The variant – officially labelled Omicron overnight by the World Health Organisation – has 32 mutations, which is twice as many as the dominant Delta strain.The WHO has listed the variant as one of official “concern”.“Based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in Covid-19 epidemiology… the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern (VOC), named Omicron,” the UN health agency said in a statement.It has already spread to Europe after first being detected in South Africa, Hong Kong, Botswana and Israel.Markets plunged as news sank in that the new variant could potentially deal a heavy blow to the global recovery.Scientists are now racing to determine the threat posed by the heavily mutated strain, and whether the current coronavirus vaccines should be adjusted.“This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” the WHO statement said.“Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other (variants of concern)”.The number of Omicron cases appeared to be increasing in almost all provinces of South Africa.US President Joe Biden told media he decided to ban travel from South Africa and seven other countries on advice from health officials.“We don’t know a lot about the variant except that it is a big concern and seems to spread rapidly,” Mr Biden said. “I’ve decided we’re going to be cautious. We don’t know a lot about the variant except that it is a big concern and seems to spread rapidly and I spent about a half-hour this morning with my Covid team led by Dr. Fauci so that was the decision we made,” he said.Saudi Arabia also announced a temporary suspension of flights on Saturday to and from seven African countries – South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho and Eswatini.TRAVEL BANS AND RESTRICTIONSOther countries have slapped restrictions on those travelling from the countries Omicron has been detected, including mandatory quarantine.Many others – including several European countries battling a surge in Delta cases – have indicated they too will impose entry bans on non citizens from affected countries.The Belgian government said that one individual who had recently arrived from Egypt, and was not vaccinated, had tested positive for the new variant, marking the first case in Europe. South African officials initially said there was one confirmed case in a traveller from South Africa to Hong Kong. Then Hong Kong health authorities on Friday identified a second case of the B. 1.1.529 variant among returning travellers on the same floor of a designated quarantine hotel. Israel also has at least one confirmed case, according to the country’s health ministry.The US ban comes as flights from South Africa as well Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe have been suspended and all six countries added to the Red List, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said.Tulio de Oliveira, the director of South Africa’s Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation, said the variant has “many more mutations than we have expected,” adding it is “spreading very fast and we expect to see pressure in the health system in the next few days and weeks.”Health experts say the variant could reduce vaccine effectiveness to as little as 30 per cent and there are signs it is more transmissible that the currently dominant Delta strain.Lawrence Young, a virologist and a professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School in the United Kingdom, said the variant was “very worrying.”“It is the most heavily mutated version of the virus we have seen to date. This variant carries some changes we’ve seen previously in other variants but never all together in one virus. It also has novel mutations,” Young said in a statement.WORRYING NEW Covid VARIANTVirologists believe the strain is an offshoot of an older variant called B. 1.1, which was first spotted in Botswana.Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College, posted details of the new variant, noting it was the first time he had seen two particular mutations in one variant. “Export to Asia implies this might be more widespread than sequences alone would imply,” he tweeted.“Also the extremely long branch length and incredibly high amount of spike mutations suggest this could be of real concern (predicted escape from most known monoclonal antibodies).“Worth emphasising this is at super low numbers right now in a region of Africa that is fairly well sampled, however it very, very much should be monitored due to that horrific spike profile (would take a guess that this would be worse antigenically than nearly anything else about).”Experts say new variants are found fairly often, and mostly don’t spread over a cluster of cases. They can also quickly die out if they present in a country with a more dominant variant. Covid-19 Incident Director at the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Meera Chand, told the Sun: In partnership with scientific bodies across the globe, is constantly monitoring the status of SARS-CoV-2 variants as they emerge and develop worldwide.“As it is in the nature of viruses to mutate often and at random, it is not unusual for small numbers of cases to arise featuring new sets of mutations.