Old Joe restricts travel to some countries because of Covid

[Faber]

It's interesting that this new African variant is called omicron variant. They bypassed the Greek letter xi. I wonder why?

xi.jpg

[Gondwanaland]

It's interesting that this new African variant is called omicron variant. They bypassed the Greek letter xi. I wonder why?

xi.jpg

Yep, and IIRC it's the WHO who has been doing the naming, so not surprised they skipped naming one after their boss.

At least skipping Nu made sense, because it would sound like you're saying New Variant instead of Nu variant when you say it out loud. This one, well, the explanation is plain.

[seanD]

It's never going to end - is it....

Nope. Unless we the people forcefully end it.

[firstfloor]

Omicron seems to be super contagious. It might rapidly become the dominant strain.

[rogue06]

Omicron seems to be super contagious. It might rapidly become the dominant strain.

Have any of the variants not been called super contagious?

What's more important is how lethal is it.

[Gondwanaland]

Omicron seems to be super contagious. It might rapidly become the dominant strain.

There doesn't seem to be any actual evidence of that. Just fearmongering suppositions and moronic countries like Israel locking down despite not having any cases (EDIT: sorry, ONE case)and having literally almost every citizen at least double vaxxed if not triple vaxxed. And then doing this: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/omnic...-israel-687223

[Gondwanaland]

All this scaremongering over something with even more mild symptoms:

This is what the Branch Covidians are trying to fearmonger about:

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa...ms-2021-11-28/

A South African doctor who was one of the first to suspect a different coronavirus strain among patients said on Sunday that symptoms of the Omicron variant were so far mild and could be treated at home.




Dr. Angelique Coetzee, a private practitioner and chair of South African Medical Association, told Reuters that on Nov. 18 she noticed seven patients at her clinic who had symptoms different from the dominant Delta variant, albeit "very mild".

Now designated Omicron by the World Health Organization, the variant was detected and announced by South Africa's National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Nov. 25 from samples taken from a laboratory from Nov. 14 to Nov. 16.




"Symptoms at that stage was very much related to normal viral infection. And because we haven't seen COVID-19 for the past eight to 10 weeks, we decided to test," she said, adding that the patient and his family turned out to be positive.




On the same day, more patients came in with similar symptoms, which was when she realised there was "something else going on." Since then, she's seen two to three patients a day.

"We have seen a lot of Delta patients during the third wave. And this doesn't fit in the clinical picture," she said, adding she alerted NICD on the same day with the clinical results.




"Most of them are seeing very, very mild symptoms and none of them so far have admitted patients to surgeries. We have been able to treat these patients conservatively at home," she said.

Coetzee, who is also on the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccines, said unlike the Delta so far patients have not reported loss of smell or taste and there has been no major drop in oxygen levels with the new variant.




Her experience so far has been that the variant is affecting people who are 40 or younger. Almost half of the patients with Omicron symptoms that she treated were not vaccinated.

"The most predominant clinical complaint is severe fatigue for one or two days. With them, the headache and the body aches and pain."




The news of the new variant emerging from South Africa prompted a swift reaction from several countries, including Britain, which on Friday imposed a travel ban on several southern African countries with immediate effect, a decision South Africa has strongly contested

https://www.cityam.com/coronavirus-b...delta-variant/

Hospitals and GPs across Southern Africa are increasingly reporting that the symptoms of the aggressive new Covid strain Omicron are “unusual but very mild,” according to various media in South Africa this weekend.

Around 90 per cent of all new infections in the Johannesburg region are now caused by the Omicron strain but, so far, the Covid death rate and even hospital admissions appear not to be increasing significantly, local media report.

Some experts are therefore cautiously optimistic that – if Omicron turns out to be less lethal but more contagious and dominant than the Delta variant – the new mutation may actually be a blessing in the sky.

Mild symptoms


Hundreds of infected people across Southern Africa reportedly complain of nausea, headaches, fatigue and a high pulse rate, but none seem to suffer from a loss of taste or smell, which has been the case with most other Covid mutations.

Moreover, more and more medics across Southern Africa are confirming that most Omicron-infected patients merely have a severe headache, nausea or dizziness.

