奥密克戎已在世界多地被发现，WHO：全面旅行禁令无法阻止毒株传播
新冠变异病毒奥密克戎毒株自被发现以来引起了全世界的关注。
世界卫生组织11月29日表示，新冠变异病毒奥密克戎毒株在全球范围造成感染病例激增的风险“非常高”，并可能给部分地区带来“严重后果”。目前，多个国家和地区陆续通报发现奥密克戎毒株感染或疑似病例。
截至12月1日10时，南非、博茨瓦纳、法属留尼汪岛、英国、德国、法国、意大利、西班牙、葡萄牙、荷兰、瑞士、瑞典、奥地利、比利时、捷克、丹麦、加拿大、巴西、中国香港、日本、以色列、澳大利亚等22个国家和地区出现了确诊感染新冠变异病毒奥密克戎毒株的病例。
与此同时，世卫组织11月30日发布的新冠肺炎每周流行病学报告指出，当前全球主要流行毒株依旧为新冠变异病毒德尔塔毒株，其他新冠变异病毒的流行率持续下降。在过去六十天搜集的839119份病毒基因序列样本中，99.8%的样本为德尔塔毒株，奥密克戎毒株占比不到0.1%，仅有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.
全面旅行禁令无法阻止毒株传播
自11月26日世卫组织将奥密克戎毒株列为“需要关注”的变异毒株之后，各个国家和地区陆续开始寻找应对之策。
英国政府发布的数据显示，截至11月30日英国已经确诊22例新冠变异病毒奥密克戎毒株感染病例。当天，英国首相约翰逊在新闻发布会上表示将加快新冠疫苗加强针的接种速度，在2022年1月底前为所有成年人提供疫苗加强针。超过1500个社区药房将被用于加强针接种。
目前，全球已有69个国家和地区针对新冠病毒变种奥密克戎实施了旅行限制，包括禁止来自南部非洲国家和其他一些发现该毒株国家的旅客入境。
对此，世卫组织在11月30日的一份声明中表示，全面旅行禁令无法阻止奥密克戎毒株的国际传播，只会给人民生活和生计造成沉重负担，抑制各国报告和分享新冠流行病学和测序数据的积极性，进而对全球抗疫努力产生不利影响。
世卫组织同时建议，身体不适或高风险人群，包括60岁及以上人群或有合并症者，应推迟旅行计划。
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.
香港大学已成功分离毒株
好消息是，香港大学微生物学系于11月30日宣布成功从临床标本中分离出新冠变异病毒奥密克戎毒株。
这是亚洲首个研究团队成功分离和培养奥密克戎毒株，分离出来的毒株将可用于开发和生产灭活全病毒疫苗。
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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.