link.
Musk agreed, shocking budding rocket scientists who got to ask Musk questions during a 45-minute session in May.
“Now my friends introduce me to people as a person who talked to Elon Musk,” said 19-year-old Danil Gavrilov, a second-year student at Samara National Research University and member of RocketLAV, a student group that builds models of rockets.
“He’s been an inspiration to me since I was a child,” Gavrilov said of Musk. “To me, he’s a person who sets impossible goals and then achieves them – and not only in rocket-building.”
During his appearance, Musk praised Russian scientists Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Sergei Korolev, the architect of the Soviet space program. He also said that “we’re close to establishing a Tesla presence in Russia, and I think that would be great.”
“There’s a lot of talent and energy and Russia,” Musk told the attendees. “Hopefully that energy continues into the future, and I would just like to strongly encourage people to strive to make the future better than the past and to be optimistic about the future.”
In 2001, Musk visited Moscow on a hunt for repurposed intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs. He was just starting his space endeavors and wanted to send something – anything – to Mars.
The Russians didn’t offer Musk as good a deal as he’d hoped. That experience, which his partners described as insulting in a 2012 interview with Esquire magazine, fueled Musk to build his own rockets. He founded SpaceX the next year.
Since then, Musk has been a perpetual thorn for Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos.
Musk and Dmitry Rogozin, the director of Roscosmos, have engaged in several public spats. After Rogozin was sanctioned by the United States in 2014 for his role in the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, he suggested that U.S. astronauts – who at the time depended on Russian rockets to get to the International Space Station – should get there by jumping on trampolines.
After SpaceX broke Russia’s nine-year monopoly on ferrying crew to the space station last May, sending two U.S. astronauts into orbit, Musk quipped: “The trampoline is working.”
The feud only boosted Musk’s popularity among Russians. Firsov, the sociologist, said Musk “contrasts with the stereotypes Russians have regarding space programs that are mostly bureaucratic, lacking leaps of imagination unlike Musk with his Mars plans.”
Even Rogozin appears to be an admirer – albeit a begrudging one.
In comments to Russian state television in August, Rogozin said he would extend three special invites for the launch of Russia’s Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft: to Musk “whom we respect in Russia” … and also fellow space adventurers Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. Rogozin has also offered to have Musk over for tea at his home. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
“I hope that someday our billionaire oligarchs will start spending their money not on the usual yachts and vanity fairs, but on the development of space technologies and expanding knowledge about space,” Rogozin said on Twitter in July.
Musk responded with two clapping emoji.
Pavel Antonov’s life goal can be traced back to the 2016 movie “Passengers,” a sci-fi romance that takes place on a luxury spaceship. One character in the movie is Arthur, an android bartender played by Michael Sheen. Arthur provides smiling relief amid the chaos.
“I immediately thought Musk will definitely need such a person who would distract from all problems,” Antonov said. “For at least one hour, you can sit at the bar, forget about everything and talk about neutral topics. From then on, I decided that I want to be the first bartender on Mars.”
To get Musk’s attention, Antonov, a 29-year-old bartender at Moscow’s The Bix, started a social media campaign in April. He tried tweeting at Musk, both in Russian and English. In one of his Instagram posts, an astronaut in a spacesuit has a (photoshopped) cocktail shaker in his hand.
It didn’t get a response from Musk. But Antonov did get some validation. In August, SpaceX posted a position for a “Spaceport Mixologist.”
Since then, Antonov has acquired a “Martian Deed” with his name on it – a novelty gift from a friend.
Antonov also has perfected a signature cocktail for Mars. It’s bright blue, representing space, Antonov said, with a red cherry dropped in like the Red Planet.
“Probably the decisive thing that inspired me to follow Musk is when he said that you shouldn’t be afraid of failure,” Antonov said. “I think, here in Russia, if you make one mistake, it follows you. His view seems to be that if you make a mistake, you get experience and learn from it and won’t make it again. I think it’s unique for people in Russia.”
Musk merchandise can easily be found online. One specialty retailer sells a sweatshirt with Musk as a Russian Orthodox icon. Another, founded by designer Kirill Karavaev, seizes on Musk’s viral moments with well-timed designs. A T-shirt with a cartoonlike Musk bouncing on a trampoline was released earlier this year – a reference to Musk’s trampoline jab at Rogozin.
One of Karavaev’s best-selling shirts was a sketch of Musk’s face and the words, “How do you like that, Elon Musk?” – the popular Russian meme.
