Two passengers in Sydney from Southern Africa test positive, with both asymptomatic and fully vaccinated
London — The new Omicron coronavirus variant kept spreading around the world on Sunday, with two cases detected in Australia, even as more countries tried to seal themselves off by imposing travel restrictions.
Austria was investigating a suspected case on Sunday and in France health minister Olivier Veran said the new variant is probably already circulating there. On Sunday, most Gulf stock markets fell sharply in early trade, with the Saudi index suffering its biggest single-day fall in nearly two years. In Britain, where two linked cases of Omicron identified on Saturday were connected to travel to Southern Africa, the government announced measures to try to contain the spread, including stricter testing rules for people arriving in the country and requiring mask wearing in some settings.
Though epidemiologists say travel curbs may be too late to stop Omicron from circulating, many countries — including the US, Brazil, Canada, EU nations, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Thailand — have announced travel bans or restrictions on Southern Africa. More countries imposed such curbs on Sunday, including Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
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