The new variant of the Corona virus, Omicron, reached the USA after being seen in more than 20 countries. While many countries re-enact various measures, including travel restrictions, it was reported that the USA requested the name and contact information of passengers traveling to 8 African countries from airlines.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the first Omicron case in the country was detected in California. It was reported that the variant was seen in a passenger who returned to the USA from South Africa on November 22 and tested positive for the Corona virus a week later.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Anthony Fauci, President of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the patient was fully vaccinated but did not receive the third booster dose. Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, also stated that the passenger quarantined himself and that the tests of all the people he came into contact with were negative.
“We are ready to meet this challenge with science and speed,” the White House said in a written statement.
President Biden’s medical team continues to believe that current vaccines will provide some level of protection against serious diseases from Omicron, and that those with booster doses have even stronger protection.
“Therefore, we urge all adults to get their booster dose and get themselves and their children vaccinated if they haven’t already,” the White House statement said.
Omicron message from CDC to airlines
On the other hand, it was reported that the Biden administration, which introduced travel restrictions to South Africa and 7 African countries, started to record the names and contact information of those who entered the USA by air, and those who have been in these countries in the last 14 days.
According to Reuters news agency, the CDC, in a message sent yesterday to all airlines operating in the country, requested information on those in South Africa, Botswana, Esvatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe in the past 14 days. The message also stated that the recorded information of these passengers will be forwarded to the relevant local authorities and institutions for health monitoring purposes.
Contact tracing information about passengers has been collected since international restrictions were largely lifted on November 8, but recording the names of passengers is among the new applications introduced as a precaution against the Omicron variant.
The information to be collected includes name, US address, phone numbers and email address, according to Reuters.
The CDC also required on Tuesday that all international travelers who have been vaccinated must present a negative result of the Corona virus test performed in the last 24 hours in order to enter the United States. Prior to the detection of the Omicron variant, this rule was applied as “last 72 hours”.
In a separate statement from the White House today, it was stated that the Justice Department will continue to defend the decision authority of the government on the necessity of vaccination.
A federal judge in the district court of the state of Missouri stopped the practice in 10 states by taking an injunction against the requirement that all healthcare workers be vaccinated. The resolution stated that the state-owned health insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid did not have the authority from the US Congress to require the vaccine to be compulsory for those working in medical institutions affiliated with the programs. These states are Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire. In early November, a federal appeals court in New Orleans blocked the requirement that businesses with at least 100 employees have their staff vaccinated or tested weekly.
Call for booster vaccinations in the UK
The countries where the Omicron variant is spread are also increasing. In England, 10 more people have the Omicron variant. This brought the number of people with this variant detected in the country to 32.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for an acceleration of the booster vaccination program after the new cases were announced.
While studies are being started on how effective the vaccines are against Omicron, Jenny Harries, Head of the British Health Safety Agency, emphasized that the variant will continue to spread in other countries, and said that this variant will be “more common in the coming days” in the UK.
2 new cases of Omicron in Denmark, 1 new case in Brazil
In Denmark, the number of Omicron cases increased to 6. It is stated that 5 of those with an Omicron variant traveled to South Africa and 1 to Qatar.
A third case was seen in Brazil, where 2 Omicron cases were previously encountered. It is stated that the 29-year-old person whose Omicron variant was detected came from Ethiopia and did not show any signs of illness.
Two cases of Omicron were detected in Brazil yesterday, in two people returning from South Africa. While this was the first detection of the new variant of the Corona virus in Latin America, health officials were alarmed with the third case today.
Noting that all three people carrying Omicron received a full dose of Corona virus vaccine before they entered Brazil, the authorities warned that the restrictions would be tightened.
Statement from WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that more detailed information can be shared in the coming days about the contagion rate of the variant, which causes concern worldwide. In the statement made by WHO last week after the variant was detected, it was mentioned that it may take weeks to collect detailed data on Omicron.
Maria van Kerkhove, one of the Corona virus research team leaders of the institution, said in a statement today that they expect new data on the variant to be collected “within a few days”.
Chief of Science Soumya Swaminathan said that the WHO believes that the Corona virus vaccines are effective against Omicron. WHO Emergency Program Director Mike Ryan also argued that the sudden travel restrictions of countries to some African countries, especially South Africa, could not prevent the spread of the variant.