“I wore it myself,” said Karavaev, who drives a Tesla. “You can feel that people here really like Musk and want to wear something with his image.” (Despite no official sales or charging stations in the country, about 200 Teslas are estimated to be on Russia’s streets.)
“I think Russians love him because he turns rules and institutions upside down to make something new,” Karavaev added. “Maybe in Russia, we just like those kinds of people.”
South Africas announcement Thursday that it had identified a new, possibly highly contagious coronavirus variant sent shock waves worldwide. Stock markets fell as the United States, among other countries, imposed a travel ban on southern Africa.
Much remains unknown about the mutations that make up the new omicron variant. But what scientists do know that is two years and several variants into the coronavirus pandemic, one tool to stem the spread of infection – sequencing the virus to catch significant genetic changes – remains only patchily used.
The United States is sequencing and sharing 3.6 percent of its coronavirus samples, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the GISAID tracking initiative, which provides a global database of coronavirus genomes. That means the United States ranks 20th among countries sequencing 5,000 or more samples. It’s a sizable rise from 0.3 percent in December and 1 percent in April but is still below the rate that scientists say is needed to stay on top of major changes to the virus.
South Africa, in contrast, is sequencing 0.8 percent of its virus samples and ranks 37th worldwide. About 35 percent of its population is vaccinated, according to South Africa’s Department of Health. (Other trackers have lower numbers.) No other country in Africa has surpassed the threshold of sequencing 5,000 samples: Kenya, however, is close to doing so and is one of several African countries with an overall higher percentage of sequencing than South Africa.
India, which this spring was the center of a devastating outbreak, is sequencing 0.2 percent of samples, up from 0.06 percent in April.
The countries with the highest sequencing rates are largely European ones with comparatively high vaccination rates. Iceland tops the chart, with 56.2 percent of its virus samples sequenced and more than 88 percent of its population fully vaccinated, according to a Reuters tracker.
Since the vaccine rollout began nearly one year ago, scientists have warned rich, mainly Western countries against monopolizing vaccine stocks at the expense of a more equitable global distribution. The longer the virus circulates among unvaccinated populations, the more chances there are for highly transmissible variants to develop.
Just 6 percent of Africa’s 1.2 billion people are vaccinated, compared with about 59 percent of people in the United States. While the United States and some countries in Europe are providing their populations with booster shots, only around 3 percent of people in low-income countries are fully vaccinated, according to Gordon Brown, the World Health Organization’s ambassador for global health financing and a former British prime minister.
“Until we vaccinate enough people, we’re going to have this happen over and over again,” Glenda Gray, head of the South African Medical Research Council, told The Washington Post.
South African officials have criticized the travel bans imposed on their country over the weekend after the new variant was announced, saying that such moves could deter other nations from reporting new variants. For weeks, Europe has been battling a surge in coronavirus cases.
The travel restrictions are “akin to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants quicker,” South Africa’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation said in a statement. “Excellent science should be applauded and not punished.”
The Biden administration is focusing on booster shots as a key weapon in efforts to protect the nation against a potentially dangerous coronavirus variant even as the extent of the threat remains unclear, according to three senior administration officials familiar with the plans.
Agroup of senior health officials had a call with South African scientists Sunday to understand the latest about the new variant and to help inform next steps, according to two of the senior administration officials, who, like the third official, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.
In an update on Sunday, the World Health Organization said it is still too early to know whether the new variant, dubbed omicron, is more transmissible than the delta variant. There remains little understanding about the severity of illness caused by the variant and the rate of hospitalization. Scientists in South Africa, where the variant was first identified, said they expect more breakthrough cases in people vaccinated against the coronavirus.
In about a week, researchers could have a better indication of how well vaccines protect against the new variant. But the Biden administration is already moving to urge as many Americans as possible to receive booster shots in coming days as the best means to protect against omicron.
That campaign is likely to involve messages urging people to get boosters and efforts to make sure the shots are available in as many locations as possible.
“The vaccinated people, the thing that we know for sure is that when you boost someone who’s been vaccinated with two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, you increase the level of neutralizing antibodies extraordinarily high – many fold higher than even the peak following the first two doses,” Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said in an interview with The Washington Post.
Fauci said that “it is quite conceivable if not likely” that booster shots will provide at least a partial shield of protection against the new variant.
