The Health Organization evaluates the new strain of Corona and warns against rushing to impose travel restrictions

The World Health Organization warned countries in the world today, Friday, not to rush to impose restrictions on travel after the discovery of a new strain of the Corona virus in South Africa, saying that countries should adopt a “scientific approach based on risk assessment.”

Its spokesman, Christian Lindmeier, said that the organization’s experts held a closed meeting in Geneva, which began this afternoon (1100 GMT) to evaluate the new mutated version of the Corona virus (p1.1.529) to determine whether it should be classified as just an interesting mutated version or a mutant that raises the question. anxiety.

Authorities around the world were quick to act to confront the new strain, and the European Union and Britain were among those who tightened border controls as scientists tried to find out if the new mutant was resistant to vaccines.

"At the moment, we caution against the application of travel-related measures. The World Health Organization recommends that countries apply a scientific approach based on risk assessment when implementing travel-related measures," Lindmeier told a United Nations briefing in Geneva.

He added that it will take a few weeks to determine the ability of the strain to spread and the effectiveness of vaccines and medicines in confronting it, noting that nearly 100 sequences of the mutated strain have been recorded.

"We don't know much yet. What we do know is that this mutated strain contains a large number of mutations," said Maria Van Kerkhove, epidemiologist and head of the WHO's COVID-19 technical team. virus behavior.

Lindmeier said the WHO's Technical Advisory Committee and other experts involved in assessing the virus are consulting with South African researchers.

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