Countries slamming their doors shut
Despite the global worry, scientists said it’s still unclear whether Omicron is more alarming than other versions of the virus which has killed more than 5 million people.
Nations around the world have slammed their doors shut to in a bid to keep the new variant out.
EU member states have closed their borders to travellers from seven southern African countries – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
In the UK, the government stopped short of a travel ban, but now require anyone who enters the UK to take a PCR test on the second day after arriving in the country, and contacts of suspected cases will be asked to self-isolate for 10 days.
Taking no chances, Japan has reimposed border controls, Israel has decided to bar entry to foreigners, and Morocco said it would suspend all incoming flights for two weeks starting on Monday.
The US is also banning travel from South Africa and seven other southern African countries starting on Monday.