Responding to a proposal by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Member States decided on Friday 26 November to activate the emergency brake provided for in the recommendations on non-essential travel to the EU, in this case against South Africa, where the new variant B.1.1.529 has appeared, but also against neighbouring countries.
The emergency brake will mean that all flights to the EU will be suspended until further notice. Member States meeting in the Integrated Political Crisis Response Mechanism (IPCR), the EU Council’s crisis body, have also been asked to test and quarantine all travellers from the area.
These suspensions will also concern countries such as Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and Mozambique.
Several Member States, such as Germany, France and Italy, have already announced these flight suspensions on 26 November, as well as the United Kingdom from the evening of 25 November. Germany, for its part, will only allow the return of its nationals, who will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine even if they are vaccinated, the health minister announced. The Netherlands has also announced temporary suspension measures.
The Commission President said she “takes this new variant very seriously” and recommended suspending the links until the nature and risks of this variant are clarified.
She also called for anyone returning from the area to be quarantined and urged people who are not yet “to get vaccinated” as soon as possible.
The Belgian government, for its part, indicated on 26 November that it had identified the first ever case of this variant on its soil, called the ‘Omicron’ variant by the WHO. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)