The Health Minister Stephen Donnelly says he's 'deeply concerned' over a new variant of Covid-19 identified in South Africa and Hong Kong.
The World Health Organisation is meeting today to further assess its significance, which scientists say is the "worst we've seen so far".
The European Commission is proposing member states ban air travel from the southern African region.
Dr @mvankerkhove gives an update on #COVID19 virus variant B.1.1.529, during the #AskWHO session on 25 November 2021 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ZpflfEYzW9
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) November 25, 2021
59 confirmed cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana and but none so far in Europe.
From midday today, six African countries will be added to Britain's red list, flights will temporarily be banned, and UK travellers must quarantine.
The UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid says the new variant is very concerning;
"The early indications we have of this variant is that it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it"
