The stock exchanges were disrupted, some of the mass visits were cancelled, and countries around the world closed their airports for arrivals. This is all because of a new variant of the virus that scientists in East Africa discovered last year, which appears to have caused an unprecedented outbreak of infection in the country's largest province.
Over the weekend, the number of countries where a new variant of the coronavirus was detected in people arriving from abroad increased. In Portugalía, 13 members of a soccer club were infected, among whom only one had recently visited PAR.
On Friday, the OIE gave the new variant of the virus a "cause for concern" status. This status represents the highest level of threat in the international organization's classification. The WHO also gave it the name "Omicron". This is the pentads of the Greek alphabet. It is used to uniquely stigmatize the countries of origin and to simply differentiate the variants.
What is known about "Omicron"?
In the week the WHO made a statement about "Omicron", which can be summarized as follows: nowadays there is not much information.
It is not known, in particular, whether this option will be more widely used than the others, for example, for "delta. It is also not known whether the "Omicron" causes a more severe course of the disease. The number of hospitalizations is increasing in East Africa, but this can be explained by the increased incidence of all variants, not just Omicron.
Not long ago, the rate in East Africa was three times higher than 200 cases per day. But on Saturday that number dropped to 320. Most of the cases were recorded in Gauteng, the most populous province of the Central African Republic.
90% of new infections in Gauteng are caused by this very variant, believes Toulio de Oliveira, director of the Platform for Innovation in Research and Sequencing of KwaZulu-Natal.
"There is currently no information on whether the symptoms of Omicron differ from those caused by other variants," the SBI stated. There is no evidence that vaccination or treatment is less effective against the new variant - at least not yet.
What are the concerns of scientists?
The main difference between the Omicron and other variants seems to be the risk of reinfection - it is easier for the overcontaminated to become infected with the new variant.
This variant has a high number of mutations (close to 30) in the adhesion protein. This may influence the ease of its spread.
Some experts believe that vaccine manufacturers will have to make changes to their products in the future.
Sharon Peacock is a member of the UK Coronavirus Genetic Sequencing Program at Cambridge University. She said the mutations "are consistent with those that increase the ability to spread. At the same time, she noted that "the significance of many others is currently unknown.What makes the Omicron special?
Scientists know that the Omicron genetically differs from the previous variants - in particular, from "beta" and "delta". But they do not know whether these changes contribute to the speed of transmission and whether they increase the risk. There is nothing to indicate that the disease is more important.
As soon as possible, it will take weeks to determine whether or not the Omicron is contagious and whether or not vaccines work against it.
Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said that existing vaccines are effective against a number of other variants, but their ineffectiveness against omicron is "extremely low.
Some changes in Omicron are a cause for concern, but that does not mean they are a threat. Several previous variants, such as "beta," first alarmed the scientists, but later they did not spread too much.
"We don't know if this new variant will find a place in regions that have 'delta,'" said Picoq of Cambridge University. - We'll see how this option performs where there are other options.
Delta is currently the broadest variant of COVID-19. This variant accounts for 99% of all samples submitted to the world's largest public database.
How did this variant come about?
The coronavirus is spreading, which means it's mutating, experts say. Many new variants often simply die out. This applies to those whose genetic changes cause concern. Scientists are detecting mutations in coronavirus species. They pay attention to those changes that can make the disease more dangerous. But it's not enough just to look at the pattern.
Peacock said the variant "could have developed in someone who was infected and was unable to get rid of the virus, giving the virus the ability to genetically evolve." In this scenario, the variant "alpha" emerged. It was first identified in Great Britain. The mutation was formed in people with weakened immunity.
Are restrictions on travel justified?
There are different answers to this question.
Israel prohibited entry to all foreigners. Morocco has suspended all international flights to the country. Many countries in Europe, North America, Africa and other regions have restricted flights from the Middle East.
Imperial College London's infectious disease expert Niall Ferguson believes this is a "discreet" move, in view of the spasms of disease in the PAR. In this way, the governments of the countries, he says, will have more time to make decisions.
At the same time, the WHO has urged the countries not to close the cordons, as these measures have a limited effect.
The EAP said that the country "has sophisticated genomic sequencing so it can identify the variant more quickly. That is why the PAR considers it unfair and asks the country to reconsider the restriction of subroads.
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