Tag: travel ban

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SA Scientists Criticise Developed Nations’ ‘Scepticism’ over Omicron

On By ModernMedia
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South African scientists have criticised developed nations for ignoring early evidence that Omicron was “dramatically” milder than the previous strains of the coronavirus, an attitude which could be construed as “racism”.

“It seems like high-income countries are much more able to absorb bad news that comes from countries like South Africa,” said Prof Shabir Madhi, vaccinologist at Wits University.

“When we’re providing good news, all of a sudden there’s a whole lot of scepticism. I would call that racism.”

Prof Salim Karim, former head of the South African government’s COVID advisory committee and vice-president of the International Science Council concurs.

“We need to learn from each other. Our research is rigorous. Everyone was expecting the worst and when they weren’t seeing it, they were questioning whether our observations were sufficiently scientifically rigorous,” he said, though he acknowledged that Omicron’s high number of mutations may have led to an overabundance of caution.

But by early December, anecdotal evidence was already indicating that Omicron caused far fewer hospitalisations than the Delta Wave, despite being more transmissible.

“The predictions we made at the start of December still hold. Omicron was less severe. Dramatically. The virus is evolving to adapt to the human host, to become like a seasonal virus,” said Prof Marta Nunes, senior researcher at the Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics department at Wits

“It didn’t take even two weeks before the first evidence started coming out that this is a much milder condition. And when we shared that with the world there was some scepticism,” Prof Karim added.

While some have argued that Africa’s pandemic experience is different due to factors such as its younger population, any advantage South Africa has is outweighed by poor health, with excess deaths during COVID at 480 per 100 000, one of the highest in the world. Prof Madhi points out a high prevalence of comorbidities such as obesity and HIV.

A majority of those excess deaths are probably due to the pandemic, many SA scientists believe. Half occurred during the Delta wave, but only 3% transpired during the Omicron wave so far, Prof Madhi pointed out.

The government chose not to tighten restrictions during the fourth wave, and criticised the reimposition of travel bans coming from South Africa. South African scientists have mostly welcomed this, even though the WHO continues to warn that Omicron should not be considered “mild”.

“We believe the virus is not going to be eradicated from the human population. We must now learn how to live with this virus and it will learn how to live with us,” said Prof Nunes.

The low death rate from Omicron indicates a different phase of the pandemic. “I’d refer to it as a convalescent phase,” said Prof Madhi. The government has already effectively stopped quarantining and contact tracing.

Source: BBC News

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Alcohol Curbs may Return while UK Red List may be Scrapped

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With the COVID test positivity rate climbing above 30%, President Cyril Ramaphosa is widely expected to address the nation in the coming days. Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said on Friday that the National Coronavirus Command Council would be meeting on Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss new restrictions in the face of surging infections.

The main concern is centred around the large number of gatherings that will take place over the festive period: under Level 1 lockdown rules, gatherings of up to 750 individuals are permitted indoors. The Bureau for Economic Research issued a report saying that data so far indicates that there are fewer hospitalisations and less severe disease with the Omicron variant, in line with observations made since the start of the variant’s outbreak.

A partial ban on alcohol sales seems likely, according to a source cited by City Press: “He is considering proposing to the NCCC and cabinet a few adjustments, which include banning the sale of alcohol on weekends and public holidays until mid-January. Don’t be surprised when we have a family meeting before Thursday. He is serious about protecting the country.”

He initially had no plans to address the nation, sources said, but was motivated to change his view in light of the increasing rate of transmission.

Meanwhile, the UK appears set to scrap its controversial red list, which had been widely viewed as unfairly targeting South Africa. The red list amounted to a virtual travel ban, with travellers forced to pay £2285 (R48 400) per person for a ten day stay in often substandard quarantine accommodation. However, it will come too late for many people who have cancelled travel plans.

In a windfall for South Africans, the cost of PCR testing has been revised downward to R500 from R850 as of Sunday following a complaint lodged with the Council for Medical Schemes against private pathology laboratories, alleging the pricing for COVID PCR tests was unfairly inflated. Pricing for rapid antigen tests is said to be next on the list for the Competition Commission. 

On Sunday, a technical glitch caused the National Health Laboratory Service to delay release of a large portion of test results. The glitch meant that initially 18 035 cases were released initially, which rose to over 37 000 after the correction.

The cause was put down to IT difficulties with various laboratories. 

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Paxlovid Ramped up and No ‘Red Flags’ for Omicron Yet

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In the face of a renewed global surge in COVID cases, Pfizer has ramped up production of Paxlovid, even while the efficacy of Merck’s molnupiravir appears to be less than believed.

