NY declares state of emergency over new COVID variant….. Australia may expand COVID restrictions if needed – official….

Australia may expand COVID restrictions if needed – official

Australia’s Health Minister Greg Hunt (pictured) stated that the country may expand or strengthen coronavirus restrictions that are currently in the country. Hunt said that this will happen if the medical evidence shows that action is needed in light of the newly discovered Omnicron virus. In light of the virus, Australia also announced it will suspend all flights to South Africa and eight other countries where it has been identified. At the same time, the country’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly was optimistic about the state of vaccination in the country, saying that they are in a much better position than when the Delta variant was discovered. However, he noted that there is still a lot of unknowns regarding this variant.

US will restrict travel from southern Africa – WH

The United States will impose travel restrictions on eight countries in southern Africa due to the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant, senior US government officials told domestic media on Friday. South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi will be impacted by the measure that will be enforced on Monday, November 29. Earlier, White House officials revealed that US President Joe Biden received a briefing on the matter.