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Opinion | Better domestic surveillance, not closing borders, is key to containing coronavirus spread
- Closing borders will not stop new or future variants from finding their way in but it will stall fragile recoveries and add to economic and social distress
- Instead, governments should ramp up domestic protocols ahead of the roll-out of mass vaccination campaigns
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Since Covid-19 was first detected in human beings more than a year ago, it has undergone thousands of mutations. We have largely ignored these because they did not appear to alter transmissibility or virulence.
This changed in late 2020, when a spike in infections in Britain was linked to a variant called B.1.1.7 and another surge in South Africa to a variant called 1.135. There is concern that most of the recent surges around the world could be because of these or other new variants, some of which are still unidentified.
While more transmissible, it is unclear if the new variants can cause reinfection or are more lethal. Evidence is emerging that the South African strain could reinfect those with antibodies from the original strain. The increase in the mortality rate in the UK could be because of the surge overwhelming an already strained health care system, leading to its lower efficacy in preventing death, rather than a more lethal strain.
There is also concern that Covid-19 vaccines could be less efficacious in preventing severe symptoms from the South African strain. All these concerns are real, but it is too early to tell.
Many countries have responded by closing their borders to travellers who have been in countries where the new strains originated or where cases have been reported. With tight border restrictions already in place, an escalation to ban travellers from an increasing number of countries will delay economic recovery.

02:19
WHO says widespread travel bans not needed to beat coronavirus
WHO says widespread travel bans not needed to beat coronavirus
Given the costs, can such measures prevent or limit entry of the new strains? The evidence suggests it cannot stop entry and there are better ways to limit its spread.
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