Switzerland announces the first suspected case of Omicron

Weather of Arabia - With the growing list of countries seeking to immunize themselves from the new mutant of the Corona virus, which contains several copies, the health ministers of the Group of Seven countries will hold an emergency meeting later, Monday, about “Omicron” that was discovered for the first time in South Africa, and understood The challenge it poses to efforts to combat the epidemic. This comes at a time when the World Health Organization raised its warnings about the new strain, saying that "the assessment of the overall global risk related to it is very high."

During a press briefing, Monday, the World Health Organization said that the possibility of an increase in the spread of the “Omicron” strain at the global level is high, noting that “there may be an increase in cases of “Covid-19” depending on the characteristics of “Omicron”, which will be It has dire consequences."

The “World Health” stated that “Omicron” has an unprecedented number of increased mutations, some of which raise concern regarding the possible impact on the course of the pandemic, explaining that “there is a great deal of uncertainty about the ability of “Omicron” to overcome the immune system.”

Meanwhile, Japan joined the list of countries that closed its borders to all new foreign arrivals, announced the imposition of tight restrictions on borders that were hoped to be a chapter in the past, and bar entry to all foreign newcomers just weeks after announcing that it would finally allow some visa holders to enter the country.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that his country is "in a stronger position than others in the face of the mutant (Omicron)," noting that the population voluntarily puts masks and adheres to the rules of prevention. The Philippines also announced that it would temporarily suspend plans to allow fully vaccinated tourists to enter, in an effort to prevent the spread of the mutation in a country where most of the population is still unvaccinated. Manila had hoped to revive its battered economy by allowing vaccinated tourists to enter from Wednesday.

The new mutant also raises doubts in Australia, which was cautiously lifting restrictions. The government has now announced that it is reconsidering its previous decision to ease travel restrictions, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison seemed reluctant to re-impose the strict closure measures that were imposed earlier this year, after he Three people from South Africa were confirmed to have Omicron. He said, "Not only do we need to learn how to coexist with (Covid), but we have to learn to live with its variants as well."

And the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday, Sunday, that governments are running a "race against time" to understand the mutation, adding that vaccine manufacturers need between two and three weeks "to get a complete picture of the type of mutations" present in "Omicron".

An increasing number of countries have imposed travel restrictions on southern Africa, including Qatar, the United States, Britain, Brazil, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Netherlands.