Our live coverage of the Omicron coronavirus variant has moved here.
India says it “stands ready” to support countries in Africa affected by the Omicron variant, including providing vaccines and medical supplies.
In a statement Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was offering support to countries experiencing Omicron outbreaks by providing drugs, test kits, gloves, PPE kits and medical equipment such as ventilators.
The ministry also encouraged African nations to order India’s Covid-19 vaccines through COVAX, the World Health Organization’s global vaccine sharing program, or bilaterally.
“We express our solidarity with the countries, particularly in Africa, who have so far been affected by the Omicron variant,” the MEA said.?
The MEA said the government has approved all orders placed so far by COVAX for supplies of Covishield, a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford and produced by the Serum Institute of India, to African nations such as Malawi, Ethiopia, Zambia, Mozambique, Guinea and Lesotho.
Supplies of the India-made Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin have also been approved for Botswana.
To date, India has supplied more than 25 million doses of its domestically developed vaccines to 41 countries in Africa through donations and COVAX supplies.
The world population needs to be vaccinated urgently to ensure any future coronavirus variants are stopped before they can begin, a special adviser to the director general of the World Health Organization said Monday.
Variants can develop when the virus spreads, making areas with low vaccination rates particularly dangerous. The next variant of concern can be prevented if more of the world is protected, but there is a lot of work to do, Singer said.
The vaccination rate is currently only about 7% in Africa, he said.?
In the meantime, Singer said, people need to be cautious as scientists work out how much of a threat Omicron poses. “I think a prudent approach here is called for and that means raising your guard,” he said.
Singer said that included getting vaccinated, wearing a mask and physical distancing.?
“Those are prudent things that people can do to take in their own hands while the answers are being sorted out,” he said.
Ecuador?announced new?travel restrictions Monday on arrivals from a number of African countries in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.
President Guillermo Lasso said people coming from any country on the banned list would be refused entry to Ecuador, even if they had only stopped over or transited through those countries.
The countries include South Africa, Botswana, Egypt, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Namibia. The measures will go into effect Wednesday.
At the same time, Lasso said Ecuador’s border with Colombia would be reopened in phases, starting with the transport of goods.
In order to enter Ecuador, all travelers must present their vaccination certificate and a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours. Children under the age of 16 must present a negative PCR test.
At least 70 countries and territories have now imposed travel restrictions to curb the spread of the new variant.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Monday he’s not panicking about the Omicron variant but his company is readying an updated vaccine just in case one is needed.
Bourla said it will take two to three weeks to be able to fully assess how well the Pfizer vaccine works against Omicron. “I doubt that the results will be that we can find ourselves that we are not protecting at all,” Bourla said.
Whether or not the vaccine is as effective against Omicron as it is against the Delta variant, boosters should reduce the threat dramatically, Bourla said.
Pfizer has already started producing a Covid-19 vaccine specifically targeting Omicron, as it has with other variants, Bourla said. “If indeed we need it, we will not waste any time,” he said.
The company had produced a vaccine specifically formulated against the Delta variant and another against the Beta variant, but didn’t need either, because its original vaccine worked well against those strains. If a new vaccine is needed for Omicron, Bourla said it would take 100 days or fewer to get it tested and into production.
“We should be able to transition manufacturing to this new vaccine without losing any single dose, almost any single dose, from the current capacity,” Bourla said.
Everyone around the world must have access to vaccinations, Bourla said.
At least 69 countries and territories have imposed travel restrictions in response to the spreading Omicron variant, according to analysis and data compiled by CNN.?
Here’s the list:
*European Union member state
The Omicron variant will likely make it more difficult for countries to bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control, Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University School of Public Health, said Monday.
“What concerns me about this, the variant, is two things. One, is pretty good circumstantial, but good, evidence that it is highly contagious, maybe more contagious than the Delta variant,” Jha told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.
Jha said he was also concerned because many of the mutations seen in Omicron affect the spike protein, which is the part of the virus specifically targeted by vaccines and certain treatments such as monoclonal antibodies.
While vaccine maker Moderna has said it is working on a potential Covid-19 booster that would specifically work against the Omicron variant, Jha said no one should wait for it to get a booster.?
At least 17 countries and territories have confirmed Omicron variant cases, according to analysis and data compiled by CNN.
Spain and Austria both reported their first cases of the Omicron variant in the past 24 hours, while Germany confirmed its first infection with no overseas travel history.
These countries and territories have confirmed Omicron infections:
Travel bans don’t really work to stop the spread of coronavirus variants, CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner said Monday.
Foreign travelers to the United States have to be fully vaccinated and tested and those kinds of measures are effective at reducing the import of viruses, Reiner said.
While dozens of countries, including the US, have restricted travel from some African countries, such restrictions will not stop the spread of the Omicron variant. In fact, Reiner and several other scientists have said that they think Omicron is likely present in the US already.
A 39-year-old man from Leipzig has been diagnosed with the Omicron variant, the first confirmed case in Germany with no travel history, according to health officials.
The infected man had not traveled abroad recently nor had any contact with anyone who had traveled overseas, Leipzig Health Department director Regine Krause-D?ring said.
It’s the fourth Omicron case to be discovered in Germany. Two previous infections were detected in Munich and a third case was found in the state of Hesse.
Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Burton said Monday that the company is testing its Covid-19 vaccine against the new Omicron variant, a variant he is watching with concern.
He said research from Seattle suggests the Omicron variant probably emerged in South Africa or Botswana, laid relatively low, and then suddenly in early November exploded to become the dominant strain, displacing the Delta variant in South Africa.
Moderna’s CEO Stephane Bancel said earlier that he thought the variant would have an impact on the vaccine’s efficacy.
The company is currently studying the variant using samples from people who have gotten the Moderna vaccine at different doses to see how it can neutralize the “very worrying” variant, Burton said. He added that Moderna is also developing an Omicron-specific Covid-19 booster that would take two to three months to get into testing and then into production.
Argentina’s government announced in a statement on Monday that passengers that have been to the African continent within the last 14 days before their arrival to the country must undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine, over concerns raised by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
Quarantine may only be terminated after the 14-day period, if passengers have a negative PCR test taken at least ten days after their arrival, the statement added.
Further restrictions and mandatory requirements for travelers coming into the country were published by the Argentinian government in their official Gazette, a government approved book containing new legislation, with full effect starting Monday, the statement said.?
Some of the newly listed requirements include the need for a complete vaccination certificate, a negative PCR test done within 72 hours before departure and the need for an antigen test upon arrival in the country.?
The statement also indicated that foreigners not residing in the country will be required to have “Covid-19 health insurance,” which includes “coverage of hospitalization services, isolation and / or medical transfers, for those who result positive cases, suspected or close contacts.”
Nations around the world are racing to identify how many cases of the?Omicron Covid-19 variant?they have, as fears over the new strain force governments to shutter borders and revisit restrictions.
The new mutation, which is potentially more transmissible, was first discovered in South Africa and has since been detected in several countries.
Here’s a list of the places reporting cases so far:
The list will be updated here.
Americans face at least two weeks of uncertainty before major questions may get answered about the?Omicron variant?of the coronavirus.
Health experts urge the public to be cautious and patient as scientists try to find out whether Omicron —?deemed a “variant of concern”?by the World Health Organization — is more transmissible and dangerous than other forms of the novel coronavirus and whether existing vaccines work against it.
