South African travelers to Houston, the Netherlands, have discovered a new strain of the corona virus, Omricone. With this, panic spread all over the world. In most countries, high-level meetings are urgently needed to ban air services. The country’s health minister, Hugo de Jong, said on Sunday that 13 of the 61 passengers on board the Kovid who arrived in the Netherlands from South Africa on Friday had been diagnosed with a new variant of the Omricon case. De Jong said more cases could come as health officials are still testing test samples, and those who are Kovid positive are on quarantine.
The more than 500 people who arrived on the two planes were among 61 sick passengers. This is a clear indication that the virus is crossing the border despite governments imposing new travel restrictions and air bans. Strategically, the US may soon make a decision on airlines.
Countries are fleeing to respond to the presence of the virus, which was first detected in Botswana and South Africa and has caused ripples in governments and markets. Of the two passengers who arrived from South Africa over the weekend, health officials in Australia confirmed the first two cases of the Omricone variant in that country on Sunday. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday that Omricone was “a form of anxiety.” He also said that even in people who have been vaccinated, many of its genetic mutations can cause it to spread quickly.
Scientists warn that relatively little is known about the new variant and that very few confirmed cases have appeared globally. However, scientists in South Africa last week expressed concern that Omricone could have spread further before it was discovered. Memories of the expansion of the Delta variant this year have prompted new waves of travel restrictions, mainly targeting South African countries.
Britain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Israel have all recently issued new travel restrictions in recognition of the Omricon infection. This is an indication of how seriously the authorities in Europe, who are already battling the surge of corona virus cases, are taking the new threat. A new variant has not yet been identified, but French officials on Friday suspended arrivals from seven South African countries.
Travel to and from Botswana, Ezwatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe is regulated by the European Union. Meanwhile, the US and South Korea are targeting these countries and Malawi. The UK has restricted travel to eight countries, including Angola, Mozambique and Zambia. Israel has announced the world’s toughest ban to date, closing borders to all foreigners for 14 days after a case was confirmed in the country.
The scientists shared the hope that the extent of the threat from Omricone is unclear and that existing vaccines may be able to protect against it. Health experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) have called for an end to travel bans and the resumption of border closures, and for Western countries to unjustly punish African countries that are already suffering from delays and inadequate vaccine supply due to hoarding of doses.
Authorities in Australia say they have detected the presence of Omicon in two passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Sydney on Saturday evening. According to the New South Wales State Health Authority, they were asymptomatic and fully vaccinated. These passengers were quarantined. Twelve other passengers from South Africa were escorted to the 14-day hotel quarantine and asked to isolate the other 260 passengers and air crew on board.
The last variant of the corona virus was Delta. It started this summer, and now counts virtually all Kovid cases in the United States. The new version, called Omicron, is said to carry a number of genetic mutations that allow it to spread rapidly, perhaps even to those who have been vaccinated. Independent scientists have acknowledged that Omicron needs urgent attention, and that more research is needed to determine the extent of the threat.
As the corona virus repeats itself inside people, new mutations are constantly emerging. Most do not bring any new benefits to the virus. When suspicious mutations occur, the World Health Organization uses the Greek alphabet to name variants. The first ‘anxiety variant’, Alpha, appeared in the UK by the end of 2020, and soon beta in South Africa. Botswana researchers first spotted Omikron in a reference laboratory in Gaborone. The genes of the corona viruses were adjusted from the positive test samples. They found some samples that share about 50 mutations never seen before in such a combination.
According to the international database of variants, so far six people in Botswana have confirmed Omricon positive. Meanwhile, researchers in South Africa have listed 58 omega samples in a variant database in Gauteng province. But at a news conference on Thursday, Tulio de Oleira, director of the Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation in South Africa, said: “Nearly two or three hundred genetic sequences of Omricone cases will be released in the next few days.” With this, the world is in more panic.
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