The World Trade Organization postponed its ministerial conference, scheduled for next week, at the last minute on Friday due to the new more dangerous Omicron Covid-19 variant detected in South Africa that has led to the banning of flights worldwide.
The World Health Organisation has classified the B.1.1.529 variant as a "variant of concern" saying it may spread more quickly than other forms of the virus and named it with the Greek letter Omicron. Scientists are also seeking to find out if it is vaccine-resistant.
The new Covid-19 variant with a large number of mutations, detected by scientists in South Africa, has raised fresh fears of a surge in the pandemic which has led to countries banning flights from and to South Africa, where the strain was first detected on November 9.
The alarm has been triggered as the number of daily infections in South Africa increased ten-fold since the beginning of the month.
Switzerland, where the WTO is based, on Friday banned direct flights from South Africa and the surrounding region, and imposed test and quarantine requirements on travel from other countries, including Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.
The WTO said that its members had agreed late on Friday to postpone the ministerial conference after the new variant outbreak led to travel restrictions that would have prevented many ministers from reaching Geneva.
No new date has been set for a rescheduled meeting.
"This has not been an easy recommendation to make," New director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said.
"But as director-general, my priority is the health and safety of all MC12 participants — ministers, delegates and civil society. It is better to err on the side of caution."
India, South Africa and other developing countries are calling for a waiver of intellectual property (IP) rights for vaccines and other COVID-19 treatments. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday he supported a waiver for vaccines.
New director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was also hoping, against the odds, to make progress towards a deal on lifting Covid vaccine patents, proving the WTO had a relevant role to play in combating the pandemic.
However, she said the postponement did not mean negotiations should stop.
"On the contrary, delegations in Geneva should be fully empowered to close as many gaps as possible. This new variant reminds us once again of the urgency of the work we are charged with," she said in a statement.
The Geneva-based trade body had planned a meeting in person, but the new restrictions meant delegations of large players such as South Africa and the Brussels-based European Commission would have been limited to a largely virtual presence.
