confirmed cases of the variant. and, of course, now, the netherlands would have confirmed cases on their shores. while the travel bans make a lot of sentence to a lot of people and certainly politicians, here at least is what scientists have been telling me. they say to use the colllclichyr the horse was bolted, for the variant circulated before it was picked up, even though it was announced as quickly as scientists could do it. that means it s likely to be all over the place. at least these scientists say that it s too late to stop it. kim. all right, david mckenzie until johannesburg, thanks so much. i want to turn to cnn producer nana brashear in london. in light of the delta variant surging now something new to contend with. so, let s start with the latest on those cases in that flight in
nor an additional 14-day isolation period. the hong kong government not taking any chances here. hoping to prevent some sort of an outbreak in this stert which has a zero covid strategy just like mainland china, which is kr concerned to get their local cases under control. and certainly not a reported case since with the olympics in three months. certainly, the variant is causing a lot of dredge for a lot of people here, people wanting to live their lives and not go back to the lockdowns that we lived through so many times during the pandemic, but also with this major sporting event coming up, kim. absolutely. will ripley live in hong kong, thanks so much. a physician at the california pacific medical center is a founder of the
i ve been advised. we re going to be cautious. we don t know a lot about the variant. except that it is a great concern. and that it spreads rapidly and has been a half ago, i met with my covid team. the u.s. is restricting travel beginning on monday, australia, canada, brazil and several countries in asia are doing much the same. cnn has the story covered around the world. will ripley is joining from us hong kong where two cases of the variant have been confirmed. nala brashear is there with reaction. and david mckenzie in south africa. david, south africa dealing with two variants, the main variant itself and the travel ban.
robberies across the united states. live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with kim brunhuber. as a new coronavirus variant captured the world s attention, 61 travelers from south africa have tested positive for covid in an airport in the netherlands. dutch health authorities say those positive test results will be examined as soon as possible to see if they re potentially infected with the new omicron variant. the w.h.o. is calling it the variant of concern, as they put it. it was first identified in south africa and now has been detected in several other countries in the region and around the world, including israel, hong kong and belgium. now, we don t know whether it s any more deadly or whether it can blunt vaccine efficacy or immunity and that has the government scrambling to contain a potential threat. president joe biden said his administration is keeping a close eye on developments.
restrictions especially banning travel from some northern countries. israelis returning to israel, will be required to enter full quarantine regardless of their vacate vaccination status. anyone returning is to submit to testing. and they were saying in a press conference they are preparing for the worst. this new b.1.1.529 variant is concerning and has the potential to be very dangerous. we are raising a red flag. we understand that we re on the verge of a state of emergency. we ve been working together with other world leaders, and now is the time to act fast early, hard and strong. reporter: the prime minister adding that israel s government had recently actually carried out a national drill to prepare for the emergence of a new and dangerous variant. the new lesson learned to act immediately to tamp down on the