COVID digest: UK to lift travel ban on African countries

The British government announced on Tuesday that it would lift a ban on non-citizen and legal resident arrivals from Nigeria and 10 southern African countries.

As of early on Wednesday, all African countries on the UK's "red list" will be removed. Health Minister Sajid Javid said that the travel ban is "now less effective in slowing the incursion of omicron from abroad."

The affected countries had been placed on the list in late November, and many British citizens or permanent residents who had traveled from these countries have already had to pay thousands to stay in quarantine hotels.

Travel bans on southern African countries from a number of global powers have been met with accusations of prejudice and ignorance, as the omicron variant of the coronavirus was first identified in South Africa - but evidence suggests it has already been in Europe for some time. 

Here is a roundup of other coronavirus news from around the world:

Asia

India has said it is struggling to export the surplus of COVID-19 vaccines it has produced as logistical hurdles continue to plague the global supply chain. The Serum Institute of India is the world's largest vaccine maker and produces the AstraZeneca and Sputnik COVID vaccines, as well as its own Novavax.

Top Indian health official Vinod Kumar Paul told a virtual conference on Tuesday that there were enough vaccines on earth to meet demand, but that now international leaders must "accelerate the delivery and raise the capacity of absorption in many countries, particularly in the African continent. "

Europe

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has said that the government is considering nixing testing requirements for those who have recently received their booster vaccine, saying it makes "epidemiological sense."

Lauterbach, a trained epidemiologist, has recently taken the helmet of Germany's Health Ministry as the country lags behind its EU neighbors in its vaccine campaign. The new government has made vaccines the cornerstone of its policy to fight the pandemic, including making initial jabs and boosters more attractive to the hesitant.

The consumption of alcohol in bars and restaurants has been temporarily banned in Norway. The aim of this and other new measures is to reduce social gatherings and ultimately counter the spread of the omicron variant.

The measure is initially in place for four weeks. Norway is also tightening restrictions on gatherings in public spaces, such as concerts. The measures are aimed at situations that are associated with a high risk of infection and in which many people could become infected within a short period of time, said Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol.

Denmark has recorded another all-time high of coronavirus cases. The SSI national health authority reported another 8,314 cases on Tuesday, beating the previous day's record of 7,799.

The daily infection numbers are currently around four times as high as they were at the beginning of last month.

Africa

A high court judge in  Kenya has temporarily suspended a vaccine mandate for citizens to access public services. The measure was meant to go into effect on December 21, but Justice Antony Mrima has issued a temporary order halting implementation of the mandate pending a legal decision on a petition filed by a Kenyan citizen declaring the move "unconstitutional."

The  WHO announced a major uptick in cases across Africa on Tuesday, but said that the death rate has dropped in comparison with previous waves of the virus. 

"We are cautiously optimistic that deaths and severe illness will remain low in the current wave," said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's Regional Director for Africa.

However, data on vaccine uptake from the world health body showed that at the current speed, the goal of immunizing 70% of the continent's inhabitants will not be reached until August 2024.

Global

Initial results from a South African study found that Pfizer's vaccine, developed with BioNTech, was 70% effective in preventing hospitalizations from the omicron variant. The study had similar findings for the Johnson and Johnson jab.

A separate study released by Pfizer on Tuesday found that a new pill the company has been developing to fight those who already have COVID is highly effective at keeping patients out of the hospital, but less effective at helping ease the symptoms of those with mild or breakthrough infections.

es/fb (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)