COVID SCIENCE: Variant that combines Delta and Omicron identified

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review.

Deltacron" with genes of Delta and Omicron found

Hybrid versions of the coronavirus that combine genes from the Delta and Omicron variants - dubbed "Deltacron" - have been identified in at least 17 patients in the United States and Europe, researchers said.

Because there have been so few confirmed cases, it is too soon to know whether Deltacron infections will be very transmissible or cause severe disease, said Philippe Colson of IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille, France, lead author of a report posted on Tuesday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. 

His team described three patients in France infected with a version of SARS-CoV-2 that combines the spike protein from an Omicron variant with the "body" of a Delta variant. 

Another two unrelated Deltacron infections have been identified in the United States, according to an unpublished report by genetics research company Helix that has been submitted to medRxiv and seen by Reuters. On virus research bulletin boards, other teams have reported an additional 12 Deltacron infections in Europe since January - all with an Omicron spike and a Delta body.

Genetic recombinations of human coronaviruses have been known to happen when two variants infect the same host cell. 

"During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, two or more variants have co-circulated during same periods of time and in same geographical areas... This created opportunities for recombination between these two variants," said Colson, adding that his team has designed a PCR test that "can quickly test positive samples for the presence of this... virus."

Dogs sniff out coronavirus with high accuracy

New research adds to evidence that trained dogs could help screen crowds to identify people infected with the coronavirus.

At two community screening centers in Paris, 335 volunteers getting traditional PCR tests also provided sweat samples. Overall, 78 people with symptoms and 31 people without symptoms tested positive by PCR. 

Given the sweat samples to smell, the dogs were 97% accurate at detecting the infected patients, and 100% accurate at detecting infection in the asymptomatic patients, according to a report posted on Tuesday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. 

They also were 91% accurate at identifying volunteers who were not infected, and 94% accurate at ruling out the infection in people without symptoms.

"Canine testing is non-invasive and provides immediate and reliable results," the authors said. "Further studies will be focused on direct sniffing by dogs to evaluate sniffer dogs for mass pre-test in airports, harbors, railways stations, cultural activities or sporting events."

Future variants-of-concern likely lurk in today's patients

The many coronavirus particles inside an infected person likely include some mutated ones that may turn out to be early examples of important variants, new findings suggest.

Closely analyzing virus particles obtained from 10 people with infections attributed to the Alpha variant in Spain in April 2021, researchers identified some mutated particles resembling the Omicron variant, which was not formally identified until seven months later. 

They also found mutations characteristic of a form of Delta and Iota, according to a report published on Tuesday in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. 

While identifying an individual patient's dominant variant may be sufficient for diagnostic purposes, the "ultra deep" genetic sequencing used in this study could help scientists track mutations in SARS-CoV-2 particles that might evolve into variants of concern, the researchers said.

"The virus that replicates in each infected patient is in reality a mixture of slightly different SARS-CoV-2 viruses," and these different viruses account for varying proportions of the full "ensemble," said coauthor Celia Perales of Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. 

Minority variants in one infected individual can become dominant in someone else, either by chance, or due to a selective advantage related to the presence or absence of drugs, vaccines, or other factors, she said.

-reuters

Omicron COVID variant starts receding in the US, data show

The United States appears to be emerging from its latest coronavirus wave driven by the omicron variant, data showed Wednesday, though cases remain far higher than during any previous surge and COVID-19 hospitalizations are at a peak.

The fast to rise, fast to fall graph could follow the same pattern seen in other countries hit by the highly mutated strain, including South Africa, Britain and France.

A 7-day-average of new daily cases peaked at about 795,000 on January 13, an official tracker maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed.

Though figures over the weekend and public holidays, such as Monday, January 17, are impacted by lower reporting rates and should be treated with caution, numbers were already falling by Friday.

"We hope to close the books on this winter surge soon," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday.

The declines were most pronounced in states that were hit first by the wave, particularly in the northeast, including New York, New Jersey and Maryland.

On the other hand, cases were still rising fast in parts of the west, including New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

Though omicron is milder in most people compared to the previously dominant delta strain, hospitalizations remain at a high of just under 160,000 people, partly because of the sheer number of people impacted, and partly because of coincidental infections. 

The figure appears to be flat and would be expected to start falling soon.

As to what happens next in the pandemic, many experts, including top US infectious disease scientist Anthony Fauci, are hopeful the virus may continue evolving into a more prevalent but less severe pathogen because of selection pressure.

