The United States, Brazil and Canada replicated this Friday the measure taken by the European Union to suspend flights from certain African countries before the advance of the new variant of coronavirus called omicron and identified for the first time in South Africa. These measures were announced on the day the World Health Organization warned that the new strain has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. In addition, that organism warned that, according to the first scientific evidence, it could represent a “greater risk of reinfection” with respect to other variants.
After knowing this information, the White House ordered the restriction of entry to the United States of flights from eight African countries. “I was briefed on the omicron variant by the chief medical advisor, Dr. Tony Fauci, and members of our covid response team,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. These new restrictions will take effect on Monday, November 29. “We will always continue to be guided by what science and my medical team advise,” said the president.
Biden has taken the opportunity to remind the population that all those who already have the complete vaccination schedule will be safer if they decide to take the booster dose, as additional protection during the Christmas season.
Canada also joined the ban to try to prevent further spread of the new variant of the coronavirus. The Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, has reported the ban on entry of foreign nationals who have traveled to the southern African region in the last 14 days. Also, in message in your twitter account, has reported that Canadian citizens arriving from that area must undergo mandatory coronavirus tests.
The identification of the new strain has led the Brazilian health surveillance agency (Anvisa) to recommend to the Government this Friday that it temporarily suspend the disembarkation of passengers from six African countries where it has been registered: South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. “It is a variant that has more aggressive characteristics and, obviously, requires immediate measures from world health authorities,” justified the director of Anvisa, Antonio Barra Torres, in statements to the press. “We have already sent our technical notes to the Ministries of Health, Infrastructure and Justice so that flights from these countries, located in the south of the African continent, are temporarily blocked, and do not reach Brazil.”
Anvisa’s role is to make the health recommendations that it considers technically relevant, but it is up to the Executive Power to make the concrete decisions. This Friday, the head of the Civil House of Brazil has assured that the country will close the border to travelers from the six African countries starting next Monday. Before the decision, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was skeptical: “What madness is this? The airport has closed, the virus does not enter? It’s already here, “he told supporters who asked him about the matter in Brasilia, adding that a new wave of covid-19 is” sadly “underway.
At the moment, the rest of the countries in the region have not reported concrete measures against the new variant of coronavirus. Meanwhile, South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla has called the international reaction to the detection of the new strain “unjustified and counterproductive”. According to the official, there is no concrete scientific evidence that the new variant is more severe or transmissible (although there are indications that it could be more contagious due to the increase in cases in South Africa in recent days). “There is also no evidence that vaccines have lost efficacy with this variant,” he added.
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