WASHINGTON, Nov 27 ― The discovery of a new coronavirus variant named Omicron triggered global alarm yesterday as countries rushed to suspend travel from southern Africa and stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic suffered their biggest falls in more than a year.
Going further, Canada said it was closing its borders to those countries, following bans on flights announced by Britain, the European Union and others. Those worries pummelled financial markets, especially stocks of airlines and others in the travel sector, and oil, which tumbled by about US$10 a barrel.
“It's really important that there are no knee-jerk responses,” said the WHO's emergencies director Mike Ryan, praising South Africa's public health institutions for picking up the new variant of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.