Global authorities reacted with alarm on Friday to a
new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, with the EU, Britain
and India among those announcing stricter border controls as scientists
sought to determine if the mutation was vaccine-resistant.
Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighboring countries
and asked British travelers returning from there to quarantine, while
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aimed to
halt air travel from the region.
Scientists are still learning about the variant, identified this
week, but the news pummeled global stocks and oil amid fears what new
travel bans would do to already shaky economies across southern Africa.
The variant has a spike protein that is dramatically different to the
one in the original coronavirus that COVID-19 vaccines are based on,
the UK Health Security Agency said, raising fears about how current
vaccines, successful against the more familiar delta variant, will fare.
"As scientists have described, (this is) the most significant variant
they've encountered to date," British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps
told Sky News.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is to hold a meeting in Geneva at
1100 GMT. Experts will discuss the risks it presents and if it should
be designated as a variant of interest or variant of concern, WHO
spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.
Nearly 100 sequences of the variant have been reported, and early
analysis shows it has "a large number of mutations" requiring further
study, Lindmeier said.
One epidemiologist said it may be too late to tighten travel curbs.
"I think we have to recognize that most likely this virus is already
in other places. And so if we shut the door now, it’s going to be
probably too late," said Ben Cowling of the University of Hong Kong.
South Africa will speak to British authorities to try to get them to
reconsider their ban, the foreign ministry in Pretoria said. "Our
immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both
the tourism industries and businesses of both countries," Foreign
Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement.
'ACT STRONG, FAST AND NOW'
The variant, called B.1.1.529, has also been found in Botswana and
Hong Kong, according to the UK Health Security Agency. Israel said it
was barring its citizens from traveling to southern Africa after one
case of the new strain was found in a traveler returning from Malawi.
"We are currently on the verge of a state of emergency, " Prime
Minister Naftali Bennett said, according to a statement from his office.
"Our main principle is to act fast, strong and now."
European countries had already been expanding booster vaccinations
and tightening curbs as the continent battles a fourth wave of the
coronavirus, led by the delta variant, with many reporting record daily
rises in cases.
The new wave and discovery of the new variant come as Europe and the
United States enter winter, with more people gathering indoors in the
run-up to Christmas, providing a breeding ground for infection.
Italy imposed an entry ban on people who have visited southern
African states in the last 14 days, and Germany will declare South
Africa a virus variant area, a health ministry source said.
India issued an advisory to all states to test and screen
international travelers from South Africa and other "at risk" countries
after easing some of its travel restrictions earlier this month.
Singapore's health ministry said it would also restrict arrivals from
the region, and Japan tightened border controls for visitors from South
Africa and five other African countries.
The coronavirus has swept the world in the two years since it was
first identified in central China, infecting almost 260 million people
and killing 5.4 million.
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