Watch: WHO names new Covid variant Omicron
- 3 years ago
On Friday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) designated SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.529 as a ‘variant of concern’. The new coronavirus variant, which has been detected in South Africa, Hong Kong, Israel and Botswana, has been named Omicron.
The WHO classified the variant as a “highly transmissible virus of concern”, the same category that includes the predominant delta variant of the coronavirus. In a bid to contain this new Covid-19 threat, countries across the world have rushed to impose travel bans, a move South Africa called 'unjustified'.
The WHO classified the variant as a “highly transmissible virus of concern”, the same category that includes the predominant delta variant of the coronavirus. In a bid to contain this new Covid-19 threat, countries across the world have rushed to impose travel bans, a move South Africa called 'unjustified'.