New virus variant emerges in Africa, some nations halt air travel

Medical experts, including the World Health Organization, warned against any overreaction before the variant that originated in southern Africa was better understood. But a jittery world feared the worst nearly two years after COVID-19 emerged and triggered a pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people around the globe.

"The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems," German Health Minister Jens Spahn said. The member nations of the EU have experienced a massive spike in cases recently. Showing how complicated the spread of a variant can be, the Belgian case involved a traveler who returned to Belgium from Egypt on Nov. 11 but did not became sick with mild symptoms until Monday, according to professor Marc Van Ranst, who works for the scientific group overseeing the Belgian government's COVID-19 response.

Some experts said the variant's emergence illustrated how rich countries' hoarding of vaccines threatens to prolong the pandemic. "Investors are likely to shoot first and ask questions later until more is known," said Jeffrey Halley of foreign exchange broker Oanda. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agreed and strongly discouraged any travel bans on countries that reported the new variant. It said past experience shows that such travel bans have "not yielded a meaningful outcome."

Close Africa

Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

World takes action as new variant emerges in southern AfricaA slew of nations moved to stop air travel from southern Africa on Friday, and stocks plunged in Asia and Europe in reaction to news of a new, potentially more transmissible COVID-19 variant. Within a few days of the discovery of the new variant, it has already impacted on a jittery society that is sensitive to bad COVID-19 news. Except Canada. A skin melting virus wouldn’t stop Justin from keeping the door open. New variant turns out be *checks notes* the flu, again. 🤡🤡🤡 Who saw this coming?
Source: CTVNews - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »

New virus variant emerges in Africa, stokes worldwide fearsThe discovery of a new coronavirus variant sent a chill through much of the world Friday as nations raced to halt air travel, markets fell sharply and scientists held emergency meetings to weigh the exact risks, which were largely unknown. That’s racist! Poor Africa. Why isn’t it called Chinese Virus if that’s where it originated? Full bullshit
Source: CP24 - 🏆 30. / 67 Read more »

Canadian officials 'monitoring' new COVID-19 variant as calls grow for new border restrictionsAs federal officials prepare to provide an update on the COVID-19 pandemic Friday afternoon, the country’s transport minister says officials are 'monitoring the situation' as concerns grow over a new variant of the coronavirus. So it was only racist when we should have stopped C19 from China. Ahhhh I see. BAN ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSERS Thank you JustinTrudeau
Source: CTVNews - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »