variants and alerting the world. twl at least two cases have been discovered in the uk and that s prompting immediate goveaction the government. reporter: swwarning signs. boris johnson announced up in covid restrictions as fears and questions grow over the new omnicron coronavirus variant. johnson says the variant has already been detected in the uk and scientists warn this highly mutated strain, first identified circulating in countries in southern africa, could challenge some of the hard-fought advances already made against this virus. our scientists are learning more, hour by hour. and it does appear that omnicron spreads very rapidly. and can be spread between people who are double vaccinated. england s chief medical officer, chris witty, says the possibility that vaccines may not be as effective against the omnicron variant is what is galvanizing the government
presumably found among 61 people who tested positive for covid on arrival at amsterdam s airport. more analysis is being done to find out for sure. while the variant is being studied extensively, we don t yet know whether it s anymore deadly than the regular virus or whether it can blunt vaccine efficacy or natural immunity. but scientists fear it could be more contagious. dozens of countries have already banned or limited travel from parts of south africa and several of its neighbors where there are confirmed cases of the variant. on saturday, british prime minister boris johnson gave a sobering description of the possible threat. here he is. as always with a new variant, there are many things that we just cannot know at this early stage. but our scientists are learning more hour by hour. and it does appear that omnicron spreads very rapidly and can be spread between people who are double vaccinated.