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AUSTIN (KXAN) – The US will be restricting travel to South Africa and several surrounding countries starting Monday. The move comes shortly after the World Health Organization declared a new strain of COVID-19 called Omicron to be a “worrying variant.”
The travel restrictions will not affect U.S. residents with a negative COVID-19 test. In addition to South Africa, it applies to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.
Health experts fear that this new variant, called Omicron, could be highly transmissible, more resistant to vaccines, and lead to an increased risk of reinfection.
“There is no need to panic at this point,” said Professor Dr. Thomas Giordano from Baylor College of Medicine.
“What is so alarming about this variant to a lot of people?” Asked KXAN investigative reporter Matt Grant.
“It has a lot more mutations than previous variants,” said Giordano. “And some of these variants are in the spike protein,” which helps the virus enter cells.
Other countries, including the UK and Israel, have already introduced similar travel restrictions and raised concerns about the portability of the new variant. The European Union has imposed a similar travel ban. However, Belgium already reported a case of the Omicron variant in a traveler who had returned from North Africa two weeks ago.
It is unclear how long these new measures will last into the busy vacation travel season.
Countries Affected by US Travel Restrictions Beginning November 29th
Dr. Giordano says more research needs to be done on the variant. He’s not sure the travel restrictions will work, but says he understands the need.
“Unless you completely isolate the borders and close things up in such a way that very few people have the courage to do more,” he said shortly before the ban was published, “I don’t think travel restrictions have a huge impact. “
Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development’s co-director, Dr. Peter Hotez, a leading expert, says we should assume it’s likely to be in the US by now.
Still, he’s not worried.
“The Delta variant is by far the most transferable we’ve seen,” Hotez said on MSNBC Friday. “It takes a lot to outperform Delta. So I’m far from panic. “
At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, travelers said they were cautious but not overly concerned.
Passengers said the new variant won’t change their vacation travel plans.
“If it’s really bad and we’re worried about it, then they should have stopped (flights),” said Charles Luton, before returning to Miami to support the restrictions.
“Everyone is as good as about it,” said Austin Byrom, who is traveling to Disney World with his wife, children and mother. “But at the same time it’s still there. It’s still something to worry about. “
“I think it’s always in the back of my mind,” said Byrom’s mother, Ellie Delagarza. “But we try to be as hard-working as possible [and] still have a life. “
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https://www.kxan.com/news/coronavirus/texas-medical-experts-travelers-react-to-new-covid-19-variant-of-concern-omicron/
