South Africa

In his first briefing since some information has been gathered about the COVID-19 Omicron variant, government spokesman Yannis Economou (photo) again declared that there will be no lockdown whatsoever, but that the government will be closely monitoring international developments as the situation evolves.

The government is closely monitoring domestic and international developments for the Omicron variant, government spokesman Giannis Economou said in the scheduled regular interview with political editors.

The pandemic outlook has not changed significantly in Turkey and this course of COVID-19 makes it easier to bring the disease under control, the country's Health Minister has said.

The number of daily coronavirus infections, which climbed to record highs in April but declined to around 5,000, has remained below 30,000 since mid-October.

Unlike the first announcements since the strain was discovered in South Africa, and then arrived in Europe, and in which the experts of that world organization were vague, they have now given more concrete details, but also forecasts, and they are not promising.

A virologist from the Austrian province of Tyrol, Dorothee von Lar, said that the presence of a new, omicron strain of coronavirus had been confirmed in Austria. Von Lar told ORF that the new strain, which some scientists say is the worst, was proven by sequencing and that, in addition to the first case, there is a suspicion of infection with the same strain in 30 people.

In an attempt to stop the spread of the new variant of the coronavirus, a number of countries around the world have restricted movement and flights to and from South Africa, and other anti-epidemic measures have been taken.

Despite the measures, Omicron has already spread to most continents from the Netherlands to Hong Kong and Australia, BNR reported.

There is no data on the difference in the course of the new version of COVID-19 - Omicron. This was explained in the studio of "Hello, Bulgaria" by the epidemiologist and lecturer at the London School of Tropical Medicine Dr. Petar Markov.

Will the vaccines stop the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the New York Times asks. The new version raises new concerns, because if it turns out that the existing vaccines do not affect it, they will have to be modified, the American publication notes.

U.S. Chief Epidemiologist and Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci reports to President Joe Biden that final information on the new version of the coronavirus Omicron will be available in two weeks, Reuters reported.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Nov. 28 called on countries to "immediately and urgently" reverse scientifically "unjustified" travel bans linked to the discovery of the new coronavirus variant Omicron.