Omicron variant cases have been detected in numerous countries, including Canada. No cases have been found in the United States, but many experts says it’s inevitable.
The overall global risk related to the newly discovered?B.1.1.529 strain?of the coronavirus “is assessed as very high,” WHO said in a technical brief Monday.
Warnings about the renewed threat from the Omicron variant come as Americans have become weary of nearly two years of precautions and are returning from a Thanksgiving break that saw?air travel at close to pre-pandemic levels.
Experts are now racing to determine the answers to these three critical questions:
? Do Omicron’s mutations make it more transmissible?
? Is it more severe or dangerous or deadly than other variants?
? Is it more resistant to vaccines?
It could be weeks before we have the answers.
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said Monday that people should get vaccinated or get booster shots — and keep adhering to public health safety measures.
“I think (high filtration) masks and … physical distancing, without the need to shut down, can be very effective until we get a hold of what is really going on here,” he said.
With much about Omicron still unknown, officials say vaccinations and boosters remain the best protection available.
Pfizer is expected to seek authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its vaccine booster shot for those who are ages 16 and 17, a source familiar with the plan tells CNN.
Currently only those age 18 and up are eligible for booster shots six months after their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
The development comes as scientists in the US and around the world are racing to learn more about a new variant named Omicron.
On Monday, President Biden urged Americans to pay attention, but not to panic. He also encouraged those who have not yet gotten a booster but are eligible to do so.
Biden had hoped to have boosters made widely available months ago, but the move ultimately didn’t happen until late November. Asked Monday if making vaccines available to everyone sooner could have helped with the current dynamic, White House press secretary Jen Psaki referred the question to medical experts.
Pfizer didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to testify Tuesday that the Omicron variant threatens America’s economic recovery.
Much remains unknown about Omicron. Yet if it prolongs the pandemic, it could keep prices rising, hurt job growth and make the supply chain crisis worse, Powell is expected to tell Congress.
Wall Street sold off stocks and oil Friday after learning about the potentially highly infectious and more immunity-resistant variant. But the market regained much of its lost ground Monday after investors took a breath and sensed a buying opportunity.
Stocks similarly sold off when Wall Street first heard about the Delta variant, but it soon rebounded and surged to new records as vaccine availability spread and health officials learned how to better manage the pandemic.
In his prepared testimony, Powell noted the economy took a body blow in the summer as the Delta variant spread across the globe. Many Americans were afraid to travel, shop, eat at restaurants and return to the office. That kept caregivers at home, exacerbating the labor shortage and supply chain crisis that have held back the US economy.
But infections fell throughout the fall, and the economy picked up steam. Powell predicted the US economy would grow a robust 5% this year. As infections fell, starting in September, the job market rebounded, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.6%, the lowest rate since May 2020.
The economy has ebbed and flowed with rising and falling infections, and Omicron threatens to undo much of the economic goodwill America has generated throughout the autumn months.
Powell, who President Biden recently renominated for a second term as Fed Chair, said the imbalance of supply and demand have artificially sent prices surging well above the Fed’s 2% annual inflation target. Americans have spent about 5% more on goods and services this year, Powell noted.
Inflation could be here to stay for a bit longer, Powell said. It’s a bit of a Catch-22: The labor shortage had been sending wages (and prices) higher, but with job growth accelerating in recent months, employers are finding fewer applicants for their available jobs — and they have to raise pay to attract new workers.
Dr. Anthony?Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Biden, reiterated the importance of Americans to get vaccinated and boosters as the government continues to learn more details about the new Omicron variant.
He continued: “So we have every reason to?believe, even though this is an?extraordinary unusual variant?because of the number of?mutations, there’s no reason to?believe that it will not happen,?that if you get the level of?antibody high with the regular?booster to the regular vaccine,?that you’re going to have at?least some effect and hopefully?a good effect on ability to?protect against this variant.”
Fauci said that he couldn’t predict whether the new variant would become the dominant variant in the US.
“We don’t know.?And that’s the reason why we’re?looking at what the pattern is?in South Africa,” he said.
With regards to travel restrictions, Fauci said he didn’t anticipate a need for further measures and that he was hopeful they would not be of a “very long duration.”
“I think what was done about the?restrictions?from South Africa?and neighboring countries was?merely because when the?information came out, about the?molecular makeup of this virus?with all of the mutations that?were of concern, we felt we?needed to do something right?away,” he said.
“Hopefully those?restrictions?are?not going to be a very long?duration until we get a handle?as to what’s going on, but we do?not anticipate any further?restrictions,”?Fauci added.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there is no sign right now that the new Omicron variant of coronavirus is more severe than previous versions, but that more information is needed from officials in South Africa to know for sure.
Fauci said his counterparts in South Africa were working quickly to determine how contagious and dangerous the variant is, but said “they assured us?they’d know probably in a matter?of a week, a week and a half as?to whether or not we’re dealing?with something that for the most?part is more?severe, equally as?severe?or less?severe.”
Fauci also praised the work of scientists and officials in South Africa, saying they “had been extremely?cooperative and collaborative?and transparent with us about?what’s going on there.”
Watch:
Officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have held daily and ongoing calls with all state health officials, as well as public health partners, a White House official tells CNN.
Calls were held throughout the weekend with various public health officials at the state and local level.
These calls included state, county and city health officials; state epidemiologists; state laboratory directors; and partners from public health organizations including the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Association of Public Health Laboratories, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, National Association of County and City Health Officials, and Big Cities Health Coalition.
Officials briefed President Biden for approximately 45 minutes Sunday on the new variant and again on Monday morning, with a heavy dose of caution about what’s still unknown. Health officials?say there are likely far more cases worldwide than?is currently known.
The President noted Monday that scientists and officials are learning more every day about the new variant. Biden said that on Thursday he would put forward a “detailed?strategy outlining how we’re?going to fight Covid this?winter. Not with shutdowns or lockdowns,?but with more widespread?vaccinations, boosters, testing?and more.”
CNN’s Kate Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.?
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strengthened recommendations for booster doses of coronavirus vaccine in the US on Monday, saying all adults should get boosted six months after the second dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s or Moderna’s vaccine or two months after the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
It’s a slight but significant tweak to the wording of guidance issued earlier this month when the CDC endorsed an expanded emergency use authorization for boosters from the US Food and Drug Administration.
“The recent emergence of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) further emphasizes the importance of vaccination, boosters, and prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19,” she added.
“Early data from South Africa suggest increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, and scientists in the United States and around the world are urgently examining vaccine effectiveness related to this variant. I strongly encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to vaccinate the children and teens in their families as well because strong immunity will likely prevent serious illness,” she said.
Previously, the CDC said people should get a booster if they are 50 and older, or 18 and older and living in long term care. Otherwise, it advised that anyone 18 and older may get a booster. Now the word “should” applies to everyone 18 and older.
It will take a few weeks of testing to know for sure whether the Omicron variant is more transmissible than Delta, and whether it evades the protection offered by natural infection or vaccines. Scientists will also be looking to see if it causes more severe disease or evades the effects of treatments.
