The world is isolating South Africa and growing concerns about the Omigron variant are growing

The United States, Brazil and countries around the world announced on Friday that they would close their borders to travelers from South Africa., After discovering a new highly contagious variant of Govit-19 called Omicrón.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Omigron a “worrying” variant of the corona virus P1.1.529. As well as the currently dominant delta and previously discovered alpha, beta and gamma.

The new mutation was first announced on November 24 by South Africa. Already identified in Europe, with a case confirmed Friday in Belgium, After being reported in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

From stocks to oil World markets plummeted on Omigron news. In fear of a severe blow to the global economic recovery.

US President Joe Biden said The new variant should encourage the rest of the world to provide more vaccines to poorer countries, The United States has already “donated more vaccines to other countries than any other country” and noted that it was “time” to match their “generosity”.

“The epidemic will not end until there is a global vaccination.”He warned in a statement from Nandaket, where he spent the Thanksgiving break.

பிடனும் கூடா Called on nations to abandon intellectual property protections To implement the vaccine product worldwide.

First countries

Belgium announced on Friday The first known OmicrÓn case in Europe: The unvaccinated person who returned from Egypt via Turkey on November 11th.

Who said It may take several weeks to determine whether the new variant involves changes in the diffusion or severity of Covid-19. He also warned against the imposition of travel restrictions on the effectiveness of Covit-19 vaccines, tests and treatments, and when there is little scientific evidence.

But many countries have already announced the closure of borders For travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Swatini (or Swaziland), Mozambique and Malawi.

In the United States, United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Guatemala They were the last to ban travel from there.

And the European Union (EU). The camp recommended to the 27 countries, to prevent the income of people coming from South Africa, In addition, several members, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, have already announced air suspensions.

The first country to defend itself was the United KingdomThose who followed in his footsteps, including Russia, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus. In addition, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Morocco have imposed sanctions.

Said Japan A 10 day isolation period will be required For travelers coming from South Africa.

South Africa called the sanctions “tough.” “That kind of reaction is instinct and panic”, Health Minister Joe Pahla announced.

It was a blow to the first country While safaris and beaches generally attract a good number of visitors, the control measures come just before the Australian summer.

Economic impact

Omicron caused the Wall Street crash on Friday. The benchmark Dow Jones index had its worst loss this year: 2.53% From Wednesday, before Thanksgiving. The S&P 500 was down 2.27%, while the Nasdaq index was down 2.23%.

European codes Experienced the worst sessions in a year: Paris fell 4.75%, London 3.64%, Frankfurt 4.15% and Madrid 4.96%.

The fall also affected Asian and Latin American stock markets and oil pricesOr, they have lost more than 10%.

In Chicago, Wheat and soybean prices fell Significantly.

“Black silver for retail today, but now ‘red silver’ for the stock market, Brief analyst Patrick O’Hare, marks the traditional discount day in the US after Thanksgiving.

German biotechnology company BioNTech and American pharmaceutical company Pfizer They said they were studying the new variant, with impact data expected to “last two weeks”. If Omigran spreads globally, tell me if the vaccine they co-developed should be repaired.

American Laboratory Moderna announced that it was building reinforcement for its part Referred to Omicron.

The corona virus is highly excreted 5.18 million deaths worldwide since its appearance in China at the end of 2019, Although the WHO estimates that the actual figures may be much higher.

Near 54% of the world’s population has been vaccinated against at least one dose of the virusBut in low-income countries, the rate is only 5.6%, according to our World in Data portal.

(With information from AFP)

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