South African doctor explains how are the cases of the omicron variant 0:45
(CNN) -
When South African authorities warned about the new omicron variant last Thursday, stocks plummeted around the world and up to 70 countries, including the United States, imposed travel bans and restrictions on southern African countries. .
The knee-jerk response followed news that the variant had an unusually high number of mutations, which scientists feared could make it more transmissible and lead to immune evasion.
The map of the countries where the omicron variant of the coronavirus is present
Much is still unknown about omicron, such as its origin, its gravity and its transmissibility.
Researchers are also rushing to find out if it could crowd out existing variants and become dominant, as was the case with the delta variant.
The first "indications" show that people who have received the coronavirus vaccine booster are "protected" against the new variant, Israel's Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said on Tuesday.
South African doctor explains how are the cases of the omicron variant 0:45
This comes after reports from South Africa suggested that most cases of the omicron variant have been mild so far.
But those cases were "mostly [among] young people anyway. So I would say we don't know [if the new variant causes more serious disease than the old ones]," Dr. Francis Collins told CNN on Sunday. , director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Scientists say it will take weeks to find out just how dangerous the new variant is.
But for now, we do know that omicron has been found in Europe, with cases of community transmission identified in previous covid-19 samples before travel restrictions took effect.
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Health authorities in the Netherlands said Tuesday that omicron was present in the Netherlands a week before two flights arrived from South Africa with the virus.
At least one of the cases is believed to have been contracted in the Netherlands, RIVM virologist Chantal Reusken told national broadcaster NOS.
Nine omicron cases are related to a private event on November 20 in Scotland, days before South Africa announced the existence of the variant.
Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon declared in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday that neither person had a recent travel history or known ties to others who had traveled from South Africa.
These cases have led some to question the need for the avalanche of travel restrictions, which has unleashed a wave of resentment on the African continent.
The bans are seen by many as another example of how Africans bear the brunt of hasty policymaking on the pandemic, in which rich countries pile up doses of vaccines and resources to the detriment of poorer nations.
We entered the laboratory in South Africa that studies the omicron variant 3:03
"Science of excellence should be applauded and not punished," the South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday, adding that the restrictions were "similar to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants more quickly." .
"Establishing travel bans targeting Africa undermines global solidarity," Matshidiso Moeti, regional director of the World Health Organization for Africa, said the following day.
"Covid-19 is constantly exploiting our divisions. We will only be able to defeat the virus if we work together to find solutions."
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