WHO officials named the new variant found in South Africa omicron. Conservatives noted Biden’s hypocrisy in his travel ban.
Summary
The new COVID variant found in South Africa has been named the omicron variant and raised concerns from scientists over mutations that could make it more contagious.
- Global stock markets plummeted on news of concern over omicron despite medical experts “warning against any overreaction” to the new variant’s discovery.
- The news, which prompted European nations to implement travel restrictions, forced President Biden to announce a travel ban for South Africa and seven other nations.
- Officials from the South African government decried the travel bans, calling them “unjustified.”
- The discovery of the omicron variant provoked Biden to push for waiving intellectual property rights for the vaccines made by the private sector.
- CNN highlighted calls by medical experts for unvaccinated Americans to take the potential dangers of a new variant as an opportunity to get COVID-19 shots.
- NBC News ended its report on U.S. travel restrictions ignoring Biden’s plea for IP waivers and pushing the world to donate more vaccine doses for global use.
- Huffington Post reported on the emergency declaration made by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, to get ahead of the omicron variant, so hospitals can “limit non-essential and non-urgent” operations and prepare for staff shortages.
- OANN reported on Biden’s travel ban and noted “a timetable for the travel bans has yet to be disclosed.”
- Townhall pilloried Gov. Hochul for implementing a state of emergency despite the omicron variant not having been detected in the United States.
- Fox News reported on Biden’s travel ban by noting his response to Trump’s travel ban last year in which Biden called Trump hysterical and xenophobic for restricting travel.
- The New York Post noticed the World Health Organization skipping over the Greek letters Nu and Xi when naming the new variant so as not to confuse people into thinking it was “new” and because Xi is a common surname in China (as well as the name of their tyrant Xi Jinping).
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
