Early action against Omicron is imperative to avoid devastating consequences | Ewan Birney

Scientists have sprung into action to identify the new Covid variant. We don’t yet know if it is a major threat - but we should not take any chancesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt was only a matter of time before a new Sars-CoV-2 variant of concern emerged, requiring an urgent global response. It would seem that the Omicron variant, identified by scientists across Africa, including the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), poses the next