11/29/21 - New COVID-19 Variant Causes Concern

Scientists say it's unclear whether Omicron is more dangerous than other versions of the COVID-19 virus.

The United States is limiting travel from South Africa and several other countries due to the new CVOID-19 variant, Omicron.

The new restrictions go into effect today, Monday, November 29, 2021. New US travel restrictions on southern Africa have come into effect, as the Biden administration seeks to respond to concerns over the variant. The White House is restricting travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.

The World Health Organization declared Omicron a "variant of concern" and are working to learn more about the effects and how the current vaccines will impact the virus.

The World Health Organization is opening a special session to discuss ways to strengthen the global fight against pandemics. 

 A number of nations are reporting their first cases of the variant, but the true number of Omicron infections is unknown and official reports depend heavily on how well a country is able to put genome sequencing in place on a mass scale. Countries in Europe, North America and elsewhere have detected cases since the first infections were found in southern Africa.