EU suspends travel to southern Africa over new variant

Several countries person suspended question to confederate Africa aft wellness officials determination warned of a caller COVID-19 variant that could perchance beryllium causing a surge successful cases.

The EU connected Friday agreed to enforce a prohibition connected question to countries successful confederate Africa implicit fears of the recently-discovered variant, B.1.1.529.

According to The Associated Press, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said flights "should beryllium suspended until we person a wide knowing astir the information posed by this caller variant, and travelers returning from this portion should respect strict quarantine rules."

She insisted connected utmost caution, informing that "mutations could pb to the emergence and dispersed of adjacent much concerning variants of the microorganism that could dispersed worldwide wrong a fewer months."

According to NPR, it's not yet wide if the caller variant is much infectious oregon causes a idiosyncratic to declaration a much terrible infection.

CNN reports that that genomic scientists accidental the caller variant has an "unusually high" fig of mutations that origin the microorganism to person much of the cardinal spike proteins it uses to get into the steadfast cells it attacks.

NPR says the caller variant besides has doubly arsenic galore mutations arsenic the delta variant, which caused a caller surge successful cases this summer.

The World Health Organization has convened a method radical of experts to determine whether the caller variant warrants being designated a variant of involvement oregon a variant of concern.