Covid 19 Delta outbreak: There were 173 new cases in the community today. Video NZ Herald
European Union nations were moving to stop air travel from southern Africa on Friday, seeking to counter the spread of a new Covid-19 variant as the 27-nation bloc battles a massive spike in cases.
"The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems," said German Health Minister Jens Spahn.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that she "proposes, in close coordination with the member states, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region".
Scientists say the new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country's most populous province.
Germany said von der Leyen's proposal could be enacted as soon as Friday night. Spahn said airlines coming back from South Africa will only be able to transport German citizens home, and travellers will need to go into quarantine for 14 days whether they are vaccinated or not.
Germany has seen new record daily case numbers in recent days and passed the mark of 100,000 deaths from Covid-19 on Thursday.
Italy's health ministry also announced measures to ban entry into Italy of anyone who has been in seven southern African nations — South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini — in the past 14 days because of the new variant.
"These nations are considered high-risk areas. It means a quarantine and double testing for travellers from these countries," said Dutch Health Minister Hugo De Jonge.
In Israel, the health ministry said it had detected the country's first case of the new coronavirus variant in a traveller who returned from Malawi. The traveller and two other suspected cases have been placed in isolation. It said all three are vaccinated but it is looking into their exact vaccination status.
A fourth spike of the coronavirus is hitting the 27-nation EU especially badly, with governments scrambling to tighten restrictions in an attempt to contain spread. The flight ban proposal came in the wake of similar action from Britain on Thursday.
The UK announced it was banning flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries effective at noon on Friday, and anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronavirus test.
People wait to get vaccinated at a shopping mall in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo / AP
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there were concerns the new variant "may be more transmissible" than the dominant Delta strain, and "the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective" against it.
The coronavirus evolves as it spreads and many new variants, including those with worrying mutations, often just die out. Scientists monitor for possible changes that could be more transmissible or deadly, but sorting out whether new variants will have a public health impact can take time.
Currently identified as B.1.1.529, the new variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong in travellers from South Africa, he said.
The World Health Organisation's technical working group is to meet Friday to assess the new variant and may decide whether to give it a name from the Greek alphabet.
The World Health Organisation says coronavirus infections jumped 11 per cent in Europe in the past week, the only region in the world where Covid-19 continues to rise. The WHO's Europe director, Dr Hans Kluge, warned without urgent measures, the continent could see another 700,000 deaths by the spring.
The EU's emergency brake mechanism has been set up to deal with such emergencies.
Where the epidemiological situation of a third country or region worsens quickly, in particular if a variant of concern or of interest has been detected, member states should adopt an urgent, temporary restriction on all travel into the EU. This emergency brake should not apply to EU citizens, long-term EU residents and certain categories of essential travellers, who should nevertheless be subject to appropriate testing and quarantine measures, even if fully vaccinated.
Such restrictions should be reviewed at least every two weeks.
