A World Health Organization panel has named the newly discovered coronavirus variant the Greek letter “omicron” and classified it as a highly transmissible “Variant of Concern”, the same category that includes the fast-spreading delta variant.

South African researchers identified the new variant Thursday, initially identified as B.1.1.529, after recording a spike in COVID-19 cases in the province of Gauteng. The variant has also been detected in the countries and regions of Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong, and Israel.

For more, click left or right. 

Health officials from the WHO have suggested the new variant could pose a greater risk than delta, which has fueled recent waves of infections in every continent.

In response, the U.S. and Canada joined EU countries in instituting travel restrictions on visitors from southern Africa, where the surge is thought to have originated. The White House said it will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region beginning Monday.

However, there is no immediate indication that the variant will make the disease more severe. Still experts are worried about how the variant will impact people. The new version appears to harbor a high number of mutations- around 30- in the coronavirus’ spike protein, which could make current vaccines and immunization from prior infection less effective, but researchers are looking into that hypothesis.  

The news caused a major stock market tumble Friday morning, with the Dow Jones dropping 1,000 points before an afternoon uptick ended the index down 2.53% on the day – the biggest single-day-loss this year. The price of oil also plunged nearly 12%.

Check out The China Report, our new weekly newsletter. Subscribe here!