Dr Angelique Coetzee told various newspapers in South Africa: “Symptoms are so different and so mild from [non-Omicron] Covid patients I have treated before.”

A GP for over three decades, and chair of the South African Medical Association, she was the first African doctor to suggest to local authorities Covid had mutated into a new strain.

Coetzee reportedly said the symptoms “did not make immediate sense”, with patients including young people of different backgrounds and ethnicities with fatigue and a young child with a high pulse rate.

Blessing in the sky


Looking at the first data coming out of Southern Africa, virologist Marc van Ranst said this weekend that “if the omicron variant is less pathogenic but with greater infectivity, allowing Omicron to replace Delta, this would be very positive.”

The WHO warned that preliminary evidence suggests the variant has an increased risk of reinfection and may spread more rapidly than other strains, including Delta.

They said there is early evidence to suggest Omicron has an “increased risk of reinfection” and its rapid spread in South Africa suggests it has a “growth advantage”.

“It is extremely important we need to closely monitor the clinical data of Omicron patients in South Africa and worldwide,” Van Ranst stressed.

The variant has more than 30 mutations – around twice as many as the Delta variant – which make it more transmissible and evade the protection given by prior infection or vaccination.

Meanwhile, officials in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Czech Republic, Italy as well as the UK have confirmed the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus has appeared in their respective countries, leaving governments around the world scrambling to stop the spread.

Nearly two years since the start of the pandemic that has claimed more than 5 million lives around the world, countries are on high alert.

In the Netherlands, 61 people on two flights from Cape Town to South Africa tested positive for Covid upon arrival in Amsterdam.

[KingsGambit]

This appears to just be a mild flu. Hypocrisy over travel bans aside, the science does not appear to support one.

[KingsGambit]

I may have been too quick earlier to dismiss this. It appears the first wave of infections went through a group of young people, most of whom wouldn't have been hospitalized anyway:

Does Omicron Cause Only Mild Illness? Too Early to Tell, Experts Say (msn.com)

[Mountain Man]

Nope. Unless we the people forcefully end it.

I've been saying for some time that the pandemic will be over just as soon as we decide that it's over, but unfortunately, there is a critical mass of people in the world who want to be coddled by the government and will happily relinquish their essential liberties in exchange for the promise of a little temporary safety.

[rogue06]

Yup. What the demented duffer declared was racist and xenophobic -- placing travel restrictions on China (a move even Fauci said saved many lives and bought us time) -- he's now doing to a bunch of African countries. And only African countries in spite of the fact that this new variant has been identified in Hong Kong and Israel as well.

But then, old Joe has a long history of treating blacks differently -- and not in a good way. All the way back to his early days in the Senate when he became buddies with some of the most virulent racists there in order to keep black children from attending the schools his kids went to and, in his own words, turning the schools into "a jungle, a racial jungle." And less than a year ago he was telling black leaders in a zoom conference call that the country is doomed but "not just because of African Americans" -- meaning that blacks are dooming America but they aren't the only reason.

Source: U.S. to restrict travel from South Africa, 7 other countries as new Covid variant emerges

The United States will restrict travel for non-U.S. citizens from South Africa and seven other countries starting Monday, part of a global effort to stem the spread of the heavily mutated omicron variant of Covid-19, according to senior Biden administration officials.

In addition to South Africa, other countries included in the new restrictions are Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.



Source

© Copyright Original Source

[*story continues at link provided*]

Less than a year ago...

262108887_4518523474904064_995110087708239602_n.jpg
If it was a "disgrace" then, why not now?

[firstfloor]

Have any of the variants not been called super contagious?

What's more important is how lethal is it.

True. If it has mild effects and outgrows other varieties it could be good

[CivilDiscourse]

Less than a year ago...

262108887_4518523474904064_995110087708239602_n.jpg
If it was a "disgrace" then, why not now?

For the record, Trump's "Africa ban" was not pandemic related.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-ban/trumps-expanded-travel-ban-targets-nigeria-five-other-countries-idUSKBN1ZU2WD

U.S. LEGAL NEWS
JANUARY 31, 2020 3:13 PM UPDATED 2 YEARS AGO


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump issued an expanded version of his travel ban on Friday that targets prospective immigrants from Nigeria and five other countries, a move that could affect thousands of people and reignite debate on whether the policy is discriminatory.

