Wear masks on long flights: WHO urges amid spread of XBB.1.5

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday urged countries to recommend all those travelling to wear masks in view of the rapid spread of the new Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5 in several nations across the world - especially the United States. WHO's senior emergency officer for Europe - Catherine Smallwood during a briefing said: “Passengers should be advised to wear masks in high-risk settings such as long-haul flights”, reported Reuters.

According to the WHO official, wearing masks should be a “recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread Covid-19 transmission”.

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“Countries need to look at the evidence base for pre-departure testing and if action is considered, travel measures should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner,” Smallwood added.

The latest highly transmissible Omicron variant - XBB.1.5 - has accounted for 27.6 percent of the Covid-19 in the United States so far till Sunday, reported Reuters citing health officials. The subvariant has been detected in Europe as well in small but growing numbers, according to WHO officials.

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Meanwhile, fresh concerns regarding another wave of Covid-19 emerged after China saw a massive surge in infections last month. Several nations - including the US, UK, and France - immediately tightened their Covid testing facilities at airports and demanded Covid tests from travellers from China.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had also said that the UN health body was “very concerned over the evolving situation in China”.

Last week, the European Union's Integrated Political Crisis Response group (IPCR) - a body made up of officials from the EU's 27 governments - also recommended all passengers on flights to and from China to wear masks.

(With inputs from Reuters)