Mask up: WHO urges travellers to cover mouth and nose as new Covid variant XBB.1.5 spreads rapidly

Geneva: With the rapid spread of new Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5 in several countries and increasing number of people falling sick in China and the US, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended all those travelling to wear masks.

“Passengers should be advised to wear masks in high-risk settings such as long-haul flights,” a report by Reuters quoted WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe Catherine Smallwood saying during a briefing.

The global health body said that wearing of face masks should be a “recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread Covid-19 transmission”.

“Countries need to look at the evidence base for pre-departure testing and if action is considered, travel measures should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner,” Smallwood added.

During the briefing, WHO and Europe officials said that XBB.1.5, the most transmissible Omicron sub-variant, has been detected in small but growing numbers across Europe.
By 7 January, XBB.1.5 accounted for 27.6 per cent of Covid-19 cases in the US.

Experts also said that it was unclear if XBB.1.5 would cause its own wave of global infections and the vaccines which are available now would continue to protect against severe symptoms, hospitalisation and death.

China Covid surge

Not just the US Covid-19 cases, massive surge in infection in China has sparked fresh concerns regarding another coronavirus wave. The Asian nation has lifted its restriction under the ‘zero Covid’ policy after almost three years despite rise in the number of cases.

Several countries, including the US, UK, and France have immediately tightened their Covid testing facilities at airports and demanded Covid tests from travellers from Beijing.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had also said that the UN health body was “very concerned over the evolving situation in China”.

As per the data by the WHO earlier this month, an analysis by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed a predominance of Omicron sub lineages BA.5.2 and BF.7 among locally acquired infections.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have Tuesday issued recommendations for flights between China and the European Union including “non-pharmaceutical measures to reduce the spread of the virus, such as mask-wearing and testing of travellers, as well as monitoring of waste water as an early warning tool to detect new variants.”

The agencies have also recommended “random testing may also be carried out on a sample of arriving passengers” and “enhanced cleaning and disinfection of aircraft serving these routes.”

With inputs from Reuters

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