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The world is worried about the spread of the South African variant: "It may be too late"
In Europe, the United States and Asia, flights from the south of the continent are being restricted following the discovery of the new corona strain, called by the World Health Organization "Omicron". Pfizer needs two weeks to test the effectiveness of vaccines against it,
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Friday, 26 November 2021, 18:47 Updated: 21:56
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In the video: a trip by the Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, and the Minister of Health, Nitzan Horowitz (Photo: GPO)
Countries around the world today (Friday) expressed concern about the new variant of the corona virus discovered in South Africa.
The EU has announced it has agreed on the need for a temporary halt to flights departing to South Africa, and the UK and India have announced tougher border controls while scientists around the world are trying to figure out if the new strain is resistant to vaccines.
The strain, which the World Health Organization gave the name "Omicron", is also found in Botswana and Hong Kong, and one case has also been diagnosed in Israel.
Belgium has announced that its first case on the continent has been diagnosed in an unvaccinated man returning from abroad.
Britain has banned flights from South Africa and neighboring countries and asked British passengers returning from there to go into quarantine, while European Commissioner Ursula von der Lane said EU was seeking to halt flights. Following the developments, there have been sharp declines in world stock markets and oil prices due to concerns about the implications of the variant on South African economies, which were severely damaged during the plague.
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Britain asked South African returnees to go into solitary confinement (Photo: Reuters)
The British health agency has warned that the South African variant has a spike protein that is dramatically different from that of the original corona virus, on which the vaccines against the virus are based. "As scientists have described, this is the most significant variant they have encountered to date," said UK Transport Minister Grant Schaps.
In the United States, too, it was decided to impose restrictions on those entering the continent of Africa. A senior administration official said they would apply to those entering from South Africa, as well as from Botswana Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Malawi.
The German company BioNTech, which together with Pfizer has developed the most common vaccine in the world against corona, said it needs two more weeks to evaluate the new strain. The World Health Organization said it would take several weeks for researchers to understand the new variant, which an initial analysis of showed that it has a "large number of mutations" that require further research.
One expert estimated that it may be too late to restrict flights from the South African region.
"I think we need to recognize that this virus is probably already in other places. So, if we close the door now, it will probably be too late," said Ben Koeling, of Hong Kong University.
South Africa fears the collapse of the tourism industry following the new strain, and the rand has fallen to a low of more than a year.
"Our immediate concern is the damage this decision will cause to the tourism and business industries of the two countries," South African Foreign Minister Naldi Pandor said of the UK's decision to ban flights from the country.
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South Africa fears collapse of tourism following new strain (Photo: Reuters)
European countries have already extended booster vaccines to more age groups, tightening restrictions to curb the fourth wave of the epidemic, which feeds on the contagious delta variant.
In many countries on the continent, infected records are broken every day, and hospitals suffer from heavy workloads.
All this while winter arrives in Europe, and the United States, as more people gather in their homes ahead of Christmas in gatherings that increase the chance of the virus spreading.
Italy has imposed a ban on anyone visiting South African countries in the last 14 days from entering its territory, and Germany will declare South Africa a red zone.
The Singapore Ministry of Health has also announced restrictions on entry from the region, and Japan has tightened border controls for visitors from South Africa and five other African countries.
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