Where things stand now: In the meantime, CDC will be watching for Omicron to appear in the US. That requires an extra step of testing as the tests used to diagnose Covid-19 won’t tell people which variant they are infected with. “I also want to encourage people to get a COVID-19 test if they are sick. Increased testing will help us identify Omicron quickly,” Walensky said.
“And finally, to stop the spread of COVID-19 we need to follow the?prevention strategies?we know work,” she added. These include vaccination, wearing masks, improving ventilation indoors and keeping a distance from others, especially if they are unvaccinated.
All three cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Hong Kong have been imported cases, Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) announced in a statement on Monday.
The first, Case 12388, is a 36-year-old male who arrived in Hong Kong from South Africa on Nov. 11. He is asymptomatic and had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
The second, Case 12404, is a 62-year-old male who traveled from Canada to Hong Kong on Nov. 10. The onset of his illness began on Nov. 17 and he had received two doses of the vaccine.
The third, Case 12432, is a 37-year-old male who had transited through Ethiopia and arrived in Hong Kong on Nov. 24. He is asymptomatic and had received two doses of the vaccine.?
Hong Kong has reported a total of 46 new cases of Covid-19, three of which were confirmed to be Omicron, in the last 14 days. All of the new cases were imported, the CHP said.
In tracking the development of new coronavirus variants, it is important that countries that are transparent about the presence of variants aren’t penalized for their reporting,?World Health Organization Covid-19 Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove?told CNN on Monday.
“This is why it is so critical that countries continue to report this. And are worried – we are worried about the stigma associated with countries that report this information so forthcoming. You know, it’s really critical that that continues, and that countries don’t feel that they will be penalized for reporting this information,” she said.
Van Kerkhove said travel restrictions might slow the spread of the Omicron variant, but they “won’t stop it.”
“We’ve seen this over and over and over again. We can’t prevent the spread of this virus across borders,” she said.
Van Kerkhove said WHO would like to see a “proportionate response” to the variant involving viral surveillance and targeted specific quarantines.
“What we are saying is put in a proportional response. Make sure that it is targeted and tailored and time bound. And do not punish countries who are reporting information,” she said.
The global system has “failed” not only?Africa?but all low-income countries in the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines, Dr. Ayoade Alakija, co-chair of the?Africa?Vaccine Delivery Alliance, told CNN Monday.?
In an interview with?Becky Anderson, Alakjia lamented the global systems’?failure “in the initial instance to get vaccines into”?African countries, such as Malawi and Botswana.?
Despite these middle-income countries “paying way above what most countries paid for their vaccines,” they were “thrown to the back of the queue by Moderna and some of the other pharmaceuticals,” according to Alakija.?
Alakija criticized the lack of “global coordinated plan” for vaccine supply, saying that a sense of “global solidarity” is needed to remedy the disparity in vaccine supply.?
As well as vaccines themselves, low-income countries need the “advance information” to facilitate the planning of mass vaccination campaigns, Alakija said, adding that their current arrival “in dribs and drab” is “really stressing our already stressed health systems.”
Alakija who works with closely with Gavi and COVAX said that rather than striving to get vaccines into arms,?Africa’s key challenge is getting vaccines from ports to arms.?
Once vaccines arrive in country, they “don’t necessarily just magically arrive at a vaccination site,” Alakija emphasized.
The short shelf life of certain vaccines is also posing a problem for?African countries, Alakija said, referencing the 1.5 million vaccines that were recently “pretty much dumped” in Nigeria and are set to expire in the next week or so.?This has put pressure on the country to try and “rush out” these vaccines, according to Alakija.??
Fundamentally, Alakija called it “very disingenuous of some members of the global community” to pin the continent’s low vaccination rates on vaccine hesitancy rather than vaccine supply.?
There is no report of coronavirus variant Omicron in New York, according to state officials, though New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says officials are on alert as “it has arrived” in nearby Ontario, Canada.
“It’s literally across the bridge from where I live, I can see Canada from my house,” Hochul said.
“We have to deal in the realities of a highly transmissible, we believe, variant,” Hochul added.
A consortium of four labs have joined efforts to assist with sequencing to expand surveillance efforts, an official from the New York State’s Dept. of Health Wadsworth Center said.
Canada has now confirmed at least three cases of the Omicron variant, and health officials in several provinces say dozens more cases are under investigation.
The first two Omicron cases in Canada were confirmed in the province of Ontario and the third case was identified in Quebec. All three people had traveled to Canada from Nigeria.
Quebec’s health minister, Christian Dubé, speaking at a news conference Monday said more than a hundred travelers from southern African countries were asked to take a new Covid-19 test and isolate.
However, Dubé also suggested that Nigeria should possibly be added to the list of countries currently included in a travel ban to Canada. He said he had spoken of the issue with Duclos.
“They need to take very quick decisions on additional countries and if this is not enough, depending on how the epidemiology accelerates, should we have additional measures like PCR (testing) at airports to make sure that we are restrictive on any countries,” Dubé said.
Paraguay’s public health ministry has issued a travel ban on tourists from 10 African countries to prevent the entry of the new Omicron variant, it announced Monday.?
On Sunday, the ministry said in a statement it is restricting travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola.
The health ministry also recommended that Paraguayan nationals avoid traveling to those countries and any other countries that have detected the Omicron variant until there is further information on the variant.
Data on the transmissibility and severity of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 could come as early as the next few days, World Health Organization Covid-19 Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove told CNN on Monday.?
“I do think it will take some time for us to get a better understanding of the impact of vaccines. Our estimate is between two and four weeks,” she said, saying it will take some time to “grow up the stock” of the virus for experimentation to take place.??
“I do want to take this opportunity to thank the amazing scientists in South Africa, who were so forthright in sharing this information with us,” she said.?
Van Kerkhove said the number of mutations found in the variant first raised concern at WHO, but the type of mutations elevated it to a variant of concern.??
“The reason we classified it as a variant of concern is some of these mutations that have been identified do have some detrimental impacts, particularly on monoclonal antibodies, and potentially I say, potentially, on vaccines,” she said.?
Van Kerkhove said the transmissibility of the variant will be important to determine.
“It’s not just the emergence of a variant of concern. It’s about how much it circulates,” Van Kerkhove said.?
Switzerland will require travelers from Portugal, Nigeria, Canada and Japan to quarantine for 10 days due to the presence of the Omicron variant in those countries.
Travelers from those countries will also require a negative test before boarding flights to Switzerland.
The measure goes into effect midnight tonight local time.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that South Africa has turned down vaccines offered by the United States previously after the US sent close to 8 million doses to the country.?
“They have not requested additional vaccines,” Psaki told Collins, adding: “We have sent close to 8 million doses to South Africa.”
Asked by Collins whether South Africa has ever turned down vaccines from the US, Psaki answered: “yes.”?
Psaki reiterated that the travel ban against South Africa and seven other countries in Africa is “not to punish” but to “protect” adding that the decision was made by President Biden solely based on the recommendation of his medical team.
Asked when the White House would end the travel ban, Psaki said it continues to be assessed.
Some more context: In July, the US donated 5.7 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine and another 2.2 million doses in?August.
Chile will close its borders to non-resident foreigners who have been to any of seven specified southern African nations in the last 14 days; Those countries are South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Mozambique, Chile’s Ministry of Health reported on Monday.?
The border restrictions will serve as prevention against the omicron variant of coronavirus, identified for the first time in South Africa, said the undersecretary of Healthcare Networks, Alberto Dougnac.
