Australia finds omicron, Israel bans foreign travelers

By GEIR MOULSON and ZEN SOO
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Australia has became the latest country to detect the omicron variant of the coronavirus in travelers who arrived from southern Africa, while Israel has decided to bar entry to foreign nationals — the toughest of a growing raft of curbs imposed by nations around the world as they scramble to slow its spread. Confirmed or suspected cases of the new variant have already emerged in several European countries, in Israel and in Hong Kong, just days after it was identified by researchers in South Africa. The “act first, ask questions later” approach reflected growing alarm about the emergence of a potentially more contagious variant nearly two years into the pandemic.