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April 02, 2021 – 11:55 pm
By:
Colprensa
After the appearance of new strains of Covid – 19 in the continent, the Ministry of Health established to request a PCR test with negative results from Colombians and foreigners who enter the country by air. This was established through a resolution.
According to Julián Alfredo Fernández Niño, director of Epidemiology and Demography “with the appearance of three strains of public health interest and others under observation, a challenge is generated regarding the need to strengthen genomic surveillance. Therefore, the Ministry updates its recommendations based on the best available scientific evidence ”.
Fernández assured that, from the portfolio, they updated some recommendations that are already obsolete or that have little scientific evidence, such as those that have to do with restrictions on aircraft entertainment systems, since if they are properly disinfected they do not represent a greater risk.
“Additionally, blankets can be used, prior or subsequent disinfection. This given that the evidence of contagion by surfaces is little. In other measures, recommendations are given for the safe opening of VIP lounges at airports and the temperature measurement at the entrance of these air terminals is withdrawn ”, explained Fernández.
What can and cannot be done on international flights?
On the other hand, some recommendations are maintained, such as keeping silence while staying on the plane. Likewise, on flights of more than two hours in which people can eat, they must do so at intervals assigned by rows, to avoid that all people remove their masks at the same time.
Also read: Latin America exceeds 25 million cases of covid-19
The official made it clear that all people must wear surgical masks and in the case of adults over 60 years of age, use the N95.
“This given the appearance of the new variants and the contact with people of different origins in closed spaces, which despite the ventilation of the airplanes, forces us to take extreme measures”.
What you need to know about the new variants
According to the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO, the appearance of mutations is a natural and expected event within the evolution process of viruses.
The available information indicates that at least two variants of interest in public health (VOC 202012/01 and 501Y.V2) have been identified in the Americas. Detection of these variants is expected to gradually increase in the coming weeks.
It has recently been documented that people infected with the VOC 202012/01 variant have a higher risk of death than people infected with other variants.
Also, preliminary studies suggest that the 501Y.V2 variant is associated with a higher viral load, which could suggest a potential for greater transmissibility.
The challenges of the new bloodlines
According to the Minsalud Resolution: “Although cases imported by air currently represent a low proportion of cases when there is autochthonous transmission, the appearance of these new cases virus lineages with different clinical and epidemiological behavior, raises the need to maintain and strengthen biosecurity measures on national and international flights ”.
For the ministry it is clear that although it is recognized that the effectiveness of tests in asymptomatic travelers is limited taking into account the incubation periods of the virus, or failing that, the presence of false negatives, the current epidemiological situation, with the appearance of new strains, justifies the maintenance of the measures on international flights.
“Although it is specified that it is the tracking, the isolation of suspected cases and their contacts that have proven to be most effective, in any case, there are circumstances in which Colombians may present inconveniences to take the test abroad, so alternative measures should be offered to these travelers, ”the document states.
With the above, the health portfolio assured that it is pertinent to unify in a single document the biosecurity measures that integrate protocols for the management and control of the risk of the coronavirus, hence the measures are adopted in the country’s airports.
Are vaccines suitable for new lineages?
Although there is no conclusive information so far, a preliminary study carried out at the Butantan Institute (in the state of São Paulo, Brazil) suggests that the CoronaVac vaccine – which is applied in Colombia – can neutralize variants of Covid – 19.
Likewise, the World Health Organization, WHO, reported that several companies that produce vaccines are currently testing their effectiveness against new variants of Covid – 19.
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