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Covid-19: Omicron variant spreads, emergency meeting of G7 health ministers

2021-11-29T06:35:42.903Z


UPDATE ON THE SITUATION - New measures, new reports and highlights: Le Figaro takes stock of the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic.


Omicron variant spreads

The new variant of the coronavirus, Omicron, continued to spread around the world on Sunday evening, with the first cases in Canada, sowing concern and pushing more and more countries to close their borders again to foreign travelers.

The arrival during the past week of the Omicron variant has been deemed "

worrying

" by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Read also Covid-19 variants: many suitors, few elected

Identified in South Africa, it prompted many countries to close their borders to southern Africa when they had sometimes barely reopened to the world.

Canada announced two cases on Sunday in people who recently traveled to Nigeria and who have been placed in isolation in Ottawa.

"

Probably a matter of hours

" before Omicron arrives in France according to Véran

The detection in France of the Omicron variant of the virus responsible for Covid-19 is "

very likely a matter of hours,

" said Health Minister Olivier Véran on Sunday. “

We are still at the screening stage. We have several possible cases. About ten. At this stage, we are on possible cases

, ”said government spokesman Gabriel Attal on CNews later in the day.

"

These diagnoses will be passed to sequencing and we will know in the next few hours if there are positive cases of the variant,

" he added.

Regarding people who have just returned from South Africa, the spokesperson said that “

we are testing them and looking to see if they are positive for Covid.

If they are, we do a screening.

We are looking to see if there is a suspicious mutation of the virus in the diagnosis

”.

Read alsoNew variant "worrying": is France able to detect it quickly?

Eight possible cases of positive patients for the Omicron variant have been spotted nationwide, according to a press release from the Ministry of Health published on Sunday evening.

Considered as possible cases of contamination with the Omicron variant are people who have traveled to southern Africa within the last 14 days and who have a positive test result with a negative screening for the mutations found in the other variants of concern (alpha, beta, gamma , delta).

They require confirmation by sequencing, which can take several days.

Japan closes in on all foreign visitors

Japan will close its borders to all foreign visitors in the face of the Omicron variant, the Japanese government announced on Monday, three weeks after easing certain restrictions to allow the entry of foreign business travelers, students and interns.

"

We will ban all (new) entries of foreign nationals from around the world from November 30,

" Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.

Japanese returning from nine southern African states and countries where infections with the new variant have been identified will have to undergo "

strict isolation measures based on risk,

" said Fumio Kishida.

Read alsoThe Omicron variant already detected in a dozen countries in Europe and Asia

Conversely, Singapore and Malaysia relaxed coronavirus-related restrictions on their land border after nearly two years of virtual closure of the crossing between the two Southeast Asian countries, which was one of the most borrowed in the world.

Singaporeans and Malaysians who have been vaccinated and those who benefit from permanent resident status and a work permit in these countries, can as of Monday cross the one kilometer bridge between them, without submitting to a quarantine.

South Africa and WHO call for open borders

South Africa called on Sunday evening for the "

immediate and urgent lifting

" of travel restrictions targeting it after the detection of the Omicron variant, supported by the WHO which asks that "

the borders remain open

".

A "

race against time

" is engaged to analyze the Omicron variant and understand whether it is necessary to adapt the vaccines, for her part declared the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday in Riga.

Emergency meeting of G7 health ministers

G7 health ministers are meeting urgently in London on Monday amid concern over the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which continues to spread across the world despite border closures.

The health ministers of France, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom meet "

to discuss the development of the situation on Omicron

", during 'an "

emergency meeting

", announced London, at the head of the rotating presidency of the G7.

Omicron: "

mild symptoms

" for now ...

"

Mild symptoms

": Angelique Coetzee, president of the South African Medical Association which has treated around thirty Covid patients contaminated with the new Omicron variant, says that she has only observed convalescence without hospitalization for the moment.

... and PCR tests still valid

PCR tests are still effective against the new variant of the coronavirus Omicron and studies are underway to measure the effectiveness of other diagnostic tools, the WHO said on Sunday.

Switzerland says "

yes

" to the health pass

In the middle of the fifth wave, a large majority of Swiss approved on Sunday the law that made it possible to introduce the Covid pass, during a vote marked by a very high turnout at the end of a stormy election campaign.

At the same time, Swiss health authorities announced the discovery of a "

first probable case

" of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in Switzerland in a person who returned from South Africa.

Pandemic treaty: agreement with the WHO

WHO members agreed on Sunday to launch negotiations to create an international instrument to better prevent and fight the next pandemic that is sure to come, in the midst of the 5th wave of Covid.

United Kingdom: new restrictions from Tuesday

The UK government said on Sunday that new measures to curb the spread of the Omicron variant, including a return to mask wear and tougher UK entry measures, will come into effect on Tuesday.

Read alsoEngland sounds the alarm and returns to the wearing of the compulsory mask

A third case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was detected in the UK on Sunday in a person who had traveled to London, but who had since left the country.

Two other cases, "

linked (between them) and a trip to southern Africa

", had already been confirmed on Saturday by the health authorities, in the city of Nottingham (central England) and Chelmsford (east of London).

Israel closes its borders

Less than a month after it reopened to tourists, Israel banned from Sunday evening the entry of foreign nationals into its territory in the hope of slowing the spread of the Omicron variant, a case of which has been confirmed in the country.

Two-week suspension of all passenger flights to Morocco

Moroccan authorities decided on Sunday to suspend all direct passenger flights to Morocco for two weeks from Monday at 23:59 (22:59 GMT).

"

This decision comes due to the rapid spread of the new variant of the Covid-19 virus, Omicron, particularly in Europe and Africa, and in order to preserve the gains made by Morocco in the fight against the pandemic and protect the health of citizens,

”the Interministerial Pandemic Monitoring Committee explained in a statement.

An assessment of the situation "

will be undertaken regularly in order to adjust, if necessary, the necessary measures

," the statement added.

From Morocco, repatriation flights will be organized, on a case-by-case basis, by the embassies of the countries concerned, in coordination with the Moroccan authorities, an official source said.

Netherlands couple arrested for fleeing Covid hotel

The Dutch gendarmerie announced on Sunday that it had arrested on a plane at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport a couple who had "fled" a hotel where passengers positive for Covid-19 from South Africa had been placed in quarantine.

"

The Dutch Royal Constabulary at Schiphol arrested a couple this evening who had fled from a quarantine hotel

," spokesman Stan Verberkt told AFP.

The arrests took place in a plane that was about to take off.

They were on a plane that was going to leave for Spain,

”he added.

The couple, made up of a 30-year-old Spaniard and a 28-year-old Portuguese woman, were handed over to the health authorities, according to the gendarmerie.

Over five million dead

The pandemic has killed at least five million people worldwide since the end of 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Friday.

The United States is the most bereaved country, with 776,542 deaths, ahead of Brazil (614,278), India (467,468), Mexico (293,449) and Russia (270,292).

The WHO estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic in the world could be two to three times higher than that calculated from official figures.

Source: lefigaro

All tech articles on 2021-11-29

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