Netherlands, Australia find omicron variant as curbs spread

By MIKE CORDER and GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Netherlands has confirmed 13 cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus and Australia has found two as the countries half a world apart became the latest to detect it in travelers arriving from southern Africa. A growing raft of curbs are being imposed by nations around the world as they scramble to slow the variant’s spread. Israel decided Sunday to bar entry to foreign nationals in the toughest move so far. 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.