(Schiphol) Concern grew on Saturday in Europe about the new variant of the coronavirus, with the discovery in Germany of a suspected case of Omicron and in the Netherlands of around sixty cases of COVID-19 still under analysis among travelers from South Africa, as the world continued to isolate southern Africa.
A first suspected case was detected in Germany in Hesse (West) after tests Friday evening on a passenger who arrived at Frankfurt airport from South Africa. “The Omicron variant is, in all likelihood, already present in Germany,” tweeted Regional Minister of Social Affairs Kai Klose. “The full analysis of the results is still in progress.”
In the Netherlands, according to the Dutch health authority (GGD) which is researching the possible presence of Omicron, 61 passengers from two flights arriving in Amsterdam from Johannesburg on Friday were tested positive for COVID-19 and placed in quarantine. The other 531 passengers, who tested negative, will be able to isolate themselves at home if they live in the Netherlands and otherwise continue their journey.
The Omicron variant, deemed “worrying” on Friday by the World Health Organization (WHO), has already been detected in Belgium – a young woman who arrived on November 11 and tested on November 22, came from Egypt and transited through Turkey , according to the authorities. A case was also reported in Hong Kong, one in Israel in a person returning from Malawi and another in Botswana.
The new B.1.1529 variant of the COVID-19 virus, originally detected in southern Africa and dubbed Omicron, represents a “high to very high” risk for Europe, according to the EU health agency European.
Since the end of 2019, the pandemic has killed at least 5.18 million people worldwide, according to an AFP count.
According to the WHO expert group, preliminary data on this variant, whose identification was announced Thursday in South Africa, suggests that it presents “an increased risk of reinfection” compared to other variants including Delta, dominant and already very contagious. Never has a variant caused so much concern in the world since the emergence of Delta.
South Africa “punished”
On all continents, many countries are closing themselves off from southern Africa. Travel restrictions, besides South Africa, apply to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and in some cases Malawi.
South Africa is “punished” for having detected the Omnicron variant, denounced its government on Saturday, “scientific excellence must be applauded and not punished”. Just before the southern summer, the South African tourism industry was just beginning to hope for a normal season.
As the world closes its doors to South Africa, passengers at Johannesburg airport were trying to get back to Europe before it was too late. “We are tired of all this”, plague among them Ruth Brown, a 25-year-old Briton living in South Africa, who has not returned to the United Kingdom since 2019.
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden called for giving more vaccines to poor countries and ruled that “the information on this new variant should make it more obvious than ever that this pandemic will not end without vaccinations at the global level”.
The United States has barred entry to travelers from southern Africa, other than US nationals and permanent residents in the country. Canada, Brazil and several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia have also adopted bans. Japan will tighten its entry restrictions, with 10 days of isolation for people from this area.
Thailand on Saturday announced an entry ban from December and an immediate mandatory quarantine for travelers to the area already cleared to enter.
In Europe the EU has recommended suspending all travel from South Africa and six other countries in the region. Several countries including the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Switzerland have banned flights from these countries. This will apply from Sunday in Russia, and Tuesday in Spain.
Outbreak
The arrival of the variant comes as Europe has already faced an outbreak of cases for several weeks and is tightening its health restrictions. The Netherlands announced Friday the closure from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. GMT of bars, restaurants and non-essential shops.
Fears related to the new variant led to the postponement at the last minute of a ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the first in four years, which was scheduled for November 30 to December 3.
They also brought down oil prices, with their worst day Friday in 17 months, and stock indices: Frankfurt lost 4.15% at the close, Paris had its worst session since March 2020 (-4.75% ) and London since June 2020 (-3.64%). New York recorded its biggest fall of the year (-2.53%).
The efficacy of vaccines against this variant is still under investigation. A new serum could be developed “very quickly” against Omicron, believes the British scientist who led the research on the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group.
He considered it “extremely unlikely” that this variant would spread strongly within the vaccinated population.
AstraZeneca, like vaccine makers Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax have expressed confidence in their ability to combat the Omicron strain.
“It will take” several weeks “to understand the level of transmissibility and virulence of the new variant, however, said the WHO spokesperson on Friday.
For the European Medicines Agency (EMA), it is “premature” to plan to adapt the vaccines to Omicron.
Almost 54% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but only 5.6% in low-income countries, according to the Our World in Data site. In South Africa, the most affected country on the continent, only 23.8% of the inhabitants are fully vaccinated.