“Any variants showing evidence of spread are rapidly assessed.”NED-2170 How coronavirus mutatesEU APPROVES FIRST Covid JAB FOR YOUNG KIDSThe European Union has cleared Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for use in children aged five to 11 making it the first jab to be approved in a cohort where the virus is rapidly spreading.Only a small handful of countries had previously given the nod for coronavirus vaccinations in younger children, including the US, Israel and Canada.“I’m glad to tell you that Comirnaty from today has received approval for children five to 11 years of age,” said Marco Cavaleri, head of vaccine strategy at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), using the vaccine’s brand name.“This is based on a different dose in the one used in adults, essentially it’s a much lower dose,” he told an online public meeting.The vaccine was already cleared for use in people aged 12 and over in the 27-nation EU.Children aged five to 11 will be given one third of the dose that older people receive, with two injections, three weeks apart, the EMA said in a statement.The vaccine was 90.7 per cent effective in a study of nearly 2,000 children of that age, it added.Side effects were usually “mild or moderate” lasting a few days, and included pain in the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain and chills.The EMA “therefore concluded that the benefits of Comirnaty in children aged five to 11 outweigh the risks, particularly in those with conditions that increase the risk of severe Covid-19.” But the Pfizer jab’s safety in children “will continue to be monitored closely”.BODIES ‘PILE UP’ IN MORGUESEurope remains “in the firm grip” of Covid and the death toll on the continent could top 2.2 million this winter if current trends continue, the World Health Organisation said this morning.Some 700,000 could die in the coming months, the WHO said, as cases creep up across Europe, prompting some countries to reimpose tough restrictions.The WHO expects “high or extreme stress in intensive care units (ICUs) in 49 out of 53 countries between now and March 1, 2022”.“Cumulative reported deaths are projected to reach over 2.2 million by spring next year,” it added, up from the current 1.5 million.Covid-19 is the leading cause of death across Europe and Central Asia, the WHO reported, citing figures from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.The rise in Europe was being driven by a combination of the highly-contagious Delta variant, insufficient vaccination coverage and the easing of measures such as mask wearing and physical distancing, it said.According to WHO data, Covid-related deaths increased last week to nearly 4200 a day, doubling from 2100 deaths a day at the end of September.The WHO also said evidence was growing that vaccine-induced protection against infection and mild disease was declining.Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, said it was essential that countries adopted a “vaccine plus” approach.“This means getting the standard doses of vaccine and taking a booster if offered,” he said. “but also incorporating preventive measures into our normal routines.”NED-5011-Austria Covid-19 surgeIn combination with the vaccines, Dr Kluge said, wearing a mask, washing your hands, ventilating indoor spaces, keeping physical distance, and sneezing into your elbow were “simple, effective ways of gaining control over the virus”.The WHO said face masks reduce Covid incidence by 53 per cent according to a recent study.“All of us have the opportunity and responsibility to help avert unnecessary tragedy and loss of life and limit further disruption to society and businesses over this winter season,” by avoiding “the last resort of lockdowns and school closures”.“The Covid-19 situation across Europe and Central Asia is very serious. We face a challenging winter ahead,” he said.The WHO said more than 1 billion vaccine doses had been administered in the WHO European region and 53.5 per cent of people had completed their inoculation program, but added that the figure “hides wide differences between countries”, with some populations less than 10 per cent vaccinated and others more than 80 per cent.The situation facing the eastern European country is now so dire that CNN reports bodies have started to “pile up”, with morgues and hospitals overflowing with patients and casualties.And the crisis has been made worse by Romania’s shockingly low vaccination rate as scepticism and misinformation abounds.Romania has a population of around 19 million, but according to Reuters, just 37 per cent are fully vaccinated, despite jabs being available for almost one year now.That grim number means Romania has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe, thanks to especially high levels of vaccine hesitancy, misinformation and superstition, as well as strong religious beliefs and distrust of the government.Many high-profile Romanians, including religious leaders, have publicly condemned the vaccination campaign – with several labelling it the work of the “Devil” – and anti-vax lies and distortions have also run rampant on social media.Covid PILL COULD BE APPROVED ‘WITHIN WEEKS’The European Medicines Agency’s decision on whether to approve Merck’s anti-Covid pill Lagevrio, which offers patients an easy at-home treatment for the virus, could be made “within weeks”.