The United Nations Children's Fund does not plan to evacuate its staff from South Africa amid the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, and continues to implement the preventive measures, the UN agency's Chief of Communication and Partnerships in South Africa Toby Fricker told Sputnik
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2021) The United Nations Children's Fund does not plan to evacuate its staff from South Africa amid the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, and continues to implement the preventive measures, the UN agency's Chief of Communication and Partnerships in South Africa Toby Fricker told Sputnik.
"There are no plans to evacuate staff from South Africa, the country has very good medical facilities," Fricker said.
Fricker also pointed out that the measures in place for UNICEF and UN staff remain the same.
"Vaccination combined with mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing, as well as good ventilation when indoors, continue to be the most effective ways to stop COVID spread and prevent severe illness," Fricker added.
The World Health Organization (WHO) identified on Friday the new South African strain as one of concern, as it is reported to carry a high number of mutations � 32 � which possibly makes it more transmissible and dangerous. The WHO has dubbed it Omicron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.
Following the reports about the new variant, the United States, the European Union, Canada, Israel, Australia and other countries have restricted travel from several southern African nations over the health concerns.
