The new variant of the coronavirus has prompted several countries to cut off air links with South Africa, but has already been found in Israel (which is “one step away from a state of emergency”). The head of the British Health Security Agency: “This is the most significant variant seen so far.” Today the WHO emergency meeting
The new variant of the Sars CoV-2 coronavirus – the virus that causes Covid – has alarmed several countries and world health authorities, as well as causing the collapse of stock markets in Asia and new tensions on European ones.
Why are you worried about the new variant?
The variant – B.1.1.529 – features a very high number of mutations on the spike protein, the one on which vaccines act, and it is not yet clear whether these characteristics can offer the virus an “advantage” both in terms of greater contagiousness – and this is the most worrying prospect – and in terms of its ability to circumvent the protection offered by vaccines. (All the information on the variant, from a scientific point of view, is in this article signed by Silvia Turin).
Where was the new variant found?
The new variant has so far been found – in relatively small numbers – in Sudafrica, Botswana and Hong Kong.
At least one case has already been registered in Israel as well, as revealed by the Ministry of Health. The person infected with the new variant returned from Malawi; two other people suspected of being infected are awaiting the final outcome of the test. All three people involved were vaccinated. (Remember that the vaccine is designed to protect against disease, not contagion.) “Israel is one step away from declaring a state of emergency,” said Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Who blocked flights due to the new variant?
Due to fears related to the spread of this new variant, theEuropean Union will propose the activation of the “emergency brake” for “flights from the South African region”, said the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Ihe Italian Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza
, has signed a new ordinance which “forbids entry into Italy to anyone who has been in the last 14 days Sudafrica, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland».
“This variant worries us,” said German health minister Jens Spahn. “The last thing we want are the problems that a new variant could bring.”
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Also Great Britain, Israel and Singapore have enacted similar measures. The Japan and theIndia raised the bar for travelers arriving from Southern Africa. Germany has decided that airlines flying from South Africa “will only be able to transport Germans to Germany and a 14-day quarantine will apply to everyone, including those who are vaccinated.”
What do the scientists say?
According to Jenny Harries, the head of the UK Health Security Agency, variant B.1.1.529 is “the most significant seen so far. Urgent research is underway to understand all that is needed about its transmission capacity, the severity of the disease it causes and the action of vaccines against it “, as well as” public health actions that can block its spread “.
Professor James Naismith, a biologist at the University of Oxford, told the BBC that current vaccines will “almost certainly” be less effective against this new variant, but “will remain effective nonetheless. In short: it’s bad news, it’s not the end of the world ». According to Naismith, if the new variant spreads faster than the Delta, it will certainly also reach countries that are imposing air blocks.
Officials from the World Health Organization will meet today and could give the variant a Greek name (which could be called ‘Nu’). As shown here, so far the competition of the new variants with the Delta has been winning for the latter due to its transmission capacity so high that no other variant has managed to establish itself.
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Article being updated …
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November 26, 2021 (change November 26, 2021 | 11:35)
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