Travel bans to prevent Omicron spread not an ‘overcall’: COVID specialist

A Halifax infectious disease specialist says implementing travel bans to prevent the spread of COVID-19 variants, such as the new Omicron variant, isn't an “overcall” and is actually an effective tool.

On Friday, Canada closed its borders to visitors from southern African after a new variant, B.1.1.529 or Omicron, was detected in the region.

Until Jan. 31, 2022, foreign nationals who travelled in South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique or Namibia within the past 14 days will not be allowed entry into Canada.

“Until we figure it out, I think having very fixed timelines — so, not for forever but having a short pause on travel — is one of the most effective ways we know that we can prevent viral spread,” Dalhousie University's Dr. Lisa Barrett told CityNews Halifax. “Also, lots of border-related testing is going to be important … because it is one of the most effective tools.

“Is it an overcall to shut down some travel for a bit? Maybe not, especially while things are getting sorted out.”

Two cases of the Omicron variant were confirmed in Ottawa on Sunday afternoon as the first confirmed cases in Canada.

The new variant has been raising concern around the world due to a lack of knowledge on how transmissible it is and its level of danger.

“We really, really are looking at a couple of things just like all variants,” Dr. Barrett says. “One, how transmissible does it look and how quickly does it take over, if at all? And then number two, how many mutations are in the virus that might make it either get into cells more easily and cause infection or that might make current vaccines a little less useful?”

As the World Health Organization (WHO) designates Omicron as a “variant of concern,” Dr. Barrett says it's something to watch but that there's still a lot to learn about the new variant.

Even though some countries have imposed flight bans in an effort to prevent Omicron's spread, there has been some backlash.

On Sunday, the WHO criticized newly-implemented travel bans on southern African countries, urging countries to follow science and international health regulations.

“Travel restrictions may play a role in slightly reducing the spread of COVID-19 but place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods,” WHO's regional director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, says in a statement, adding that travel bans targeted at southern Africa “attacks global solidarity.”

Some Canadian scientists also say banning travelers from southern African countries in an effort to control the spread of Omicron doesn't make sense and could do more harm than good.

The Canadian Press reported that Caroline Colijn, a mathematician and epidemiologist at Simon Fraser University, says implementing travel bans to control Omicron is “wishful thinking” and that it could lead to other countries being less transparent about new findings in the future.

The wire service also reported that Zain Chagla, an associate professor of medicine at McMaster University, says “blind closures of borders” doesn't make sense and that he wants to see a more coordinated global response to the pandemic.

An update on Omicron that the WHO released on Sunday indicates it's still unclear if the new variant is more transmissible than other variants but that epidemiologic studies are underway.

It also indicates that it's still unclear whether infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared to infections with other variants.