As for Chileans and foreigners residing in the country who have visited those countries in the last 14 days, the ministry said they could enter as long as a PCR test is carried out at the point of entry and as well as followed by a seven-day quarantine, regardless of their vaccination status and even if the test result is negative.
The new measure will be implemented starting on Dec. 1.
Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said on CNBC’s Squawkbox Monday that he thinks the company’s vaccine will work against the Omicron variant, but it could offer less protection.?
Bourla said that Pfizer has started working on a new vaccine if it’s needed. The company has made the first DNA template, the first part of the development process for a new vaccine.?
“We have made multiple times clear that we will be able to have a vaccine in less than 100 days,” he said, adding that they already did this twice for the Delta and Beta variants, both of which didn’t have to be used.
“We will build one at risk right now for Omicron that will be used only in case we need it, if we see that the current one doesn’t work,” he said.
The indoor mask advisory announced Monday recommending residents to wear masks in all indoor, public spaces in New York City is a reemphasizing of the recommendation made in August, both Mayor Bill de Blasio and?City Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi clarified.
In August,?city officials made a recommendation?that everyone wear masks indoors for public settings and Monday’s advisory is intended to reemphasize this point as the city faces a new?variant?and colder weather, de Blasio said.
City officials said they are expecting to see the new?variant?in New York City within the coming days and will know very quickly when it has entered the population.??
De Blasio also noted that this decision was made in coordination with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams. Speaking briefly at the media briefing, Adams said that he intends to follow the same Covid-19 policies that are currently in place by the city when he assumes office.
When asked if this measure is an overreaction since not much is known about the intensity or spread of the Omicron?variant, the mayor emphasized the need to be prepared ahead of the new threat.?
The best way for people to protect themselves against the Omicron?variant?is by getting vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible, city officials emphasized.
Currently, New York City has?88% of all adults vaccinated with at least one dose, 81% of 12 to 17-year-olds with one dose and 16% of 5 to 11-year-olds, according to city data.??
The NYC “Test and Trace Corps” is also aggressively reaching out to incoming international travelers, prompting them to get tested before and after traveling and providing PCR tests when requested, de Blasio said.
Remember: Much is still unknown about the transmissibility of the new variant and how effective vaccines will be in protecting Americans against it.
President Biden said he did not anticipate putting additional travel restrictions into place “at this point,” but did not rule the prospect out, as federal health officials brace for the first cases of the new variant to be detected in the US.
“The degree of the spread impacts whether or not there is a need for any travel restriction,” Biden told reporters Monday, after a growing number of countries in North America, Europe, Africa and other continents have reported Omicron cases.
Biden announced Friday the US would restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries starting Monday in reaction to news of the seemingly fast-spreading variant. The ban went into effect on Monday.
Asked if it’s too late for travel restrictions to be effective given the spread and concern from officials that the variant could already be circulating in the US, Biden appeared to say that’s not the purpose of the travel ban.
The President said the point is “to give us time to get people to get protection. To be vaccinated and get the booster. That’s the reason for it.”
While addressing the travel restrictions on passengers from South Africa and other southern African countries, President Biden said “it’s almost inevitable” that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus will arrive in the United States “at some point,” but the measures give Americans some time to get vaccinated or boosted.
However, he added that he doesn’t think the restrictions will act as a deterrent for other countries to be transparent about their reporting on the virus in the future.
President Biden was asked if he expects the emergence of new variants like omicron to become the new normal. He said he did not expect that if people continue to get vaccinated and boosters.
“I?expect this not to be the new?normal.?I expect the new normal to be?everyone ends up getting vaccinated with a booster shot?so we’ve reduced the number of?people protected to such a low?degree we’re not seeing the?spread of the virus,” Biden said in a speech at the White House.
The President was asked if lockdowns are off the table as a strategy to slow the potential spread of the omicron variant. Biden said that lockdowns are off the table “for now.”
Remember: Much is still unknown about the transmissibility of the new variant and how effective vaccines will be in protecting Americans against it.
President Biden underlined three messages in his address to Americans on the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus:
The variant is a?cause for concern, not a cause?for panic.
“We have the best vaccine in the?world, the best medicines, the best?scientists, and we’re learning?more every single day,” he said Monday. “We’ll?fight this variant with?scientific and?knowledgeable actions and speed,?not chaos and confusion.”
The best protection against Omicron is the vaccine.
“I?know you’re tired of hearing me?say this, the best protection?against this new variant or any?of the variants out there, the?ones we’ve been dealing with?already, is getting fully?vaccinated and getting a booster?shot,” he said.
If you’re 18 years or older and?got fully vaccinated before June?1, go get the booster shot?today, he told Americans.
“They are free and they are?available at 80,000 locations?coast to coast,” he added. “Do not wait.?Go get your booster if it’s time?for you to do so.”
He also emphasized that children who are 5 years and older should be vaccinated.
If vaccines need to be updated to fight Omicron, the US will act fast.
Scientists are currently racing to determine if the existing vaccines provide adequate protection against the Omicron variant. In the case they don’t, Biden said the US will act fast to update its vaccine supplies.
“We do not yet believe that?additional measures will be?needed,” he added.?“But so that we are prepared, if?needed, my team is already?working with officials at Pfizer?and Moderna and Johnson &?Johnson to develop contingency?plans for vaccines or boosters?if needed.”
“I will also?direct the FDA and the CDC to?use the fastest process?available without cutting any?corners for safety to get such?vaccines approved and on the?market if needed.”
President Biden opened his remarks on Monday about Omicron by crediting the “scientific community in South Africa” for its “transparency” in sharing information about the new variant with the rest of the world.
He said that the “very day the World Health?Organization identified the new?variant” the administration “took immediate steps?to restrict travel from?countries in southern Africa.”
Biden said that while those restrictions “can slow the speed?of Omicron, it cannot prevent?it.”
The President said that the restrictions give the US time “to?take more actions, to move?quicker, to make sure people?understand you have to get your?vaccine.”?
“Sooner or later, we’ll see cases?of the new variant here in the?United States,” Biden said.
President Biden is giving an update about the new Omicron variant.
While no cases of the new variant have been reported in the US so far, the Biden administration is attempting to limit the spread. New US restrictions on travel from South Africa and seven other countries took effect today, as his administration seeks to assure Americans that they?are moving swiftly to try to contain the threat.
Remember: Much is still unknown about the transmissibility of the new variant and how effective vaccines will be in protecting Americans against it.
Health authorities in Madrid have diagnosed the first case of the Omicron variant in Spain, they said in a statement on Monday.?
“The Microbiology Service of the General Gregorio Maranon Public Hospital has sequenced and confirmed this case. It’s a 51-year-old man who returned from South Africa on November 28, with a layover in Amsterdam,” the statement read.
The man first tested positive for Covid-19 at Barajas airport in Madrid, where he underwent an antigen test after arrival.
“The patient has mild symptoms and has been placed in quarantine,” the Madrid health authorities added in their statement.
South Africa should be praised for the quality of its science and transparency around the detection the Omicron variant, not face travel bans, said World Health Organization spokesperson?Dr. Margaret Harris.
“South Africa should get a gold medal for the quality of its science and the quality of its transparency,” Harris told CNN Monday.
