November 26 Omicron variant news

The World Health Organization will label the new Covid-19 variant as a "variant of concern."

"There was a meeting today, WHO and the technical working group on virus evolution, and it has been agreed to classify this variant as a 'variant of concern,'" Dr. Mary Stephen, technical officer at the WHO regional Office for Africa, told CNN's Zain Asher.

WHO's Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE), an independent group of experts, convened Friday to discuss the new variant.

The advisers recommended that WHO designate the variant as "of concern," referencing the variant's large number of mutations, possibly an increased risk of reinfection and other evidence.

A statement released by the WHO added that the new strain will be given the name Omicron.

The variant was first discovered by South African health authorities and has sparked a forceful reaction across the world with a number of countries banning travelers from several southern African countries.

The discovery of a new, potentially more transmissible, strain of the coronavirus is prompting governments around the world to ban travelers from several southern African nations.

However, one expert suggested Friday that instead of travel bans, the way to combat the variant first detected in South Africa is to “implement a rapid scale-up of vaccinations.”

“This has been identified in Hong Kong, in Israel, in many other places. Once you get it there, it really doesn't matter. I mean, you already have it spread globally so what we need to do, again, is implement not travel restrictions but implement the kind of things that we know that control the spread.”

Del Rio highlighted that travel bans can have the unintended consequence of hampering transparency.

Jordan has announced any Jordanians arriving from several countries — including South Africa — will have to quarantine for 14 days, according to a report from Jordanian public broadcaster Al-Mamlaka on Friday. 

The move follows the discovery of a new and potentially more transmissible coronavirus variant by South African health authorities, which has sparked a forceful reaction across the world. 

Currently known as B.1.1.529, the newly identified variant appears to be spreading rapidly in parts of South Africa. Scientists are concerned that its unusually high number of mutations could make it more transmissible and result in immune evasion.

No cases of the new variant have been discovered in Jordan at this point.

The new measure will go into effect on Sunday. Jordan doesn't have direct flights with South Africa or the other six countries. 

A few days ago, Jordan announced that it had entered a third wave of the pandemic.

Dubai will restrict travelers from seven African countries, including South Africa, according to Emirates, citing the country's Covid-19 Command and Control Centre.

The restrictions will be enforced starting Monday.

The countries include: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

However, outbound passenger flights from Dubai to the countries listed are permitted, the statement said. 

Dubai's announcement follows similar measures by the United Kingdom and a slew of European and Asian countries, which have banned travel and introduced quarantine requirements following the discovery of an aggressive mutation of the Covid-19 virus.

Hundreds of passengers are being held at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and are waiting to be tested for Covid-19 after landing from South Africa earlier Friday, an airport spokesperson told CNN.

The Netherlands is one of the latest European Union countries to ban travelers from South Africa and other southern African nations over concerns about the spread of a new Covid-19 variant.

Two flights, one from Cape Town and one from Johannesburg, landed Friday late morning local time, the spokesperson said.

Passengers had to remain on board the flight while a separate, secure location in the airport was being located, he said.

"Around 2:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), the passengers were brought to this location where they are now waiting to be tested," the spokesperson said, adding that given the high number of passengers "it will take time to test everyone."

"The health department [is] currently testing all the passengers," he said, adding that food and drinks are being provided to them.

The discovery of a new and potentially more transmissible coronavirus variant by South African health authorities has sparked a forceful reaction across the world with a number of countries banning travelers from several southern African countries.

Here's what we know so far:

Stocks fell and oil prices plunged more than 10% on Friday as the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant rattled global markets.

US markets, which were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, were slammed during Friday's shortened trading session. The Dow fell more than 1,000 points or 2.8%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down nearly 2%.

Asian markets led the way, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropping 2.7%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 2.5%. European markets also sold off heavily, with major indexes including the FTSE100, France's CAC40 and Germany's DAX falling between 3% and 4%.

US oil futures sank by more than 11% to trade below $70 a barrel. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, suffered a similar drop to around $73. 

The new variant has been detected in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel, prompting some countries to put flight bans in place.

While "volatility with high frequency markets is the norm these days," CNN international business correspondent Richard Quest said, markets will likely be affected for a longer amount of time.

"Longer term, yes, I also would expect the markets to be volatile and to be jittery ... because the markets don't like uncertainty," he said.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging caution against travel bans after several countries moved to suspend flights from South Africa and other southern African countries due to the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant.

Travel stocks were hit hard Friday following fresh travel restrictions, with big airlines dropping sharply. IAG dropped 15%, Lufthansa 11% and Air France 9%.

The European Commission has proposed an "emergency brake" on travel from some countries and urged those who have not been vaccinated to do so immediately as concerns grow over a new coronavirus variant, which scientists say has a high number of mutations.

The European Commission is taking the news of the variant "very seriously," President Ursula von der Leyen said in remarks on Friday, and Europe should "act very swiftly, decisively and united."

She said she's spoken with scientists and vaccine manufacturers, and they also support precautionary measures.

Von der Leyen encouraged all people to continue practicing other measures such as wearing masks and social distancing.

Watch her remarks here: