Omicron variant: WHO warns against 'overreaction' as nations race to contain COVID threat

Medical authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have urged countries against overreacting until the new coronavirus variant, first detected in South Africa, and dubbed a Variant of Concern (VOC), is properly analysed.

The WHO, on November 26, urged nations to undergo field investigations and laboratory assessments where capacity exists to improve understanding of COVID-19 Variant of Concerns (VOCs) after classifying the newly found coronavirus variant, Omicron, as a highly transmissible VOC. 

Markets dip as countries race to issue travel bans over new COVID variant

The European Union's 27-nation bloc issued a temporary ban on air travel from South Africa, due to which stocks in Asia, Europe, and the US plummeted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen by over 1,000 points and the price of oil has dropped by approximately 12%.

At noon on Friday, the United Kingdom barred flights from South Africa and five other countries from the African continent and said that everyone who had just arrived from those countries would be requested to take a coronavirus test. Germany, too, has imposed a flying ban. Flights returning from South Africa will only be able to take German nationals home, and all travellers, whether vaccinated or not, will be required to undergo quarantine for 14 days.

Anyone who has spent the previous 14 days in any of the seven southern African countries (South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, and Eswatini) would be denied admission to Italy, according to the Italian health ministry. Similar measures were envisaged in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

Japanese nationals going from Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, and Lesotho will be required to quarantine for ten days and take COVID-19 tests on the third, sixth, and tenth days, according to the Japanese government.

In India, states and UTs have been warned about this "really awful, heavily mutated" variant. In a letter to states and UTs, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan requested "rigorous screening and testing" of passengers travelling from the affected areas.

Omicron has large number of mutations, some of which are concerning: WHO

The World Health Organisation informed in a press release that the Omicron variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. "Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs. The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa," the WHO informed.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, urged nations to accelerate their efforts to achieve vaccine equity as soon as possible and protect the most vulnerable people everywhere. 

According to the WHO, the Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE), an independent group of experts that monitors and evaluates the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and determines whether specific mutations and combinations of mutations alter the virus's behaviour, met on Friday to assess the B.1.1.529 variant, which was first reported to the World Health Organization from South Africa on November 24. Based on the information presented, the TAG-VE informed WHO that this variant should be identified as a 'Variant of Concern'.

WHO urges nations to submit complete genome sequences, associated metadata

WHO suggested countries undergo field investigations and laboratory assessments where capacity exists and in collaboration with the international community to improve understanding of the potential impacts of the Variant of Concern on COVID-19 epidemiology, severity, the effectiveness of public health and social measures, diagnostic methods, immune responses, antibody neutralisation, or other relevant characteristics.

According to WHO, contemporary SARS-CoV-2 PCR diagnostics continue to detect this variant. Several laboratories have reported that for one widely used PCR test, one of the three target genes is not found (referred to as S gene dropout or S gene target failure), and that this test can thus be used as a flag for this variant pending sequencing confirmation.

Further, WHO urged nations to submit complete genome sequences and associated metadata to a publicly available database, such as GISAID and report initial cases/clusters associated with VOC infection to WHO through the IHR mechanism.

COVID cases on the rise in Europe

According to the WHO's technical working group, coronavirus infections in Europe increased by 11% in the last week, making it the only region in the world where COVID-19 is still on the rise. Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, warned that without immediate action, the continent might see an additional 700,000 deaths by spring, AP reported.

Germany has experienced record daily case counts in recent days, surpassing 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday. Meanwhile, Belgium was the first country in the European Union to report a case of the variant. Israel, one of the world's most immunised countries also confirmed its first case of the new variant in a visitor returning from Malawi on Friday. 

(With inputs from agencies, Image: AP)