gabe gutierrez in new york tonight thank you. as you heard some of the first alarm bells about this new variant came from south africa where scientists quickly identified it after seeing a covid surge in an area where cases dropped off. richard engel spoke with one of those scientists. reporter: gauteng province which surrounds johannesburg is south africa s most populus district and it s what s happening here that s triggered alarm in south africa and now around the world we have been following gauteng for over a year, a district of poor townships only 24% of south africa s population is fully vaccinated gauteng has been hit by wave after wave of covid. cases had dropped off recently because people had already been infected or been vaccinated then along came omicron. dr. richard lessels is one of the first scientists to study the new variant s genetics. this is all happening very recently three weeks ago in gauteng province, the case numbers were
even more drastic steps, banning all travelers as a growing list of countries confirm omicron cases, including canada today new york city reinstituted its indoor mask advisory, regardless of vaccination status. we have notification it arrived in ontario, which is literally across the bridge from where i live. i can see canada from my house reporter: but with stranded passengers, at johannesburg airport, south africa s president says the global travel restrictions are an over reaction. some doctors there saying the variant symptoms are mild. our symptoms are well known reporter: but there are mounting questions about omicron s transmissibility, resistance to vaccines and severity of symptoms here is what we know so far based on very limited evidence from south africa, this new strain appears to be highly contagious. here s what we don t know whether the variant is more deadly than previous ones and if our existing vaccines
isolate for eight days, to test themselves on day two and day eight and only if both of those tests are negative would they be able to break their isolation. at the moment, there is no sign at all of downing street are going to that.- there is no sign at all of downing street are going to that. thanks for that, nick eardley street are going to that. thanks for that, nick eardley in street are going to that. thanks for that, nick eardley in glasgow. - the head of the world health organization says the emergence of the omicron variant shows the global pandemic remains the most acute health crisis in a century. japan is the latest country to reinstate travel restrictions for foreigners. more new cases are the variant have been detected across europe. here s naomi grimley. there is an eerie quiet at johannesburg airport. south africa first raised the alarm about the omicron variant but is now finding itself increasingly cut off from the rest of the world. meanwhile, on the ground, ther
of coronavirus is highly transmissible and requires urgent action . more than a dozen countries have now reported cases of the variant, but it s not yet been established how dangerous it is or how effectively, the current vaccines will protect against it. our health correspondent, naomi grimley has the latest. there is an eerie quiet at johannesburg airport. south africa first raised the alarm about the omicron variants but it s now finding itself increasingly cut off from the rest of the world. meanwhile on the ground there is a big push to get vaccines into arms. only 20% of the south african population is fully vaccinated. we still don t know yet whether this version of covid 19 is more severe than previous ones. one of those on the front nine is reassured by what she has seen so far in her patients.