The World Health Organization said that it is not yet clear whether infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared to infections with other COVID-19 variants. 

The UN body on designated it as a “variant of concern,” its most serious designation of a COVID-19 variant, and called it “omicron” as the latest entry into its Greek alphabet classification system designed to avoid stigmatizing countries of origin and simplify understanding.

Also read: Will omicron outrun Delta? Will jabs still work? Scientists compare notes

WHO said it wasn’t clear whether omicron is more transmissible — more easily spread between people — compared to other variants like the highly transmissible delta variant. It said it wasn’t clear if infection with omicron causes more severe disease, even as it cited data from South Africa showing rising rates of hospitalization there — but that could just be because more people are getting infected with COVID-19, not specifically omicron.

From just over 200 new confirmed cases per day in recent weeks, South Africa saw the number of new daily cases rocket to more than 3,200 on Saturday, most in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province.

Also read: Here’s why new variant is named omicron and drawing international ire

Here are the confirmed cases (country-wise):

Germany: Two cases of Omicron were detected in Bavaria, Germany and a suspected case was found in the west. 

Australia: Health authorities confirmed that two people arriving from southern Africa over the weekend had tested positive for the Omicron variant.

Portugal: Thirteen players and staff members of Lisbon football club Belenenses SAD tested positive for Omicron on Monday. 

Scotland: Six cases of Omicron were reported in Scotland on Monday. 

United Kingdom: Three cases have been reported as of Monday

Netherlands: Health authorities said on Sunday that 13 Omicron cases were found among passengers on two flights from South Africa that arrived on Friday.

Italy:  The National Health Institute said one case of the new variant had been detected in Milan. 

Travel restrictions (country-wise):

United States:

The CDC and State Department on Saturday advised against travel to eight southern African countries. The White House announced that it would bar nearly all foreign nationals who have been in any of eight countries within the last 14 days from flying to the United States.

Also read: How was Omicron, the new COVID variant, named?

Japan:

Japanese authorities on Monday said that they would shut their  borders to foreigners from midnight to prevent a spread of the Omicron variant. 

Israel: 

Tel Aviv was one of the first to shut its borders after Omicron was named a ‘variant of concern’. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the ban would last 14 days.

United Kingdom: 

Entry of non-residents from 10 southern African states has been barred. British and Irish residents arriving from those countries must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days.

India:

India announced that it will make an on-arrival COVID-19 test mandatory for air travellers from more than a dozen countries. The decision will go into effect on December 1. 

Brazil:

Brazil will shut its borders to travellers arriving from six southern African countries, the chief of staff to President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday.

Canada, Australia and Singapore are the other countries that announced travel restrictions.