Canada and Japan ban entry to people from African countries because of Omicron, and two cases of the mutant were discovered in Brazil

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Canada has banned entry to travelers from Egypt, Nigeria and Malawi, for fear of the spread of the mutant Omicron of the Corona virus, after it imposed the same procedure on seven other African countries.

And the French press agency quoted Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos as saying during a press conference that “foreign nationals who transited or resided in these ten countries cannot enter Canada,” explaining that the decision to prevent these travelers from entering Canada will take effect from today.

The minister indicated that for Canadian citizens and foreigners permanently residing in Canada, they will still be able to return to Canada even if they have resided during the past two weeks in any of the ten countries from which travel is prohibited, but provided that they undergo a laboratory examination upon arrival at the airport and a second examination a week after that And to stay in quarantine.

In turn, Japan asked airlines to stop accepting new reservations due to concerns about the mutated omicron.

"We have asked airlines to stop making new reservations for a month, starting today," an official in the Ministry of Transport said, adding that current reservations are not covered by this decision.

On the other hand, the government of the state of Sao Paulo, in southern Brazil, announced the registration of two confirmed cases of Omicron among travelers who arrived from South Africa, to confirm the arrival of the mutant to this Latin American country as well as to the entire continent.

The state government said in a statement that it is in the process of verifying a third suspected case, noting that the two possible infections are travelers who arrived from Ethiopia after they visited South Africa.

The discovery of the new mutation in South Africa caused strong reactions around the world, as many countries restricted travel to southern African countries and imposed other restrictions for fear of its rapid spread, even among previously vaccinated people.

With regard to new treatments for the Corona virus, a committee of independent health experts formed by the US government issued a recommendation to grant a drug in the form of tablets, developed by Merck to treat the Corona virus, a license for emergency use in specific cases and for people exposed to high health risks.

The committee voted in favor of granting this drug an emergency use license by a majority of 13 members to 10 in a split that reflects the concerns that have emerged in recent days following a decline in the effectiveness of this drug and the growing concern about its potential risks.

The opinion of this committee is advisory as to the final decision on licensing this drug or not, up to the US Food and Drug Agency.

The experts expressed their concern, especially about the effectiveness of this drug in sparing those taking it the need for hospitalization or even death, an effectiveness that decreased to only 30 percent, according to what was shown by the data published last Friday and took into account the total of those who participated in the clinical trials conducted on this drug.

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