Harris argued that this response is also bad for the rest of the world, acting as a deterrent to be transparent.
“Other countries will then feel, ‘why would we come out and say we’ve got this issue, we’ve got this problem,’ if they see this sort of consequence,” she said.?
City officials in New York City are now highly recommending residents wear masks while indoors in public places, regardless of vaccination status, in an attempt to get ahead of the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.?
While there are currently no identified cases of this new variant in the city yet, City Health Commissioner?Dr. Dave Chokshi said that this is a way to prevent the incoming spread.??
Both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chokshi encouraged residents to get vaccinated or get a booster in order to also prepare for the new variant. They especially recommended children get vaccinated as soon as possible.?
There have been two more cases of the new Omicron variant detected in London, for a total of five in England, and six more in Scotland, British?Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Monday in parliament.??
Javid said the variant has also been “spreading across the world,” including cases in?“Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal.”
The new variant may have given the virus “extra legs,” he added.
Genome analysis of the Omicron variant from people?who arrived in the Netherlands?from South Africa?on Friday?suggests that those passengers?were probably already infected before boarding their flights, the Dutch health minister said on Monday.
He said that 14 cases of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant have now been discovered among those 624 people who arrived in the Netherlands from South Africa on Friday. That is one more case than the previously reported number.
Though De Jonge did not indicate that any cases of community transmission had yet been discovered in the Netherlands, he warned that the discovery?of the variant “in other countries” in people who have not recently been to southern Africa points to possible “wider circulation.”?
While he said that the variant had?“genetic markers that point to possibly higher transmissibility,”?he wrote that “based on information now available, it is not possible to properly evaluate whether and in which way the?transmissibility?of the Omicron variant is higher than that of the Delta variant.”
“There is almost no information about a possibly altered sickness,” he wrote.
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told CNN’s Jim Sciutto Monday that the Omicron variant is another reason for people to get vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19.?
“That was a reason already, but now add Omicron to the mix,” Collins said. “And we do believe that this new variant, which will probably come to our shores, will also be something vaccines and boosters can help you with.
Britain’s Joint Committee?on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised the UK government to offer booster vaccines to all adults in an effort to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, it said in a statement on Monday.
The JCVI also advised the government to offer a fourth shot to people with severe immunodeficiencies.
“Severely immunosuppressed individuals who have completed their primary course (3 doses) should be offered a booster dose with a minimum of 3 months between the third primary and booster dose,” the statement read. “Those who have not yet received their third dose may be given the third dose now to avoid further delay.”
“A further booster dose can be given in 3 months, in line with the clinical advice on optimal timing,” it added.
The Omicron variant has to be taken seriously, but it isn’t yet known whether it will outcompete the Delta variant in the United States, National Institutes for Health Director Dr. Francis Collins told CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Newsroom Monday.
“We worry that if the spike protein is of a different shape, maybe the antibodies won’t stick quite as well,” he said. “That’s the reason for the concern.”?
Collins did make the point that all the previous variants — which have all had differences in the spike protein — have responded to vaccines and boosters.?
“That’s a very important message I want everybody to hear right now,” he said. “The boosters do in fact allow your immune system to have a wide range of capabilities against spike proteins it hasn’t even seen before. So, if you needed one more reason, if you’re eligible to get that booster right away, this would be it.”?
When it comes to contagiousness, “I think it is clear from what’s happening in South Africa, that this Omicron variant does spread rapidly,” Collins said, noting that Covid-19 cases are relatively low in South?Africa.
Remember: It’s also too early to tell whether the Omicron variant causes more severe illness, Collins previously said.
The Omicron variant is now the dominant coronavirus strain in South Africa, less than two weeks after it was first detected in the country.
The new B.1.1.529 lineage accounts for 76% of samples that have been genetically sequenced in November, according information published by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases on Friday. The new variant was discovered in South Africa from specimens collected on Nov. 12.
South Africa sequences less than 1% of cases, according to GISAID, a public database of genetic sequencing data, while the United States sequences about 4% of cases. And South Africa’s NICD notes that that the number of genetic sequences conducted November is especially low, but ongoing.
By contrast, it took the Delta variant a few months to become the dominant strain in South Africa in early 2021.
The Omicron variant has been detected in about a dozen countries, according to GISAID, a public database of genetic sequencing data.
Remember: There’s still a lot we don’t know about Omicron. Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said it’s not yet clear whether the Omicron variant is more contagious than the Delta variant.
It’s also too early to tell whether the Omicron variant causes more severe illness, Collins said.
Stocks rebounded Monday, bouncing back from the steep selloff at the end of last week when investors feared the Omicron Covid variant could disrupt the global economic rebound.
Reports of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus brought back memories of last summer when the fast-spreading Delta variant put a dent in the recovery and consumer confidence. This spooked investors on a traditionally quiet day in the market following Thanksgiving, leading to one of the worst days for stocks this year.
The Dow logged its worst day since October 2020, while the S&P 500 had its worst performance since February. The Nasdaq Composite recorded its steepest fall since September.?
But just as the market quickly bounced back from its Delta fears, history appears to be repeating itself: investors are taking a breath and sensing a buying opportunity.
The market opened in the green, with all three indexes sharply higher.?
Other asset classes that were battered Friday — notably oil and cryptocurrencies — also recovered.
New York hospitals will once again be allowed to limit non-essential procedures after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an?executive order?Friday to try to raise hospital capacity and deal with staffing shortages ahead of possible winter spikes in Covid-19 cases.?
The order?allows the state’s Department of Health to limit non-essential and non-urgent procedures for hospitals with limited capacity starting this coming Friday, according to?a press release?from the governor’s office
The order marks the first time that non-essential hospital services were?limited?since Dec. 23, 2020.
Friday’s?emergency declaration also?expands the state’s purchasing?powers?to rapidly obtain critical supplies to combat the pandemic,?according to the governor’s office.
The governor continued to encourage Covid-19 vaccinations, noting that more than 90% of all adults in New York have received at least one dose of the vaccine and more than 2 million booster shots have been administered.
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Lauren Kennedy was in South Africa, the last leg of a long-awaited vacation with her daughter Riley Campbell, when countries started shutting their borders to passengers from several southern African nations following the news of the discovery of the Omicron variant.
As most flights between Johannesburg and the United States are routed through Europe, the mother and daughter soon discovered they were stranded.
Currently, they hope to board a direct flight to the US that they booked for Monday night.
The relief, Kennedy says, is that they are vaccinated and have tested negative for Covid-19 as of Sunday.
However, communication with consulates and embassies has been unsuccessful.
“Of course?this happened on a weekend. And of?all weekends, a holiday weekend.?So it’s been pretty tricky.?We haven’t been able to talk to?anybody at the consulate or?embassy in South Africa.?But we’ve had a number of supportive?friends in America and some?people within the government who?have been sort of giving us tips,?and being really helpful about?what to expect and how to?anticipate the next few days.?We’re just really putting one?foot in front of the other right?now,” she said.
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It would take?Moderna two to three months to begin and manufacturing an Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine, if it’s needed, Dr. Paul Burton, chief medical officer of Moderna, said on Good Morning America Monday.
“It’s going to take some weeks, you know, two to three months is probably what we’re looking at to be able to really begin to test it and manufacture it,” he said.
