South Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla told reporters that the flight bans were "unjustified".
"The reaction of some of the countries, in terms of imposing travel bans, and such measures, are completely against the norms and standards as guided by the World Health Organization," he said. Stock markets across the world also fell sharply on Friday, reflecting the fears of investors over the potential economic impact.The decision adds weight to the mounting scientific worry about the potential of this new variant, but it doesn't change any of the facts.
The variant has an astounding collection of mutations which are thought to increase its ability to spread and bypass some, but not all, of the protection from vaccines.We don't know for sure that it spreads faster, makes vaccines or drugs less effective or whether it leads to more severe disease. The WHO have also given it a name and ended days of speculation that we would end up in the slightly ridiculous position of calling the new variant the "Nu variant".Instead, you can guarantee we'll be talking a lot about Omicron in the weeks to come.
Anti-vaxxers, anti maskers, conspiracy theorists:
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