{"id":374523,"date":"2021-11-30T23:20:01","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T20:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/over-60s-vulnerable-should-postpone-travel-due-to-omicron-who\/"},"modified":"2021-11-30T23:20:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T20:20:01","slug":"over-60s-vulnerable-should-postpone-travel-due-to-omicron-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/over-60s-vulnerable-should-postpone-travel-due-to-omicron-who\/","title":{"rendered":"#Over-60s, vulnerable should postpone travel due to Omicron: WHO"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Over-60s, vulnerable should postpone travel<\/a> due to Omicron: WHO<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\n \"Omicron
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The WHO said Tuesday that while blanket travel bans would not stop the spread of the Omicron variant, COVID-vulnerable people, including the over-60s, should postpone plans to travel abroad.\n <\/p>\n

Omicron, the new COVID-19 variant of concern which the World Health Organization says poses a “very high” risk globally, has prompted many countries to shut their borders.<\/p>\n

“Blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread, and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods,” the WHO said in a travel advice statement on Omicron.<\/p>\n

“In addition, they can adversely impact global health efforts during a pandemic by disincentivising countries to report and share epidemiological and sequencing data.”<\/p>\n

First reported to the WHO less than a week ago after being detected in southern Africa earlier this month, Omicron has already app<\/a>eared in several countries.<\/p>\n

The WHO noted the increasing number of governments introducing travel measures, including temporarily banning arrivals from countries where the variant has been found.<\/p>\n

The WHO said that as of Sunday, 56 countries were reportedly implementing travel measures aimed at potentially delaying the importation of the new variant.<\/p>\n

“It is expected that the Omicron variant will be detected in an increasing number of countries as national authorities step up their surveillance and sequencing activities,” it said.<\/p>\n

“Persons who are unwell or at risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease and dying, including people 60 years of age or older or those with co-morbidities (e.g. heart disease, cancer and diabetes), should be advised to postpone travel,” said the WHO.<\/p>\n

The WHO advised countries to apply an “evidence-informed and risk-based approach” when implementing travel measures.<\/p>\n

The UN health agency said national authorities in countries of departure, transit and arrival could apply mitigation measures that might delay or reduce the exportation and importation of the variant.<\/p>\n

They could include screening passengers, testing and quarantine.<\/p>\n

“All measures should be commensurate with the risk, time-limited and applied with respect to travellers’ dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”<\/p>\n

The WHO said that “essential international travel”, including for humanitarian missions, repatriations and transport of vital supplies, should always be prioritised during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

‘Calm, coordinated, coherent’<\/b><\/p>\n

Earlier Tuesday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states to keep calm and take “rational” steps in response to Omicron.<\/p>\n

“We call on all member states to take rational, proportional risk-reduction measures,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The global response must be calm, coordinated and coherent.”<\/p>\n

Tedros stressed that it remains unclear how dangerous the variant is.<\/p>\n

“We still have more questions than answers about the effect of Omicron on transmission, severity of disease, and the effectiveness of tests, therapeutics and vaccines,” he said.<\/p>\n

The WHO chief said it was understandable that countries wanted to protect their citizens “against a variant that we don’t yet fully understand”.<\/p>\n

“But I am equally concerned that several member states are introducing blunt, blanket measures that are not evidence-based or effective on their own, and which will only worsen inequities.”\n <\/p>\n\n

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Canada confirms first COVID Omicron infections\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Over-60s, vulnerable should postpone travel due to Omicron: WHO (2021, November 30)
\n retrieved 30 November 2021
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news<\/a>\/2021-11-over-60s-vulnerable-postpone-due-omicron.html<\/p>\n

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