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With the daybreak of one other variant of Coronavirus pandemic, generally known as Omicron, Nigeria is flip between sustaining its solidarity with South Africa the place the variant was first introduced or shut out the nation. As Africa is growingly being remoted over the pressure of the virus, Chinedu Eze writes that Omicron will additional stifle air journey within the continent.
When South Africa introduced the brand new pressure of Coronavirus pandemic on November 25, the response was stunning, as many nations started to ban flights from South Africa and different nations of the southern sub-region. There have been even determined efforts to hyperlink the origin of COVID-19 to Africa, as if the world has forgotten so quickly the genesis of the virus.
There was report that indicated that the shocking variety of mutations within the Omicron Coronavirus (COVID-19) variant may sign that it originated in a affected person with HIV or one other immunodeficiency, a high German immunology skilled, Carsten Watzl, secretary normal of the German Society for Immunology, was quoted to have mentioned.
With that announcement nations banned flight operations to South Africa, Bostwana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe and later Canada included Nigeria, Egypt and Malawi, the place air travellers are banned from coming to the North American nation.
The nations that banned flights to those African nations embody: Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, India and Indonesia.
Others embody Eire, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Maldives, Malta, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom and the US.
Rejection
BBC reported that South Africa has complained it’s being punished – as a substitute of applauded – for locating Omicron. South Africa’s Well being Minister, Joe Phaahla, mentioned there was “completely no must panic” over the brand new coronavirus variant Omicron, regardless of a surge in circumstances.
“We’ve been right here earlier than,” h mentioned, referring to the Beta variant detected in South Africa final December. South Africa additionally condemned the journey bans imposed on the nation, saying they need to be lifted instantly.
Nonetheless, World Well being Organisation (WHO) mentioned Omicron mutates closely so it’s more likely to unfold internationally and poses a really excessive threat of an infection surges that would have “extreme penalties” in some locations.
Though no Omicron-linked deaths had but been reported, however WHO mentioned additional analysis was wanted to evaluate its potential to withstand vaccines and immunity induced by earlier infections.
Anticipating elevated case numbers because the variant, first reported final week, spreads, WHO urged its 194 member states to speed up vaccination of high-priority teams.
On the angle of the world to South Africa, WHO condemned that journey ban and urged nations around the globe to not impose flight ban on southern African nations attributable to considerations over the brand new Omicron COVID-19 variant.
WHO’s regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, referred to as on nations to comply with science and worldwide well being laws as a way to keep away from utilizing journey restrictions.
“Journey restrictions could play a job in barely lowering the unfold of COVID -19 however place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods,” Moeti mentioned in an announcement. “If restrictions are applied, they shouldn’t be unnecessarily invasive or intrusive, and must be scientifically based mostly, in accordance with the Worldwide Well being Rules, which is a legally binding instrument of worldwide regulation recognised by over 190 nations.”
Moeti praised South Africa for following worldwide well being laws and informing WHO as quickly as its nationwide laboratory recognized the Omicron variant.
“The velocity and transparency of the South African and Botswana governments in informing the world of the brand new variant is to be counseled,” mentioned Moeti. “WHO stands with African nations which had the braveness to boldly share life-saving public well being info, serving to shield the world towards the unfold of COVID-19.”
Whereas investigations proceed into the Omicron variant, WHO advisable that each one nations “take a risk-based and scientific strategy and put in place measures which might restrict its potential unfold.”
Journey Ban
Apart from the ban by nations, to this point Emirates Airways was reported to have suspended flights to a few African nations till additional discover. In an announcement, the Gulf State service introduced that it could be suspending flights to and from South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe from Saturday, November 27.
NPR has reported that research recommend that journey ban alone don’t do a lot in curbing the unfold of the virus or its variant. The medium famous that although scientists have little details about the brand new variant and are not sure the place it originated from, a number of nations, together with the US, Canada, the UK and the European Union introduced nearly speedy journey ban from South Africa and different southern African nations.
As at November 30, these nations have detected Omicron in accordance with CNN: Australia: 6 circumstances Austria: 1 case Belgium: 1 case Botswana: 19 circumstances Canada: 3 circumstances
Czech Republic: 1 case Denmark: 2 circumstances France: 1 case (on Reunion Island) Germany: 4 circumstances
Hong Kong: 3 circumstances Israel: 2 circumstances Italy: 4 circumstances Japan: 1 case Netherlands: 14 circumstances Portugal: 13 circumstances South Africa: 77 circumstances Spain: 1 case Sweden: 1 case United Kingdom: 14 circumstances.
Nigeria on December 1, 2021 introduced that circumstances Omicron variant had been confirmed in Nigeria.
“The Nigeria Centre for Illness Management (NCDC) conducts case and genomic surveillance for inbound worldwide vacationers arriving within the nation at its Nationwide Reference Laboratory (NRL), Abuja and community of different testing laboratories. Sequencing of samples from COVID-19 optimistic inbound vacationers is at the moment performed in laboratories with sequencing capability within the nation and all of the sequencing information are shared in publicly accessible databases.
This genomic surveillance has now recognized and confirmed Nigeria’s first circumstances of the B.1.1.529 SARS-CoV-2 lineage, now generally known as the Omicron variant. Samples obtained for the stipulated day two check for all vacationers to Nigeria have been optimistic for this variant in three individuals with historical past of journey to South Africa,” NCDC acknowledged.
