INTERNATIONAL. The rapid spread of a new COVID-19 variant currently labelled B.1.1.529 has led to a sudden wave of new travel restrictions and hit stock market indexes around the world. Travel-related shares are in the frontline of the blast.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is hosting a meeting today to assess the severity of the new variant.
Several European and Asian countries have tightened travel restrictions today after the variant was detected in South Africa. Some reports have suggested that B.1.1.529 (likely to be given the Latin name ‘Nu’ today by the WHO) may be more resistant to existing vaccines than its predecessors but that has not been confirmed by the WHO yet.
Hong Kong’s Department of Health revealed the first two cases on Thursday, one involving a recent arrival from South Africa, the other another hotel quarantine guest living across the hall believed to have been infected by the former. Both were fully vaccinated.
In the UK, from midday today UK time, flights from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini into Britain will be banned until 04:00 GMT on Sunday with all those countries added to the UK’s red list.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health announced today that all travellers with recent travel history to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe will be prohibited from entering into or transiting through Singapore from 11.59pm on Saturday 27 November.
According to the South China Morning Post, the variant has been found to have 32 spike protein mutations, compared with the 13 to 17 seen in the more prevalent Delta variant, according to some overseas research. Generally speaking, the higher the number of mutations – which are known to help the virus evade the body’s immune response – the greater the chances of infection, the report said.
