Posted on 11/27/21
| News Source: i24
Fears grow that the pandemic and associated lockdown restrictions will persist for far longer than expected
Governments worldwide are scrambling to protect their countries against the new omicron variant of the coronavirus by banning flights from southern African nations where it is believed to be spreading, although several cases were confirmed in Europe and the Middle East.
Britain, Germany and Italy detected cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new steps to contain the dangerous new strain.
The World Health Organization (WHO) designated it a variant of concern and many countries are racing to try and contain it, banning flights from southern Africa.
The South African government said the flurry of travel bans is "akin to punishing" the country “for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants quicker.”
Amid fears that the new variant could be more resistant to the protection offered by vaccines, there are growing concerns that the pandemic and associated health curbs will persist for far longer than hoped.