VARIANT OF CONCERN
The WHO determines which variants are of concern based on having one or more of the following changes that could impact global public health.
• Increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology; OR
• Increase in virulence or change in clinical disease presentation; OR
• Decrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or available diagnostics, vaccines, or therapeutics.
Timeline of events related to the Omicron variant
November 9: First known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection from a specimen collected in South Africa.
November 24: South Africa announced the detection of a new variant, B.1.1.529 following genomic sequencing.
November 26: World Health Organization designated B.1.1.529 a variant of concern and named it Omicron. The U.S. government placed a travel ban for non-U.S. citizen travellers from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.
November 27: At least 115 recorded cases identified, with most from Botswana and South Africa, and others from Hong Kong, Belgium, Israel, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