Omicron has a high number of mutations that could make it more easily transmissible, though that remains unclear. In South Africa, cases are rising but it is not yet clear whether the rise is fueled by omicron or other factors, according to WHO.
Experts, including Fauci, have said it is highly unlikely that the vaccines offer no protection against the new variant. WHO said it was working with “a large number of researchers around the world” to understand the impact omicron would have on existing vaccines and antivirals. Even if there is diminished protection compared with other variants, there is a benefit to increasing the number of virus neutralizing antibodies by getting a booster shot, senior health officials and experts said.
“If you’re worried about omicron, do the same things as if you’re worried about delta. Get your boost and get fully vaccinated,” said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased communication with state public health officials in recent days as federal disease trackers learned more from South African counterparts, according to a U.S. Health and Human Services official. That has included daily calls with state-level officials, including epidemiologists, lab directors and city and county authorities.
The White House is also organizing meetings with state health officials, members of Congress and governors during the coming days, a White House official said.
While experts said boosters could be helpful in protecting against the omicron variant, some cautioned against using the additional shots at the expense of providing doses to countries where vaccination rates remain low.
Celine Gounder, an epidemiologist and infectious-diseases specialist who advised the Biden administration’s transition team on covid-19 response, said boosters should be part of the response to the omicron variant if it is “truly immune-evading” because the additional shots significantly boost antibody levels.
But Gounder said the downside to a booster-heavy approach is that it could mean much of the developing world remains unvaccinated, creating conditions for other variants to emerge.
“You have one approach that has a likely short-term benefit versus another approach that has a very likely long-term benefit, and how do you weigh one versus the other?” Gounder said.
But Fauci and others said millions of vaccine doses shipped to lower-income nations have gone unused, demonstrating the complexity of the global challenge. South African officials recently asked vaccine manufacturers to slow shipments so the country could maximize its existing stock.
U.S. officials asked South African officials over the weekend whether they needed more doses but were told vaccine uptake, and not supply, was the issue, a senior administration official said.
There was more blowback on the international front for the United States and European countries after nations closed their borders to travelers from southern African as a shield against omicron. They also faced words of caution from experts that the travel bans may be too late, with confirmed and suspected cases emerging as far away as Asia and Australia.
“By the time we have enough information to institute a travel ban, the cat’s already out of the bag, so to speak,” Nicole Errett, a professor at the University of Washington who has done research on public health emergency preparedness, said in an email. “Omicron has already been detected in other continents. A travel ban could in theory buy some time by reducing the spread of new seed cases, but we are talking on the order of days to weeks.”
Confirmed and suspected covid-19 cases caused by the new variant have been detected in a growing number of regions, including Britain, Belgium, Botswana, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong, Israel and the Czech Republic. Most of the cases outside of Africa appear to involve people who had traveled to the continent.
Austria also joined the growing list of countries where the variant has been reported, detecting its first suspected case in the Tirol region, Reuters reported Sunday, citing Austrian officials.
Two planes carrying about 600 passengers from South Africa landed Saturday in the Netherlands with 61 people infected with the coronavirus – including 13 cases of the new omicron variant – Dutch health authorities said Sunday.
Health officials in Australia on Sunday confirmed two fully vaccinated, asymptomatic passengers on a flight into Sydney tested positive for the new variant and are in government isolation.
“This clearly demonstrates the pandemic is not over,” Dominic Perrottet, the premier of New South Wales state, home to Sydney, told reporters on Sunday. “There are limits to what the state and federal government can do: These variants will get into the country. It is inevitable.”
The emergence of a new and potentially more menacing variant raises questions about what lessons officials have learned in the two years since the novel coronavirus emerged, and whether they’re prepared for worrisome mutations that could evade vaccines.
On Sunday, Britain’s health secretary, Sajid Javid, said vaccines may be less effective against omicron, acknowledging “we just don’t know enough” about the new variant to understand the risk.
Starting Tuesday, face masks will be compulsory in shops and on public transport in England. The U.K. will also require all international travelers to take a PCR test, which can detect the new variant, and to self-quarantine until results are returned.
Europe is in the grips of an increasingly deadly outbreak of the fast-spreading delta variant that has prompted officials in some countries to revert to measures such as shutdowns used to control the virus in the early days of the pandemic.
White House officials said the world’s failure to contain the rapid spread of delta this spring demonstrated the need to be vigilant in staving off omicron, which public health experts fear could sicken vaccinated people and spread more rapidly than delta.
