These measures “may have a negative impact on global health efforts during a pandemic by discouraging countries from reporting and sharing epidemiological and sequencing data,” the WHO warned.
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The World Health Organization advised people at risk who have not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 from traveling on Tuesday, November 30, while deeming the bans on the matter taken by many countries to be unnecessary due to the Omicron variant. “General travel bans will not prevent the spread” of this variant, estimated the WHO in a technical document. The institution judge “high” the “probability that Omicron will spread globally”, even if many unknowns remain (contagiousness, effectiveness of existing vaccines, severity of symptoms).
Initially reported in South Africa, this new strain has been spotted on all continents, but Europe, facing a new wave, appears to be the most affected. Omicron was detected in the Netherlands in two test samples taken on November 19 and 23 and one of the two affected had not traveled recently, suggesting that the variant was already circulating in the country, according to the Dutch Institute of health and environment (RIVM).
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “calm” and asked countries for a response “rational” and “proportional” facing the propagation of the Omicron variant. Including “the concern of all countries to protect their citizens”, he also said to himself “concerned that several member states are taking general and brutal measures which are neither evidence-based nor effective in themselves and which will only worsen inequalities” Between the countries.
Since Johannesburg reported the appearance of this new variant in late November, many states have closed their borders to South Africa and its neighbors, sparking anger in the region. These measures “may negatively impact global health efforts during a pandemic by discouraging countries from reporting and sharing epidemiological and sequencing data”, has warned the WHO.