U.K. reports cases of variant; world responds quickly

Some nations impose restrictions on travel from southern Africa.

LONDON — Britain on Saturday became the latest country to report cases of the new — and potentially more contagious — omicron variant of the coronavirus as world governments sought to shore up their defenses by slapping restrictions on travel from nations in southern Africa.

U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed two people have tested positive with the omicron variant, one in Chelmsford and one in Nottingham. He said the cases were linked and related to travel from southern Africa.

Javid said the two confirmed cases are self-isolating alongside their households while contact tracing and targeted testing takes place. He also said arrivals from Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia will have to quarantine beginning today and stressed the importance of booster jabs.

“This is a real reminder that this pandemic is far from over,” he said. “If we need to take further action, we will.”

Many countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Iran, Japan, Thailand and the United States, have slapped restrictions on various African countries in response to warnings over the transmissability of the new variant — against the advice of the World Health Organization.

Despite the banning of flights, there are mounting concerns that the variant has already been widely seeded around the world. In addition to the U.K., cases have been reported among travelers in Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong. Germany also said it suspected a positive case and Dutch authorities were testing whether 61 people who arrived on two flights from South Africa with COVID-19 have the omicron variant.

The planes arrived in the Netherlands from Johannesburg and Cape Town shortly after the Dutch government imposed a ban on flights from southern African nations. The 539 travelers who tested negative were allowed to return home or continue their journeys to other countries. Under government regulations, those who live in the Netherlands and are allowed to return home must self-isolate for at least five days.

Meanwhile, a German official said there was a “very high probability” that the omicron variant had arrived in the country.

The global health body has named the new variant omicron, labeling it a variant of concern because of its high number of mutations and some early evidence that it carries a higher degree of infection than other variants. That means people who contracted COVID-19 and recovered could be subject to catching it again. It could take weeks to know whether current vaccines are less effective against it.

With so much uncertainty about the omicron variant and scientists unlikely to flesh out their findings for a few weeks, countries around the world have been taking a safety-first approach, in the knowledge that previous outbreaks of the pandemic have been partly fueled by lax border policies.

Now, nearly two years after the start of the pandemic, countries are on high alert.