“EMA will assess the benefits and risks of Lagevrio under a reduced timeline and could issue an opinion within weeks if the data submitted are sufficiently robust and complete,” the European Medicines Agency said in a statement on Tuesday.On Friday, the EMA issued advice allowing individual EU countries to decide for themselves on using Lagevrio — also known as molnupiravir — in emergency situations, “in light of rising rates of infection and deaths” from Covid.It’s also weighing a authorisation for a similar pill from Pfizer.The two drugs from the US pharma giants represent a potentially groundbreaking step in the fight against coronavirus, as studies show they drastically reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death in high-risk patients.COUNTRY WHERE DELTA ‘MUTATED TO EXTINCTION’Experts in Japan have been left convinced that the nation of 125 million has successfully eradicated the Delta variant of Covid-19, after incredible new data emerged. According to new research from Japan’s National Institute of Genetics, scientists say that the deadly strain drove itself towards a “natural extinction” after several mutations led to it being unable to make copies of itself.Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Japanese population have been on high alert especially after the highly-transmissible Delta variant broke through its borders in 2021.At the peak of their fifth wave, the country recorded a staggering 26,000 cases per day as countries around the world, including Australia, imposed strong lockdown measures to squash the Delta curve.However, in November, the nation saw a glimpse of recovery. Over the past few weeks, Japan has been recording under 200 cases and on Friday registered its first day without a Covid death in 15 months.In what has been described as a “potentially revolutionary” theory, genetics expert Professor Ituro Inoue said the Delta variant simply accumulated too many mutations to the virus’s error-correcting protein called nsp14.Prof Inoue says the virus struggled to repair the errors in time and ultimately caused its own “self-destruction”.“We were literally shocked to see the findings,” Inoue told The Japan Times.“The Delta variant in Japan was highly transmissible and keeping other variants out. But as the mutations piled up, we believe it eventually became a faulty virus and it was unable to make copies of itself. “Considering that the cases haven’t been increasing, we think that at some point during such mutations it headed straight toward its natural extinction.”NED-5020-Japan-Covid-19-Graph-EmbedSome experts believe that it’s vaccines, with more than 75 per cent of Japanese double-jabbed, and face masks that have managed to suppress the virus.But Prof Inoue believes new infections would still be on the up if the Delta strain were still “alive and well”.“If the virus were alive and well, cases for sure would increase, as masking and vaccination do not prevent breakthrough infections in some cases,” he said.In early October, Japan reopened after a period of heavy restrictions and now boasts one of the lowest infection rates of any developed nation.However, Prof Inoue warns there is still “a threat” and that the country is not immune to potential new strains.He added that it’s still too optimistic to believe the Covid-19-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus will experience a similar decline globally.“No genome data exists, so it’s just a hypothesis, but because it has disappeared, it will never see the light of day again,” he said.“The chances are not zero, but that seems too optimistic for now as we’re unable to get hold of any such evidence, though we have looked at various data of other countries,” he said.EUROPE’S NEW Covid CRISISAustria has returned to a partial lockdown in the most dramatic Covid-19 restrictions seen in Western Europe for months after a weekend of violence against virus measures rocked several cities on the continent.The Alpine nation is also imposing a sweeping vaccine mandate from February 1, one of few places in the world to announce such a step so far.Shops, restaurants and festive markets were shuttered on Monday local time, while its 8.9 million people are not allowed to leave home with few exceptions such as going to work, shopping for essentials and exercising as virus cases are surging.Schools and kindergartens remain open, though parents have been asked to keep children at home when possible despite there being no distance learning offered during the three-week lockdown.One parent, Kathrin Pauser, said she was still dropping her daughters nine and 11, both of who got recently vaccinated, to school.