The Omicron variant outbreak in South Africa has not resulted in an increase in hospitalisations, according to America’s top COVID adviser.
“Thus far, it doesn’t look like there’s a great degree of severity to it,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday, adding that it’s too early to say for sure.
Despite the fact that Omicron has spread to at least 16 US states, Fauci expressed hope that the travel ban on southern Africans can be withdrawn in a “reasonable period of time” as additional information on the Omicron type is received.
In Europe, France will attempt to prevent stricter health measures, including a lockdown, while Britain has been compelled to defend a crackdown on foreign visitors.
The UK’s decision to require all visitors entering the country to take a pre-flight COVID-19 test, which threatens to disrupt the busiest Christmas season for airlines, reflects a “balanced approach” in light of the threat posed by the Omicron variant, according to Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab.
On Saturday night, the government stated that all visitors, regardless of immunization status, will be required to take a test within 48 hours of their arrival in the UK. The action comes just a week after the first Omicron cases in the UK were verified, prompting the government to require a PCR test within two days of arrival.
“The blanket re-introduction of testing to enter the UK, on top of the current regime of isolation and PCR testing on arrival is completely out of step with the rest of the world,” British Airways said in a statement on Saturday.
The United Kingdom announced on Sunday that it had detected 86 additional infections of the Omicron coronavirus type, bringing the total to 246. Within 28 days after a positive COVID-19 test, it recorded 43,992 new cases and 54 fatalities.
Police in Belgium used water cannons and tear gas to disperse some violent protestors in Brussels on Sunday, after most demonstrators marched peacefully to protest new COVID-19 restrictions aimed at combating an increase in coronavirus infections.
Thousands of people turned out to protest the new regulations announced on Friday, the third week in a row that the government has tightened its guidelines as an avalanche of new cases strains the country’s health services, denying individuals with other life-threatening ailments treatment.
According to Moderna’s president, Stephen Hoge, there is a “serious risk” that existing vaccinations will be less successful against Omicron, however it is too early to say how much less effective.
If effectiveness is reduced by half, a revised formulation is likely, according to Hoge, who spoke on the tv show This Week on Sunday.
“I think that there’s a real risk that we’re going to see a decrease in the effectiveness of the vaccines,” Hoge said. “What I don’t know is how substantial that is.”
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