This would mean eventually living with a virus that causes only mild-to-moderate disease in most vaccinated people, with treatments such as Pfizer's antiviral pill and monoclonal antibody infusions to help people who are at highest risk.

There are, however, no guarantees. In a recent interview with Der Spiegel, Fauci said that there would be continuing "smoldering" infections, particularly in lower-income countries with lower vaccination rates.

"It is conceivable that the next variant will have a high degree of transmissibility but also a high degree of severity," he said.

Agence France-Presse

Australia's new pandemic high: 47,799 COVID infections

SYDNEY - Australia's COVID-19 cases touched a fresh pandemic high on Tuesday amid an Omicron surge in its two most populous states as hospitalizations in New South Wales state, home to Sydney, surpassed the record numbers hit during the Delta outbreak.

People admitted in New South Wales hospitals rose to 1,344, a new pandemic peak, topping the 1,266 reached last September during the Delta wave. Numbers have more than doubled in a week, straining the health system.

A record 47,799 infections have been reported in Australia so far on Tuesday, eclipsing its previous high of 37,212 a day earlier. Four new deaths were registered.

Despite the record spike in infections fueled by the Omicron strain, dual-dose vaccination levels of nearly 92% in people above 16 have helped Australia to keep the death rate lower than the previous virus outbreaks.

Authorities do not specify the coronavirus variant that caused the deaths, although New South Wales officials said 74% of patients in the state's intensive care units since Dec. 16 were infected with the Delta variant.

Australia is also battling a shortage of rapid antigen tests, delays with PCR results and the abrupt closures of a number of testing sites, with pathology laboratories swamped by a backlog of tests. Prime Minister Scott Morrison ruled out the government covering the cost for people to test themselves for COVID-19.

"The problem at the moment is that the lack of (rapid antigen tests) is completely hampering personal responsibility and it is a frustration that is a glaring hole in the current management of COVID," Chris Moy, vice president of the Australian Medical Association, told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

Australia's competition regulator said it would set up a team to look into complaints about allegations of price gouging for the at-home rapid antigen tests.

The record spike in infections and hospitalizations have come as 2 million more Australians became eligible for their COVID-19 booster shots from Tuesday after authorities shortened the wait time between second and third shots to four months.

Just over 2.5 million Australians have so far received their booster shot, which health officials are betting may prevent more hospitalizations and deaths.

Australia on Tuesday crossed half a million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, with nearly 50% reported in the last two weeks. Still, the country's 547,160 cases and 2,270 deaths are lower than numbers seen in many comparable countries.

(Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Sandra Maler and Michael Perry)

-reuters

New Year’s Eve muted by omicron; many hoping for better 2022

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Good riddance to 2021. Let 2022 bring fresh hope.

That was a common sentiment as people around the world began welcoming in the new year.

In many places, New Year’s Eve celebrations were muted or canceled for the second straight year due to a surge of coronavirus infections, this time driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

Even before omicron hit, many people were happy to say goodbye to a second grinding year of the pandemic.

But so far, at least, the omicron surge hasn’t resulted in the same levels of hospitalizations and deaths as previous outbreaks — especially among vaccinated people — offering a glimmer of hope for 2022.

New Zealand was one of the first places to celebrate the new year with a low-key lights display projected onto Auckland landmarks, including the Sky Tower and Harbor Bridge. That replaced the traditional fireworks show. While there hasn’t yet been any community spread of omicron in New Zealand, authorities still wanted to discourage crowds gathering.

Neighboring Australia, however, was going ahead with its celebrations despite an explosion in virus cases. Some fireworks were let off early in the evening to give younger children a preview of the centerpiece of festivities, the renowned fireworks display from the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House.

Hours before the celebrations began, Australian health authorities reported a record 32,000 new virus cases, many of them in Sydney. Because of the surge, crowds were far smaller than in pre-pandemic years, when as many as 1 million revelers would crowd inner Sydney.

Because of where the international date line sits, countries in Asia and the Pacific region are among the first to usher in each new year.

In Japan, writer Naoki Matsuzawa said he would spend the next few days cooking and delivering food to the elderly because some stores would be closed. He said vaccinations had made people less anxious about the pandemic, despite the new variant.

“A numbness has set in, and we are no longer overly afraid,” said Matsuzawa, who lives in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. “Some of us are starting to take for granted that it won’t happen to me.”

