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GENEVA: World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe It will call a meeting of members to discuss strategies to counter a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus that has emerged in Britain, its European boss said on Tuesday (December 22).
He did not give a date for the meeting.
The WHO European region comprises 53 countries, including Russia and several Central Asian nations. The region has recorded nearly 24 million COVID-19 cases and more than 500,000 deaths.
“Limiting travel to contain the spread is prudent until we have better information. Supply chains for essential goods and essential travel should remain possible,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said on Twitter, urging increase preventive measures.
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Over the weekend, the WHO in Europe called for strong measures to be taken to contain the new strain and called on members to “increase the sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 viruses when possible and to share data from sequences internationally, in particular, to report whether the same mutations of interest are found. “
Dozens of countries, from India to Argentina, have banned flights from Britain for fear of the new strain of the virus, which is reportedly 70% more contagious.
However, the Geneva-based WHO cautioned against a major alarm over the variant, saying it was a normal part of the evolution of a pandemic and praising Britain for detecting it.
In a statement Tuesday, the WHO repeated that there was not yet enough information to determine whether the new variant could affect the efficacy of the vaccine, and said the investigation was ongoing.
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