In designating omicron a “variant of concern,” WHO said Friday that preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant for people who have previously had the virus, compared with other variants. However, there are high rates of people living with HIV and AIDS in southern Africa, which experts said makes it harder to interpret the effectiveness of vaccine-induced or natural immunity against infection.
Only about 24% of South Africans are fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University data, compared with nearly 60% of Americans.
U.S. officials said they jumped into action after learning that the new variant contained long-feared mutations and appeared to descend from a different genetic lineage than delta. Senior officials such as Fauci, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky and others began discussions with government scientists, South African officials and vaccine manufacturers that intensified on Thanksgiving Day.
The world’s major manufacturers of coronavirus vaccines, including Pfizer and BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac said they are working to investigate the new variant and adapt their shots if needed.
Experts cautioned that the flurry of activity to fight omicron may turn out to be largely unnecessary, as researchers learn in the coming days whether current vaccines can ward off the variant or successfully limit symptoms.
“Not all covid-19 variants cause trouble. For example, lambda and mu have not taken off globally. So it is possible that the new variant, omicron, could hopefully fizzle out,” said Sanjaya Senanayake, an infectious diseases expert at the Australian National University.
LONDON – In a bid to halt the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new measures on Saturday evening, ranging from mandatory self-quarantine for anyone arriving in the United Kingdom to tougher rules on mask-wearing.
The initiatives, including significant entry-rule changes made in response to the new variant, are a sign of how countries are reintroducing rules that many had thought were left behind.
Earlier in the day, Britain announced that two cases of the new variant, first identified in South Africa, had been detected in the U.K. The cases are linked and connected with travel to southern Africa.
Speaking at an evening news conference at 10 Downing Street, Johnson said that anyone entering the country will be asked to take a PCR test on their second day and that they must self-isolate until they provide a negative coronavirus test. He also said that those who do come into contact with someone testing positive for omicron will have to self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of their vaccine status.
Face coverings on public transport and in shops will now be mandatory in England after they were controversially scrapped in July. They have remained mandatory on public transport and in many indoor spaces in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, who was also at the briefing, said Britain is moving quickly because the risks posed by omicron seemed different from those of the delta variant.
“Delta was primarily driven by the ability to spread really rapidly, but less concern about vaccination escape,” he said, referring to fears that current vaccines may be less effective against omicron. The push to move quickly on omicron is driven by “at least strong theoretical reasons for thinking that some degree of vaccine escape is likely,” he said.
The new omicron variant may, “at least, in part, reduce the protection of our vaccines over time,” the prime minister said. The new rules, which will be reviewed in three weeks, will help to “buy time” for scientists to better understand the variant, he said.
The U.K. also added four new African countries to its travel “red list” on Saturday, meaning that travel is now restricted from a total of 10 African countries: Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Travelers from those countries will be denied entry into the U.K., unless they are British or Irish citizens or residents, in which case they will have to quarantine at a government-approved hotel for 10 days.
It was clear that Johnson was placing faith in the current vaccine program as he urged a faster rollout of booster shots. “We don’t yet, exactly, know how effective our vaccines will be against omicron, but we have good reasons for believing they will provide at least some measure of protection,” he said.
He was asked at the news conference if Britons should consider rearranging their plans for Christmas.
Johnson said he was “confident” that Christmas would be “considerably better than last Christmas.” Given the severe restrictions on many Britons last December, that’s not a particularly high bar.
A “corona pass” is scanned at a canal boat tour departure in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Nov. 1, 2021. (Photo by Sylvia Lederer/Xinhua)
Photo taken on Nov. 1, 2021 shows a COVID-19 precaution notice to keep 1.5-meter distance in a shop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. (Photo by Sylvia Lederer/Xinhua)
Tourists visit the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, Egypt, on Nov. 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
Tourists visit the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, Egypt, on Nov. 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
People walk on a commercial street in Cape Town, South Africa, Nov. 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran)
A health worker prepares to administer the COVID-19 vaccine on the Transvaco Vaccination Train in East London, South Africa, Oct. 8, 2021. (Photo by Yeshiel/Xinhua)
A resident talks with a medical worker at a COVID-19 fast screening center in Paris, France, Nov. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
A customer walks past a sign indicating a COVID-19 vaccination center inside a shopping mall in Levallois-Perret near Paris, France, Nov. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
Travelers wearing face masks line up to check in at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on Oct. 30, 2021. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)
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