Germany, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Japan report first cases, as countries tighten restrictions over Omicron variant emergence

Japan on Wednesday imposed a one-month suspension on all new incoming flight bookings in a bid to prevent the fast-spreading Omicron variant from taking a hold in the country, while Germany reported that four people who have tested positive of the new strain were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa last week, and has since spread to dozens of countries worldwide. The World Health Organization has warned that the new strain poses a “very high” global risk, and has urged governments to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups.

Similarly, Portugal on Wednesday tightened its passenger controls in airports, seaports and land borders, by requiring negative coronavirus tests for most incoming visitors in a bid to shield itself from the Omicron variant. It also reintroduced mandatory face mask measures in enclosed spaces and a requirement for people to show proof of coronavirus vaccinations or Covid-19 recovery tests to enter restaurants, cinemas, gyms and hotels.

Japan’s transport ministry said it has asked airlines to stop taking new incoming flight bookings for one month as of December 1 over Omicron concerns. Existing bookings will not be affected by the suspension.

Japan has so far reported two confirmed cases of Omicron. Earlier this week it tightened its border measures, banning entry of all non-citizens coming from 10 southern African nations.

Denmark has also confirmed its first case of the virus, saying the person who has tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant attended a large concert over the weekend, health officials said Wednesday.

The concert was held in the city of Aalborg and was attended by almost 2,000 people.

According to Danish broadcaster DR, everyone who attended the concert has now been urged to get tested.

It was not immediately clear whether the concert-goer was one of the four Omicron cases that Denmark has already confirmed, or whether it was a new case.

Also, Norway has identified its first two cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, the Oeygarden municipality said in a statement, adding that both of the people infected had been on a trip to South Africa.

Norway on Friday decided to impose a quarantine on any travellers arriving from South Africa or neighbouring countries, following a similar decision by neighbouring Denmark and many other countries around the world.

In Germany, four people in southern region have tested positive for the Omicron variant even though they were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Three of the infected people returned from a business trip to South Africa on November 26 and November 27 respectively, and the fourth person is a family member of one of the returnees, the public health office in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg said, adding that all four had showed moderate symptoms and were in quarantine.

Meanwhile, Nigeria which only Tuesday, joined the growing list of countries where the Omicron variant has been detected, has unveiled new Covid-19 protocols for arriving passengers.

The new regulations demands that passengers arriving in Nigeria are now required to conduct a PCR test, 48 hours before embarking on their trips to the country.

The federal government has put in place new COVID-19 directives ahead of the festive season.

The Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 has issued fresh directives to travellers coming into the country.

Passengers arriving in Nigeria are now required to conduct a PCR test, 48 hours before embarking on their trips to the country and another day two and day seven PCR tests on arrival.

They are also expected to self-isolate for seven days.

Outbound passengers on their part will be required to either show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or provide a negative PCR test taken 48 hours before departure.

The measures which are expected to come into effect Friday, 3rd of December, 2021, apply to members of the diplomatic corps, the committee said.

This directive is contained in a press statement issued by Dr Mukhtar Muhammad, the National Incident Manager of the PSC, following the discovery of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron

Dr Mohammad says there are concerns that the variant which experts insist is more deadly could be on its way to Nigeria, considering the number of countries that have already reported cases.

He said the committee will ensure that the directives are enforced through suspension of passports of offenders or their prosecution, or both.

The Committee also revealed it will be increasing its surveillance activities at all ports of entry into the country while also intensifying testing, contact tracing, and sequencing capacity.

”One of the reasons driving COVID-19 persistence and the emergence of a new variant, Omicron, is the promotion of vaccine nationalism, which helps rich countries procure vaccines for their citizens, through direct agreements with pharmaceutical companies, while low and middle countries lag behind.

”The slower and delayed vaccination rollout in low and middle-income countries has left many of the citizens vulnerable to COVID-19 variance. It leads to new surges of infection and also slower rates of recovery,” the statement said.

”Whereas most of the developed countries have already vaccinated over 60% and above of their populations, most developing countries are below 5%. You’ve just heard from ED NPHCDA that we’ve just vaccinated only 6 million with only one job.

”Lack of vaccination in our countries will breed fertile ground for the virus to develop mutations, which will, in turn, threaten progress already recorded. It is therefore important that the developed countries support the efforts that are being made globally to ensure that there is equity and access for vaccines.”