WHO warns against travel bans as Omicron spreads

GENEVA－The World Health Organization has warned that blanket travel bans will not prevent the spread of the Omicron variant, as more countries rushed to impose curbs and the first cases of the new coronavirus strain were detected in Latin America.

In the week since the new strain was reported by South Africa, dozens of countries around the world have responded with travel restrictions－most targeting southern African nations.

Canada will extend its ban on travelers from southern Africa to also cover those from Nigeria, Malawi and Egypt, health officials said on Tuesday, for a total of 10 countries.

France will extend until at least Saturday its suspension of flights from southern African countries.

But the WHO warned on Tuesday that blanket travel bans risked doing more harm than good.

In a travel advisory, the WHO said the bans could ultimately dissuade countries from sharing data about the evolving virus.

The agency's chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said it was understandable for countries to seek to protect their citizens "against a variant we don't yet fully understand".

But he called for the global response to be "calm, coordinated and coherent", urging nations to "take rational, proportional risk-reduction measures".

The likely futility of broad travel restrictions was underscored as Dutch authorities reported that Omicron was present in the country before South Africa officially reported its first cases on Nov 25.

Latin America reported its first two cases on Tuesday－in people who traveled from South Africa to Brazil.

Adrian Puren, the acting executive director at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa, said the severity of Omicron is yet to be determined.

"Scientists are trying to establish if the new variant has increased transmissibility and developed ways to escape some of our immune responses," Puren said in a statement on Tuesday.

Michelle Groome, head of the Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response at the institute in South Africa, said responsible actions and adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions are key to limiting the impact of a fourth wave.

However, Fiji reopened its border to international travelers for the first time in nearly two years on Wednesday, as the Pacific Island country seeks to revive its dominant tourism industry. Fiji shut its border to all foreign nationals in March 2020.

With about 90 percent of all Fijian adults now fully vaccinated, the nation has reopened to tourists from a small number of countries－much to the relief of tourism operators.

Agencies and Edith Mutethya in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this story.