Biostatistician Professor Sheila Bird said Amsterdam test results were concerning, but more data was needed. “There may be household clusters among the 13 positive Omicrons or the clustering may have been induced by where passengers were seated on the flight from South Africa,” she told Science Media Center, adding that the vaccination status and the age distribution of those infected will also need to be taken into account before drawing any conclusions about the variant.

The situation should be viewed with “alert rather than alarm until more is known,” she said.

Canadian health officials also confirmed the country’s first two cases of Omicron in Ottawa on Sunday. The two carriers of the variant had recently traveled from Nigeria, according to a joint statement by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health Christine Elliott and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr Kieran Moore.

“We continue to urge the federal government to take the necessary measures to impose point-of-arrival testing for all travelers, regardless of their origin, in order to further protect themselves against the spread of this new variant”, also indicates the joint press release.

Worrisome variant

The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the Omicron variant, originally called B.1.1.529, a “variant of concern”.

The WHO said on Friday that the first evidence suggests that the Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa, may have an increased risk of reinfection and said some of the mutations found on the variant were of concern.

But the WHO has stressed that more research is needed to determine if the variant is more contagious, if it causes more serious illness and if it could escape vaccines.

“This variant has a large number of mutations and some of these mutations have disturbing characteristics,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical officer for Covid-19, said on Friday.

“Right now there are a lot of studies going on… so far there is little information but these studies are ongoing, so we need the researchers to have the time to do them and the WHO will inform the public, our partners and our Member States as soon as possible, because we have more information, “she added.

Travel bans and new quarantine requirements

The discovery and rapid spread of the variant across the world is an uncomfortable reminder that the pandemic is far from over.

But South Africa and some of the other countries hit by travel bans are backing down. Speaking in Pretoria on Sunday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called the bans unfounded discrimination.

“These restrictions are unwarranted and unfairly discriminatory against our country and our sisterly countries in southern Africa. The travel ban is not based on science and will also not be effective in preventing the spread of The only thing the travel ban will do is further harm the economies of the affected countries and undermine their ability to respond to and recover from the pandemic, ”he said.

South Africa’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation said the country was being punished for its transparency. “Scientific excellence should be applauded and not punished. The global community needs collaboration and partnerships in managing the Covid-19 pandemic,” the ministry said in a statement.

“A combination of South Africa’s ability to test and its accelerated vaccination program, supported by a world-class scientific community, should give our global partners the comfort that we do as well as they do in managing of the pandemic. South Africa follows and enforces globally recognized Covid-19 health protocols on travel. No infected person is allowed to leave the country, ”he added.

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera also criticized the travel bans, saying they were “unjustified”. “The measures related to Covid must be based on science, not on afrophobia,” he said on his official Facebook page.

Many experts have said South African scientists deserve credit for their ability to quickly identify risks with the new variant.

The decision to impose bans also drew criticism from the WHO. “We’ve seen in the past the minute there’s any kind of mention of any kind of variation and everyone is closing borders and restricting travel. It’s really important that we stay open and stay focused,” he said. said Michael, WHO emergency chief. Ryan said on Saturday.

“South Africa has a very, very good genomic sequencing capacity and capacity… certainly South Africa and any other country should not be stigmatized for reporting this and doing the right thing”, Michael Head, researcher principal in global health at the University of Southampton, told CNN in a telephone interview.

However, Head said travel bans, if used correctly, could play a role in controlling the outbreak.

“This is a difficult scenario. It may save you a little bit of time. So if countries impose a ban and use that time, which will be a few weeks at the moment, to speed up the rollout of vaccination in order to s ‘ensure that all new antiviral drugs are available in the country, to increase testing, genomic surveillance at airports, that sort of thing, is something that you can usefully do with a travel ban, ”a- he declared.

“If you just implement a travel ban and say ‘good job done,’ then that’s not good for anybody. And if you’re punishing countries, so to speak, for reporting new variants, we should really be looking to support them as well, whether it’s infrastructure or funding or vaccine doses, whichever might be. appropriate. “