 |
| Scheduled airline traffic around the world, circa June 2009 – Credit Wikipedia |
#16,349
Yesterday's announcement (see The UK Places 6 African Nations On Travel `Red List') - due to the emergence of COVID variant (B.1.1.529) - has been quickly followed by Taiwan and numerous other nations, in hopes of preventing the global spread of this potentially dangerous strain.
Overnight Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, tweeted:
The (translated) statement below from Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center is representative of the types of actions being taken.
Starting at 0:00 on November 29, 6 countries including South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swadini and Zimbabwe have been upgraded to "key high-risk countries" and must be admitted to a centralized quarantine station after entry
Release Date: 2021-11-26The Central Epidemic Command Center stated today (26) that in response to the increasing spread of the new variant strain B.1.1.529 around the world and its strong spread, in order to reduce the risk of the virus entering the domestic community, since November 29 (2021) Starting at midnight (the time of the aircraft's arrival in Taiwan), six countries including South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swadini and Zimbabwe have been listed as "key high-risk countries". The relevant quarantine measures are as follows:
Starting at 0:00 on November 29 (the time of flight arrival in Taiwan), passengers have their travel history in the past 14 days (including local transfers). After entering the country, they must check into the centralized quarantine station to complete the 14-day quarantine and cooperate with the special quarantine ( Arrival, expiry) and 7 days of self-administration of self-health management (1 public household quick screening on the 6th-7th day), the above-mentioned passengers do not need to pay the centralized quarantine station and inspection fees, nor apply 7+7+7, 10+4+7 Spring Festival project. In addition, national airline crew members who return to Taiwan from a flight (including connecting flights) on routes from "key high-risk countries" should stay in an anti-epidemic lodging or a company dormitory that meets the requirements for quarantine for 14 days, and cooperate with entry and quarantine to undergo PCR testing. And continue independent health management for 7 days.
The command center stated that the new variant strain B.1.1.529 was first discovered in Botswana in mid-November, and it spread rapidly in Gauteng province in northeastern South Africa, and may already exist in eight other provinces of the country. At present, the world has only reported cases of this variant in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong. South Africa has accumulated at least 77 cases. Botswana and Hong Kong have only a few cases and many have travel history in South Africa. The United Kingdom has listed 6 countries in southern Africa. It is a high-risk area. Experts said that this new variant strain has at least 32 mutations in the spike protein and has new mutation points. It may escape the immune response from previous infections or vaccines. It may also be related to increased transmission. However, research is still needed to prove the vaccine Effectiveness, communication power and other influences.
The command center emphasized that border control is an important key to preventing the COVID-19 epidemic. Inbound passengers should actively cooperate with border quarantine measures when they arrive in Taiwan, and go to the quarantine site according to the mode of transportation specified by the command center and cooperate with subsequent anti-epidemic measures. Implement the joint fight against the epidemic by the whole people and stop the epidemic from abroad.
Other countries announcing travel restrictions and/or quarantines include Israel, Singapore, France and Italy. Given the momentum, that list will likely grow substantially over the weekend.
While these steps may slow the spread of B.1.1.529 - which is expected to be named Nu by the WHO - the odds are it is already in a number of other countries. This morning European media outlets are reporting two presumptive cases in Belgium.
Within the past hour, Virologist Marc Van Ranst tweeted.
In this case, the traveler was from Egypt, thousands of miles from the presumed epicenter in Southern Africa. It is likely that now countries know what to look for, additional cases will be identified.
The WHO is reportedly meeting today (noon Geneva time) to discuss this new threat. Hopefully we'll learn more in the hours ahead.
