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Fauci does not foresee greater restrictions on travel by omicron

2021-11-30T07:05:44.145Z


Dr. Anthony Fauci does not anticipate the country implementing additional travel restrictions even if the omicron variant turns out worse than the previous ones.


Ómicron: these are the countries with cases 1:17

(CNN) -

Dr. Anthony Fauci, America's leading infectious disease expert, said Monday that he does not anticipate the country implementing additional travel restrictions even if the omicron variant turns out worse than previous strains of the coronavirus.

President Joe Biden announced last week that the United States would restrict travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi in response to the new and potentially more communicable variant of the coronavirus first identified by South African scientists.

Several other nations have restricted travel from the southern African nations.

Scientists try to determine the risk of the omicron variant 2:35

Omicron precautions

Asked by CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday about whether to expect more travel restrictions if omicron turns out to be more contagious and deadly, Fauci, Biden's chief medical adviser, replied, "I don't think so, Jake."

  • Why the WHO skipped two letters of the Greek alphabet to name the omicron variant

"I think that what was done regarding the restrictions of South Africa and neighboring countries was simply because when the information came out on the molecular makeup of this virus with all the mutations that were of concern, we felt we had to do something right." Fauci, longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Tapper on The Lead.

"Hopefully those restrictions are not going to last long when we know what is happening. But we do not anticipate any further restrictions," he added.

Fauci also said the travel restrictions won't have much of an impact "on the big picture of whether (the omicron variant) arrives or not."

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"But ... it will give us maybe a couple of weeks to be better prepared," he added.

Fauci said that US health officials should know the severity of COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron variant in about a week or two and that they are getting their information from their counterparts in South Africa, with whom officials they have been in almost constant contact.

Possible dominant variant?

"They have several patients that they are following in the medical facility, and they assured us that they would probably know in a matter of a week, a week and a half, whether or not we are dealing with something that, for the most part, is more severe, equally severe or less severe. It could be anyone, "Fauci said.

"Right now, it doesn't seem like there is a big sign of a high degree of gravity, but it's too early to tell."

It is unclear if omicron will become the dominant strain in the US, but that is another reason why officials are closely monitoring the cases in South Africa.

Is the omicron variant more contagious than the delta variant?

2:06

"You know, it's unfortunate that South Africa has been kind of an epicenter, or at least that it was recognized in that way, but the good news is that they are the best when it comes to scientists and public health personnel, so they will be able to give us very important information, hopefully within the next week or two, "Fauci said.

In the meantime, he told Tapper, "the unvaccinated need to be vaccinated and those who are eligible to receive a booster should receive a booster because we know from experience ... that even with variants that are not specifically targeted at the vaccine, such as delta variant, if you get the antibody level high enough, the protection extends to those other variants. "

Earlier Monday, Biden urged Americans not to panic over the new variant and encouraged those who have not yet received a booster but are eligible to do so.

"We have the best vaccine in the world, the best medicines, the best scientists and we are learning more every day. And we will fight this variant with scientific actions and with knowledge and speed, not with chaos and confusion," said the president.

Variant

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-11-30

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