Nov. 29 – Recently, the variant of the novel coronavirus “Omikron” has attracted global attention. According to a report by South Korea Radio International on the 29th, the South Korean government has issued entry bans for foreigners from South Africa and other eight countries, and will adjust the list of restricted countries in time according to the spread of this variant. At the same time, South Korea will also develop the “Omikron” variant detection method to detect this strain as soon as possible.
According to reports, in response to the “Omikron” variant of the novel coronavirus, the South Korean government has decided to ban all foreigners from eight southern African countries, including South Africa, Bocvana and Zimbabwe. South Korean citizens from these eight countries, whether vaccinated against the coronavirus or not, need to be quarantined in temporary living facilities for 10 days.
According to the report, with the increase in the number of countries with the emergence of “Omikron” mutants, the South Korean government will gradually expand the list of countries subject to restricting entry after determining the danger and spread of “Omikron”.
The report quoted experts as saying that whether the mutant will spread globally or disappear will be key in the next 2 to 3 weeks. In the current situation, strengthening vigilance is the best policy.
On the other hand, the South Korean epidemic prevention department has decided to develop a PCR detection method that can detect “Omikron”. The existing detection reagents can only detect 4 mutant strains such as Delta. After the promotion of the Omikron detection method, it originally took 3 to 5 days to detect mutant strains, which could be shortened to 1 day.
Previously, it was reported that Botswana, South Africa and other countries recently reported a new mutant novel coronavirus, and the unusual mutation of the strain has attracted the attention of many researchers. The World Health Organization named it the “Omikron” mutant, and it is not clear whether this strain can cause more serious diseases.
