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Covid test in Lenasia, South Africa (archive photo)
Photo: Siphiwe Sibeko / REUTERS
More and more countries worldwide are reacting to the spread of the new coronavirus variant B.1.1.529.
The mutation known as omicron was first detected on Thursday in South Africa, is considered highly contagious and has since spread across the globe.
On Friday, Belgium became the first EU country to find an Omikron infection in a traveler from Africa.
The variant was then detected in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic.
There are also the first cases in Great Britain, and the virus has even made it to Australia.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classified the variant, named after the Greek letter omicron, as "worrying", partly because it is not yet clear how well previously approved vaccines work against the variant.
The EU disease control agency ECDC considers the risk of spread in the EU to be "high to very high," and US government advisor and corona expert Anthony Fauci said he would be "not surprised" if Omikron was already in the United States.
In the UK, two related Omicron cases have been discovered in the UK, according to the Ministry of Health, which are related to a trip to southern Africa. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a general tightening of entry requirements. In future, all travelers will have to take a PCR test two days after arriving in the UK and isolate themselves until the results are presented.
Switzerland is also tightening its rules for entry from the EU and Africa. A referendum on the government's Covid-19 law will take place in the country today, Sunday. The opponents are mainly mobilizing against the Covid-19 certificate that has already been introduced, which can be used to prove a corona vaccination, negative testing or recovery. The referendum is intended to put this on a legally secure basis. Since September, the certificate has been required when visiting restaurants, among other things.
Israel is taking the most drastic measures to date against the spread. On Saturday evening, the government decided to completely close the country's borders to foreigners. The new restrictions are due to take effect this Sunday evening. One Omicron case has currently been confirmed in Israel, and seven more are being investigated.
Until further notice, anyone returning to Israel from any country - including vaccinated Israelis - must be isolated for three days upon entry.
The travelers would be tested at the airport and then have to undergo a PCR test on the third day and are only allowed to leave the isolation if the result is negative, it said.
Unvaccinated Israelis would have to be isolated for seven days if the test was negative.
All foreigners who received an entry permit to Israel would have to be quarantined in a state "coronavirus hotel".
The Israeli government had previously largely restricted entry from Africa.
Numerous African states would be classified as "red countries".
The countries in North Africa are excluded.
Australia is also taking strict measures: Here the government decided to suspend flights from African countries South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana for 14 days.
Non-Australians who have been in such a country in the past two weeks are no longer allowed to enter Australia.
Europe and the USA are also preparing to deal with the virus variant.
In the Netherlands, 61 of around 600 flight passengers from South Africa tested positive for Corona.
In addition to the positive results, there were 531 negative corona tests.
Those who tested positive were accommodated in a quarantine hotel near the airport.
"The Omicron variant was probably found among the people tested," announced the national health department.
The USA has praised South Africa for its "transparency" towards the rest of the world since the discovery of the Omikron variant.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated "the South African scientists on quickly identifying the Omikron variant."
He praised "the South African government for its transparency in the dissemination of this information, which should serve as a model for the world."
The US reaction can also be seen as a swipe at China.
Because contrary to the benevolent words against Pretoria, Washington accuses Beijing of waiting too long to pass on crucial information about the original Covid outbreak.
In the eyes of the United States, more transparent management could have helped stop the spread of the virus.
The South African government, however, complained about "punishment" and bad treatment of South African travelers.
The travel bans for South Africans issued by many countries amounted to "punishing South Africa for its advanced genome sequencing and its ability to recognize new variants more quickly," the government said on Saturday.
sbo / dpa
