The world isolates southern Africa due to the risk of the spread of the “Omicron” mutant

The European Health Commission announces that the risk of the spread of the new mutated “Omicron” of the Corona virus that causes Covid-19 infection in Europe is “high or very high”. Meanwhile, European and Arab countries are rushing to ban travel to African countries, led by South Africa, the origin of the mutator.

The European Health Commission announced on Friday that the risk of the spread of the new mutant of the Corona virus that causes Covid-19 infection in Europe is "high or very high".

This comes against the background of monitoring the rapid spread of the new "Omicron" strain, which raised widespread fears in the world and resulted in a number of countries taking the decision to stop flights with South Africa and its neighboring countries.

"The overall level of risk created by the Omicron version for the European Union and the European Economic Area is estimated from high to very high," the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.

The first infection with this strain was recorded in Botswana, in a South African citizen, where the largest number of patients was observed, amounting to about 80 injured.

This copy carries twice the number of mutations in the "delta" strain, among which are associated with avoiding the immune response resulting from both previous infection and vaccination, as well as mutations associated with increased infection.

On Friday, the World Health Organization classified the new strain, called "Omicron", as "worrying", the fifth version to be placed in this classification.

The European Union suspends travel to 7 countries

For its part, the European Commission announced on Friday the suspension of travel to the European bloc from 7 countries in the southern African region, as part of efforts to confront the new strain of Corona.

European Commission spokesman Eric Mammer wrote in a tweet via Twitter that "the member states of the Union agreed to a quick suspension of travel with 7 countries in the southern African region, against the background of the emergence of a new strain of Corona there."

Mamer added that "the travel suspension includes 7 African countries, which are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe."

The spokesman stressed the importance of conducting tests, quarantine and contact tracing for recently arrived passengers, especially from those countries.

Hours ago, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recommended member states to suspend flights to and from South Africa and other countries where the new coronavirus was detected, according to the European "Euro News" website.

5 Arab countries ban travel to South Africa

5 Arab countries decided on Friday to ban travel or entry from African countries to confront the new mutation of the Corona virus recently discovered in South Africa.

This came in separate official statements for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar and Egypt, the day after the announcement of the discovery of the new strain of the Corona mutant.

And the Saudi Interior Ministry said that due to the emergence of a new strain of the Corona mutant in some countries, it was decided to “suspend flights to and from (7) (African) countries,” according to the country’s official news agency (SPA).

The countries, according to SPA, are "South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho and Eswatini."

The decision also included "suspending entry to the Kingdom for non-citizens coming directly and indirectly from those countries, provided that a 5-day quarantine is applied to all excluded groups coming from these countries."

The Emirates News Agency, "WAM", also reported that her country decided to "suspend entry to travelers from those seven countries as well, starting next Monday", with exceptions conditional on quarantine or examination for some groups.

The decision also includes "preventing UAE citizens from traveling to those countries, with the exception of official delegations of the state, emergency treatment cases, and study missions."

Later, the Egyptian Cabinet announced, in a statement, "the cessation of direct flights to and from South Africa, against the background of what the World Health Organization announced on Friday regarding the new mutation of Corona."

The council also decided measures against the seven African countries, also including conducting a "rapid DNA test", returning the passenger if his condition was positive (injured), or home self-quarantine.

And earlier on Friday, the Egyptian Ministry of Health announced, in a statement, “raising the degree of quarantine preparations in all air, land and sea ports” to confront the new mutated from the Corona virus.

While the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported that the Ministry of Public Health issued an update, on Friday, that “is immediately applied to the list of travel and return to the exceptional red countries after the emergence of the new strain of Corona in Africa,” without mentioning the names of the countries.

By reviewing the countries included on the exceptional red list on the ministry’s website on Friday, it was found that 6 countries were included: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, compared to what the list was on November 12.

In turn, Bahrain announced placing those six countries on the list of "red countries" and preventing those coming from them from entering the country to confront the new mutator, according to the Bahrain News Agency, "Banna".

While Kuwaiti Civil Aviation renewed, in a statement via Twitter, "the necessity of adhering to all preventive measures and requirements for all arriving passengers, due to the spread of a new mutant from Corona," without further details.

'Unjustified decisions'

For its part, the authorities in South Africa criticized the decisions of some countries to ban travel to it.

South African Minister of Health Jo Pahla commented that "preliminary studies indicate that the new strain of Covid-19 may be more contagious," adding: "But the decisions of countries to impose restrictions on travel to the country are not justified."

The minister explained in a press conference held on Friday that his country "acts with transparency, and the decisions to ban travel contradict the norms and standards of the World Health Organization."

He pointed out that the new mutated virus known as "Omicron" may spread faster than its predecessors, "Delta" and "Beta", indicating that it is likely that current vaccines will be effective against it.

In turn, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement that "South Africa respects the right of all countries to take the necessary measures to protect their citizens."

The Minister touched on the United Kingdom's decision to ban travel to South Africa, saying, "This decision appears to be a hasty decision that has not yet been recommended by the World Health Organization."

And she continued, "Our current concern is the damage this decision will cause to the tourism and business fields of the two countries," adding that her country will engage with the British authorities to try to persuade them to reconsider their decision.

It is noteworthy that the United Kingdom announced on Thursday a “temporary” ban on flights from 6 African countries, starting from Friday, due to the emergence of the new strain of the virus.

And on Thursday, scientists in South Africa announced the discovery of a "worrisome new mutant" in this country, noting that it "shows a very high number of mutations" and "is capable of spreading very quickly."

For its part, the World Health Organization said Friday that it is not currently advising countries to impose travel restrictions due to the new mutation of Corona, in the absence of a specific understanding of the level of transmission and the severity of its infection. For its part, European countries such as Belgium announced on Friday the first infection with the new mutant, while countries around the world continue to announce that they are suspending flights to southern African countries.