Asked what scientists are doing right now to get answers to how the vaccines hold up against Omicron, how contagious it is and how virulent it is, Burton said those are “key questions” scientists are studying.
“How transmissible is it? We think it’s probably quite transmissible. But how severe is the disease it causes? We don’t really know the answer to that question yet. And will it be neutralizable, can we contain it with the currently available vaccines? So, we at Moderna and other vaccine manufacturers here in the US and around the world are testing samples from people who have received our vaccines against the strains.”
Travel bans imposed on travelers from Southern Africa are based on “Afrophobia” and not science, Malawian?President?Lazarus Chakwera said.
In a post?on?his verified Facebook page, Chakwera said that the world should be grateful to South Africa’s scientists for identifying the Omicron variant?of?Covid-19 before anyone else.
The?Malawian?president?who is also the chairman?of?the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) said everyone is concerned about the new coronavirus variant. “But the unilateral?travel?bans?now imposed?on?SADC countries by the UK, EU, US, Australia,?and?others are uncalled for,” he wrote. “Covid measures must be?based?on?science,?not?Afrophobia.”
Some Africans?on?social media have blamed the?travel?bans?on?racism, pointing out that wealthy nations which have also reported the Omicron variant don’t receive the same treatment.
South Africa’s Ministry?of?International Relations?and?Cooperation said in a statement Saturday that the?travel?restrictions were?“akin to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing?and?the ability to detect new variants quicker.”?
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America Monday to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic and the Omicron variant.
Here are some of the highlights from his interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos:
More care homes in the Netherlands now have a positive coronavirus case than at any other point in the pandemic,?data from?the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) shows.
The country is battling a wave of Delta Covid-19 infections, which have put pressure on hospitals and forced fresh restrictions in the country.
It has so far also reported 13 cases of the new Omicron variant.
As of Saturday, 970 care homes had at least one resident who had tested positive for?SARS-CoV-2. That represents 39.58% of the 2,450 total care homes in the country, according to the RIVM. The previous record, of 876, was set during the country’s second wave, on January 9, 2021.
The Netherlands on Sunday went back into partial lockdown amid record numbers of new infections, and an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
The government is once again?advising people to remain at home “as much as possible” and mandating that all non-essential stores and businesses like gyms and theaters close every day between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m. for a period of three weeks. Supermarkets must close at 8 p.m. Those in care homes will still be able to receive visitors.
Cees Hertogh, professor of elderly care medicine and an?adviser?to the government’s Outbreak Management Team, attributed the numbers in care homes to a combination of waning immunity, the high risk faced by elderly people, and the Delta variant.
The Netherlands has been late to administer booster shots,?only starting on November 19?to offer booster shots to those?age 80 and older, in care homes, and care workers. Of those age 81 and older, 89% have been “fully vaccinated,”?according to?government figures. That number is even higher for those aged 71 to 80 years: 93%.
The number of people testing positive for?SARS-CoV-2?in the Netherlands is now far higher than at any other point in the pandemic, nearly double the number of daily infections last winter,?according to?the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. Over the past week, an average of?22,506 per day have tested positive. The previous record was 11,728 average infections per day, set in December 2020.
Travel bans are “outrageous” and will have little, if any, impact on stopping the spread of the new Omicron variant, Salim Abdool Karim,?co-chair of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19, told CNN’s John Berman on New Day Monday.
“Firstly, it’s outrageous that, you know, South Africa and southern Africa is being punished for having good surveillance and, you know, ensuring that we wanted to be completely transparent and to share this data with the rest of the world as soon as we knew it and confirmed it,” Karim said, when asked about travel restrictions put in place and how effective they were.?
“If you think about, you know, what we’ve experienced with the Delta variant, within a matter of three weeks it was in over 53 countries, so it’s going to become superfluous and irrelevant to try and block travel from, you know, a few countries because it will be spreading in many other countries,” he said.
The early “knee jerk reaction” to block travel will slow the spread slightly at best, Karim said, but will probably have “little if any impact” because there is already a good approach to preventing the spread of the virus through air and sea travel.?
This involves five key components, he said. Ensuring that vaccinated people are the ones travelling, that they have a negative PCR test, are asymptomatic, wear masks in travel and are tested on entry.
“Those things, you know, will sift out 99.9% of the cases,” he said.?
Omicron, the newest coronavirus variant, is also the quickest to be labeled a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization (WHO) because of its seemingly fast spread in South Africa and its many troubling mutations.
The first sample of the Omicron or B.1.1.529 lineage was taken November 9, according to WHO. It got noticed because of a surge of cases in South Africa.
“This new variant … seems to spread very quick!” Tulio de Oliveira, director of South Africa’s Center for Epidemic Response & Innovation,?and a genetics researcher at Stellenbosch University, said on Twitter.
Also, genetic sequencing showed it carried a large number of troubling mutations on the spike protein – the knoblike structure on the surface of the virus that it uses to grapple onto the cells it infects.
“The number of mutations per se does not mean that the new variant will cause any problems; although it may make it more likely to look different to the immune system,” Dr. Peter English, former chair of the British Medical Association’s Public Health Medicine Committee, said in a statement.
What worries scientists is the number of mutations affecting the spike protein. That’s because most of the leading vaccines target the spike protein. Vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and other companies all use just small pieces or genetic sequences of the virus and not whole virus, and all of them use bits of the spike protein to elicit immunity. So a change in the spike protein that made it less recognizable to immune system proteins and cells stimulated by a vaccine would be a problem.
So far, there’s no evidence this has happened but there is no way of knowing by looking at the mutations alone. Researchers will have to wait and see if more breakthrough infections are caused by Omicron than by other variants.
Countries in every part of the world are frantically putting in place travel restrictions, days after the new Omicron variant was first detected.
Here’s what we know so far on Monday.
Fiji and the Philippines have joined multiple countries around the globe by strengthening entry restrictions in response to the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
Fiji is toughening conditions for vaccinated citizens returning from so-called “red list” countries.
In a statement Monday, the country’s health ministry says Fijians traveling from those countries, which have always included southern African states, must undergo a series of measures.
These include isolating for five days prior to traveling to Fiji and testing negative 72 hours before departing to the Island nation.?
Once they arrive in Fiji, citizens will have to quarantine for 14 days with PCR tests carried out on day five and day 12.
The Philippines will meanwhile temporarily suspend plans to allow fully vaccinated international travelers to enter the country, the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson announced Monday.
The news comes following its decision to suspend flights from seven African countries on Saturday.?
The Philippines was set to ease border restrictions to allow quarantine-free travel for vaccinated tourists from “green-list” countries from December 1, but that date will now be delayed to December 15.?
Based on early evidence seen in South Africa, the Omicron Covid-19 variant is transmitting faster than the Delta variant, says Salim Abdool Karim, an epidemiologist and former head of South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19.
Karim told CNN’s John Berman on New Day Monday that there’s still a lot to learn about the traits of the variant, and it will be a couple weeks until more answers are clear.
“The reality is we’ve only know about this virus for just over a week, so we don’t really have the kind of data required to answer those questions definitively,” Karim said, when asked if the Omicron variant was more transmissible, more virulent and if it evades vaccines.
While little is known about the new variant and studies are underway, he said there are a few things that we can extrapolate and expect.
