The American continent continues to react with alarm to the arrival of the dreaded omicron variant of Covid-19 to its territory, with several countries closing access to travelers from Africa, the origin of the viral variation.
To date, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 96,522,123 infections and 2,344,023 deaths due to the action of the coronavirus, and the appearance of omicron occurs amid the advance of vaccination campaigns with the that herd immunity is sought.
The alert that ómicron has awakened, which has already arrived in America through Canada, also occurs in the context of an almost general increase at the continental level in positive cases of the virus, as a result of openings in different areas.
Cases in Canada
In a kind of reminiscence of when the arrival of the original variant of the coronavirus was reported in early 2020, the American news world recorded the arrival of the omicron variant after the detection of two cases in Ottawa.
The positives were registered after testing two people from Nigeria and it is suspected that two other residents in the town of Hamilton, about 60 kilometers southwest of Toronto, are also infected.
Last Friday, Canada had banned entry from South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini, but Nigeria is located in the center-west, on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea.
Restrictions and containment
Countries such as Chile, Cuba, Peru, Argentina and Brazil have imposed restrictions on travelers from the southern African region.
The Government of Chile announced that starting tomorrow there will be an entry ban for non-resident foreigners who have been in southern Africa in the 14 days prior to the trip.
Foreigners residing in the South American country may enter if they have completed their vaccination schedule.
Cuba, for its part, will apply for now a mandatory seven-day quarantine to those who arrive from that African zone, who, in addition, will have to present a complete vaccination schedule and the negative result of a PCR carried out maximum 72 hours beforehand. to the trip.
A similar measure was also imposed by Argentina, where non-resident foreigners must add health insurance for Covid-19.
The news of the emergence of the omicron in South Africa reinforced Peru’s decision to maintain the suspension until December 31 of direct flights from the most developed country in Africa, which has been operating since last March.
Already in Brazil, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) had reported during the weekend that a Brazilian in Sao Paulo, from South Africa, tested positive for Covid-19, but the omicron variant was not yet identified in him . Brazilian authorities had already restricted access to nationals from 10 African countries.
They ask to wear masks indoors
New York authorities have urged all residents to wear the mask indoors all the time in public places, as well as to get vaccinated, after the appearance of the omicron variant.
“(The variant) omicron is across the bridge in Ontario. It is no longer a question of if it will arrive in New York, but when it will, “said the governor of the state, Kathy Hochul.
It has also mandated that all nursing homes and adult care centers have booster doses available to their residents.
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