Variant's US arrival adds to global alarm

WASHINGTON－Fears over the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant rose on Thursday after the first case was reported in the United States and the Japanese central bank warned of economic pain as countries respond with tighter containment measures.

The first known US case was a fully vaccinated person in California who returned to the country from South Africa on Nov 22 and tested positive seven days later.

US President Joe Biden was working on the US strategy for fighting COVID-19 this winter, and sources said one step will be extending requirements for travelers to wear masks through mid-March. A formal announcement was expected on Thursday local time, the sources said.

The White House also plans to announce stricter testing rules for international visitors.

The detection and spread of Omicron have highlighted that the now nearly two-year global fight against COVID-19 is far from over.

The World Health Organization issued stern warnings on Wednesday on the dangers of vaccination apathy, and the European Union put mandatory jabs on the table.

"Globally, we have a toxic mix of low vaccine coverage, and very low testing－a recipe for breeding and amplifying variants," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reminding the world that the Delta variant accounts for almost all reported infections. "We need to use the tools we already have to prevent transmission and save lives from Delta. And if we do that, we will also prevent transmission and save lives from Omicron," he said.

Much remains unknown about the new variant, which was first found on Nov 8 in South Africa and has spread to at least two dozen countries.

The WHO said it could take several weeks to understand whether Omicron is more transmissible, and whether it results in more severe disease－as well as how effective current treatments and vaccines are against it.

South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases said early epidemiological data suggested that Omicron was able to evade some immunity, but existing vaccines should still protect against severe disease and death.

Confusion over strategy

Japan reversed on Thursday a ban on new inbound flight reservations, revealing confusion between government agencies and the public over Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's strategy to keep out the Omicron variant.

On Monday, Japan's aviation bureau told airlines not to accept new reservations for December over Omicron, two cases of which have been found so far, but the abrupt move provoked worries among those aiming to return for year-end holidays.

Kishida said the move caused confusion, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno added that the prime minister had asked the transport ministry, which oversees the airline industry, to keep in mind the needs of returning Japanese.

Airlines may now take new reservations as long as arrivals stay within a daily limit of 3,500, down from last month's figure of 5,000, a transport ministry official said.

Early indications suggesting Omicron may be markedly more contagious than previous variants have rattled financial markets, which fear that new restrictions could choke off a tentative recovery from the economic ravages of the pandemic.

Key share markets in Japan and Australia were weaker in morning trade on Thursday after Wall Street's major indexes fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday as investors reacted to the first US case and mounting concerns about inflation.

Bank of Japan board member Hitoshi Suzuki said Japan's economic recovery may miss expectations if the spread of the Omicron variant hurts consumption, or supply bottlenecks persist.

"If the impact of supply constraints are bigger or lasts longer than expected, there's a risk economic growth may further undershoot expectations" next year, Suzuki said.

As of Sunday, 56 countries were reportedly implementing travel measures to guard against Omicron, the WHO said.

Latest restrictions

In the latest restrictions, South Korea on Thursday halted quarantine exemptions for fully vaccinated inbound travelers for two weeks as daily coronavirus case numbers rose to a new high. South Korea confirmed its first five cases of the Omicron variant on Wednesday.

The US has barred nearly all foreigners who have been in any of eight southern African countries.

In Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the EU should start a discussion on whether mandatory vaccinations are needed.

Acknowledging that such a decision was "pure member state competence", she noted that around 150 million people in the bloc had not taken a jab.

"We have the vaccines, the lifesaving vaccines, but they are not being used adequately everywhere. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best," she said.

Austria has already said it will make jabs compulsory next February, Germany is considering a similar approach, and Greece said on Tuesday it would mandate vaccines for people over the age of 60.

Agencies - Xinhua - China Daily