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GENEVA — The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday cautioned countries against hastily imposing travel restrictions linked to the new B.1.1.529 variant of COVID-19, saying they should take a “risk-based and scientific approach.”
A closed-door experts’ meeting from Geneva, convened by WHO, began at midday (1100 GMT) to assess the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529 and to designate it as either a variant of interest or a variant of concern, spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.
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Global authorities reacted with alarm on Friday to a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, with the EU and Britain among those tightening border controls as scientists sought to find out if the mutation was vaccine-resistant.
“At this point, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against,” Lindmeier told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. “The WHO recommends that countries continue to apply a risk-based and scientific approach when implementing…