Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Nine African countries deemed ‘very high risk’ due to new variant

November 27 2021 There were 145 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today – 127 were in Auckland, 13 in the Waikato, four in the Bay of Plenty and one in Canterbury. A person has also died of the virus.

Nine southern African countries are being added to the Government’s very high risk countries list following the emergence of the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron.

These countries were South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique.

It meant only Kiwi citizens could travel to New Zealand from those countries and would have to stay a full 14 days in MIQ and undergo testing.

The newer MIQ model of 7 days in managed isolation and 3 days at home for other returnees would continue.

It comes as New Zealand registered its 42 Covid-related death on Saturday – a person in their 80s who passed away in Auckland City Hospital.

There were 145 new community cases announced on Saturday, including 127 in Auckland, 13 in Waikato, four in Bay of Plenty and one in Canterbury.

Of the four in Bay of Plenty, one case was in Kawerau – the area’s first taste of Delta.

Regarding Omicron, Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins confirmed a public health risk assessment was carried out on Saturday afternoon, which included dicussions with officials in Australia, to assess the emerging evidence and any risk to New Zealand from the new variant.

While investigations into Omicron were in early stages, Hipkins was reassured by the fact New Zealand didn’t frequently see travellers from those countries.

“Our understanding of the Omicron variant is still very much in its infancy and we’re confident this variant hasn’t entered New Zealand – several hundred border cases have been identified in managed isolation in recent months and whole genome sequencing, which is undertaken routinely on all border-related cases, has shown that all have been the Delta variant,” he said.

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The move comes after the World Health Organisation said preliminary evidence suggested the variant B.1.1.529 variant, which they’ve named “Omicron”, carries a “higher risk of re-infection than other variants of concern”.

An advisory group had said it should be designated as “of concern”, the organisation said.

Scientists are concerned because the variant appears to have a high number of mutations — about 30 — in the coronavirus’ spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people. One UK virologist described the variant as “the most heavily mutated version of the virus we have seen”.

Australia made a similar move this afternoon, immediately closing its borders to arrivals from nine African countries and imposing supervised quarantine rules on recent arrivals.

A person in a Northern Territory quarantine facility after arriving from South Africa had tested positive to Covid-19, with genomic sequencing underway to determine whether it was the Omicron variant, Northern Territory Health Minister Natasha Fyles said today.

South African scientists identified the new variant this week and said it was behind a recent spike in Covid-19 infections in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province.

It was unclear where the new variant actually arose, but it was first detected by scientists in South Africa and had now been seen in travellers to Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

Professor Michael Baker told the Herald earlier today the Government should consider putting southern Africa on its “very high risk” travel list.

Travel from “very high risk” listed countries is temporarily restricted to citizens, their partners and children, and parents of children who are citizens.

Other travellers, including New Zealand residents, can enter only if they spend 14 days outside a very high-risk country before their arrival here.

Until today Brazil, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea were on the list, although all but Papua New Guinea will be removed from December.

However, while the new variant was worrying for people, it was important not to catastrophise the situation, Baker said.

“The best-laid plans can get upset by what the virus does. I hope it won’t be the case.

“If this turns out to be a real threat to the effectiveness of vaccines, which is the main worry, then this might mean we have to review our plans for January and February next year on relying on home isolation entirely.

“But look, that’s really leaping ahead, it’s important not to catastrophise and we need to wait for more information.”

New Zealand was among a minority of countries which still managed their borders tightly, with layers of protection like pre-travel testing and quarantine, which put us in a different situation to the rest of the world, the University of Otago epidemiologist said.

“We can keep this virus out if we need to.”

There were good reasons to think vaccines would still be effective against Omicron in preventing serious disease and death, University of Auckland senior lecturer Dr David Welch said.

“There are various ways of measuring vaccine effectiveness – the primary measure is whether it prevents serious disease and death”, Welch, from the Centre for Computational Evolution and School of Computer Science, said.

“Other measures of vaccine effectiveness are whether it stops people getting infected or whether it stops people transmitting the virus to others when infected.

“There are signs in Omicron’s collection of mutations that vaccines may be less effective at preventing infection. Whether onward spread is also more likely at that point remains to be seen.”

If vaccines were less effective against the variant at preventing infection and transmission, the unvaccinated would likely be the ones most affected, as case numbers would be higher.

“Everyone will have a higher chance of being exposed to the virus. Getting vaccinated remains the best defence any individual can take against the virus.”