“It’s a very confusing situation,” she told reporters.The measures come after a weekend of violent clashes in several European cities — including in Belgium and the Netherlands — where tens of thousands demonstrators took to the streets to protest Covid measures.Around 145 people have been arrested in the Netherlands over three days of unrest sparked by a Covid curfew, and in Brussels on Sunday, officers fired water cannon and tear gas at a protest police said was attended by 35,000.Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday slammed the “violence under the guise of protest”, saying he defends the right to demonstrate peacefully, but “will never accept that idiots use pure violence”.And in Denmark this weekend, around 1,000 demonstrators protested government plans to reinstate a Covid pass for civil servants.“People want to live,” said one of the organisers of the Dutch protests, Joost Eras. “That’s why we’re here.” A crowd of 40,000 marched through Vienna on Saturday decrying “dictatorship”, while some 6,000 people protested in the city of Linz on Sunday.Vienna’s rally was organised by a far-right political party, and some protesters wore a yellow star reading “not vaccinated”, mimicking the Star of David Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust.French troops headed to Guadeloupe on Sunday after a week of unrest over Covid measures, while Prime Minister Jean Castex was set to convene a meeting in Paris with officials from the French Caribbean island.Roads were blocked Sunday after protesters defying a curfew looted and torched shops and pharmacies overnight, when police made 38 arrests and two members of the security forces were injured.‘VACCINATED, CURED OR DEAD’The violence come as Covid infections spiral in Europe.Germany’s Health Minister Jens Spahn issued a fresh call on Monday local time for citizens to get vaccinated.“Probably by the end of this winter, as is sometimes cynically said, pretty much everyone in Germany will be vaccinated, cured or dead,” Mr Spahn said, blaming “the very contagious Delta variant”.Austria’s decision flies in the face of earlier promises that tough virus restrictions would be a thing of the past.Over the summer, then chancellor Sebastian Kurz had declared the pandemic “over”.But plateauing inoculation rates, record case numbers and a rising death toll have forced the government to walk back such bold claims.After taking office in October, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg criticised the “shamefully low” vaccine rate — 66 per cent compared to France’s 75 per cent — and banned the un-jabbed from public spaces.When that proved ineffective at squelching new infections, he announced a nationwide lockdown, with an evaluation after 10 days.Political analyst Thomas Hofer blamed Mr Schallenberg for maintaining “the fiction” of a successfully contained pandemic for too long.“The government didn’t take the warnings of a next wave seriously,” he told reporters. “The chaos is evident.”SHOCK NEW GRAPH REVEALS NEXT Covid WAVEFifth-wave coronavirus infections in France are rising at an alarming rate, the government reported on Sunday, with new daily Covid cases close to doubling over the past week.The seven-day average of new cases in France reached 17,153 on Saturday, up from 9,458 a week earlier, according to the health authorities, an increase of 81 per cent.“The fifth wave is starting at lightning speed,” government spokesman Gabrial Attal told media.The latest seven-day increase is three times the average rise of cases recorded over the previous three weeks, indicating an exponential acceleration of infections.For now the spike in infections has not led to a massive influx of Covid patients into hospitals, with the authorities attributing the limited number of intensive care patients to France’s high rate of vaccinations which appear highly effective against the most dangerous forms of Covid.On Saturday, hospitals reported a total of 7,974 Covid patients in their care, with 1,333 of them in intensive treatment.This compares to 6,500 and 1,000, respectively, a month earlier. “There is a very strong increase in infections, but we also know that in France we have a very large vaccination cover,” he said. “We seem to be ahead of our neighbours concerning booster shots.” France’s introduction of a health pass ahead of other countries in the summer was also helping to keep Covid in check, he said.The health pass, required in French restaurants, cafes and many cultural venues, certifies that a person is fully vaccinated, has recently recovered from Covid, or has tested negative for the virus.The government continues to stand by its choice to “bring the weight of restrictions to bear on non-vaccinated people rather than vaccinated people”, Attal said.Europe is battling another wave of infections and several countries have tightened curbs despite high levels of vaccination, especially in the west of the continent.Belgium, one of the countries hit the hardest by the latest wave, on Wednesday expanded its work-from-home rules and strengthened curbs targeting the unvaccinated.With an average of nearly 10,300 new infections per day over the past week, Belgium is back to a rate of spread of the virus that has not been seen for a year.Belgium also recorded 42 Covid deaths on Friday
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