The authorities of Ecuador will ban the entry of foreign travelers from African countries and will require certificates of full vaccination from the rest to allow them to enter its territory, due to the detection of the Omicron mutation of the new coronavirus, the country announced yesterday. , Guillermo Lasso.
Ecuador has been added to the growing number of countries around the world taking action because of Omicron. "For all of us in Ecuador, this mutation must be seen as a wake-up call to make a greater effort to tackle the pandemic," Lasso said during a televised address to citizens, whom he called for to be vaccinated.
The measures will take effect tomorrow, Wednesday, December 1st. Travelers coming from or passing through South Africa - where it was announced that Omicron was spotted on Friday, Botswana, Egypt, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Namibia will not be allowed to enter the territory.
Travelers from the rest of the world must present a certificate of complete vaccination and a certificate that they have undergone a negative PCR test within the previous 72 hours to be allowed entry. Children between the ages of two and sixteen are not excluded.
The appearance of the new mutation was recorded shortly after the decision taken by Quito to open (from tomorrow) the border with Colombia. The government will now take a more gradual approach to opening up, the head of state said. The government hopes to have vaccinated 85% of the population by December, and the Conservative president has assured that a sufficient number of doses is available to achieve this goal.
Chile
—
The Chilean government announced on Monday that it was canceling the opening of three land crossings at its border, which was scheduled for Wednesday, due to Omicron, as well as the ban on travelers from seven African countries, initially for 14 days.
The three land crossings expected to open are in Tsakayuta, on the border with Peru, Pino Atsado, on the border with Argentina, and Colcane, on the border with Bolivia. The government's decision will be re-evaluated in two weeks, depending on the evolution of the epidemiological situation nationally and internationally with the Omicron variant.
Singapore
—
The Singapore Ministry of Health announced today that two travelers from Johannesburg, who were confirmed upon arrival in Sydney as having been infected with the new Omicron mutation, had been transferred on a flight to the Australian metropolitan area at the international airport in the Australian city of T .
The two men left Johannesburg on November 27 on a Singapore Airlines flight and arrived in Changi on the same day, where they boarded a flight to Sydney, the ministry said.
Both passengers were tested for SARS-CoV-2 before departure, and had a negative result, he noted. According to the ministry's press release, most of the passengers remained at the airport transfer area.
Of the seven people who landed in Singapore, six were warned to stay home for ten days, the seventh, who had close contact on the flight with one of the infected people, was quarantined.
Omicron has pushed many countries around the world to impose travel restrictions from countries in southern Africa, where it has been announced that it has been located. The World Health Organization estimates that this mutation, which has multiple mutations, especially in the so-called spike protein, carries the risk of the virus spreading rapidly. So far, however, no patient death attributed to this new mutation has been reported.
(KYPE- ΑΠΕ- ΜΠΕ / ΡΠΑ / ΓΒΑ)