Southern Africa: Omicron – Domino Effect As World Puts Southern Africa in Lockdown – and New Cases Are Detected Abroad

After South African scientists announced the sequencing/identification of a concerning new variant of the coronavirus, the international community responded with travel bans and hollow commendations of the country’s scientific expertise and transparency. Here’s the latest:

South Africa and other southern African nations are racking up travel bans and restrictions while confirmed cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant keep popping up around the world.

On Thursday, South Africa’s health ministry and local scientists announced the identification of a worrying new variant of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. By Sunday, a number of countries had imposed, modified or reintroduced travel restrictions and outright bans on travellers from South Africa and its neighbours.

On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the new variant as one “of concern” and gave it the name Omicron.

“This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” the WHO said in its official description. “Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared with other [variants].”

The designation is significant, because for a variant to meet the definition of variant of concern, it needs to have been “demonstrated to be associated with” one or more of the below:

An…

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