Renowned virologist and infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the COVID-19 Omicron strain may be less dangerous than the Delta variant.
Therefore, the authorities are already reviewing travel restrictions to South Africa.
The United States was one of the first countries in the world to impose a ban on air traffic with South Africa, on whose territory cases of infection with a new COVID-19 mutation with the Omicron strain were detected. But currently, the US authorities are reviewing this decision, which still remains in force, although Omicron has already spread to dozens of other countries. Currently, air traffic with 7 countries of Southern Africa is banned, from where planes cannot fly to the United States.
At the same time, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has already called this ban “apartheid for travelers.” Last year, the World Health Organization strongly demanded not to discriminate against Chinese citizens in any way and not to interrupt flights with China, where the epidemic broke out. This was the main reason for the beginning of the worst pandemic in the history of mankind, which has already claimed the lives of more than 5 million people. At the same time, the Chinese themselves immediately closed their borders with the rest of the world when they suppressed the coronavirus on their territory, and no one accused them of apartheid.
According to Dr. Fauci, the ban on air travel is being overestimated on a daily basis. According to the information at his disposal, the new version of the coronavirus does not pose any increased danger. But even if it does not cause a more severe form of coronavirus, Omicron bypasses the protection that vaccines give. This means that it will provoke a more powerful surge in morbidity. And this, purely arithmetically, will still lead to increased mortality.
