Covid-19 variant Omicron a concern, but how big a threat is unknown: Experts

Restrictions have been placed on travellers from several African countries amid reports of the variant circulating in that region. - ST

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): It is too early to tell if the new B.1.1.529 strain of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, which has been classified a variant of concern (VOC) and named Omicron, will pose a real threat, said experts - but the world is taking its emergence seriously.

This strain was first detected in South Africa on Nov 11, and has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong.