Countries ought to take into account recommending passengers put on masks on lengthy haul flights to counter the newest Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 given its fast unfold within the United States, World Health Organisation officers stated on Tuesday.
In Europe, the XBB.1.5 subvariant is being detected in small however rising numbers, WHO/Europe officers stated in a press briefing.
Passengers ought to be really helpful to put on masks in high-risk settings reminiscent of long-haul flights, stated WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, including “this should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread COVID-19 transmission”.
The XBB.1.5 subvariant – essentially the most transmissible Omicron sub-variant that has been detected to date – accounted for 27.6% of COVID-19 instances within the United States for the week ending Jan. 7, U.S. well being officers have stated.
It stays unclear if XBB.1.5 will trigger its personal wave of infections all over the world. Current vaccines proceed to guard in opposition to extreme signs, hospitalisation and loss of life, consultants say.
“Countries need to look at the evidence base for pre-departure testing”, Smallwoood famous, including it was essential to not be “blindsided” by an unique give attention to one explicit geographic space.
If journey measures are thought-about, she stated, “our opinion is that travel measures should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner.”
That didn’t imply the company recommends the testing of passengers coming from the United States at this stage, she added.
Measures that may be taken embrace genomic surveillance, and focusing on passengers arriving from different international locations so long as it not divert assets away from the home surveillance methods. Other examples embrace wastewater monitoring methods that may have a look at wastewater round factors of entry reminiscent of airports.
XBB.1.5 is yet one more descendant of Omicron, essentially the most contagious variant of the virus inflicting COVID-19 that’s now globally dominant. It is an offshoot of XBB, first detected in October, which is itself a recombinant of two different Omicron sub-variants.
