The United States has followed the example of the European Union in restricting the travel of visitors from regions in South Africa and seven other countries.
DALLAS – The hustle and bustle of vacation activities gave us a much needed break from the reality of living in a pandemic. But as expected at these times, the latest medical news of a new variant arrived on Friday.
“It was a really disappointing day, I’m not going to lie. Hearing this news took the wind out of the sails of many, ”said Dr. Mark Casanova of the Texas Medical Association’s COVID-19 Task Force.
It has been called Omicron by researchers, another mutation of the virus that has taken a name in the Greek alphabet. Researchers around the world are looking at this variant because it is highly transferable.
“This variant has a large number of mutations and some of these mutations have worrying properties,” said Maria Van Kerkhove of the World Health Organization.
Regions in South Africa are starting to see their effects. Health authorities in the region report large peaks of this variant. It prompted health officials to hold a virtual meeting on Friday to educate the public about the virus and possible containment strategies.
“This variant surprised us. It has made a great evolutionary leap,” said Dr. Tulio de Oliveira, a South African scientist
The United States has followed the example of the European Union, restricting travel by visitors from South African regions and seven other countries as of Monday. So far, there is no current indication that the virus has found its way into the US
The other reality is that we just don’t know enough about Omicron and its behavior and it’s too early to find out. Previously, the delta variant was also considered highly transferable.
“We know that this variant seems to be more transmissible, but what we don’t know yet: is it more contagious? Does it do more harm to the infected?” asked Casanova. “You’re right, ‘Here we go again’ because we weren’t ahead of this thing and we need to be about five steps ahead,” he said.
Doctors and researchers around the world have been repeating the same containment strategies they have used for the past two years: hand washing, masking, social distancing, but more importantly, the vaccine.
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