Nov 29th 2021FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsAppIF THERE IS one lesson the covid-19 pandemic has taught the world, it is that acting early pays off. So when news emerged on November 25th in South Africa of a worrying new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, countries immediately began scrambling to tighten the rules on international travel. By November 29th suspected cases of Omicron had been identified in many countries in Europe and elsewhere. Our most recent stories on the developing situation are listed below.Travel bans and the Omicron variant are hurting southern Africa(Nov 29th)South Africans feel unjustly punished for their country’s scientific rigourOmicron is starting to spread around the world (Nov 29th)A lack of genomic sequencing means many are likely to have gone undetectedWhy might new variants like Omicron spread more easily? (Nov 29th)Mutations allow new forms of the virus to better bind to human cellsPodcast: “With the epidemiology we see in South Africa, things are looking a little scary” (Nov 29th)What to do about covid-19’s threatening new variant (Nov 28th)South Africa’s scientists have bought the world time on Omicron. It should use itThree threats to the global economic recovery (Nov 29th)Tightening American monetary policy, slowing China and the Omicron variantCountries are scrambling to stop a new covid variant (Nov 26th)How big a threat is Omicron?Why coronavirus variants are named using the Greek alphabet (Jun 11th)It is simpler, and less contentious, than the technical or colloquial appellationsReuse this contentThe Trust Project