Like many other people, Matsuzawa hopes that life will improve in 2022.

“I hope the restrictions can disappear,” he said.

Across Japan, many people planned to take new year trips to spend time with their families. On New Year’s Eve, people thronged temples and shrines, most of them wearing masks.

Some appeared to be shrugging off virus fears, however, by dining and drinking raucously in downtown Tokyo and flocking to shops, celebrating not only the holidays but a sense of exhilaration over being freed from recent virus restrictions.

In South Korea’s capital, Seoul, the annual New Year’s Eve bell-ringing ceremony was canceled for the second straight year due to a surge in cases.

Officials said a pre-recorded video of this year’s bell-ringing ceremony would instead be broadcast online and on television. The ceremony had previously drawn tens of thousands of people. Last year’s cancellation was the first since the ceremony began in 1953.

South Korean authorities also planned to close many beaches and other tourist attractions along the east coast, which usually swarm with people hoping to catch the year’s first sunrise. On Friday, South Korea said it will extend tough distancing rules for another two weeks.

In India, millions of people were planning to ring in the new year from their homes, with nighttime curfews and other restrictions taking the fizz out of celebrations in large cities including New Delhi and Mumbai.

Authorities have imposed restrictions to keep revelers away from restaurants, hotels, beaches and bars amid a surge in cases fueled by omicron.

But some places, including Goa, a tourist paradise, and Hyderabad, an information technology hub, have been spared from night curfews thanks to smaller numbers of infections, although other restrictions still apply.

Many Indonesians were also forgoing their usual festivities for a quieter evening at home, after the government banned many New Year’s Eve celebrations. In Jakarta, fireworks displays, parades and other large gatherings were prohibited, while restaurants and malls were allowed to remain open but with curfews imposed.

Vietnam also canceled fireworks shows and celebrations. In Hanoi, authorities closed off central streets, while in Ho Chi Minh City, audiences were banned from watching live countdown performances, which instead were to be shown on social media.

In Hong Kong, about 3,000 people planned to attend a New Year’s Eve concert featuring local celebrities including boy band Mirror. The concert will be the first big New Year’s Eve event held since 2018, after events were canceled in 2019 due to political strife and last year because of the pandemic.

In mainland China, the Shanghai government canceled events including an annual light show along the Huangpu River in the city center that usually draws hundreds of thousands of spectators.

There were no plans for public festivities in Beijing, where popular temples have been closed or had limited access since mid-December. The government has called on people to avoid leaving the Chinese capital if possible and requires tests for travelers arriving from areas where there are infections.

Popular temples in the eastern Chinese cities of Nanjing, Hangzhou and other major cities canceled traditional New Year’s Eve “lucky bell-ringing” ceremonies and asked the public to stay away.

But in Thailand, authorities were allowing New Year’s Eve parties and fireworks displays to continue, albeit with strict safety measures. They were hoping to slow the spread of the omicron variant while also softening the blow to the country’s battered tourism sector. New Year’s Eve prayers, which are usually held in Buddhist temples around Thailand, will be held online instead.

In the Philippines, a powerful typhoon two weeks ago wiped out basic necessities for tens of thousands of people ahead of New Year’s Eve. More than 400 were killed by Typhoon Rai and at least 82 remain missing. Half a million homes were damaged or destroyed.

Leahmer Singson, a 17-year-old mother, lost her home to a fire last month, and then the typhoon blew away her temporary wooden shack in Cebu city. She will welcome the new year with her husband, who works in a glass and aluminum factory, and her 1-year-old baby in a ramshackle tent in a coastal clearing where hundreds of other families erected small tents from debris, rice sacks and tarpaulins to shield themselves from the rain and sun.

Asked what she wants for the new year, Singson had a simple wish: “I hope we won’t get sick.”

Associated Press reporters Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo; Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea; Ashok Sharma in New Delhi; Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia; Hau Dinh in Hanoi, Vietnam; Zen Soo in Hong Kong; Tassanee Vejpongsa in Bangkok; Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines; and AP researcher Chen Si in Shanghai contributed to this report.

-Associated Press 

Omicron coronavirus cases surge in UK, scientists see bigger wave

LONDON - Britain reported a surge in cases of the omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday which government advisors said could be just the tip of the iceberg, and London's mayor declared a "major incident" to help the city's hospitals cope.

The number of omicron cases recorded across the country hit almost 25,000 as of 1800 GMT on Friday, up by more than 10,000 cases from 24 hours earlier, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

Seven people believed to have had the omicron variant had died as of Thursday, up from one death in the UKHSA's previous data which ran up to Tuesday. Admissions to hospital of people thought to have the variant increased to 85 from 65.

The government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said it was "almost certain" that hundreds of thousands of people were being infected with the variant every day and were not being picked up in the figures.

SAGE said without a further tightening of COVID-19 rules, "modelling indicates a peak of at least 3,000 hospital admissions per day in England," they said in minutes of a meeting on Dec. 16.

Last January, before Britain's vaccination campaign gathered speed, daily hospital admissions in the United Kingdom as a whole surged above 4,000.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has faced a rebellion in his governing Conservative Party over some of the measures he has taken so far to try to curb COVID-19's latest spread. A newspaper said on Saturday that Johnson's Brexit minister, David Frost, had resigned in part because of the new rules.

The advisors said it was too early to assess the severity of disease caused by omicron but if there was a modest reduction compared to the Delta variant, "very high numbers of infections would still lead to significant pressure on hospitals".

London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a "major incident" - which allows for closer coordination between public agencies and possibly more central government support - as COVID-19 hospital admissions in the city rose by nearly 30% this week.

He said health worker absences had also increased.

"This is a statement of how serious things are," he said.

Khan, from the opposition Labour Party, also declared a major incident in January, when rising COVID-19 cases threatened to overwhelm hospitals.

The omicron variant is estimated to account for more than 80% of new COVID-19 cases in London, officials said on Friday.

Emergency meeting

Johnson was due to chair an emergency committee meeting over the weekend with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which have their own powers over public health.

A report in The Times newspaper said officials were preparing draft rules which, if introduced, would ban indoor mixing in England -- except for work -- for two weeks after Christmas when pubs and restaurants would be limited to outdoor table service.

People would be able to meet in groups of up to six outdoors, the newspaper said, adding that ministers were yet to formally consider the plans.

Johnson said on Friday "we are not closing things down".

A government spokesperson said the government would continue to "look closely at all the emerging data and we'll keep our measures under review as we learn more about this variant".

The number of all new COVID-19 cases reported in official data fell to 90,418 from a record high of more than 93,000 on Friday, but that was still the country's second-highest daily toll. Figures typically dip at the weekend.

Cases were up 44.4% over the seven days to Dec. 18 compared with the previous week.

Police clashed with a group of protesters opposed to the latest COVID-19 restrictions near Johnson's Downing Street office and residence on Saturday. A number of officers were injured but so far no arrests had been made, police said. (Editing by Helen Popper, Timothy Heritage and Catherine Evans)

-reuters

Coronavirus spreads in Australia's pubs; Omicron cases linked to party boat

SYDNEY - COVID-19 infections have been spreading in pubs and clubs in Australia's biggest city, including three new cases of the Omicron variant found among people who went on a harbor party cruise, sending officials rushing to trace contacts.

Authorities have been easing restrictions in Sydney since early October when the city emerged from a nearly four-month lockdown to contain the Delta coronavirus variant after the population reached higher vaccination levels.

"We have seen recently increased transmission in larger social venues ... and that is certainly a contributing factor to the increase in cases," Marianne Gale, New South Wales Deputy Chief Health Officer, said in a video posted on Twitter.

Dozens of people who attended a Sydney pub quiz tested positive for the coronavirus and officials are awaiting the results of genomic tests to see if they are infected with the Omicron variant.

Daily COVID-19 infections have been steadily rising as restrictions have eased with New South Wales state, which includes Sydney, logging 420 new cases on Thursday, its biggest rise in about two months, with most caused by the Delta variant.

But the number of Omicron infections has been creeping up since Australia reported its first case about two weeks ago.

Some 50 cases have now been detected including the three linked to the Sydney party boat.

The variant is potentially more contagious than previous ones although initial signs point to a more mild illness. None of the 151 people in hospital in New South Wales for COVID-19 are infected with the Omicron variant.

Australia has fared much better than many countries in containing the pandemic, with nearly 224,000 cases and 2,082 deaths, mostly due to its decision to close borders in March 2020.

But border closures have cut off the flow of skilled migrants causing a sharp slowdown in population growth, prompting businesses to bemoan the lack of workers.

The trend has been worsened by a long-running fall in fertility rates, which hit a record low last year, official data out on Wednesday showed.

