新冠變異病毒奧密克戎毒株自被發現以來引起了全世界的關注。
世界衞生組織11月29日表示，新冠變異病毒奧密克戎毒株在全球範圍造成感染病例激增的風險“非常高”，並可能給部分地區帶來“嚴重後果”。目前，多個國家和地區陸續通報發現奧密克戎毒株感染或疑似病例。
截至12月1日10時，南非、博茨瓦納、法屬留尼汪島、英國、德國、法國、意大利、西班牙、葡萄牙、荷蘭、瑞士、瑞典、奧地利、比利時、捷克、丹麥、加拿大、巴西、中國香港、日本、以色列、澳大利亞等22個國家和地區出現了確診感染新冠變異病毒奧密克戎毒株的病例。
與此同時，世衞組織11月30日發佈的新冠肺炎每週流行病學報告指出，當前全球主要流行毒株依舊為新冠變異病毒德爾塔毒株，其他新冠變異病毒的流行率持續下降。在過去六十天蒐集的839119份病毒基因序列樣本中，99.8%的樣本為德爾塔毒株，奧密克戎毒株佔比不到0.1%，僅有159份。
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the Omicron strain of COVID-19 a "Variant of Concern" and in a news conference on Monday confirmed the global risk from it is "very high."
As of 10:00am on December 1, cases of infection with the Omicron strain had been confirmed in 22 countries and regions, including South Africa, Botswana, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Israel and Australia.
Meanwhile, according to a WHO report released on November 30, the current global epidemic strain remains the Delta variant, while the prevalence of other variants continues to decline. Of the 839,119 viral genetic sequences collected over the past 60 days, 99.8 percent were of the Delta strain, while Omicron accounted for less than 0.1 percent, or 159 cases.
全面旅行禁令無法阻止毒株傳播
自11月26日世衞組織將奧密克戎毒株列為“需要關注”的變異毒株之後，各個國家和地區陸續開始尋找應對之策。
英國政府發佈的數據顯示，截至11月30日英國已經確診22例新冠變異病毒奧密克戎毒株感染病例。當天，英國首相約翰遜在新聞發佈會上表示將加快新冠疫苗加強針的接種速度，在2022年1月底前為所有成年人提供疫苗加強針。超過1500個社區藥房將被用於加強針接種。
目前，全球已有69個國家和地區針對新冠病毒變種奧密克戎實施了旅行限制，包括禁止來自南部非洲國家和其他一些發現該毒株國家的旅客入境。
對此，世衞組織在11月30日的一份聲明中表示，全面旅行禁令無法阻止奧密克戎毒株的國際傳播，只會給人民生活和生計造成沉重負擔，抑制各國報告和分享新冠流行病學和測序數據的積極性，進而對全球抗疫努力產生不利影響。
世衞組織同時建議，身體不適或高風險人羣，包括60歲及以上人羣或有合併症者，應推遲旅行計劃。
An electronic flight notice board displays some cancelled flights at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 27, 2021. /CFP
To prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, many countries have imposed entry restrictions on flights and passengers from South Africa and other African countries, and upgraded prevention and control measures.
On Tuesday, the WHO called for countries to remain calm and take "rational" measures in response to the new coronavirus strain Omicron.
"We call on all member states to take rational, proportional risk-reduction measures," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a briefing to countries.
With the new, highly contagious variant spreading across the world, several countries have started imposing stricter travel guidelines.
But the WHO has warned that blanket travel bans will not prevent the spread of the Omicron strain, despite the global health watchdog classifying it as a 'variant of concern'.
Blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread, and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods.
香港大學已成功分離毒株
好消息是，香港大學微生物學系於11月30日宣佈成功從臨牀標本中分離出新冠變異病毒奧密克戎毒株。
這是亞洲首個研究團隊成功分離和培養奧密克戎毒株，分離出來的毒株將可用於開發和生產滅活全病毒疫苗。
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The University of Hong Kong has successfully isolated the Omicron strain from clinical specimens, the Department of Microbiology of HKU said on Tuesday.
This is the first known research team in Asia that has succeeded in isolating the Omicron variant.
"The HKU team succeeded in isolating the variant late Monday, four days after the first two Omicron cases were confirmed in Hong Kong on November 25, and five days after the variant was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on November 24," it said in a statement.