Of the six countries added to the ban, four are African nations and three have Muslim-majority populations. Democrats and immigration advocates accuse the Trump administration of seeking to expand its original 2017 ban that targeted Muslim-majority countries and of disproportionately focusing on African countries.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said during a call with reporters that the six countries failed to meet U.S. security and information-sharing standards, which necessitated the new restrictions. The problems Wolf cited ranged from sub-par passport technology to a failure to sufficiently exchange information on terrorism suspects and criminals.

Belarus, which had been under consideration for inclusion, took steps to remedy deficiencies in recent months and will not face visa restrictions, Wolf said.

The United States will suspend the issuance of visas that can lead to permanent residency for nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria, a presidential proclamation said. Temporary visas for tourists, businesspeople, students and workers from those nations will not be affected, it said.

The U.S. government also will stop issuing “diversity visas” to nationals of Sudan and Tanzania, the proclamation said. The visas, which Trump has criticized, are available by lottery for applicants from countries with low rates of immigration.

(Graphic on visas: tmsnrt.rs/36Hy2zz)

“These countries, for the most part, want to be helpful,” Wolf said, “but for a variety of different reasons simply failed to meet those minimum requirements that we laid out.”

The original travel ban barred nearly all immigrants and travelers from seven countries with majority Muslim populations. The policy was revised amid court challenges, but the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld it in June 2018.

Trump has made cracking down on immigration a focus of his 2020 re-election campaign. His travel ban policy is popular with Republican supporters.

The existing version of the ban includes Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. North Korea and Venezuela also face visa bars, but those measures affect relatively few travelers. Those restrictions will remain in place.

© Copyright Original Source

[rogue06]

For the record, Trump's "Africa ban" was not pandemic related.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-ban/trumps-expanded-travel-ban-targets-nigeria-five-other-countries-idUSKBN1ZU2WD

U.S. LEGAL NEWS
JANUARY 31, 2020 3:13 PM UPDATED 2 YEARS AGO


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump issued an expanded version of his travel ban on Friday that targets prospective immigrants from Nigeria and five other countries, a move that could affect thousands of people and reignite debate on whether the policy is discriminatory.

Of the six countries added to the ban, four are African nations and three have Muslim-majority populations. Democrats and immigration advocates accuse the Trump administration of seeking to expand its original 2017 ban that targeted Muslim-majority countries and of disproportionately focusing on African countries.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said during a call with reporters that the six countries failed to meet U.S. security and information-sharing standards, which necessitated the new restrictions. The problems Wolf cited ranged from sub-par passport technology to a failure to sufficiently exchange information on terrorism suspects and criminals.

Belarus, which had been under consideration for inclusion, took steps to remedy deficiencies in recent months and will not face visa restrictions, Wolf said.

The United States will suspend the issuance of visas that can lead to permanent residency for nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria, a presidential proclamation said. Temporary visas for tourists, businesspeople, students and workers from those nations will not be affected, it said.

The U.S. government also will stop issuing “diversity visas” to nationals of Sudan and Tanzania, the proclamation said. The visas, which Trump has criticized, are available by lottery for applicants from countries with low rates of immigration.

(Graphic on visas: tmsnrt.rs/36Hy2zz)

“These countries, for the most part, want to be helpful,” Wolf said, “but for a variety of different reasons simply failed to meet those minimum requirements that we laid out.”

The original travel ban barred nearly all immigrants and travelers from seven countries with majority Muslim populations. The policy was revised amid court challenges, but the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld it in June 2018.

Trump has made cracking down on immigration a focus of his 2020 re-election campaign. His travel ban policy is popular with Republican supporters.

The existing version of the ban includes Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. North Korea and Venezuela also face visa bars, but those measures affect relatively few travelers. Those restrictions will remain in place.

© Copyright Original Source

You're correct. IIRC, it was based upon recommendations made during the Obama Admin.

[Cow Poke]

Joe just made a rambling speech, and now he's taking questions, but only specific names that he's reading from a list.

At least he's not saying "'they' told me to call on....".