Wear mask on long flights as new Omicron variant spreads:WHO

World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that Countries should consider recommending passengers wear masks on long-haul flights to counter the latest Omicron subvariant of Covid-19 given its rapid spread in the United States. In Europe, the XBB.1.5 subvariant is being detected in small but growing numbers, WHO/Europe officials said at a press briefing on Tuesday. WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, adding: “this should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread Covid-19 transmission.” “Countries need to look at the evidence base for pre-departure testing”, Smallwood added, saying it was crucial not to focus exclusively on one particular geographic area.

XBB.1.5 is yet another descendant of Omicron, the most contagious — and now globally dominant — variant of the virus that causes Covid-19. It is an offshoot of XBB, first detected in October, which is itself a recombinant of two other Omicron subvariants. Concerns about XBB.1.5 fuelling a fresh spate of cases in the United States and beyond are on the rise at the same time as a surge of Covid cases in China, after the country pivoted away from its signature “zero Covid” policy last month.