Hong Kong, Dec 5, : Although more than 50 countries have increased border controls following the Omicron variant coronavirus, scientists warn that travel restrictions may have been too late and could slow down studies of the super mutant. Nature reported that the scientists concluded that Omicron is unlikely to be stopped by restrictions, especially those that only target travellers from a few countries.
Travel bans could also slow down urgent Omicron research by limiting imports of lab supplies.
Karen Grepin, a University of Hong Kong health economist, was quoted as saying, “I’m not so optimistic that the manner in which these measures will be rolled out right away will have an impact.”
“It’s too late.The variant is in circulation worldwide,” Kelley Lee, who studies global medicine at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby (Canada), said.
Most travel bans target South Africa.Omicron raised alarm on 24 November.Botswana also reported early cases.
Many countries also ban visitors from neighboring Lesotho and Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.
Researchers believe that border restrictions could deter nations from alerting the rest of the world to possible future variants.The report stated that they will also slow down urgent research because fewer planes carrying cargo, including supplies for sequencing, are currently arriving in South Africa.
Researchers are trying to figure out how Omicron’s transmissibility, and ability to evade immune system created by vaccines, differs from pre-existing SARS CoV-2 variants.They are also studying the severity of Omicron’s illness.
According to Shabir Madhi (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa), “The travel ban will paradoxically impact the speed at which scientists can investigate.”
Although restrictions work best when implemented quickly, Grepin stated that the Omicron-related closures were too late.Researchers might also have difficulty sharing samples with global collaborators.
Nearly 38 countries have been affected by the variant, including India, Australia, the United States, the Netherlands and the UK.Some countries contracted the disease even before South Africa reported it to the WHO.Grepin stated that countries should start looking for the infection as soon as possible.
Researchers found that restrictions are more effective in slowing down the number of first cases in a country if they reduce the volume of international arrivals than when they pick and chose specific countries.
Grepin said that border-control measures should be used in conjunction with efforts to strengthen public health interventions like social distancing and mask wearing, as well as vaccinations, because genomic studies have shown that some cases will eventually slip through.
rvt/vd
#Omicron #variant #bans #border #bars
.
