Blanket travel bans will not prevent int'l spread of Omicron variant: WHO
Darpan News Desk IANS, 30 Nov, 2021 01:19 PM
Geneva, Nov30 (IANS) The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, even as dozens of countries have already introduced such restrictions.
Although Omicron has been labeled a "variant of concern" by the WHO, it said on Tuesday that blanket travel bans will only place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods, while also "disincentivizing countries to report and share epidemiological and sequencing data."
The Omicron variant was first reported to the WHO by South Africa last week. So far, several countries and regions have confirmed cases of infection with Omicron. Dozens of countries have already tightened travel measures, and even suspended flights, Xinhua news agency reported.
At a member states session on the Omicron variant on Tuesday, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked Botswana and South Africa for detecting and reporting this variant so rapidly. It is deeply worrying that these countries were being penalised by others for doing the right thing, he said.
He called the "blunt, blanket measures" introduced by some member states "not evidence-based or effective on their own." He urged countries to take "rational, proportional risk-reduction measures, in keeping with the international health regulations."
Meanwhile, the WHO advises that "persons who are unwell or at risk of developing severe Covid-19 disease and dying, including people 60 years of age or older or those with comorbidities such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes," should postpone travel plans.
In a statement on Friday, the U.N. health agency said the new scientific group would provide the WHO with an independent analysis of the work done to date to pinpoint the origins of COVID-19 and to advise the agency on necessary next steps. The experts will also provide guidance on critical issues regarding the potential emergence of other viruses capable of triggering outbreaks, such as MERS and Ebola.
During their first press conference on Tuesday the Taliban pressed the right button-backing women's rights. But their promise of protecting women's rights had an important nuance: Women will enjoy freedoms but within the ambit of "Islamic law" .
A contingent of persons from the Hindu and Sikh communities who are stranded in Afghanistan were provided reassurance of safety by the Taliban, media reports said. Over 300 Hindus and Sikhs are reportedly taking shelter at the Karte Parwan Gurudwara in Kabul.
We need humanitarian supplies. The refugee situation we updated you with last week and the week before has only deteriorated. We have 300,000 internal refugees and 80,000 children who are without shelter and food. Where we were short of supplies, now we are out.
Nikita Ishchenko, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Kabul, was quoted as saying by RIA: "Four cars were full of money, they tried to stuff another part of the money into a helicopter, but not all of it fit. And some of the money was left lying on the tarmac."
Fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents can now enter Canada for non-essential purposes for the first time since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the two countries to severely curtail travel.
