The United States and Australia announced their first locally transmitted cases of the Omicron variant as authorities worldwide rushed on Friday to stem the spread of the heavily mutated Covid-19 strain.
The World Health Organization has warned it could take weeks to determine whether Omicron is more transmissible and whether it causes more severe infections — as well as how effective current treatments and vaccines are against it.
The WHO said Friday it had still not seen any reports of deaths related to Omicron, but the new variant, present in more than two dozen countries, has cast recovery into doubt and led to warnings that it could cause more than half of Europe’s Covid cases in the next few months.
A preliminary study by researchers in South Africa, where the new variant was first reported on November 24, suggests the strain is three times more likely to cause reinfections compared to the Delta or Beta strains.
Doctors there said there had been a spike in the number of children under five admitted to hospital since Omicron emerged, but stressed it was too early to know if young children were particularly susceptible, although infections have spread faster than in previous waves.
“The incidence in those under-fives is now second-highest, and second only to the incidence in those over 60,” Wassila Jassat, from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, told a news conference.
Nine cases have been confirmed in France and 10 in the United States. One case each in Hawaii and Minnesota involved residents with no recent international travel history — showing that Omicron is already circulating inside the country.
“This is a case of community spread,” the Hawaii Health Department confirmed.
US President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled his plans to battle Covid-19 during the winter, with new testing requirements for travelers and a surge in vaccination efforts.
– ‘Kick in the nuts’ –
All incoming travelers will need to test negative within a day before their flights, and rapid tests that currently cost $25 will be covered by insurance and distributed free to the uninsured.
Australia on Friday, too, reported three students had tested positive for the variant.
The cases, detected in the country’s largest city of Sydney, come despite a sweeping ban on non-citizens entering the country and restrictions on flights from southern Africa, with multiple countries rushing to limit travel from the region in the last week.
“It’s quite a kick in the nuts,” said Sabine Stam, who runs a South African tour company and whose customers are demanding refunds for the peak December season. “Everyone is too scared to set a new travel date,” she told AFP.
In Norway, officials said at least 17 people who contracted Covid-19 after an office Christmas party in the capital Oslo last week are suspected of having the Omicron variant.
All of those who have tested positive have so far only had mild symptoms, such as headaches, sore throats and coughs, city health official Tine Ravlo told AFP.
But the Norwegian government ushered in a slew of restrictions in greater Oslo at midnight after fears of the suspected cluster first surfaced.
On Friday, Malaysia reported its own first Omicron infection in a foreign student arriving from South Africa on November 19. Sri Lanka also announced its first case, a citizen returning from South Africa.
The variant’s detection and spread represent a major challenge to efforts to end the pandemic, with several nations already reimposing restrictions many had hoped were a thing of the past.
– ‘Enormous gravity’ –
Rising infections of the Delta variant had already forced European governments to reintroduce mandatory mask-wearing, social distancing measures, curfews or lockdowns in a desperate attempt to limit hospitalizations, leaving businesses fearing another grim Christmas.
German politicians have agreed measures including a blanket ban on bars, restaurants and cinemas for anyone who is unvaccinated or not recovered.
In northwest Italy, a man presented health workers with a fake arm in an attempt to obtain a vaccine certificate without having the jab, an official said Friday.
“The case borders on the ridiculous, if it were not for the fact we are talking about a gesture of enormous gravity,” said Albert Cirio, head of the Piedmont regional government.
The WHO’s regional director for the Western Pacific told journalists on Friday that high vaccine coverage was critical to bring an end to the pandemic.
“Border controls can delay the virus coming in and buy time, but every country and every community must prepare for new surges in cases,” Takeshi Kasai said.
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