Dutch urged to take fast action on new
coronavirus variant
Corona Europe November 26, 2021 Photo: Brandon
Hartley
The Dutch
government is being urged to act quickly to head off the threat of a new
variant of coronavirus arriving in the country from southern Africa. The new
variant, known as B.1.1.529, already has a hold in South Africa and cases have
been found in Botswana and via a traveller in Hong Kong. European Commission
president Ursula von der Leyen has said Brussels will propose ’activating the
emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region’ in close
consultation with member states. The Dutch government has not yet said if it
will introduce a ban on flights or other travel from the continent, but Israel
and Britain are among the countries to have already done so. Italy too has
announced extra measures. D66 parliamentarian Jan Paternotte has now urged the
Dutch government to act quickly, saying it must heed the European Commission’s
call. ‘You can travel here from South Africa on one fast test,’ he said on
Twitter. ‘You need to head off a new variant quickly.’ The World Health
Organisation is also meeting to determine if B.1.1.529 variant warrants a
designation as one of ‘interest’ or of ‘concern’. The variant was identified on
Tuesday and stands out because it carries an ‘extremely high number’ of
mutations. ‘The concern is that when you have so many mutations, it can have an
impact on how the virus behaves,’ the WHO’s expert Maria van Kerkhove said.
Read more
at DutchNews.nl:
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário