New cases in Portugal and Scotland might already point toward local spread of the variant outside of southern Africa. “There might already be some community transmission of this variant in Scotland,” First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said after Scotland reported its first six cases. The infections showed the near impossibility of keeping the genie in the bottle in a globalised world of travel and open borders. Authorities reported that one member recently traveled to South Africa. Taking no chances, Japan, which has yet to detect any Omicron cases, reimposed border controls that it eased earlier this month for short-term business visitors, foreign students and workers.

Source: The Hindu November 30, 2021 09:03 UTC