New Variant

With the new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus popping up in more European countries, just days after being identified in South Africa, governments around the world are scrambling to stop the spread. The UK has tightened its rules on mask-wearing and on testing of international arrivals after finding two cases. Among the measures announced, anyone arriving in England must take a PCR test for COVID-19 on arrival and self-isolate until they provide a negative test. New cases were confirmed in Germany and Italy, with Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong also reporting that the variant has been found in travelers. In the US, Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases expert, said he would not be surprised if the omicron variant was already in the United States, too. Because of fears that the new variant has the potential to be more resistant to the protection offered by vaccines, there are growing concerns around the world that the pandemic and associated lockdown restrictions will persist for far longer than hoped. Nearly two years since the start of the pandemic that has claimed more than 5 million lives around the world, countries are on high alert. Many have already imposed travel restrictions on flights from southern Africa as they seek to buy time to assess whether the omicron variant is more transmissible than the current dominant delta variant. Countries in Europe, like Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Russia, have already reported a fresh outbreak of Covid-19 because of factors like waning immunity and vaccine hesitancy, even as India has sought to resolve the row over the international acceptability of its vaccines and validity of vaccination proof while stepping up the inoculation drive. But with a substantial number yet to be covered fully, the possibility of a resurgence remains. With fully vaccinated cases also contracting the new strain, the importance of testing and tracking, along with precautionary measures, cannot be underestimated. The apprehension also arises at a time when the country has decided to normalise international travel by mid-December.

Reports of a new strain of the coronavirus being detected in some African countries has triggered a fresh alarm, with the Union Health Ministry asking the states to screen and test travellers coming from the countries in which the presence of the variant had been confirmed. The report also came on a day when the Delhi High Court asked the government to clear its stand on booster doses and also referred to the conflicting debate on inoculating children.

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