-reuters  

Did vaccine inequality lead to the Omicron variant?

In October 2020, as scientists around the world raced to develop a vaccine to fight Covid-19, the leader of the World Health Organization warned against looming "vaccine nationalism".

In a video address, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the time that the only way to beat the pandemic was by making sure poorer countries had fair access to a vaccine.

"When we have an effective vaccine, we must also use it effectively," he said.

"And the best way to do that is to vaccinate some people in all countries rather than all people in some countries. Vaccine nationalism will prolong the pandemic, not shorten it."

Over a year later, vaccine inequality is undeniable. 

Rich nations like France and Japan have given at least one dose to over 75 percent of their populations.

In South Africa -- where the Omicron variant was first sequenced -- only a quarter of the population has been vaccinated. And is one of the highest inoculation rates on the continent.

But is vaccine inequality the reason behind Omicron's emergence?

French experts tasked with informing their government's pandemic response say Omicron likely came from a patient with a depressed immune system and is the result of a long line of mutations that accumulated during a chronic infection.

But wherever it came from, its spread would have been "slower, the higher the immunity of the surrounding population," Arnaud Fontanet, scientific advisory board member and epidemiologist at the Pasteur Institute, told AFP.

"You can imagine that the growth of the virus during uncontrolled epidemics creates more opportunities for variants to emerge," he said. 

- 'Shock the world' -

"I would like for this new worry to shock the world into realising the importance of vaccinating people on a global scale," Fontanet said.

"The planet will only be safe when we achieve a level of global immunity that significantly limits the spread and opportunities for new variants to emerge," he said.

The WHO sounded the alarm on vaccine inequality again in September when countries with plenty of resources began eyeing booster shots for vaccinated adults and others considered vaccines for children.

Speaking from WHO's headquarters in Geneva, Tedros called on countries to avoid giving out extra Covid jabs until the end of the year, pointing to the millions worldwide who have yet to receive a single dose.

"I will not stay silent when the companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the world's poor should be satisfied with leftovers," he said.

A global vaccine-sharing system called Covax, led by WHO and the Gavi vaccine alliance among others, is meant to provide 92 low- and middle-income countries with jabs financed by rich states.

Covax says it has succeeded in administering 500 million doses in 144 countries and territories, and on Monday, Chinese president Xi Jinping promised a billion vaccine doses to Africa through donations or subsidies for local production.

But in a joint statement on Monday, the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and Covax said the quality of donations needs to improve. 

"The majority of the donations to-date have been ad hoc, provided with little notice and short shelf lives," they said. 

"This has made it extremely challenging for countries to plan vaccination campaigns and increase absorptive capacity."

Fontanet agrees.

"Vaccinating the world is not only a question of doses," he says.

"We have to support fragile health systems and work to persuade people to get the jabs."

- 'Follow the science' -

Now that Omicron has been identified, countries are taking measures to prevent its spread by banning flights from Southern Africa where it seems to have originated. 

Japan and Israel are closing their borders.

But epidemiologists say these sweeping gestures are beside the point.

"If you're worried about your risk from omicron, get vaccinated if you aren't already," US virologist Angela Rasmussen tweeted on Sunday. 

"Continue to layer other precautions. And more than anything, follow the science and advocate for collaborative global health. Travel bans won't do [expletive]. Vaccines and global health equity WILL."

Agence France-Presse 

Omicron coronavirus variant ‘not a cause for panic’, says Biden

President Joe Biden on Monday told Americans not to "panic" over the newly identified COVID-19 variant Omicron and said he does not foresee new lockdowns or extending travel restrictions for now.

The virus variant, first detected in South Africa but already appearing in multiple countries, "is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic," Biden said.

He stressed that the United States was in a good position to control Omicron's spread without having to resort to lockdowns or more travel bans beyond restrictions already imposed on eight southern African countries.

"We have more tools today to fight the variant than we've ever had before," he said, adding that his chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci expects current vaccines to work against the new variant, with boosters enhancing protection.

"We'll fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed, not chaos and confusion," Biden said in nationally televised remarks from the White House, flanked by Fauci and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Biden promised a "detailed strategy" for the fight against COVID-19 this winter but signaled that Americans will not be subjected to burdensome measures.

"Not with shutdowns or lockdowns, but with more widespread vaccinations, boosters, testing, and more," he said, specifying that he does not see a need now for ordering vaccine or testing mandates on domestic air travel.

