On Friday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) designated SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.529 as a ‘variant of concern’. The new coronavirus variant, which has been detected in South Africa, Hong Kong, Israel and Botswana, has been named Omicron. br br The WHO classified the variant as a “highly transmissible virus of concern”, the same category that includes the predominant delta variant of the coronavirus. In a bid to contain this new Covid-19 threat, countries across the world have rushed to impose travel bans, a move South Africa called 'unjustified'.