You may have to carry a mask if you plan to travel abroad by flight, the World Health Organization has recommended. Three years since the onset of the pandemic, the Covid-19 curve has had literal ups and downs. Last year, the pandemic had seemingly flattened as countries globally recorded fewer new infections.
The world has not recorded any new variants of concern since the emergence of the Omicron variant in November 2021. The Omicron variant has since then had a number of mutations, none of which has been classified as a big concern.Late last year, however, new sub-variants of Omicron led to a rise in new infections, especially in China and the United States.
The latest variant, XBB.1.5, is said to be responsible for about 28 per cent of new infections in the US and the WHO has touted it as one of the most transmissible of the Omicron variants recorded so far.The global health body has warned people to stay vigilant and have their masks on when taking international flights. Other global health agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have been testing water from inbound aeroplanes.
“Passengers should be advised to wear masks in high-risk settings such as long-haul flights. This should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread Covid-19 transmission,” said Ms Catherine Smallwood, WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe.
South Africa is the only African country that has recorded a few cases of the XBB.1.5 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant. South African experts say, however, that it is not a cause for alarm.“Unfortunately, there is very little — if any — active genomic surveillance through sequencing tests being done in Kenya and most of Africa and the third world, which means that these countries are oblivious to the sub-variants and sub-lineages circulating in their population,” he said
“Fortunately, we aren’t seeing any noticeable increase in hospitalisation or deaths locally and we can therefore assume that either the immunity wall from past infection and vaccination is keeping Covid-19 in check or there are no sub-variants or sub-lineages that have taken a foothold locally,” he added.Experts say vaccination in the country needs to be reinforced despite the Covid-19 laxity.
Dr Moses Mwangi, a vaccine expert, told Nation yesterday that the most vulnerable people need to get booster shots.
“We should not be comfortable just because the number of new infections are low. Just because the variants are not being reported doesn’t mean that they do not exist,” he said.
Dr Kalebi suggested that there should be increasing concerns and a call for vaccines that are more effective against XBB.1.5 to be used for boosters.
“A major worry for all public health scientists and officials is whether the current vaccines that people received as primary and booster doses can adequately protect against XBB.1.5. Any Covid-19 vaccination is better than none as any of the vaccines do protect against severe illness and death,” he said.
