Following the discovery of a new coronavirus variant in South Africa earlier this week, more countries are tightening their travel restrictions.
The United Kingdom, Singapore, and Japan are among the countries enacting stricter quarantine measures and prohibiting flights from South Africa and neighboring countries.
The EU is considering banning flights from the region across the entire bloc.
Scientists still have a lot to learn about the variant, but there are some who believe it could be the worst yet.
Because it is still so new to scientists, it has yet to be given a more memorable name, such as Delta or Beta.
It is currently known as B.1.1.529, but the World Health Organization (WHO) plans to name it on Friday.
It is very different from the other variants discovered thus far, and it is the most heavily mutated version, which means vaccines designed using the original Wuhan strain may be less effective.
According to the WHO, fewer than 100 samples have been sequenced thus far.
Cases have primarily been confirmed in South Africa, but they have also been discovered in Hong Kong, Israel, and Botswana.
Dr. Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M), told the BBC on Friday that only about 24 percent of South Africa’s population is fully vaccinated, which could lead to a rapid spread of cases.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, said on Friday that the country is “on the verge of a state of emergency” because of the new variant and that he will “act fast, strong, and now.”
According to Israeli media reports citing the country’s health ministry, one case was discovered in a person who returned from Malawi.
Another two suspected infections remained unconfirmed due to a lack of test results.
All three are said to have received full vaccinations.
Flights from the following southern African countries have been grounded in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands:
- South Africa • Botswana • Namibia • Zimbabwe • Eswatini (previously Swaziland) • Lesotho
Singapore, Italy, and Israel have all placed those countries, as well as Mozambique, on their “red list.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission’s President, has proposed that the entire EU apply an “emergency brake” and suspend flights from the region.
In close collaboration with the Member States, the EU Commission will propose activating the emergency brake to halt air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529.
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As of Saturday, anyone who has spent more than 12 hours in those countries will be barred from entering the Czech Republic.
Germany, which is currently dealing with the fourth wave of infections caused by the Delta variant, will allow only Germans to fly into the country from South Africa as of Friday night, according to a health ministry source quoted by Reuters.
Even if a traveler is fully vaccinated, they must still spend 14 days in quarantine.
South Africa’s foreign ministry chastised the United Kingdom, which was one of the first to impose a flight ban, for its “hurried decision.”
“While South Africa respects the right of all countries to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect their citizens,” it said in a statement. “However, the UK’s decision to temporarily bar South Africans from entering the UK appears to have been rushed, as even the WHO has yet to advise on the next steps.”
According to the head of the agency in charge of Africa’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, imposing restrictions such as flight bans are unlikely to slow the spread of the new variant.
“The restrictions always make it difficult to coordinate a response,” Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told BBC Newsday.
“It doesn’t help… it has never helped reduce the spread of any variant around the world,” he explained.
