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The World Health Organisation has declared the recently-discovered new strain of Covid-19, first detected in southern Africa, to be a variant of concern and named it Omicron.
The classification puts it into the most troubling category of Covid-19 variants.
Nations rushed to ban flights to slow the spread of the new variant on Friday, while stock markets and oil prices plunged amid fears that it could potentially deal a heavy blow to the global economic recovery.
The WHO says it could take several weeks to complete studies of Omicron to see if there are any changes in severity or implications for Covid vaccines, tests, and treatments.
Meanwhile, the United States, Brazil, Canada, and Saudi Arabia became the latest countries to restrict travel from southern Africa.
Anxious tourists in Johannesburg rushed to the airport to catch a last flight out as nations across the globe started shutting their doors.
Officials holding an emergency meeting also agreed on Friday to urge all 27 EU nations to restrict travel from southern Africa, even though many members had already announced flight suspensions.
South Africa's Health Minister, Joe Phaahla has meanwhile labelled the decision by the UK and several other countries to ban South African travellers as unjustified.
Speaking to the media on Friday, he said South Africa had acted in the interest of transparency when it announced the detection of the new variant.
The minister said the ban was a wrong approach, and misdirected, as it went against the norms advised by the World Health Organisation.
He added that some countries were trying to find scapegoats to deal with what was a worldwide problem.
High-level meetings between government and health officials are expected to kick off on Saturday, with the National Coronavirus Command Council set to meet behind closed doors.
The Presidency has confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa woud chair the meeting.
The government fears that the Omicron variant could be behind the spike in infections in Gauteng and is now spreading to the rest of the country
The National Joints structures will also meet this weekend.
It is anticipated that Ramaphosa will address the nation at a later stage and possibly announce stricter measures and changes to the current Adjusted Level 1 lockdown.
- Jacaranda FM
