(This is a developing story. It will be updated if need be.)
{O/C}
Scientists and doctors battling COVID on the frontlines have confirmed they just discovered a new variant of the coronavirus, named "omicron", which is deemed potentially more dangerous than the Delta variant.
While it is still unclear whether soaring infections are in store, leaders around the world are banking on averting another COVID conundrum by urging people to get inoculated right this second.
{SOT}
On the heels of the discovery of a new highly transmissible mutant strain, an advisory panel of the World Health Organisation classified this particularly worrisome variant as a cause for concern, naming it "Omicron" under its Greek letter system.
MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, W.H.O HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAM COVID-19 TECHNICAL LEAD: This variant has a large number of mutations. And some of these mutations have some worrying characteristics.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday morning the entire world doesn't know much about the variant yet, but called on the public to err on the side of caution.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: We don't know a lot about the variant, except that it is of great concern, seems to spread rapidly.
Omicron originated in South Africa, which is why every nook and cranny of the world is banning visitors from that particular region.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is poised to impose a travel ban on travellers from South Africa and seven other countries in the southern Africa region starting on Monday.
In addition, Britain, countries in the European Union and some others in that region also introduced their travel restrictions, some within hours after learning of the variant.
Meantime, as the world is striking while the iron is hot by imposing travel bans on visitors coming from South Africa, the World Health Organisation and medical experts fear the parade of travel bans is apt to elicit fears, which is why they warned against any overreaction, notwithstanding an inevitable and deleterious corollary of yet another virus outbreak.
Nevertheless, travellers carrying the new variant have now been seen in Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.
Laying his cards on the table, U.S. President Joe Biden said there're still a lot of Americans who have yet to get their shot. He pleaded with them to avail themselves of the U.S.' vaccination programme for everyone's sake.
Knowing having to cope with yet another virus outbreak isn't by any stretch of the imagination of no consequence, countries like Britain are also calling on their citizens to get inoculated as soon as possible.
Despite no rosetta stones yet on how the variant was spread all along, stocks took a beating today. The Dow Jones briefly fell more than 1,000 points. The S&P 500 index also shed 106.84 points to settle at 4,594.
Comments