“Put very simply … Omicron, has mutations?that are common to the other?four previous variants of?concern.?So it has mutations that are?similar to the Delta variant.?So we are expecting it to?transmit faster,” he told CNN.?
“And based on what we have seen?with the overlap of the Beta variant,?we are seeing some evidence of immune escape?from antibodies.?There will probably be some?partial escape.?And that’s what we are?expecting,” Karim added.
Symptoms of this variant in patients are also harder to pin-point, he said.
Watch:
New US travel restrictions on southern Africa have come into effect, as the Biden administration seeks to respond to concerns over the Omicron variant.
The Biden administration is restricting travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.
Biden signed the official proclamation Friday restricting the travel of those “physically present” in the countries during the “14-day period preceding their entry, or attempted entry into the United States,” starting at one minute past midnight on Monday morning.
The proclamation includes a list of those exempted from the new restrictions, including US citizens, lawful permanent residents and non-citizens who are the spouses of citizens or permanent residents.
The director of the National Institutes of Health stressed Sunday that?the newly emerged Covid-19 variant “ought to redouble” vaccination efforts and other mitigation strategies, saying that while much is unknown about the variant, action should be taken now to avoid “a situation that makes this worse.”
“It’s certainly not good news. We don’t know yet how much of an impact this will have. It ought to redouble our efforts to use the tools that we have, which are vaccinations and boosters, and to be sure we’re getting those to the rest of the world, too, which the US is doing more than any other country,”?NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins?told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
A number of European countries have reported their first cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, as governments in the region race to understand the scale of its spread.
The UK has identified nine cases so far, with six of those reported in Scotland on Monday.
The Netherlands and Portugal have each discovered 13 infections – with all of Portugal’s cases being found among one Lisbon-based football team. The 13 Dutch cases were found after passengers arriving from South Africa were tested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport on Friday.
Germany has found three cases, while Italy, the Czech Republic and Belgium each have at least one. On Monday, Austria joined the list of nations declaring its first identified case.
The true number of Omicron cases across the continent is likely to be far higher, with sequencing being undertaken to identify which new infections have been caused by the new strain.
Australia will temporarily pause the next phase of its border reopening plan to gather more information on the Omicron Covid-19 variant, its government announced Monday.?
Based on advice from the country’s National Security Committee and Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, international skilled visa holders, student cohorts and humanitarians, holiday makers and those holding provisional family visas will not be allowed into Australia until December 15.?
Under the country’s roadmap to safely reopen borders, these groups were due to be permitted entry on December 1.?
The temporary pause is effective immediately and will “ensure Australia can gather the information to better understand the Omicron variant, including the efficacy of the vaccine, the range of illness … and the level of transmission,” a statement from Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s office said Monday.?
Under Australia’s current border restrictions, only fully vaccinated citizens, permanent residents, and their immediate family – as well as fully vaccinated travellers from New Zealand and Singapore – are allowed in, with limited exemptions.
Some 13 players for one Lisbon-based soccer team have tested positive for the Omicron variant, Portugal’s National Institute for Health (NIH) said Monday.
The infections, among members of the SAD Belenenses side, account for all of Portugal’s Omicron cases identified so far.
Belenenses’ Primeira Liga match against Benfica on Saturday was abandoned after the club was forced to name a team of nine players – including two goalkeepers – due to the outbreak.
Benfica – with two more players than their opponents – took a 7-0 lead by half-time.?Belenenses?then came back onto the field for the second period with only seven players.
The game was called off two minutes later when Joao Monteiro, a goalkeeper playing in midfield, was unable to continue. The referee was then forced to abandon the match which requires a minimum of seven players.
NIH director Dr. Ricardo Jorge said that one of the Belenenses players had recently taken a trip to South Africa.
In addition, another suspect case is being tested, which comes from a flight originating in Mozambique.
The overall global risk related to the new Omicron variant “is assessed as very high,” according to a?World Health Organization (WHO) technical brief released Monday.
Depending on how transmissible the variant is and whether it could escape immunity, “the likelihood of potential further spread of Omicron at the global level is high,” the WHO brief said.
The WHO expects data from ongoing further research to be available in the coming weeks.?
The WHO urged member states to accelerate Covid-19 vaccination efforts among eligible populations, as well as “use a risk-based approach to adjust international travel measures in a timely manner.”
A 37-year-old male who traveled from Nigeria has been identified as the third case of the Omicron variant in Hong Kong, health officials reported at a news briefing Monday.?
According to government data, the man had transited through Ethiopia and arrived in Hong Kong on November 24. He had been quarantining at the Ramada Hong Kong Grand View hotel before testing positive with the variant.?
The man was asymptomatic and had received two doses of the Moderna vaccine, Sophia Chan, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Food and Health, said in the briefing.?
“Our existing system is robust and also able to stop any transmission,” Chan added, stating that the use of boarding requirements, quarantine and testing enabled them to prevent the new Covid-19 variant entering the community.
The new Omicron coronavirus variant was identified in Scotland on Monday, with six confirmed cases.
Prior to Sunday, the United Kingdom had reported three cases – all in England.
The Scottish cases are in the Glasgow and Lanarkshire areas, according to a Scottish government press release.
Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said Scotland will continue to align with travel restrictions introduced by the UK government, requiring fully vaccinated arrivals to take a PCR test within two days of arrival and to quarantine until a negative result is received.?
?“However, we reserve the right to go further if necessary,” he said in the press release.
Five cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant have been reported in Australia, after genomic testing found two overseas travelers who recently arrived in the state of New South Wales were infected with the strain.?
The infected travelers both arrived in Sydney from southern Africa on a Singapore Airlines flight Sunday, Australian health officials confirmed Monday.?
Both were fully vaccinated and are isolating in the state’s Special Health Accommodation.?
There are now five confirmed cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant in Australia – four in the state of New South Wales and one case in the Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory case is a man who arrived in the Howard Springs quarantine facility on a government repatriation flight from Johannesburg on November 25.?
As?countries around the world scramble?to impose travel bans to stem the spread of?the Omicron coronavirus variant, China remains outwardly calm – at least for now.?
Despite two confirmed cases of the heavily mutated variant in Hong Kong, Chinese public health experts have expressed confidence in the country’s existing border control measures.
China’s response – or the lack thereof – is hardly surprising.?The country’s border restrictions are already among the strictest in the world, with most foreign visitors, from tourists to students, banned from entering mainland China.
Zhang Wenhong, an infectious disease expert in Shanghai and arguably China’s most trusted voice on Covid-19, said the new variant would have “no major impact on China at this time.”
And at a conference in Guangzhou over the weekend, Zhong Nanshan, a top respiratory disease expert and government adviser, said China has no plans to take any “major action” in response to the Omicron variant.
Meanwhile, in Chinese state media the prevailing mood is one of apparent vindication. As much of the world started to reopen and learn to live with Covid, China dug its heels and looked increasingly isolated by comparison. That isolation is now being extolled as a uniquely Chinese advantage in the fight against the new variant.?
Read the full analysis here.
Asia Pacific markets were down on Monday as investors continued to?digest news?about a new?Covid-19 variant.
As of 1:30 a.m. ET on Monday, Japan’s?Nikkei 225 was down about 1.6%, while Hong Kong’s?Hang Seng Index?had dipped 1.2%. South Korea’s?Kospi?and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 each edged down about 0.9% and 0.5%, respectively. China’s?Shanghai Composite?was flat.
