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u.s. news Diahuebs 2 December 2021

US reports 1st case of omicron variant in returning traveler

(AP) - The U.S. recorded its first as some scientists are beginning to
confirmed case of the omicron suspect? Does it make people more South African first researchers alerted
variant Wednesday — a person in seriously ill? And can it evade the vac- the WHO to omicron last week. It is
California who had been to South cine? not known where or when the vari-
Africa — as scientists around the ant first emerged, though it is clear it
world raced to establish whether “Any declaration of what will or will was circulating in Europe several days
the new, mutant version of the not happen with this variant, I think before that alert.
coronavirus is more dangerous it is too early to say,” Fauci said.
than previous ones. European Union Commission Presi-
He said Americans should contin- dent Ursula von der Leyen said it will
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United ue to follow public health advice to take two to three weeks before it be-
States’ top infectious disease expert, get vaccinated and get their booster comes fully clear what omicron can
made the announcement at the White shots. “If you look at the things we do to the world.
House. have been recommending, they’re
just the same,” Fauci said. “This is, in normal times, a short pe- that blanket travel bans are compli-
“We knew it was just a matter of time riod. In pandemic times, it’s an eter- cating the sharing of lab samples from
before the first case of omicron would Genomic sequencing on the patient’s nity,” she lamented. South Africa that could help scientists
be detected in the United States,” he virus was conducted at the Univer- understand the new variant.
said. sity of California, San Francisco, and At the same time the omicron is
the Centers for Disease Control and spreading new fear and uncertainty, World leaders continued to empha-
The infected person was identified Prevention confirmed it as consistent the dominant delta variant is still size that the best way to contain the
as a traveler who had returned from with the omicron variant. creating havoc, especially in Europe, pandemic remains vaccinations.
South Africa on Nov. 22. The person, where many countries are dealing
who was fully vaccinated but had not “We will likely see this scenario play with a surge in infections and hospi- For the first time, von der Leyen said
had a booster shot, tested positive on out multiple times across the coun- talizations and some are considering EU nations should consider making
Monday and had mild symptoms that try in the coming days or weeks,” said making vaccinations mandatory. vaccinations mandatory, as several
are improving, officials said. The per- Scott Becker, CEO of the Association have done for certain sectors, or as
son agreed to remain in quarantine, of Public Health Laboratories. Many countries have barred travel- Austria has done overall. Altogether,
and all the individual’s close contacts ers from southern Africa, and some 67% of the EU’s population is vac-
have been reached and have tested “This particular case shows the sys- have gone further. Japan has banned cinated, but that relatively high rate
negative. tem working as it was designed to foreign visitors and asked interna- hasn’t stopped several countries from
work — an individual with travel tional airlines to stop taking new res- seeing surges.
At least 23 other countries have re- history from South Africa, an astute ervations for all flights arriving in the
ported omicron infections, according laboratory and quick prioritization country until the end of December. Greece plans to impose fines of 100
to the World Health Organization, of the specimen for sequencing, and euros ($113) per month on people
and governments have rushed to im- close coordination with public health The U.S. is working toward requir- over 60 who don’t get vaccinated.
pose travel bans and other restrictions officials.” ing that all air travelers to the country Slovakia is considering giving that age
in hopes of containing it. be tested for COVID-19 within a day group 500 euros ($565) if they step
Nigeria and Saudi Arabia also report- before boarding their flights, up from forward for the shot. German Chan-
But the variant is still surrounded by ed omicron infections Wednesday, the current three days. cellor-designate Olaf Scholz, mean-
many unknowns, among them: Is it marking the first known cases in West while, said he will back a proposal to
more contagious than other versions, Africa and the Persian Gulf region. On Wednesday, the WHO warned mandate vaccinations for everybody.

Heat, no food, deadly weather: Climate change kills seabirds

(AP) — The warming build nests and raise young birds roost and increasingly how much is attributable to
of the planet is taking a as sea levels rise, while oth- frequent hurricanes that wipe climate change. But one es- Warming seas, coupled with
deadly toll on seabirds ers are unable to find fish to away nests, many seabirds timate by researchers from die-off events that kill thou-
that are suffering popu- eat as the ocean heats up, re- have been producing fewer University of British Colum- sands of birds by starvation,
lation declines from star- searchers have found. chicks, researchers say. bia stated that seabird popu- are making it harder for some
vation, inability to repro- lations have fallen 70% since species to maintain stable
duce, heat waves and ex- Common murres and Cas- And tern species that live off the mid-20th century. populations, said P. Dee
treme weather. sin’s auklets that live off the New England have died dur- Boersma, a University of
West Coast have also died in ing increasing rain and hail- Researchers from the Uni- Washington biology profes-
Climate-related losses have large numbers from condi- storms scientists link to cli- versity of Washington and sor and an author of the Sci-
hit albatrosses off the Hawai- tions scientists directly tied mate change. Some species, other institutions who stud- ence study.
ian islands, northern gannets to global warming. including endangered roseate ied dozens of worldwide
near the British Isles and terns, also can’t fledge chicks seabird species found some “These ecosystem sentinels
puffins off the Maine coast. With less food, rising seas that because more frequent severe were having success breed- are important because they’re
Some birds are less able to encroach on islands where weather kills their young, ing at only 10% of historical not only enjoyable for us to
said Linda Welch, a biologist levels. They also found that be able to see them, but
with the U.S. Fish and Wild- in the southern hemisphere, they’re important as a signal
life Service. difficulty finding fish has that we’ve gone too far,” she
prevented species such as said.
The warming world is in- the Magellanic penguin from
creasingly inhospitable to successfully feeding chicks. One of the most serious
many seabirds, Welch said. threats to seabirds is a reduc-
“In the last couple years, Worldwide, seabirds are in tion of plankton and small
they’ve experienced wide- jeopardy largely because of fish in cold northern waters.
spread nesting failure,” warming ocean tempera- Forage fish and plankton
she said. “I definitely think tures, scientists say. Over the loss has led to mass die-offs
there’s large ramifications of past five decades, more than of birds such as the Cassin’s
what we’re seeing.” 90% of the extra heat on the auklets that washed up by the
planet from global warm- tens of thousands on the Pa-
It’s difficult to precisely de- ing has been absorbed by the cific Coast in recent years.
termine the population loss ocean, according to U.S. gov-
to wide-ranging seabirds and ernment scientists.