Pavlovian Response
In what it refers to as Pavlovian response, the Worldwide Air Transport Affiliation (IATA) excoriated nations that slammed journey ban on South Africa and different nations within the sub-region. Like Pavlovian conditioning, which is a reflex or knee-jack strategy, IATA accused these nations of journey ban and endorsed that they need to have adopted a more practical methods than to ban journey to the nations of the southern sub-region of the African continent.
“After practically two years of coping with COVID-19, we should always have progressed past these knee-jerk, uncoordinated, Pavlovian-like responses, to recognise that the virus is properly on its solution to being endemic. Public well being officers inform us that we should always count on variants to emerge. And by the point they’re detected, the truth is that they’re in all probability already current across the globe.
“That’s what is occurring now. We’re already discovering Omicron in components of the world removed from South Africa, the place it was first recognized. Journey restrictions aren’t going to cease the unfold. And they’ll do actual hurt to folks and economies,” IATA mentioned.
In an effort to reinforce its place towards journey ban, IATA quoted medical specialists who share the identical view and warned towards journey ban.
“It is actually necessary that there aren’t any knee jerk responses right here, particularly with relation to South Africa. South Africa is choosing up fascinating and necessary info for which we’re doing the correct threat evaluation and threat administration. We’ve seen up to now that when there may be any point out of a variant then everyone seems to be closing borders and proscribing journey. It’s actually necessary that we stay open and centered on characterising the issue, not punishing nations for doing excellent scientific work and being open and clear about what they’re seeing and what they’re discovering,” mentioned WHO Govt Director, Mike Ryan.
The African Union Vaccine Supply Alliance C-Chair, Dr Ayoade Alakija described the motion of the nations banning journey to some African nations as politics, as these nations didn’t equally announce journey ban to some nations outdoors Africa, the place the brand new COVID-19 variant was discovered.
“Africa CDC strongly discourages the imposition of journey bans for folks originating from nations which have reported this variant. In reality, over the length of this pandemic, we have now noticed that imposing bans on vacationers from nations the place a brand new variant is reported has not yielded a significant final result. Slightly implementing PHSM (Public Well being and Social Measures) must be prioritized,” mentioned African Centre for Illness Management and Prevention.
“These journey bans are based mostly in politics, and never in science. It’s mistaken… Why are we locking away Africa when this virus is already on three continents?” mentioned Alakija.
IATA additionally noticed, “Worldwide journey all however stopped in April 2020; and the virus unfold regardless of the assurances of our political leaders that banning journey would management it. So far, over 260 million individuals are identified to have been contaminated. Many extra circumstances are in all probability unreported. In the meantime, the human and financial price of de-connecting the world could by no means really be calculated.”
In reality, there are indications that earlier than South Africa introduced the invention of the Omicron variant, it had been present in Netherlands and presumably different European nations. CBS Information reported that the Omicron variant had been in Europe earlier than South Africa introduced and made it identified to the world.
“Dutch well being authorities introduced on Tuesday that they discovered the brand new Omicron variant of coronavirus in circumstances relationship again so long as 11 days, indicating that it was already spreading in western Europe earlier than the primary circumstances have been recognized in southern Africa. The RIVM well being institute mentioned it discovered Omicron in samples relationship from November 19 and 23,” CBS Information reported.
Authorities Efforts
The Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 on Tuesday, issued new directives to travellers as a part of the measures to comprise the brand new Omicron variant.
Passengers arriving in Nigeria at the moment are required to conduct a PCR check, 48 hours earlier than embarking on their journeys to the nation and one other day two and day seven PCR assessments on arrival.
In the meantime, Nigeria had earlier expressed solidarity with South Africa because it struggled with a number of the difficulties posed by a brand new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, found within the nation. The Nigerian authorities had warned Western nations towards discrimination towards South Africa following journey restrictions imposed on Southern African nations within the aftermath of the brand new virus discovery.
Final Monday, the Federal Ministry of Well being (FMOH) and Nigeria Centre for Illness Management (NCDC) issued assertion and mentioned they have been conscious of experiences of a brand new COVID-19 variant – the B.1.1.529 lineage.
“This SARS-CoV-2 variant has now been designated a variant of concern (VOC) and named; Omicron by the World Well being Organisation (WHO) as suggested by the unbiased Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). WHO has additionally urged nations to reinforce their surveillance and virus sequencing efforts to extend their understanding of the circulating variants.”
The FMOH and NCDC mentioned it was monitoring rising proof on this new variant and its implication, to tell Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Nonetheless, no deaths have been attributed to this new variant but. A complete of 126 genomes of this variant have been detected globally and revealed on GISAID, (GISAID is a world mechanism for sharing sequencing information). Given the excessive variety of mutations current on this Omicron variant and the exponential rise in COVID-19 circumstances noticed in South Africa, this virus is taken into account extremely transmissible and may additionally current an elevated threat of reinfection in comparison with different VOCs,” the companies mentioned.
The Ministry and NCDC famous that the fears about Omicron variant’s potential to evade protecting immune responses and/or its being vaccine resistant are solely theoretical to this point.
“This virus can nonetheless be detected with present Polymerase Chain Response (PCR) assessments.
With three circumstances confirmed in Nigeria, it’s anticipated that well being authorities would introduce extra stringent measures to regulate the unfold virus.
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