variant. it s hard to tell what s spreading faster this morning, the variant or dpfear. is it more contagious, is it more lethal? does it evade vaccines? it will take weeks to get answers. overnight, the united states banned entry for non-citizen travelers from south africa and seven neighboring countries. at least 44 other countries are also imposing travel restrictions. japan, israel and morocco have suspended all arrivals of foreign nationals, basically shutting down their borders. a growing number of countries reporting confirmed cases of the omicron variant, including canada. the variant has not been detected in the u.s. yet. we say yet because health officials say it may already be here. the cdc is currently sequencing coronavirus genomes, working closely with state health officials. south african epidemiologist is aleem abdul karim talked about