COVID-19 updates: 2 cases of omicron variant confirmed in Canada, officials say

The World Health Organization on Friday named the new B.1.1.529 variant omicron and classified it as a SARS-CoV-2 “variant of concern.”

“This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” the WHO said in a statement.

The variant was first reported on Wednesday in South Africa, the WHO said. The first confirmed infection was from a specimen collected on Nov. 9.

Current PCR tests are successful in diagnosing the variant, the WHO said.

U.S. and South African scientists will address the new B.1.1.529 variant that has been reported in Europe and Africa, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday.

In an interview with CNN, Fauci said there is no indication the variant is in the U.S. but “anything is possible.”

“There’s a lot of travel, you never know exactly where it is,” Fauci said.

Scientists are still trying to determine if the variant can evade vaccines and is more transmissible.

“So right now you’re talking about sort of a red flag that this might be an issue, but we don’t know,” Fauci said.

The U.S. will evaluate the variant’s scientific data and decide if prevention measures such as travel bans are necessary, he noted.

“You’re prepared to do everything you need to do to protect the American public. But you want to make sure there’s a basis for doing that. And that’s what we’re doing right now,” Fauci said.

Belgium’s health department has confirmed its first case of the new B.1.1.529 variant.

The patient, a woman, had traveled to Belgium from Egypt via Istanbul. She developed symptoms 11 days after her return and was not vaccinated. Her family members have tested negative for COVID and the woman is not in a life-threatening condition, officials said.

Hong Kong has two confirmed cases and Israel has one other confirmed case of the B.1.1.529 variant. Several cases have been reported in South Africa and Botswana.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday issued a formal recommendation for countries in the 27 nation EU bloc to suspend travel with countries affected by the new variant.

The European Union's executive branch said Friday that it wants to suspend air travel to the bloc from southern Africa due to concerns over a newly identified variant of the novel coronavirus.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the announcement via Twitter, saying a proposal "to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the Southern Africa region" will be made "in close coordination" with EU member states.

The variant, called B.1.1.529, was first detected in South Africa earlier this week and has quickly spread. At least 22 cases have been confirmed in the country so far, according to South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases. South African scientist Tulio de Oliveira told reporters Thursday that the new variant carries "a very high number of mutations," but it's unclear whether it will limit the effectiveness of vaccines.

Several cases of B.1.1.529 have since been confirmed in neighboring Botswana as well as in Hong Kong and Israel. The cases detected in Hong Kong and Israel were linked to travelers who had arrived from southern Africa.

The World Health Organization will meet on Friday to assess B.1.1.529 and determine whether it should be designated a variant "of interest" or "of concern."