Three of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations say they have found new COVID-19 cases with the Omicron variant.
Great Britain, Italy and Germany all say the new strain of the virus has entered their respective nations, prompting British Prime Minister Boris Johnson – as well as the country of Israel – to implement updated safety measures.
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According to a story by Reuters News Service, Israel is banning all foreign visitors to the country and will bring back its counter-terrorism efforts that include phone-tracking technology.
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In England, Johnson said “We will require anyone who enters the UK to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after their arrival and to self-isolate until they have a negative result.”
The Omicron variant emanated in southern Africa, and several countries – including the United States – have put travel bans on anyone traveling from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.
There were two cases detected in Britain and two in Germany, and one case discovered in Milan, Italy, although Chris Witty, the Chief Medical Officer in Great Britain, expressed optimism about Omicron.
“There is a reasonable chance that at least there will be some degree of vaccine escape with this variant,” Witty said.
It will be of great importance to see how the stock market reacts when it reopens on Monday, on November 28. On Friday the 25th, travel stocks dropped precipitously in the wake of the news that the United States, Canada and several European and Asian countries placed travel restrictions on southern African nations.
Since then, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Oman, Kuwait and Hungary have announced new travel restrictions as well.
