To combat the spread of the new omicron COVID-19 variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are tightening testing requirements for international travelers.
Currently, air travelers to the United States who haven’t recently recovered from the virus – including U.S. citizens – must take a negative viral test before boarding their flight, with fully vaccinated travelers required to take it no more than three days before departure.
But the CDC said Tuesday that it is “working to modify” the global testing order to give all international air travelers just one day to take a pre-departure test, as first reported by The Washington Post.
“This strengthens already robust protocols in place for international travel,” the CDC said in a statement.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during an earlier Tuesday news conference that the CDC was “evaluating how to make international travel as safe as possible,” which could mean shortening the pre-departure testing window or adding additional post-arrival testing and a self-quarantine period.
The agency says it continues to recommend all travelers get a COVID-19 viral test three to five days after arrival, and that any unvaccinated travelers should quarantine upon arrival.
The U.S. is also working to stem the spread of the virus with new travel bans against eight countries that went into effect Monday. The omicron variant has not yet been detected in the U.S.
Also in the news:
►226 omicron cases have been confirmed in at least 21 countries, including Britain, 11 European Union nations, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Canada and Israel.
►Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was placed in NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols and could miss several games.
📈Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 48 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 780,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 262 million cases and 5.2 million deaths. Nearly 197 million Americans — roughly 59.4% of the population — are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘What we’re reading: Are travel bans worth it? They could slow the spread of omicron but they have repercussions, experts say.
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Omicron variant’s spread shows need to vaccinate the world
As the new omicron coronavirus variant spreads across the world, advocates of more widespread vaccinations are having an “I told you so” moment. For a year since COVID-19 vaccines first became available, a small but vocal group has warned about the need to protect the most vulnerable around the world. People in richer countries will not be safe, even if fully vaccinated, until those in poorer nations – which make up more than half the world’s 8 billion population – also have the benefit of vaccines, they’ve argued.
“The emergence of the omicron variant has fulfilled, in a precise way, the predictions of the scientists who warned that the elevated transmission of the virus in areas with limited access to vaccine would speed its evolution,” Dr. Richard Hatchett, told a special session of the World Health Assembly this week. Read more here.
Evangelist, vaccine doubter Marcus Lamb dies from coronavirus
Marcus Lamb, CEO of the evangelical Christian-based Daystar Television Network who advocated against vaccines, has died following a bout with COVID-19.
“It’s with a heavy heart we announce that Marcus Lamb, president and founder of Daystar Television Network, went home to be with the Lord this morning,” the network tweeted Tuesday. “The family asks that their privacy be respected as they grieve this difficult loss. Please continue to lift them up in prayer.”
Lamb’s wife, Joni, said last week her husband was trying alternative treatments without success. Lamb’s son, Jonathan, had described his father’s illness as “spiritual attack from the enemy” because of his advocacy against vaccines and support for alternate treatments.
Some hospitals reaching full capacity, elective surgeries could be halted
Officials from Rochester Regional Health and the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York state have joined a growing list of hospitals across the U.S. and around the world warning that their facilities had reached full capacity and that emergency departments are stressed. In the Rochester area, hospital leaders said they were weighing whether they could continue performing elective procedures and surgeries. Dr. Michael Apostolakos, Chief Medical Officer for Strong Memorial and Highland Hospitals, said the majority of the COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization were unvaccinated.
“A significant number of people are refusing the vaccines, and our community is paying the price,” Apostolakos said. “Cases are continuing to rise with no end in sight.
– Sean Lahman, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Economy could take slight hit from omicron variant in 2022, experts say
The omicron coronavirus variant could have a moderate impact on the U.S. economy next year as it hurts consumer spending and worsens labor shortages and supply chain bottlenecks, intensifying already-high inflation, top economists say.
It’s too early to pinpoint how omicron will affect economic growth because scientists are just starting to assess the toll it could take on global health. But under one likely middle-ground scenario laid out by some top economists, the strain could be more infectious but not significantly more virulent than the delta variant. And it could lead to fewer government-imposed restrictions on businesses.
If that’s the case, omicron — or another similar variant — would cut economic growth next year by half a percentage point to 4.3% and lead to the creation of several hundred thousand fewer jobs, estimates Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.
That would be less than Moody’s projected growth of 5.5% this year — highest since the early 1980s — but still a historically strong figure as the nation continues to dig itself out of the pandemic-induced downturn.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 905 points, or 2.5%, on Friday, largely on worries over omicron, but it closed up 236 points Monday before sliding again in mid-morning trading Tuesday.
— Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
Contributing: The Associated Press
Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/12/01/covid-omicron-vaccines-testing-requirements/8814830002/
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