South African medics moved to calm a wave of panic over a new ultra-infectious and vaccine resistant Covid strain today as its arrival in Europe sparked fears of a new Christmas shutdown.
Belgium revealed a case of the Botswana variant - named 'Omicron' by the World Health Organisation overnight - prompting EU chiefs to call for an 'emergency brake' on all travel from southern Africa after it was also found in Israel.
The Belgian health ministry said a case of the new B.1.1.529 strain was confirmed in an unvaccinated young woman who had returned from Egypt 11 days ago, suggesting it is already being seeded across the continent and is widespread in Africa.
It came as the WHO today designated it a 'variant of concern', its highest category. Experts said there is early evidence to suggest Omicron has an 'increased risk of reinfection' and its rapid spread in South Africa suggests it has a 'growth advantage'.
In Britain, arrivals from six countries were added to the quarantine red list from noon - but fears were raised over a lack of checks on arrivals beforehand. Boris Johnson has spoken to South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss the situation.
However, Angelique Coetzee, the chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, said that it was too early to begin imposing travel restrictions.
'It's a hasty decision,' she said. 'I would understand if it was two weeks later and we knew much more about this viral infection that is going around, this mutation.
'But for now, it is a storm in a tea cup, we have only become aware of this viral mutation ... in the last week.
'So far what we have seen are very mild cases, so I'm not sure why we are all up in arms.'
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen had earlier called for an EU-wide travel ban to southern Africa warning that the Omicron strain could be world-dominant in months.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries starting on Monday, following the detection of the new variant.
Those countries are Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi, the White House said on Friday.
'The policy was implemented out of an abundance of caution,' a senior administration official said, after news of the variant caused the Dow futures to fall by 2.25 percent, and both the NASDAQ and S&P Futures Indices to fall by more than 1 percent.
On Friday, Prime minister Scott Morrison said the Omnicron strain was not a 'variant of concern'.
'But that can change,' Mr Morrison said.
'And we monitor all of these variants and we note the responses that are made by other countries and we consider those in real time.'
Health minister Greg Hunt assured the borders to South Africa would remain open for now.
'If the medical advice is that we need to change, we won't hesitate,' he said.
He argued the new strain did not appear to lower the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine.
'It's highly unlikely to affect the efficacies of the vaccine,' he said.
'This is a very different situation to the Delta emergence and the high case numbers we saw in India. We are very highly vaccinated.
'There is no basis for change.'
Mr Hunt said if the medical advice changed he would not hesitate to close to borders.
'We're well prepared and we are able to act quickly if there is (new) advice,' he said.
'The advice at the moment is to engage with the international communities.
'We have double vaccinated Australians returning and other relevant people subject to the current border restrictions and there is no change to those at this point in time.'
In other Covid news today:
The World Health Organisation held an emergency meeting to discuss the variant, which could be named 'Nu' within hours; The UK today added South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe to the red list; The European Commission recommended member states suspend all flights from southern African countries, with Germany and Italy already implementing the bans; The South African Medical Association said all cases of the Botswana variant had been in young people and were mild, describing the global response as a 'storm in a teacup'
Angelique Coetzee, the chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, said that it was too early to begin imposing travel restrictions
A flight from South Africa to the Netherlands was barred entry into the country today. Passengers are pictured above waiting in their seats
Pictured above is the cockpit shown on screens on the flight (right), and seats on the plane. The Netherlands suspended entry to flights coming from South Africa at noon today
This chart shows the proportion of cases that were the B.1.1.529 variant (blue) and Indian 'Delta' variant (red) over time in Guateng province in South Africa, where the virus is most prevalent. It suggests that the mutant strain could outcompete Delta in the province within weeks
The above slide shows the proportion of tests that picked up a SGTF mutation, a hallmark of the B.1.1.529. It suggests that the Covid variant may be spreading rapidly in the country. The slide was presented at a briefing today run by the South African Government
The above slide shows variants that have been detected by province in South Africa since October last year. It suggests B.1.1.529 is focused in Gauteng province. This was presented at a briefing today from the South African Government
The above shows the test positivity rate — the proportion of tests that picked up the virus — across Gauteng province. It reveals that there is an uptick of cases in the northern part of the province. It is not clear whether this could be driven by B.1.1.529
Israel has also detected a case in a vaccinated individual, meaning it has now been confirmed in three continents. The Israeli had returned from Malawi. Two other suspected cases are being investigated.
Passengers flying to the Netherlands from South Africa were banned from getting off the plane as the continent tightened its borders in an attempt to shut out the strain which scientists have described as the 'worst variant ever'. They were eventually let off the runway after being forced to take a test and leave their details with contact tracers.
In a glimmer of hope, the South African Medical Association said that all cases of the Botswana variant had been in young people and caused only mild illness. It described the global response as a 'storm in a teacup'.
How UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid warned the pandemic was 'far from over' after experts admitted the new super strain could already be in the UK and make vaccines 40 per cent less effective.
Mr Javid said the new B.1.1.529 strain posed a 'substantial risk to public health' and described its ultra-transmissibility and vaccine-dodging abilities as of 'huge international concern'.
The World Health Organisation is currently holding an emergency meeting to discuss the variant, which could be named 'Nu' within hours in line with its Greek alphabet naming system for Covid variants.
The B.1.1.529 variant has more than 30 mutations — the most ever recorded in a variant and twice as many as Delta — suggesting it could be more jab-resistant and transmissible than any version before it. It has caused an 'exponential' rise in infections in South Africa.
In response, Mr Javid announced last night that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list.
Israel was the first country to follow suit, also red-listing the six nations after a first case was detected in the country today. The European Commission has recommended an 'emergency brake' on travel from countries in Southern Africa.
Mr Javid said it 'is highly likely that it has now spread to other countries'.
He said: 'We are concerned that this new variant may pose substantial risk to public health.
'The variant has an unusual large number of mutations. It's the only variant with this designation, making it higher priority than Beta.
'It shares many of the features of the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants.