But in the United States,?stock futures?pointed up. Dow futures, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures rose 0.5%, 0.8% and 1%, respectively.
Analysts are still bracing for signs of how the?Omicron?variant could endanger more lives, disrupt the global economy and continue to affect markets after a dramatic sell-off on Friday.?
Read the full story here.
Japan announced on Monday it will temporarily suspend new arrivals of foreign nationals starting on Tuesday.
Speaking outside the Prime Minister’s office, Japanese leader Fumio Kishida said the measures were imposed “in order to avoid the worst situation.”
New arrivals of foreigners from all countries in the world will be banned from midnight on November 30 “as an emergency precautionary measure,” he said.
Kishida added the measures are temporary until more information is known about the Omicron variant.?
One person among 32 people who entered Japan recently from a current list of nine south African countries subject to entry restrictions has tested positive for Covid-19, the Prime Minister said. The person had traveled to Japan from Namibia.
It’s not yet known whether they tested positive for the Omicron strain, but authorities are analyzing the genome, Kishida said.?
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they will ban the entry of new foreigners but Japan-based foreigners with residence permits will still be allowed to enter.?
New Zealand’s largest city Auckland will move out of lockdown restrictions on Friday as the country begins to roll out a new vaccine pass system.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed the “traffic light system” will start operating on Friday as part of the next phase in the country’s Covid-19 response.
The move will end more than 100 days of lockdown measures for Auckland, which has been living under tight restrictions since a case of the Delta variant was recorded in August.
What is the traffic light system:
New Zealand’s Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield added that they are looking at whether any additional protections are needed at the border as a response to the new Omicron variant.?
“Covid-19 is still with us, and the emergence of the Omicron variant overseas is a reminder of why we need to maintain a careful approach and keep public health measures in place to protect us,” Ardern said in a statement released Monday.
According to the Ministry of Health, 85% of New Zealand’s eligible population (age 12+) is fully vaccinated, with 92% receiving their first dose.
New Zealand has joined dozens of countries in banning travel from nine southern African countries due to concerns over the new Omicron variant.??
Only New Zealand citizens are allowed to travel from?South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique as of 11:59 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Travelers from these countries are required to stay in managed isolation quarantine for 14 days and undergo testing, New Zealand’s?Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins?said in a statement.
This extended quarantine period will also apply to those already in transit from these countries.
New Zealand has some of the strictest Covid border rules in the world, with those who wish to return quarantining in government-run facilities, which have limited spaces. People have had to join an online lottery to try to secure a space.
Last week, the country announced it will gradually ease its border restrictions from next year, with fully vaccinated citizens, residents and tourists allowed to enter in three phases.
The Maldives issued a travel ban on seven southern African countries on Saturday due to concerns over the new Omicron variant.?
Tourists who have traveled to or transited for more than 12 hours through?South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Eswatini?within the past 14 days will be denied entry into the country as of Sunday, the Health Ministry said.
Nationals of the Maldives and long-term visa holders arriving from these countries will still be allowed to enter, but will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine with Covid-19 testing.
Anyone who arrived from these countries within the past three days must take a Covid-19 test immediately, the statement said.
India has revised travel guidelines for all international arrivals in response to the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
Beginning December 1, all international passengers must submit a self-declaration form to an online government portal that includes a 14-day travel history and a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to their departure, according to guidelines issued by India’s Health Ministry.
Travelers from countries deemed “at-risk” will also now?face further testing and surveillance, including a?PCR test on arrival.
They will also have to quarantine at home for seven days.
As of November 26, “at-risk” countries include South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, as well as “countries in Europe including the United Kingdom,” Brazil, Bangladesh, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.
Japan will temporarily suspend the new arrivals of foreign nationals starting Tuesday,?Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday.?
This is a developing story, more to come.
A growing number of counties have moved to block flights from several African nations following the discovery of a newly identified coronavirus variant?Omicron.
Here’s what we know:
What is the new variant?
Where has it been detected?
What are the mutations?
Travel bans imposed
The blessing of Thanksgiving on Thursday was followed by a curse on Friday: Urgent news about the new Covid variant named Omicron.
The reality is that “we know almost nothing about the Omicron variant,” as this headline on The Atlantic’s website helpfully?states. But the abrupt reactions to the news – stock selloffs, travel restrictions, endless Twitter threads – made Omicron the top story of the weekend across all sorts of news websites and networks.
Now the world is in a sort of information holding pattern. Sociologist Zeynep Tufekci put it?this way: “South Africa has gifted us an early warning with Omicron. But earlier the warning, the less we know.”
“Wait two weeks” seems to be the consensus at the moment. Dr. Paul Burton, the chief medical officer for Moderna, told CNN on Sunday, “We have to go through a couple of weeks here of uncertainty.” The White House’s readout of President Biden’s meeting with Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of his Covid Response Team made the same point.
Read Stelter’s full story here.
Hong Kong became the latest destination to tighten border restrictions on people arriving from eight southern African countries in response to the new?Omicron?variant, the government announced on Saturday.?
Hong Kong residents arriving from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe will have to spend seven days in a government quarantine facility where they will undergo daily Covid-19 testing and be monitored by health professionals.?
Upon completion of the seven days, residents will be allowed to finish the rest of their compulsory quarantine at a designated quarantine hotel.?
They are also required to undergo regular Covid-19 testing after arrival in Hong Kong.
Non-Hong Kong residents who have visited any of the eight southern African countries within 21 days are no longer allowed to enter Hong Kong as of Saturday. Non-residents traveling from South Africa were already barred entry due to its status as a high-risk country.
Dutch police said on Sunday they arrested a couple on a plane after they “fled” from a hotel where passengers from South Africa who have tested positive for Covid-19 are being quarantined.
Dutch military police at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport “arrested a couple this evening who had fled from a quarantine hotel,” police spokesman Stan Verberkt told CNN.
The couple – a Spanish citizen and a Portuguese national – were arrested on a plane that was about to take off en route to Spain at 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET), Verberkt said.
They are not in custody but are being quarantined at another facility, Verberkt said, adding the prosecutor will decide in the next few days if they will be charged.
Public health authority (GGD) spokesperson Stefanie van Waardenburg said the couple was among the passengers on a flight that landed at Schiphol from Johannesburg on Friday.
Some of the passengers on that flight tested positive for the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, Waardenburg said. The arrested couple did not test positive for the Omicron variant.
The Netherlands is among a growing number of countries that have imposed a flight ban on the southern African region.
Read more on this story here.
A31-year-old woman has been charged with arson after allegedly lighting fire beneath a bed at a quarantine hotel in Cairns, in the Australian state of Queensland.
The woman had been at the Pacific Hotel for a couple of days, Queensland Police said, before she allegedly set fire to the room where was staying with two children early Sunday morning.
More than 160 guests were evacuated from the building as flames took hold of the upper floors. No one was injured, but police said the hotel suffered “significant damage.”
As of Sunday, none of the guests had tested positive for Covid-19, according to state health officials.
In Queensland, new arrivals from designated Covid-19 hotspots are required to spend 14 days in quarantine. Some are allowed to quarantine at home, if they meet strict requirements, including having a place to stay that doesn’t have shared access.
