(The Hague) The new variant of the coronavirus, Omicron, continued to spread around the world on Sunday, especially in the Netherlands where 13 cases have been detected, causing concern and pushing Israel to close its borders to foreign nationals.
While the pandemic has already claimed more than five million lives worldwide since the end of 2019, the arrival during the past week of the Omicron variant was deemed “worrying” Friday by the World Health Organization.
Identified in South Africa, it prompted many countries to close their borders to southern Africa when they had sometimes barely reopened to the world.
In the Netherlands, health authorities announced on Sunday that 13 passengers who left South Africa and diagnosed positive for COVID-19 on their arrival in Amsterdam on Friday were carriers of the variant. A total of 61 people had tested positive for the virus.
PHOTO PETER DEJONG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dutch authorities have quarantined 61 people with COVID-19 at a hotel in Badhoevedorp, near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
Israel, where a case has been confirmed in a traveler returning from Malawi, will ban from Sunday evening the entry of foreigners into its territory and impose on its vaccinated nationals a PCR test and three days of quarantine (seven for non- vaccinated). The country had just reopened its borders on 1er November and is preparing to celebrate eight days during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
In Denmark, two cases of contamination with the new variant were detected in passengers arriving from South Africa, according to health authorities on Sunday.
In Australia, authorities detected the Omicron variant in two vaccinated passengers from southern Africa who arrived in Sydney the day before via Doha, the same day Australia closed its borders to nine southern African countries. Twelve other passengers on the same flight are in quarantine.
Australia recently lifted the ban for its vaccinated nationals to travel abroad without permission and is due to open by the end of the year to skilled workers and international students its borders, which have been closed for more than 18 months.
Besides Israel and Australia, the Omnicron variant is present in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and in several European countries (Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic).
In quarantine
In France, the detection of the Omicron variant is “very probably a matter of hours,” said Minister of Health Olivier Véran.
The new variant B.1.1529 represents a “high to very high” risk for Europe, according to the European Union’s health agency.
Even before its appearance, Europe was facing an epidemic outbreak linked to the Delta variant, with the reestablishment of health restrictions not always well accepted as in the Netherlands, in the French Antilles or in Switzerland which nevertheless largely validated a COVID-passport on Sunday. 19.
In Austria, tens of thousands of people marched this weekend against the vaccine obligation.
According to the WHO expert group, preliminary data suggests that the Omicron variant presents “an increased risk of reinfection” compared to other variants including Delta, which is dominant and already highly contagious. Never has a variant caused so much concern in the world since the emergence of Delta.
On all continents, especially in Europe, many states are closing themselves off from southern African countries including South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, but also Zambia, Malawi or Angola depending on the case. They also tighten the entry rules for all travelers.
PHOTO PHILL MAGAKOE, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Many flights from Johannesburg, South Africa have been canceled due to the Omicron variant.
On Sunday, Angola, itself placed on the red list by the United Kingdom, became the first southern African country to suspend its flights in the area.
The Philippines, for its part, announced the suspension of flights from countries where the variant has been detected.
In the United Kingdom, new restrictions will come into force on Tuesday, including the return to the wearing of masks and a tightening of entry measures.
Saudi Arabia has extended the list of countries with which it is suspending its links, bringing them to 14. Kuwait and Qatar – a major air hub – have also announced restrictions on nine and five African countries respectively.
“Transparency”
In the United States, which had just reopened to the world in early November, borders will be closed from Monday to travelers from eight southern African countries.
After a bitter comment from South Africa considering itself “punished” for having detected the Omicron variant, Washington congratulated this country on Saturday evening for its “transparency in the sharing of this information which should serve as a model for the world”. A thinly veiled allusion to US accusations against Beijing in the initial management of the coronavirus.
On the side of vaccine manufacturers, AstraZeneca such as Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax have expressed confidence in their ability to fight the Omicron strain.
It will take “several weeks” to understand the level of transmissibility and virulence of the new variant, the WHO spokesperson said on Friday.
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.
The new variant also raises fears for the global economic recovery after a black day Friday for oil prices and stock indexes.