Following detection of the two cases of Omicron infection in Bengaluru, 10 South African nationals became untraceable in Bengaluru causing worry for the state Health Department.
WHO’s Africa director Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said on Thursday that countries “must adjust their COVID-19 response and stop a surge in cases from sweeping across Africa and possibly overwhelming already-stretched health facilities.”
For now, we do know that the vaccines will protect you against the disease at this stage because irrespective of age group & co-morbidities, people who have been vaccinated, have had mild disease, South African Dr. Angelique Coetzee said.
Out of two cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus that have been detected in the city, one is a South African national who has left the country after testing negative, while the other is a local -- a doctor -- with no travel history, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said.
Omicron variant cases have surfaced in several nations including many in Europe. Countries are following act-first-ask-questions later approach to keep the new mutation of the virus at bay.
Meanwhile, South Africa on Monday said that it will remain on the lowest 'Level One' of its five-level lockdown strategy to fight the Covid-19 pandemic
WHO’s regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, called on countries to follow science and international health regulations in order to avoid using travel restrictions.
South Africa recorded 3,220 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, up from about 100 daily just over a week ago, but scientists said there was no need to panic about Omnicron yet because not enough was known about it.
The new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, first detected in South Africa, was on Friday designated as a “Variant of Concern” by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which named it “Omicron”.
WHO identified on Friday the new South African strain as one of concern, as it is reported to carry a high number of mutations- 32- which possibly makes it more transmissible and dangerous.
According to the release, Blinken and Pandor emphasized the importance of continued partnership among the US, the African Union, South Africa, and other African countries to help vaccinate people against COVID.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in a statement urged world leaders not to implement “knee-jerk” policy decisions in response to the detection of the Omicron variant.
While the fear of new COVID-19 variant continues globally, India takes a sigh of relief. The two passengers who returned to Bengaluru from South Africa have tested negative for the Omicron variant of Coronavirus.
The first ODI, part of the World Cup Super League, was abandoned due to heavy rain in Centurion on Friday.
Further tests are now underway on the travelers who arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to establish if any of them have the new omicron variant of COVID-19 that was first discovered in southern Africa.
The MC12 conference at WTO headquarters in Geneva was set to take up key issues like a long-awaited agreement on subsidies for fisheries, seen as a major way to prevent overfishing in the world’s seas, and an effort to waive patent and other intellectual property protections linked to COVID vaccines.
Omicron’s actual risks are not understood. But early evidence suggests it carries an increased risk of reinfection compared with other highly transmissible variants, the WHO said.
The White House said the US will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region beginning Monday.
Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands were among those on Friday that joined the United Kingdom in restricting flights from southern Africa.
Belgium became the first European Union country to announce a case of the variant.
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