New COVID variant Omicron – BOL News Staging

First Omicron case detected in Japan

November 30, 2021 by Arhama Altaf

Japan on Tuesday confirmed its first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant, a day after authorities announced new Covid border restrictions.

“Regarding the traveller arriving from Namibia, it was confirmed to be a case of Omicron after analysis at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases,” government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

“This is the first Omicron case confirmed in Japan,” he said, adding that the infected traveller, a man in his 30s, is now in isolation at a medical facility.

The case was flagged during routine testing at an airport. Japan requires all arrivals to be tested before travelling to the country and when they land.

The announcement came a day after Japan tightened its border rules again, barring all new foreign arrivals just weeks after relaxing tough regulations to allow some students and business travellers entry.

The new rules mean only Japanese citizens and existing foreign residents can enter the country, with few exemptions, and those coming from areas with known Omicron cases require hotel quarantines ranging from three to 10 days.

Japan has recorded just over 18,300 coronavirus deaths during the pandemic while avoiding tough lockdowns.

After a slow start, its vaccination programme picked up speed and nearly 77 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.

WHO special session seeking “pandemic treaty” amid Omicron concerns

November 30, 2021 by Arhama Altaf

GENEVA: A special session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) kicked off here on Monday amid growing concerns over the latest Omicron coronavirus variant, where the participants aim to negotiate a new “pandemic treaty.” The WHA May session this year decided to set up a working group to consider the findings and recommendations of a … Read more

Omicron COVID variant poses downside risks to U.S. economy: Fed chief

November 30, 2021 by Arhama Altaf

Omicron COVID-19 variant poses downside risks to U.S. economy: Fed chief

The recent rise in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant pose downside risks to U.S. employment and economic activity and increased uncertainty for inflation, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in a written testimony released Monday afternoon.

“Greater concerns about the virus could reduce people’s willingness to work in person, which would slow progress in the labour market and intensify supply-chain disruptions,” Powell said in the testimony prepared for a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee scheduled on Tuesday morning.

Powell noted that pandemic-related supply and demand imbalances have contributed to notable price increases in some areas, with the price index for personal consumption expenditures up 5 percent over the 12 months ending in October.

“It is difficult to predict the persistence and effects of supply constraints, but it now appears that factors pushing inflation upward will linger well into next year. In addition, with the rapid improvement in the labour market, slack is diminishing, and wages are rising at a brisk pace,” he said.

Powell also said the central bank understands that high inflation imposes significant burdens, especially on those less able to meet the higher costs of essentials like food, housing, and transportation.

“We are committed to our price-stability goal. We will use our tools both to support the economy and a strong labour market and to prevent higher inflation from becoming entrenched,” he said.

The Fed has pledged to keep the federal funds rate unchanged at the record-low level of near-zero since the start of the pandemic. The central bank began this month to reduce its monthly asset purchase program of 120 billion U.S. dollars by 15 billion dollars. At this pace, the Fed would end its asset purchases by June next year.

It’s too soon to judge the health implications and the economic effects of the emerging Omicron variant, according to an analysis released by Oxford Economics on Monday.

“If the Omicron variant ends up having a significant impact on the economy, then governments and central banks would likely focus their response on the demand impacts rather than the more ambiguous inflation impact,” the analysis said.

Dutch say 61 COVID positive on flights from South Africa

November 27, 2021 by Arhama Altaf

Dutch health authorities said Saturday that 61 passengers aboard two KLM flights from South Africa tested positive for Covid-19 and the results were being examined for the new Omicron variant.

The positive cases were now being quarantined in a hotel near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, where the 600 people on the planes from Johannesburg spent hours waiting on Friday.

“We now know that 61 of the results were positive and 531 negative,” the Dutch Health Authority (GGD) said in a statement.

“The positive test results will be examined as soon as possible to determine whether this concerns the new worrisome variant, which has since been given the name Omicron variant.”

EU health authorities have said the new strain poses a “high to very high risk” to the continent.

All passengers who tested positive must stay in hotel quarantine for seven days if they show symptoms and for five days if they do not, the GGD said.

Passengers who tested negative, but are remaining in the Netherlands, are expected to isolate at home.

“We understand that people are frustrated by this,” the statement added, “people have just made a long trip with the idea that they will shortly be home,” it said.

“Instead just after landing, they are confronted with a situation we have never before experienced in the Netherlands, namely that people have to be tested at Schiphol and are forced to wait until they get a result.”

Those who do not live in the Netherlands can “continue their journey”, it said.

Dutch national carrier KLM said it would continue to operate flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town “in compliance with the stricter protocol.”

This meant that entry was banned to all passengers except for Dutch and EU residents, who must show a negative PCR test and self-quarantine on arrival.

“KLM is taking the situation very seriously and will continue to prioritise the safety of passengers and crew,” the airline said in a statement, adding “it will therefore impose strict on-board safety requirements for passengers and crew.”

A KLM flight from Johannesburg was scheduled to land at around 1100 GMT, Schiphol said on its website.

US joins EU to restrict South Africa travel over new Omicron variant

November 27, 2021 by Arhama Altaf

The US will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other southern African countries to try to contain a new coronavirus variant spreading there.

From Monday, only US citizens and residents will be allowed to travel from the region.

This follows a similar flight ban imposed by the EU and the UK. Canada is also introducing travel restrictions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier declared the new variant to be “of concern”, naming it Omicron.

US officials said flights from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi will be blocked, mirroring earlier moves taken by the EU. The ban will come into effect on Monday.

In a statement, President Joe Biden called the move a “precautionary measure” taken until more is known about the variant.

Canada is also shutting its borders to foreign travellers who have recently been to South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Foreign citizens will be banned from Canada if they have been to the seven nations in the past 14 days.

The Omicron variant was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November and has since been identified in other countries.

South Africa’s health ministry has criticised the rush to impose new travel restrictions, calling them “draconian”, and contrary to WHO guidance.

Scientists say they still have much to learn about the virus’s new mutations, and the WHO has said it will take a few weeks to understand the impact of the new variant, as experts work to determine how transmissible it is.

The WHO on Friday prepared to meet to assess the potential impact of a new coronavirus variant identified as B 1.1.529.

According to WHO’s COVID-19 technical expert, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the information is still limited.

“There are fewer than 100 whole-genome sequences that are available, we don’t know very much about this yet. What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations, and the concern is that when you have so many mutations it can have an impact on how the virus behaves”, she said during a question-answer session on Twitter.

Dr. Van Kerkhove explained that researchers are currently trying to determine where the mutations are and what they potentially mean for diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.

“It will take a few weeks for us to understand what impact this variant has, there’s a lot of work that is underway. It’s a variant that’s under monitoring. The (WHO) technical advisory group will discuss if it will become a variant of interest or a variant of concern and if that’s the case, we will give it a Greek name, but it is something to watch”, she added.

The expert thanked researchers from South Africa and Botswana for openly sharing information with the UN health agency.

Canada tightens border control amid surging COVID cases, new variant

November 27, 2021 by Arhama Altaf

Canada tightens border control amid surging COVID-19 cases, new variant

Canada reported 3,063 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and tightened its border control measures due to a new coronavirus variant in other countries, according to CTV. Canada announced Friday afternoon that it will ban the entry of all foreigners from southern Africa due to increasing concerns over a new COVID-19 variant named Omicron. As a … Read more

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