Given the recent Omicron sub-variant of Covid-19’s fast growth in the United States, countries should think about advising travellers to wear masks on long-haul flights, according to World Health Organization (WHO) authorities.
According to WHO/Europe authorities during a press conference, the XBB.1.5 sub-variant was being found in Europe in a small but rising number of cases.
According to Catherine Smallwood, the WHO’s lead emergency officer for Europe, travellers going from anywhere where there was significant Covid-19 transmission should be encouraged to use masks in high-risk situations like long-haul flights.
According to US health officials, XBB.1.5 was the cause of 27.6 percent of Covid-19 infections in the US for the week ending January 7. It’s yet unknown if XBB.1.5 will spread infections globally on its own.
“Our position is that travel controls should be enforced in a non-discriminatory manner,” she stated when action was being discussed. She continued by saying that at this point, the FDA did not propose testing for travellers arriving from the United States.
Numerous experts including those with the WHO think China was probably understating the full scope of the outbreak. More than a dozen nations including the US require Covid testing on visitors from China.
