Omicron—and related travel restrictions—are spreading faster than virologists can determine how the new strain’s mutations manifest.
(Originally published Dec. 1 in “What in the World“) There isn’t much more to know yet about Omicron—other than how rapidly it’s spreading. The virus has now been found in arrivals to 20 nations (though not yet in the United States) and now appears to have been detected in the Netherlands several days before South Africa announced its discovery of the new strain of Covid-19. Worse, passengers arriving in Amsterdam recently from South Africa carried several variations of Omicron, meaning it was likely that the new strain had spread widely enough to start evolving separately in different populations.
Omicron also may be displacing Delta in South Africa: in the past two weeks, it has gone from accounting for roughly 30% of all reported cases to representing 90% of recorded infections. But experts there said there still weren’t enough cases to make this conclusion. It’s still also not known whether vaccines are effective against Omicron, or if the new strain causes symptoms as severe as Delta and earlier strains. Disease experts are nevertheless saying the new strain underscores the importance of getting vaccine booster shots.
As the new strain spreads, awareness is spreading with it that allowing people to walk away from an airplane after hours crammed in a small space together without first testing and quarantining them—as is still required in China, including Hong Kong—makes little sense. Even if they’ve been tested and vaccinated before stepping on the plane, they may disembark with more than their rolling bags. More and more countries are thus closing their borders altogether to international travelers, reimposing quarantine requirements and, like Greece, mandating vaccines for vulnerable populations. Japan appears to have extended its border closure to all incoming travelers, including citizens.
The World Health Organization has recommended that anyone unvaccinated over the age of 60 defer travel. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing to shorten the window for visitors to produce a negative Covid test before traveling to the United States, from 72 hours to just 24.
One of the riskiest places to go for catching Covid may be the hospital. A U.S. federal judge has blocked a mandate from U.S President Joe Biden requiring anyone working in a hospital or a nursing home to be vaccinated, meaning that doctor, nurse or orderly you see may be unvaccinated and therefore more likely to be carrying the virus.