11 月 27 日消息，世卫组织 WHO 于 11 月 26 日召开了紧急会议，将在南非发现的新冠 B.1.1.529 毒株正式命名为“Omicron”（音译：奥密克戎）。同时，WHO 将这种病毒列为 VOC 级别，意为值得关注的变种。On November 27th, the World Health Organization (WHO) held an emergency meeting on November 26 and officially named the new crown B.1.1.529 strain found in South Africa as "Omicron" (transliteration: Omicron). At the same time, the WHO classified this virus as a VOC level, meaning a variant worthy of attention.
There has been an outbreak of new crown infections in South Africa since November, and the rapid increase in confirmed cases represents the arrival of a new round of epidemics. After sequencing, the number of mutations in the spike protein of the Omicron strain reached 32, twice that of the previous Delta strain. Due to the high risk of this virus, the B.1.1.529 naming process was completed in just one day. After receiving the report, the WHO quickly named it within two days.
[The new crown B.1.1.529 strain was named "Omicron", and cases have been detected in many countries] Experts say that the Omicron strain may have evolved in people living with AIDS, compared to the 2019 new crown virus. Multi-generational development. British experts said that the most worrying thing is that this virus may invalidate existing vaccines/antibodies.
According to the foreign media ABC report, as many as 61 people on the two flights from South Africa to the Netherlands today tested positive for nucleic acid, but the number of Omicron infected people is still unknown. At present, in addition to South Africa, Belgium, Israel, Germany, Botswana, and Hong Kong, China have reported cases of Omicron strain infection.
In order to prevent this new virus, the United Kingdom has banned flights from South Africa and neighboring countries from entering the United Kingdom; the United States has announced a ban on flights from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi; Australia , Japan, India, Iran, Brazil, Canada, Thailand and many other countries have also announced the suspension of flights to these countries. Canada also prohibits entry of foreigners who have been to these countries in the past 14 days.
Today, China's Macau Novel Coronavirus Infection Response Coordination Center also announced that starting from 0:00 on November 28, 2021, civilian aircraft will be prohibited from carrying any civil aircraft that has been to South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Mozambique within 21 days. Or people from Malawi come to Macau.
It is understood that the first known confirmed case of Omicron came from samples collected on November 9. The United Nations public health agency said that this variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are worrying. A senior British health official warned that “it is almost certain that existing vaccines are less effective against Omicron variants.”
[The new crown B.1.1.529 strain is named "Omicron", and cases have been detected in many countries] WHO said: After laboratory sequencing, a gene fragment of the Omicron strain is missing compared to other variants. This can be used as Sign for quick detection. Therefore, people's detection speed of Omicron will be faster than other variants.
In addition, WHO requires countries to take the following measures to respond: 1. Strengthen monitoring and sequencing to better understand Omicron variants.
2. Submit the detected complete virus gene sequence and related data to a public database, such as GISAID.
3. Report cases and clusters of various new coronavirus variants to WHO through the IHR mechanism.
4. Coordinating with the international community under capable conditions to conduct on-site investigations and laboratory assessments of the infection situation. This can help improve understanding of the epidemiology, severity, public health and social effectiveness, diagnostic methods, immune response, and antibody effects of the new coronavirus variant.
南非自 11 月以来出现了新冠感染者爆发，确诊病例快速增加，代表了新一轮疫情来临。经过测序，Omicron 毒株刺突蛋白变异数量达到 32 处，是此前德尔塔 Delta 毒株的两倍。这种病毒由于危险性较高，因此仅仅 1 天时间便走完了 B.1.1.529 命名流程，世卫组织也在收到报告后，在 2 天之内火速命名。
[新冠 B.1.1.529 毒株被命名为“Omicron”，目前多国已发现病例]
专家表示，Omicron 毒株有可能是在艾滋病感染者体内进化而来，相比 2019 年的新冠病毒已经经历了多代发展。英国专家表示，最令人担忧的是，这种病毒有可能使现有的疫苗/抗体失效。
根据外媒 ABC 报道，今日从南非起飞至荷兰的两架航班，有多达 61 人核酸检测呈阳性，但其中 Omicron 感染者的数量还未知。目前，除了南非之外，比利时、以色列、德国、博茨瓦纳和中国香港已经出现了新冠 Omicron 毒株感染病例。
为了防范这种新型病毒，英国已经禁止南非及周边国家的航班进入英国；美国宣布禁止南非、博茨瓦纳、津巴布韦、纳米尼亚、莱索托、埃斯瓦蒂尼、莫桑比克、马拉维的航班入境；澳大利亚、日本、印度、伊朗、巴西、加拿大、泰国等多国也宣布，暂停这些国家的航班。加拿大还禁止过去 14 天内去过这些国家的外国人入境。
今日中国澳门新型冠状病毒感染应变协调中心也宣布，2021 年 11 月 28 日零时起，禁止民用飞机搭载任何在 21 天内曾到过南非、博茨瓦纳、津巴布韦、纳米比亚、莱索托、斯威士兰、莫桑比克或马拉维的人士前来澳门。
了解到，目前已知的第一个 Omicron 确诊病例来自 11 月 9 日收集的样本。联合国公共卫生机构表示，这种变体有着大量突变，其中一些令人担忧。英国一位高级卫生官员警告称，“几乎可以肯定现有疫苗对 Omicron 变种的效果较差。”
[新冠 B.1.1.529 毒株被命名为“Omicron”，目前多国已发现病例]
世卫组织表示：经过实验室的测序，Omicron 毒株有一处基因片段相比其它变种丢失了，这可以作为快速检测的标志。因此，人们对 Omicron 的检测速度相比其它变种会更快。
此外，世卫组织要求各国进行以下措施进行应对：
1、加强监测和测序工作，以便更好地了解 Omicron 变种。
2、将检测到的完整病毒基因序列和相关数据提交到公开数据库，比如 GISAID。
3、通过 IHR 机制向 WHO 报告有关各种新冠病毒变种的病例、集群。
4、在有能力的条件下与国际社会协调，对感染情况进行实地调查和实验室评估。这样能够帮助提高对新冠变种病毒在流行病学、严重性、公共卫生和社会的有效性、诊断方法、免疫反应、抗体影响等方面的了解。
