In its WHO white paper, 194 countries called for “plans in place to contain” the spread of the variant so that it can accelerate vaccination and provide necessary health care for high-risk groups.
“WORRYING”
“The Omicron variant has an unprecedented number of spike proteins, some of which are of concern because of the possible impact they may have on the course of the epidemic. We assess the risk from Omicron worldwide to be very high,” said the WHO.
“We will have more data in the coming weeks,” the WHO added, adding that more research is needed to better understand the potential of the Omicron variant to circumvent the protection afforded by vaccines and contracting the disease.
“Cases of COVID-19 are expected to occur in vaccinated individuals, but will be less frequent and predictable,” the WHO said.
PROHIBITIONS
While many countries around the world are struggling to control the spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Japan, the world’s third largest economy, has banned the entry of foreign visitors from all over the world.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will close its borders to all foreigners from today.
More contagious than previous variants, the Omicron variant first appeared in South Africa, after which it was seen in Australia, Belgium, Botswana, England, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands and South Africa.
Australia has announced that it will review plans to reopen its borders to skilled migrants.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia would review plans to reopen its borders to qualified immigrants and students from 1 December and that it was “a little early” to reintroduce a two-week hotel quarantine for foreign visitors.
Morrison said the national security panel will meet later in the day and state and territory leaders will meet to consider the relaxation of border restrictions starting Wednesday.
Morrison urged calm as Omicron’s seriousness, contagiousness and vaccine resistance have not been determined.
WHO: DAYS TO FEW WEEKS CAN LAST
Describing the new variant as “an alarming variant”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it could take “days to several weeks” for the severity of the variant to be understood.
A South African doctor, who was one of the first to suspect a different variant, said Omicron’s symptoms are mild for now and can be treated at home.
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
Many countries, from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia, have placed travel restrictions on visitors from South Africa.
The Singapore Ministry of Health announced that it has delayed the start of traveling to Singapore for vaccinated people in Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, on the grounds that there are “nodes/transport networks” with countries where the new variant is seen.
The UK announced today that it will call an emergency meeting of G7 health ministers.
Israel announced that it will ban the entry of foreigners into the country and re-enable the method of monitoring cases by phone.
In the statement made by the White House, it was stated that President Joe Biden will inform today about the variant and the reaction / possible measures to be taken by the USA.
Anthony Fauci, the most authoritative US expert on infectious diseases, told Biden that it will take about two weeks to get definitive information about Omicron’s infectiousness and other characteristics.
THERMO FISHER: CAN BE DETECTED BY TEST
Thermo Fisher TMO.N, the manufacturer of the only COVID-19 test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, announced that coronavirus test kits are also accurate in detecting the new Omicron variant.
The World Health Organization (WHO) described the Omicron variant as SARS-CoV-2 “a variant of concern” last week and stated that it spreads more quickly than other variants.
In a statement, Thermo Fisher company stated that the coronavirus tests called TaqPath give accurate results even if the target cells are affected by the mutation.
“This test can be used not only for COVID-19, but also for detection of the Omicron variant,” said Mark Stevenson, CEO of Thermo Fisher.
Stevenson said that test samples still need to be sent to a lab so that it can be confirmed whether the case is caused by the Omicron variant or another variant that shows similar symptoms, such as Alpha.
Source: Reuters