U.S. tightens travel rules as more countries secure borders to quell
Omicron
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[December 01, 2021]
By David Shepardson and Elaine Lies
WASHINGTON/
TOKYO (Reuters) -Air travellers
to the United States will face tougher COVID-19 testing rules and other
countries tightened border controls on Wednesday to try to slow the
spread of the Omicron variant that Nigeria said had been circulating
weeks earlier than thought.
Retrospective tests on confirmed COVID-19 infections in travellers to
Nigeria had identified the Omnicron variant among a sample collected in
October, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said, without naming the
country of origin.
South Africa first reported the variant a week ago and many countries
have responded by curbing travel from there and other places deemed most
exposed amid uncertainty about how easily the variant can spread and
whether it can evade vaccine protection.
Data from other countries already shows the variant was circulating
before it was officially identified in South Africa and cases have
appeared around the world, with numbers expected to grow. Australia said
at least two people visited several locations in Sydney while likely
infectious and Denmark said an infected person had taken part in a large
concert.
Japan, which had already barred all new foreign entrants, reported its
second case of the new variant and said it would expand travel curbs.
Hong Kong added Japan, Portugal and Sweden to its travel restrictions
while Uzbekistan said it would suspend flights with Hong Kong as well as
South Africa. Malaysia temporarily bared travellers from eight African
countries and said Britain and the Netherlands could join the list.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) said "blanket travel bans will not
prevent the international spread and they place a heavy burden on lives
and livelihoods", while advising those unwell, at risk or 60 years and
over and unvaccinated to postpone travel.
Global shares came off lows plumbed on Tuesday after remarks by the CEO
of Moderna raised questions about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines
against Omicron. [MKTS/GLOB]
Health officials have since offered reassurances and reiterated calls
for people to get vaccinated, saying it is very likely vaccines will
still prevent people getting seriously ill.
"This isn't a call to arms, but a call to get jabs in arms. And
quickly," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted as his health
minister, Sajid Javid, reported 22 confirmed cases of the Omicron
variant, a number he said "will certainly go up".
European Medicines Agency Executive Director Emer Cooke said laboratory
analyses should indicate over the next couple of weeks whether the blood
of vaccinated people has sufficient antibodies to neutralise the new
variant.
BioNTech's CEO said the vaccine it makes in a partnership with Pfizer
would likely offer strong protection against severe disease from
Omicron. The European Union brought forward the start of its vaccine
rollout for five-to-11-year-old children by a week to Dec 13.
Britain and the United States have both expanded their booster
programmes in response to the new variant, which has highlighted the
disparity between massive vaccination pushes in rich nations and sparse
inoculation in the developing world.
Some 56 countries were reportedly implementing travel measures to guard
against Omicron as of Nov. 28, the WHO said.
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Passengers wait in line inside the terminal at Newark Liberty
International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, U.S., November 24,
2021. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
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WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was
concerned that several member states were "introducing blunt,
blanket measures", which "will only worsen inequities".
GLOBAL SPREAD
Nigeria and Norway were among the latest countries to report cases
of the variant while Saudi Arabia confirmed its first case coming
from a north African country.
Germany, which is battling a surge in COVID-19 infections and
deaths, reported that four fully vaccinated people had tested
positive for Omicron in the south of the country but had moderate
symptoms.
The United States is moving to require that all air travellers
entering the country show a negative COVID-19 test performed within
one day of departure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) said late on Tuesday.
Currently, vaccinated international travellers can present a
negative result obtained within three days from their point of
departure. The new one-day testing requirement would apply to U.S.
citizens as well as foreign nationals.
The CDC lists about 80 foreign destinations as having "Level Four",
its highest level of COVID-19 transmission, and discourages
Americans from travelling to those destinations.
In Asia, Japan said it would expand its entry ban to foreigners with
resident status from 10 African countries.
South Korean Interior and Safety Minister Jeon Hae-cheol called for
tighter virus prevention measures to head off Omicron, after
suspected cases entered from Nigeria. The country has not detected
any confirmed cases of Omicron so far.
Global airlines are preparing for fresh volatility, analysts said.
Japanese airlines ANA and JAL said they were suspending new
reservations for international flights to the country until the end
of December.
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"It feels a little bit like we are back to where we were a year ago
and that's not a great prospect for the industry and beyond," Deidre
Fulton, a partner at consultancy MIDAS Aviation, said at an industry
webinar.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Sakura Murakami and
Elaine Lies in Tokyo, Reju Jose and Jamie Freed in Sydney, and
Reuters bureaus; Writing by Himani Sarkar and Philippa Fletcher;
Editing by Shri Navratnam, William Maclean and Nick Macfie)
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