New COVID-19 variant called “omicron”, classified as highly transmissible by the World Health Organization

BRUSSELS – An advisory panel of the World Health Organization classified a new COVID-19 variant, first discovered in South Africa, as a highly transmissible virus of concern, calling it “omicron” under its Greek letter system.

Friday’s announcement from the UN Health Agency marks the first time in several months that the WHO has classified a COVID-19 variant as such. The Delta variant, which has become the most widespread in the world, is in the same category.

Medical experts, including the World Health Organization, warned of any overreaction before the variant, which originates in southern Africa, was better understood. But a nervous world feared the worst nearly two years after COVID-19 surfaced, triggering a pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people across the globe.

“We need to move as quickly and as early as possible,” British Health Minister Sajid Javid told lawmakers.

There was no immediate indication as to whether the variant was more transmissible or causing more severe disease. As with other variants, some infected people show no symptoms, South African experts said.

Although some of the genetic changes seem worrying, it was unclear whether the new variant would pose a significant threat to public health. Some earlier variants, such as the beta variant, initially worried scientists, but did not spread very far.

The 27-nation EU imposed a temporary ban on flights from southern Africa, and shares fell in Asia, Europe and the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1,000 points. The S&P 500 index fell 2.3%, in line with the worst day since February. The price of oil fell by almost 12 per cent.

“The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems,” said German Health Minister Jens Spahn. EU member states have seen a massive increase in cases recently.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said planes would have to be “suspended until we have a clear understanding of the dangers of this new variant and travelers returning from this region should respect strict quarantine rules.”

She insisted on extreme caution, warning that “mutations could lead to the emergence and spread of even more concerning variants of the virus that could spread worldwide within a few months.”

Belgium became the first EU country to announce a case on the variant.

“It’s a suspicious variant,” said Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke. “We do not know if it is a very dangerous variant.”

It has not yet been discovered in the United States, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US Government’s best expert on infectious diseases. Abroad, the variant appears to be spreading at a reasonably fast rate, he told CNN. And while it may be more transmissible and resistant to vaccines than other variants, “we do not know for sure right now.”

To show how complicated the spread of a variant can be, the Belgian case involved a traveler who returned to Belgium from Egypt on November 11, but only became ill with mild symptoms on Monday, according to Professor Marc Van Ranst, who working for the Scientific Group overseeing the Belgian Government’s COVID-19 response.

Israel, one of the world’s most vaccinated countries, announced on Friday that it also discovered its first case of the new variant in a traveler returning from Malawi. The traveler and two other suspects were isolated. Israel said all three had been vaccinated, but officials examined the travelers’ exact vaccination status.

After a 10-hour overnight trip, passengers aboard the KLM Flight 598 from Capetown, South Africa, to Amsterdam were kept on the edge of the runway on Friday morning at Schiphol Airport for four hours awaiting special tests. Passengers on board an aircraft from Johannesburg were also isolated and tested.

“It’s ridiculous. If we did not catch the dreaded bugger before, we will catch it now,” said passenger Francesca de ‘Medici, a Rome-based art consultant who was on the plane.

Some experts said the emergence of the variant illustrated how rich countries’ hoarding of vaccines threatens to prolong the pandemic.

Less than 6% of Africa’s population has been fully immunized against COVID-19, and millions of health workers and vulnerable populations have not yet received a single dose. These conditions can accelerate the spread of the virus, giving more opportunities for it to develop into a dangerous variant.

“This is one of the consequences of inequality in vaccine rollout and why the richer countries’ collection of surplus vaccines will inevitably return to all of us at some point,” said Michael Head, senior researcher in global health at the University of Southampton in the UK. . He urged group of 20 leaders “to go beyond vague promises and actually live up to their commitments to share doses.”

The new variant added to investors’ fears that months of progress with COVID-19 could be reversed.

“Investors are likely to shoot first and ask questions later until more is known,” said Jeffrey Halley of currency broker Oanda.

As a sign of how worried Wall Street has become, the market’s so-called fear meter known as VIX jumped 48% to a reading of 26.91. This is the highest reading for the volatility index since January, before vaccines became widespread.

Dr. Michael Ryan, head of emergency at the WHO, spoke before the EU announcement, warning against “knee-jerk reactions”.

“We have seen in the past, at the moment, there is no mention of any kind of variation, and everyone is closing boundaries and restricting travel,” Ryan said. “It’s really important that we stay open and focused.”

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly agreed and strongly advised against any travel ban for countries reporting the new variant. It said past experience shows that such travel bans “have not yielded a meaningful result.”

Britain banned flights from South Africa and five other South African countries at noon on Friday, announcing that anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronavirus test.

Germany said its flight ban could be passed as early as Friday night. Spahn said planes returning from South Africa will only be able to transport German nationals home, and travelers will have to be quarantined for 14 days, whether vaccinated or not.

Germany has seen record daily case numbers in recent days and on Thursday exceeded 100,000 deaths due to COVID-19.

The Italian Ministry of Health announced measures to ban the entry of anyone who has been to seven South African nations – South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini – within the last 14 days. The Netherlands and the Czech Republic planned similar measures.

The Japanese government announced that Japanese nationals traveling from Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Lesotho must be quarantined at government-designated accommodations for 10 days and take COVID-19 tests on the third, sixth and tenth day. Japan has not yet opened up to foreign nationals.

The South African government said Britain’s decision to temporarily ban South Africans from entering “appears to have been hasty”, citing the fact that the WHO has not yet recommended the next steps.

Fauci said U.S. public health officials spoke with South African colleagues on Friday. “We want to find out scientist to scientist exactly what’s going on.”

The WHO Technical Working Group was to meet on Friday to assess the new variant – currently identified as B.1.1.529 – and can decide whether to give it a name from the Greek alphabet. It says coronavirus infections rose 11% in the past week in Europe, the only region in the world where COVID-19 continues to rise.

WHO Europe Director, Dr. Hans Kluge, warned that the continent without emergency measures could see another 700,000 deaths by spring.

Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels, Colleen Barry in Milan, Pan Pylas in London, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Mike Corder in The Hague, Dave McHugh in Frankfurt, Carley Petesch in Dakar, Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed. this report.

Subscribe to the newsletter every two weeks to have health news sent directly to your inbox.