Reminder that reactive travel bans typically slow but don’t stop importations. If new B.1.1.529 variant genuinely more transmissible/can evade immunity to some extent, reasonable to assume already undetected cases in other regions... 1/
https://twitter.com/AdamJKucharski/status/1389940755389632516
For example, Israel had multi-pronged efforts to keep Delta out (which bought time for more vaccination), but even so the rise was only a couple of months behind UK: 2/ 
Countries should therefore have plan to deal with local outbreak. Recent reintroduction of control measures across Europe may be helpful coincidence (in short term at least), reducing contacts & making it harder for imported cases to establish... 3/
https://twitter.com/firefoxx66/status/1464169658874056768?s=20
But countries also need a longer term plan. Not just for this variant - which may become less (or more) concerning as more data emerges - but also for any future variants. And for future pandemics. Don’t just put plans in some future report - put them into action now. 4/4
For avoidance of doubt: this doesn't mean reactive travel measures do nothing – it just means they won't necessarily do everything. Need to consider possibility variant isn't only circulating in areas where it's so far been detected.
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