The countries of the European Union are arranged to prohibit flights from departure or destination to South Africa and six other African countries for fear that the new variant of Coronavirus B.1.1.529 (known as 'NU') spreads through those routes, They have informed Europe Press European Sources.
The restrictions will affect South Africa, Botswana, Esuatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and will apply "for fourteen days," the sources have required.
Representatives of the Twenty-seven gathered at first time of this Friday to study a proposal from the European Commission to activate the "emergency brake" that allows closing the outer border with certain countries where variants of interest or concern are located.
Brussels took the initiative in response to the request of several Member States to take the step in this direction and the issue has received the support of the rest of partners at a meeting held in the Community capital within the framework of the Political Response Device to the Crisis (IPR) at a technical level and ambassadors.
Twenty-seven have common guidelines that provide for activation of an "emergency brake" to coordinate the closure of the foreign border to countries where new variants are detected that may involve a risk to control the coronavirus pandemic in the EU .
This instrument, however, is based on a Brussels recommendation to define a "practical coordination" but does not represent a "legal obligation" for the Member States, which are the ones who retain the exclusive competences in this matter and decide individually how to act With transit on your borders.
A woman with symptoms of Coronavirus after a trip to Egypt with scale in Turkey is the first case confirmed in Belgium of a patient infected with the new 'Nu' variant. The diagnosis has been confirmed by the University Hospital Uz Leuven (Leuven) after examining an adult young woman who was not vaccinated and that he began to develop eleven symptoms after having made the trip to Egypt, according to the Belgian RTBF chain.
It is the first case confirmed in Europe of this variant that is related to the countries of South Africa, although the patient, who presents a high viral burden, does not seem to have any recent link with that region, according to the information offered by the case.
The diagnosis coincides with the European Commission's proposal to close the common border to flights originated or destination in the South African region, a measure that the twenty-seven should still examine in the afternoon of this Friday.
In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) will convene this Friday a meeting of experts to assess the new variant. The objective, as announced by the United Nations International Health Agency, is to determine if this variant "must be designated as a variant of interest or worrying variant."
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the leading epidemiologist of WHO, has pointed out that this new variant is not yet known, since there are hardly "less than 100 full genomic sequences available." In any case, she has detailed that "what is known is that this variant has a large number of mutations and the concern is that when you have so many mutations that can have an impact on how the virus behaves."
The epidemiologist has affirmed, however, that for the moment it is early to know the seriousness of the appearance of this new strain of the virus. "It will take a few weeks to understand what impact this variant has. There is a lot of work. It is a variant that is being monitored. We will discuss if it will become a variant of interest or concern and, if so, we will give you a Greek name, But it is something that must be monitored, "he explained.
Date Of Update: 26 November 2021, 11:22
