“It is likely that other countries will soon begin to see this new variant in circulation (…) That is why it is important that countries redouble their surveillance efforts”Carissa Etienne, PAHO director, said at a press conference.
The appearance of the new variant, which could also be more resistant to vaccines, has generated a panic reaction in many governments.
Germany must decide on Thursday new restrictions, including possible closures of bars and other public places, in a new tightening of measures before weighing the obligation to vaccinate that already generates consensus.
Austria will apply this obligation from February, Greece will do so in those over 60 years of age and other countries such as South Africa reflect on it, although there is strong resistance.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, invited to address the issue.
“I think it is understandable and appropriate to lead this debate now: how can we encourage and potentially think about mandatory vaccination within the European Union,” he said.
The Secretary General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned in Geneva that “we have, worldwide, a toxic cocktail with low vaccination coverage and very few tests.”
The deterioration of the health situation also affects the economy and threatens its growth, warned the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which cut its world growth forecast for 2021 by 0.1 points, leaving it at 5, 6%.
The WHO considers “high” the “probability that Ómicron will expand globally”. In total, two dozen countries reported cases, with Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates or Nigeria among the latest to be added to the list.
The United States detected its first confirmed case of omicron in a person in California who came from South Africa, the federal agency of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday.
For now, the only Latin American country where it has been detected is Brazil, which on Tuesday announced two cases in passengers from South Africa, and a third this Wednesday, in a 29-year-old passenger coming from Ethiopia.
Even so, several countries have taken preventive measures. Argentina isolated a cruise ship from Cape Verde on the high seas after having detected a contagion, Ecuador postponed the opening of the land border with Colombia and Peru extended its suspension of flights with South Africa.
This African country, where the appearance of this variant was noted last week, has registered a daily “exponential increase” in cases, due “largely to the new” omicron variant, already “dominant,” explained Dr. Michelle Groome, of the National Institute of Contagious Diseases (NICD).
Source From: Ambito
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