By RAF CASERT and ANDREW MELDRUM
BRUSSELS (AP) —
Economic powerhouses Japan and France reported their first cases of the omicron
variant Tuesday, while new findings indicate the mutant coronavirus was already
in Europe close to a week before South Africa sounded the alarm.
The Netherlands’
RIVM health institute disclosed that patient samples dating from Nov. 19 and 23
were found to contain the variant. It was last Wednesday, Nov. 24, that South
African authorities reported the existence of the highly mutated virus to the
World Health Organization.
That indicates
omicron had a bigger head start in the Netherlands than previously believed.
Together with the
cases in Japan and France, the finding illustrates the difficulty in containing
the virus in an age of jet travel and economic globalization. And it left the
world once again whipsawed between hopes of returning to normal and fears that
the worst is yet to come.
The pandemic has
shown repeatedly that the virus “travels quickly because of our globalized,
interconnected world,” said Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease specialist at
the Yale School of Public Health. Omicron demonstrates that until the
vaccination drive reaches every country, “we’re going to be in this situation
again and again.”
Much remains
unknown about the new variant, including whether it is more contagious, as some
health authorities suspect, whether it makes people more seriously ill, and
whether it can thwart the vaccine.
But a WHO official said
that given the growing number of omicron cases in South Africa and neighboring
Botswana, parts of southern Africa could soon be witnessing a steep rise in
infections.
“There is a
possibility that really we’re going to be seeing a serious doubling or tripling
of the cases as we move along or as the week unfolds,” said Dr. Nicksy
Gumede-Moeletsi, a WHO regional virologist.
After a period of
low transmission in South Africa, new cases began to increase rapidly in
mid-November. The country is now seeing nearly 3,000 confirmed new infections
per day.
As of Tuesday, 44
cases of omicron were reported across 11 European Union nations, said the EU’s
European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, adding that the majority
involved a history of travel to Africa. Outside the EU and southern Africa,
omicron infections have turned up in such places as Australia, Canada, Britain
and Israel.
American disease
trackers said omicron could already be in the United States and probably will
be detected soon.
“I am expecting it
any day now,” said Scott Becker of the Association of Public Health
Laboratories. “We expect it is here.”
While the variant
was first identified by South African researchers, it is unclear where and when
it originated — information that could help shed light on how fast it spreads.
The announcement
from the Dutch on Tuesday could shape that timeline.
Previously, the
Netherlands said it found the variant among passengers who came from South
Africa on Friday, the same day the Dutch and other EU members began imposing
flight bans and other restrictions on southern Africa. But the newly identified
cases predate that.
NOS, the
Netherlands’ public broadcaster, said that one of the two omicron samples came
from a person who had been in southern Africa.
Belgium reported a
case involving a traveler who returned to the country from Egypt on Nov. 11 but
did not become sick with mild symptoms until Nov. 22.
Japan announced a
ban on all foreign visitors starting Tuesday — the same day the country
confirmed its first omicron case, in a Namibian diplomat who had recently
arrived from his country.
France likewise
recorded its first case, in the island territory of Reunion in the Indian
Ocean. The patient was identified as a man who had returned to Reunion from
South Africa and Mozambique on Nov. 20, before WHO learned of the variant.
Many health
officials tried to calm fears, insisting that vaccines remain the best defense
and that the world must redouble its efforts to get the shots to every part of
the globe.
Emer Cooke, chief
of the European Medicines Agency, said that the 27-nation EU is well prepared
for the variant and that the vaccine could be adapted for use against omicron
within three or four months if necessary.
England reacted to
the emerging threat by making face coverings mandatory again on public
transportation and in stores, banks and hair salons. And one month ahead of
Christmas, the head of Britain’s Health Security Agency urged people not to
socialize if they don’t need to.
After COVID-19 led
to a one-year postponement of the Summer Games, Olympic organizers began to
worry about the February Winter Games in Beijing. Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Zhao Lijian said omicron would “certainly bring some challenges in
terms of prevention and control.”
World markets
continued to seesaw on every piece of medical news, whether worrisome or
reassuring. Stocks fell on Wall Street in the morning after Moderna’s CEO
expressed concern about the effectiveness of the vaccines against omicron.
Around the globe,
stocks mostly slipped as investors weighed how much damage the variant might do
to the economy.
Some analysts think
a serious economic downturn will probably be averted because many people have
been vaccinated. But they also think a return to pre-pandemic levels of
economic activity, especially in tourism, has been dramatically delayed.
Meldrum reported
from Johannesburg. AP journalists from around the world contributed.
Full Coverage: Omicron
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