Omicron variant may have reached Europe earlier than thought

By RAF CASERT and ANDREW MELDRUM
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — Economic powerhouses Japan and France are reporting their first cases of the omicron variant, while new findings indicate the mutant coronavirus was already in Europe close to a week before South Africa sounded the alarm. It highlights the difficulty in containing the virus in an age of jet travel and economic globalization. And it leaves the world once again whipsawed between hopes of returning to normal and fears that the worst is yet to come. Stocks fell on Wall Street after Moderna’s CEO expressed concern about the effectiveness of the vaccines against the new variant. Around the globe, stocks mostly slipped as investors cautiously weighed how much damage omicron might do to the economy.