covid: New Covid variant triggers travel ban, plunges markets: Top developments – Times of India
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Amid fears that the new variant could be even more contagious and evade immunisation, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it will take several weeks to understand it.
Here are the top developments across the world:
Countries impose travel ban
Europe rushed to ban travel from southern Africa on Friday to keep a check on the spread of a new Covid-19 strain that scientists fear could torpedo efforts to beat the pandemic.
Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands on Friday announced a ban on flights from South Africa. Some European nations also suspended flights from Botswana, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
UK
The UK also added six countries to its travel ban red list from southern Africa, where B.1.1.529 strain was first identified.
The UK has applied travel restrictions on arrivals from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia starting Friday, as the government reiterated that no cases of the new mutation had been detected in the UK so far.
France
France has suspended all flights coming from southern Africa for 48 hours, French health minister Olivier Veran told journalists.
Veran said the new variant had not yet been “diagnosed” in Europe, adding that all persons who recently arrived from the region will be tested and closely monitored.
Israel
Israel on Friday imposed a travel ban covering most of Africa after the detection of a new variant of the coronavirus in South Africa that could be more contagious than the Delta strain.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met health experts on Friday to discuss how best to respond to a new Covid variant.
“We are currently on the verge of a state of emergency,” Bennett said, according to a statement from his office. “Our main principle is to act fast, strong and now.”
Japan
The Japanese government announced that from Friday, Japanese nationals traveling from Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Lesotho will have to quarantine at government-dedicated accommodation for 10 days and do a Covid test on Day 3, Day 6 and Day 10. Japan has not yet opened up to foreign nationals.
Global markets take plunge
The new variant immediately impacted the stock markets around the world as global stocks and oil prices tumbled on Friday.
Shares and currencies in Asia’s emerging markets fell sharply.
European stocks plunged 2.7%, on track for their worst day since September 2020, with travel and leisure stocks particularly badly hit.
London’s benchmark fell by an unusually wide margin of 3.3 per cent at the opening and Tokyo lost 2.5 per cent. Shanghai, Frankfurt and Hong Kong also declined.
In India, stock markets plunged to 7-month lows as investors sold off risky assets. The BSE sensex plunged 1,688 points to close at 57,107. The broader NSE Nifty also tanked nearly 3%.
As a result, investors lost over Rs 7.35 lakh crore, with the BSE benchmark Sensex plummeting 1,688 points amid a global selloff triggered by a new coronavirus variant.
Cryptocurrencies tumble
Bitcoin tumbled over 9% on Friday, dragging smaller tokens down, after the discovery of the new variant saw investors dump riskier assets for the perceived safety of bonds, the yen and the dollar.
Bitcoin, the largest digital currency, fell as much as 9.2% to $53,551, its lowest since Oct. 10. The second largest cryptocurrency ether fell over 13% to its lowest in a month as investors ditched cryptocurrencies.
Belgium detects first case of new variant in Europe
Belgium on Friday detected the first case of the new coronavirus variant which was first found in South Africa, a virologist said.
The infected person tested positive on November 22 and had not had Covid-19 before.
A leading Belgian virologist, Marc Van Ranst, tweeted that the person had returned from Egypt on November 11.
WHO cautions against travel curbs
The WHO cautioned against imposing new travel restrictions over the new Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529.
“WHO recommends that countries continued to apply a risk based and a scientific approach when implementing travel measures… implementing travel measures is being cautioned against,” spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.
‘Will take several weeks to understand new variant’
It would take several weeks to determine the variant’s transmissibility and the effectiveness of vaccines and therapeutics against it, Lindmeier said, noting that 100 sequences of the variant have been reported so far.
People should continue to wear masks whenever possible, avoid large gatherings, ventilate rooms and maintain hand hygiene, Lindmeier added.
“We don’t know very much about this yet. What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations. And the concern is when you have so many mutations it can have an impact on how the virus behaves,” said Maria van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist and WHO technical lead on Covid-19.
‘Halt air travel with places with new variant’
The European Union’s chief executive on Friday called for a suspension of air travel connection to places where a new coronavirus variant has been detected.
“It is now important that all of us in Europe act very swiftly, decisively and united,” she said, in calling for EU citizens to get vaccinated and improve their protection with booster jabs.
“All air travel to these countries should be suspended until we have a clearer understanding about the danger posed by this new variant,” she said.
What we know about the variant
The variant — called B.1.1.529 — has a “very unusual constellation” of mutations, which are concerning because they could help it evade the body’s immune response and make it more transmissible.
The new variant has a “constellation” of new mutations, said Tulio de Oliveira, from the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, who has tracked the spread of the delta variant in the country.
The “very high number of mutations is a concern for predicted immune evasion and transmissibility,” said de Oliveira.
The variant, reportedly, has 32 mutations in the spike protein — the part of the virus that most vaccines use to prime the immune system against Covid. Mutations in the spike protein can affect the virus’s ability to infect cells and spread, but also make it harder for immune cells to attack the pathogen.
Where did it come from?
The first surge in Covid cases was observed in South Africa’s Pretoria and the surrounding Tshwane metropolitan area and appeared to be cluster outbreaks from student gatherings at universities in the area. Amid the rise in cases, scientists studied the genomic sequencing and discovered the new variant.
South African health minister Joe Phaahla said the variant was of “serious concern” and behind an “exponential” increase in reported cases, making it “a major threat”.
The variant has also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong among travellers from South Africa.
(With agency inputs)
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