The United States, Canada and the European Union have all severely restricted entry of travelers from South Africa and seven other countries in the region. However, Biden also said "I don't anticipate" more travel bans.

"The degree of the spread impacts on whether or not there's a need for any travel restrictions," he said.

Agence France-Presse

Dollar edges higher, currencies pull back on Omicron-shock moves

LONDON - The dollar edged higher, the euro fell and the yen steadied on Monday as currency markets reversed some of Friday's moves, calming after the initial shock of discovering a new coronavirus variant.

The Omicron variant, first detected in southern Africa, triggered global alarm, with financial markets selling off on Friday on fears that it would disrupt the economic recovery after the two-year pandemic.

The World Health Organization said it was not yet clear whether Omicron, which has been found around the world, is more transmissable than other variants or if it causes more severe disease.

Markets calmed somewhat on Monday, however, with US stock futures and oil prices rebounding, as investors took a more balanced view, waiting until the impact of the variant becomes more clear.

The US dollar index, which had its biggest one-day drop since May on Friday, edged back higher and at 0821 GMT was up 0.1 percent on the day at 96.326.

The dollar's status as a safe-haven currency means it can benefit from uncertainty, but it fell on Friday because the Omicron variant was seen as possibly affecting when the Federal Reserve and other major central banks will raise rates.

The euro, which rose versus the dollar on Friday, was down around 0.4 percent at $1.12665.

Commerzbank's head of FX and commodity research Ulrich Leuchtmann wrote in a client note that the euro had initially benefited from the Omicron variant because of the dovishness of the European Central Bank.

"If Omicron leads to lockdowns and a renewed reduction in economic activity on a global scale all rate hike expectations turn out to be in vain and then they will be priced out again pretty quickly," he said.

"And which currencies will be the relative winners? Of course, the ones where rate hikes were never priced in very much in the first place. And those were EUR, JPY and CHF."

Japan's yen steadied and was up around 0.2 percent on the day versus the dollar at 113.33 at 0829 GMT. Euro-yen hit a new nine-month low.

The Swiss franc likewise reversed recent moves. On Friday it had its biggest one-day jump versus the dollar since June 2016, a slightly bigger daily move than at the peak of the first coronavirus-induced market shock in March 2020, but on Monday it was down 0.4 percent on the day, at 0.9256.

Analysts said that currency markets would likely remain volatile until the new variant is better understood.

"Vaccine efficacy results with the next two weeks will be the most important headline to watch out for as well as whether symptoms are different from that of other variants," wrote Nomura analyst Jordan Rochester in a note to clients.

Goldman Sachs said it would not change its economic forecasts on the basis of the Omicron variant until its likely impact becomes clearer.

BioNTech said on Friday it may know within two weeks if the vaccine it developed with Pfizer needs to be reworked.

Meanwhile, in cryptocurrencies, bitcoin hit a seven-week low on Sunday before picking up. At 0837 GMT, it was at $57,386.24, up around 0.1 percent on the day but still below its latest all-time high of $69,000, which was hit earlier this month.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft, editing by Ed Osmond)

-reuters

UK confirms first 2 cases of new Omicron coronavirus strain

Britain on Saturday confirmed its first two cases of the new Omicron strain of coronavirus, both linked to travel from southern Africa, and expanded travel restrictions on the region.

"After overnight genome sequencing, the UK Health Security Agency has confirmed that two cases of COVID-19 with mutations consistent with B.1.1.529 (Omicron) have been identified in the UK," a government statement said.

"The two cases are linked and there is a link to travel to southern Africa," it said.

One case was detected in the central English city of Nottingham, and the other in Chelmsford east of London, officials said.

"We have moved rapidly and the individuals are self-isolating while contact tracing is ongoing," Health Secretary Sajid Javid said.

He added that the government was placing another four African countries on its travel "red list" -- Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola -- effective from 4 a.m. (0400 GMT) on Sunday.

Britain has already said it is banning travel from six southern African nations because of the emergence of Omicron: South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

The government was widely criticized for its travel and quarantine policy earlier in the pandemic, when it kept borders open to foreign travelers even as infection rates spiraled.

"This is a stark reminder that we are not yet out of this pandemic," Javid said, urging the public to get follow-up booster jabs of vaccines. "We will not hesitate to take further action if required."

Agence France-Presse