Countries tighten travel curbs, race for boosters

Washington: Air travellers to the United States will face tougher COVID-19 testing rules to try to slow the spread of the Omicron variant and other countries tightened border controls as a European leader urged all concerned to “prepare for the worst”.

A World Health Organization official said 24 countries may have reported cases of the variant so far but that some of the early indications were that most cases were mild, with none severe. Travel bans had consequences, he said, but there would be more mutations without other measures to contain its spread. Staving off Omicron while scientists establish how easily it can spread and whether it can evade vaccine protection is a “race against time” the president of the European Union’s executive Commission said, emphasising the role of vaccines.

“Prepare for the worst, hope for the best,” Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference, adding that according to scientists, full vaccination and a booster shot provide the strongest possible protection.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said “blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods”, while advising those unwell, at risk or 60 years and over and unvaccinated to postpone travel.

Health officials have since offered reassurances and said it is very likely vaccines will still prevent people getting seriously ill. European Medicines Agency Executive Director Emer Cooke said laboratory analyses should indicate over the next couple of weeks whether the blood of vaccinated people has sufficient antibodies to neutralise the new variant.

South Africa first reported the variant a week ago, but data from elsewhere already shows it was circulating before then although Nigeria said a case from October it had initially reported as Omicron had in fact been the Delta variant.

In Germany, which is battling a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths, officials said four fully vaccinated people had tested positive for Omicron in the south but had moderate symptoms. The United States is moving to require all air travellers entering the country to show a negative COVID-19 test performed within one day of departure, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday. The new one-day testing requirement would apply to U.S. citizens as well as foreign nationals. In Asia, Japan said it would expand its entry ban to foreigners with resident status from 10 African countries. -(AP)