The World Health Organization said the new variant is more infectious than the dominant, highly transmissible Delta strain, and renamed this B.1.1.529 strain of Covid-19 as Omicron.
It has reached Europe with one confirmed case in Belgium after being found in South Africa, Botswana and then in Hong Kong.
Anxious tourists in Johannesburg rushed to the airport to catch a last flight out as nations across the globe started shutting their doors, while many worried the new variant could be more resistant to vaccines.
Markets around the world plunged as news of the latest setback in the fight against the pandemic sank in.
US President Joe Biden said countries should donate more Covid-19 vaccines and…