LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Will travel restrictions work in isolating omicron outbreaks — or is it too little, too late to stop the global spread of this new variant?
In an interview with KNX In Depth, Dr. Joshua Michaud said there is a mixed bag of approaches that countries are taking to prevent the spread of Omicron and no one way is the right way.
“There’s a spectrum of different approaches to travel restrictions, from an outright ban where you don’t let anyone come in from the region you've put the ban on,” Michaud said.
“Then there’s what the United States is doing, which is selectively picking a group of countries and then only denying entry to some of the people coming from those countries.”
But allowing U.S. citizens to travel in and out of countries on the banned list isn’t a perfect plan, Michaud, the associate director of global health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said.
“Invariably it’s going to be less effective at stopping the importation of a virus that can be carried by anyone,” he said. “It’s certainly not going to prevent the virus from coming to the U.S. If it's not already here.”
Speaking Sunday, both President Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci said the best protections against the Omicron variant are boosters for those who got their last dose of coronavirus vaccine more than six months ago and vaccines for those who are still without any protections against COVID-19.
Biden also announced that the U.S. will enforce air travel restrictions from South Africa and seven other countries as a preventative measure.
While no cases have been reported yet by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fauci said that the variant is likely already in the U.S.
When it comes to the best approach for all involved, Michaud said it’s difficult to know what steps to take since so little is known about Omicron.
“There’s gotta be a balance struck between what is helpful in terms of public health and what is too disruptive in terms of international travel and trade,” he said.
“One of the problems that we’re facing is there are so many unknowns with this variant we don’t know what level of protection we should be taking.”
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