|
 Much remains unknown about Omicron, which was first found on Nov. 8
in South Africa and has spread to at least two dozen countries, just
as parts of Europe are suffering a surge in infections of the
better-known Delta variant as winter sets in.
But South Africa said on Thursday it was seeing an increase in
COVID-19 reinfections in patients contracting Omicron in a way that
it did not experience with previous variants.
"Previous infection used to protect against Delta but now with
Omicron that doesn't seem to be the case," said Professor Anne von
Gottberg during an online briefing organised by the World Health
Organization.
Omicron could become the dominant COVID-19 variant in France by the
end of January, the country's top scientific adviser said on
Thursday, after both France and the United States reported their
first cases.
In Germany, outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel and her successor,
Olaf Scholz, will discuss with regional leaders restricting the
unvaccinated from access to all but the most essential businesses,
such as grocery stores and pharmacies.
Eager to avoid lockdowns that could derail a fragile recovery of
Europe's biggest economy, they are expected to keep businesses open
to the almost 69% of the population that are fully vaccinated as
well as those who have recovered from the coronavirus.
In the United States, steps to fight COVID-19 this winter are set to
be unveiled later on Thursday, and sources briefed on the matter
told Reuters one step would be extending requirements for travellers
to wear masks through mid-March.
By early next week the United States will require inbound
international travellers to be tested for COVID-19 within a day of
departure, regardless of vaccination status.
And it will also require private health insurance companies to
reimburse customers for the cost of over-the-counter at-home
COVID-19 tests, which will benefit some 150 million Americans who
have private health insurance, a senior administration official told
reporters.
"TRUE ENEMY"
The first known U.S. case was a fully vaccinated person in
California who returned to the United States from South Africa on
Nov. 22 and tested positive seven days later. The French case, in
the greater Paris region, was a passenger arriving from Nigeria.
French government adviser Jean-Francois Delfraissy told BFM
television the "true enemy" for now was still the Delta variant,
spreading in a fifth wave.
"We should see a progressive rise of the Omicron variant, which will
take over from Delta," possibly by the end of January, he said.
The French Omicron infection followed a case found in the French
Indian Ocean island of La Reunion last month.
BioNTech's CEO said the vaccine it makes in a partnership with
Pfizer was likely to offer strong protection against severe disease
from Omicron.
[to top of second column] |
 And GlaxoSmithKline said that a
lab analysis of the antibody-based COVID-19
therapy it is developing with U.S. partner Vir
had shown the drug is effective against the
Omicron variant.
This contrasts with Regeneron's study of its
COVID-19 antibody drug, which it said could be
less effective against Omicron. Moderna's top
boss raised similar concerns about the company's
vaccine.
Indications suggesting Omicron may be markedly
more contagious than previous variants have
rattled financial markets, fearful that new
restrictions could choke a tentative recovery
from the economic impact of the pandemic.
"UNKNOWN"
European shares fell on Thursday, tracking a slide in U.S. equities
overnight due to fears around the Omicron coronavirus variant and
the possibility of sooner-than-expected interest rate hikes.
The continent-wide STOXX 600 .STOXX was down 0.9% in morning trade,
after falling as much as 1.3% in the session. The move marks a sharp
reversal of gains on Wednesday.
OPEC+ ministers are likely to discuss pausing a planned oil output
hike in January during ministerial talks on Thursday, an OPEC+
source said, amid uncertainly about the impact of the pandemic on
global crude demand.
About 56 countries were reportedly implementing travel measures to
guard against Omicron as of Nov. 28, the WHO said.
The United States has barred nearly all foreigners who have been in
one of eight southern African countries.
Japan reversed a ban on new inbound flight reservations, revealing
confusion between government agencies and the public over the
country's COVID strategy.
The European Union brought forward the start of its vaccine rollout
for 5-to-11-year-olds to Dec. 13, as the president of the European
Union's executive body said there was a "race against time" to stave
off the new variant.
The WHO is deploying a surge team to South Africa's Gauteng
province, epicentre of the Omicron outbreak, to help with
surveillance and contact tracing, it said on Thursday.
More than 263.1 million people have been reported to be infected by
the coronavirus globally since the first cases were identified in
China in December 2019 and 5,480,116 have died, according to a
Reuters tally.
(GRAPHIC: OMICRON VARIANT MAP - https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-VARIANT/zdvxonlxxpx/Omicron.jpg)
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing Stephen Coates, Nick Macfie
and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Barbara
Lewis)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content |