Pfizer is now expecting to make 80 million courses of Paxlovid by the end of 2022, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC, a significant increase over its earlier planned capacity of 50 million courses.

This news came after Merck reported the risk reduction in hospitalisation and death from its COVID antiviral, molnupiravir, fell from 50% in the interim analysis to 30% in the final analysis. The reduction came after results were updated with participants that became evaluable after the interim analysis. This drop has led to predictions of increased demand for Paxlovid, which has shown an 89% risk reduction in outpatients.

The increase in production comes just in time to fight the Omicron variant, for which South Africa is now better prepared, according to experts.

‘No red flags’
According to Professor Salim Abdool Karim, director of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa, the numbers appear to be on the rise across all continents, but as yet there are “no red flags” he said.

Omicron has been identified by South African scientists as a major driver of the spike in cases in Gauteng.

“We have been amazed at how fast the numbers are going up,” he said. “But we were not caught with our pants down. We expected and prepared for a fourth wave. [The scientists] gave us the best fighting chance by giving us information early. We didn’t know exactly when it would come and what it would look like,” Prof Karim said, speaking to the Daily Maverick.

While a number of mutations enable the variant to escape immunity, a clear picture of Omicron’s nature won’t emerge for two to four weeks, he cautioned.

Speaking about travel bans imposed on South Africa by Mauritius, Rwanda, Egypt and the Seychelles, President Cyril Ramaphosa said ahead of a West African tour: “I am concerned. Out of due respect to them, they have their own reasons. We would like to have a discussion with them in a way we prefer that they do not react like our former colonisers who are very quick to close Africa down,” Ramaphosa told journalists.

EU accelerates child vaccinations
EU President von der Leyen has said that vaccines for children aged five to 11 will be available in the bloc by December 13, a week ahead of schedule and that she is pushing for the consideration of mandatory vaccination. This comes amidst news that Omicron was detected in the Netherlands before its first detection in South Africa. Meanwhile, in Asia, South Korea has reported its first five cases of Omicron.

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WHO Criticises Omicron Travel Bans as SA Stays at Level 1

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The emergence of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant which has resulted in renewed lockdowns and travel bans around the world, which have been criticised by the WHO. In contrast, South Africa will stick to an adjusted Level 1 lockdown for the time being, though pushing for mandatory vaccinations. Business and civil society groups had warned that increasing restrictions would have provoked backlash as recent election campaign events had effectively ignored them.

Many nations around the world have reacted quickly to the new variant, which has a large number of mutations compared to the Delta variant. The UK’s decision to suspend flights from South Africa as well as nine other African countries has provoked criticism from a number of quarters, including President Cyril Ramaphosa. The sudden move has caught many travellers by surprise, including a Welsh rugby team which had two members test positive, one of which was for Omicron. They will have to self-isolate before they are able to return, depending on flight availability.

Japan and Israel have taken the more extreme steps of closing their borders to foreigners. The first cases of Omicron that were recorded in Botswana were revealed to be in visiting diplomats, although which country they came from has not been revealed. 

The World Health Organization criticised the imposition of travel restrictions, acknowledging that although they may play a role in slightly reducing the spread of COVID, they still place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods. It pointed out that if restrictions are implemented, they should not be unnecessarily invasive or intrusive, and should be scientifically based, under international law, the International Health Regulations. It notes South Africa followed International Health Regulations, and informed WHO as soon as its national laboratory identified the Omicron variant. 

“The speed and transparency of the South African and Botswana governments in informing the world of the new variant is to be commended. WHO stands with African countries which had the courage to boldly share life-saving public health information, helping protect the world against the spread of COVID,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “On the eve of a special session on pandemic preparedness I urge all countries to respect their legal obligations and implement scientifically based public health actions. It is critical that countries which are open with their data are supported as this is the only way to ensure we receive important data in a timely manner.”

Although a full picture of the new variant’s severity is still two or three weeks away, Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, told the AFP she had recently seen around 30 patients at her Pretoria practice who tested positive for COVID but had unfamiliar symptoms.

“What brought them to the surgery was this extreme tiredness,” she said, something she said was unusual for younger patients. Most were men under 40, and just under half were vaccinated. Other symptoms included mild muscle aches, a “scratchy throat” and dry cough, she said. Just a few had a slightly high temperature. These very mild symptoms stand in contrast to other variants, which typically result in more severe symptoms.