G7 Urges Urgent Action On Omicron COVID-19 Variant

G7 health ministers called for urgent action to combat the highly transmissible new Omicron Covid-19 strain spreading across the world as the WHO warned of potentially severe consequences. <br />Australia and Japan led the growing list of countries imposing fresh travel restrictions or slamming shut their borders as the new strain, first identified last week in southern Africa, spreads rapidly to Europe, Asia and North America. <br />Many governments, particularly in western Europe, had already struggled with rapid rises in cases and have reintroduced mandatory mask-wearing, social-distancing measures, curfews or lockdowns.