Belgium has reported its first case of the new variant identified in South Africa.

Earlier, Marc Van Ranst, a virologist whose lab works closely with Belgium's public health body Sciensano, said Belgium was "currently analysing two suspicious samples".

He has now tweeted to say one of those samples is B.1.1.529.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us on your lunch break, here's what you should know about the evolving situation in southern Africa and beyond:

• A new variant of Covid-19, B.1.1.529, which it's feared may be more transmissible and resistant to vaccines, has been discovered in southern Africa
• Travel restrictions on six nations in the region, including South Africa and Zimbabwe, will come in from Sunday - with UK and Irish residents arriving after that required to quarantine in a hotel
• These restrictions will be reviewed in three weeks time
• Experts from the World Health Organization are meeting in South Africa to discuss the heavily mutated variant - described as "the worst one we've seen so far" by one expert
• However, another scientist has argued it does not necessarily mean the world is headed back to "square one" given how early the variant was discovered
• Several other countries, including France, Italy and Germany have introduced travel restrictions on southern African countries
• Health Secretary Sajid Javid has described the emergence of the variant as of "huge international concern"

• Cases of the variant have been identified in Hong Kong and Israel - but not yet in the UK

Image source, Getty Images

One of the lead investigators of the new variant has told the BBC that the virus is "transmitting at great speed" in parts of South Africa.

Prof Tulio de Oliveira, a virologist and Director of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation in South Africa, says that infections in Gauteng province - which contains the country's largest city, Johannesburg - appear to be "amplified".

"We hope that we are wrong on this," he tells the BBC's Newsday programme, adding that teams are trying to establish how transmissible the new variant is.

He says, however, that he expects existing vaccines to continue to provide some protection.

"We hope - and expect - that vaccines will protect against hospitalisations. We still think that, at the moment, vaccines are our best weapon."

If you missed the health secretary's statement earlier, here's Sajid Javid announcing the travel restrictions on southern African nations in response to the new variant.

UK residents travelling to the UK from South Africa, Zimbabwe and neighbouring nations will have to go into hotel isolation from 04:00 GMT on Sunday.

Anyone arriving before the deadline has been told to take PCR tests and isolate at home, along with the rest of their household.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Reuters

Friday feels like an ordinary day at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport - the arrivals lounge a hive of excitement with people waiting for their loved-ones from various parts of the world.

They arrived to long hugs and some tears of joy.

Among them were travellers from the UK – many of would’ve only found out about the UK’s decision to put South Africa back on the “red list” when they touched down this morning.

Image source, Supplied

One of them is South African Darryl Warren, who works in the UK.

“Of course I’m worried about the costs of having to quarantine when I return to work because it can get quite expensive, but I’ll worry about that in January. For now it’s good to be back,” he says.

It is expected that South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa will order a meeting of the country's National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) this Sunday, according to an announcement on the government news agency's Twitter.

The council will assess developments in the pandemic as well as the new variant that has been discovered locally.

Several countries are restricting travel to parts of southern Africa since the emergence of B.1.1.529.

Outcomes from the NCCC help inform the country's policies on lockdown restrictions, according to the Reuters news agency. , external

Tim Vizard
Consultant statistician, BBC News

Image source, PA Media

One million people in the UK had Covid in the week ending 20 November, official estimates suggest.

That equates to 1.6% of the population – or one in 65 people in the latest week.

The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, are up slightly from just under one million last week.

The trends for estimated infections across the nations are as follows:

• In England: One in 65 is estimated to be testing positive for coronavirus, the same as last week
• In Wales: One in 50 vs one in 55 last week
• In Northern Ireland: One in 50 vs one in 65 last week
• In Scotland: One in 70 vs one in 95 last week.

Read more: How many cases are there in my area?

Reality Check

Image source, Getty Images

With the detection of a new variant, there is concern about relatively low vaccination rates in South Africa.

About 41% of adult South Africans have received a single dose of vaccine with 35% of adults fully vaccinated, according to official data.

South Africa has faced a challenge with fewer people turning up for the jabs.

Daily vaccination rates have been dropping and are currently below the UK, EU and other countries.

South Africa is doing fewer than 150,000 vaccinations a day against a target of 300,000.

It recently asked Pfizer to delay vaccine deliveries because of the amount of stock that has built up.

“We are worried [that] this outbreak is largely [among] young people…so this is a very high risk,” Health Minister Joseph Phaahla says.

About 26% of those aged 18 to 35 years have had a single dose, with 21% fully vaccinated.

The Department of Health in South Africa believes vaccine misinformation has played a role.

Some of the anti-vaccination themes seen elsewhere in the world have found a particular resonance in South Africa.

The introduction of vaccine passports in some situations has led to comparisons with the passes that black South Africans had to carry during the apartheid era, even though the passports are for all residents.

Misinformation has also spread about vaccine safety - despite the large volume of evidence from clinical trials and the billions already jabbed showing complications are extremely rare.

The Irish Republic and Scotland have both confirmed extensions in their vaccine booster programmes.

Everyone over the age of 16 in Ireland will now be eligible, says the country's health secretary Stephen Donnelly.

Currently, people with underlying conditions and those over 50 can get boosters.

Meanwhile, people aged 40-49 in Scotland will be able to book booster jab appointments from Saturday.

The vaccination programme will also be extended to 16 and 17-year-olds, who can book slots for second jabs from next Tuesday.

Image source, Supplied

We've been hearing from people impacted by the UK's travel ban on six South African countries.

Ruth Daines-Slack, 70, tells us she had booked to travel to the UK from Cape Town next Sunday to see her family - including her children and mother - for Christmas.

Ruth says it is "beyond devastating" that she won't be able to visit her mother, Elsie, who had been "longing" to see her.

Image source, Supplied

“My mother has had her 100th birthday and for the first time in 25 years my whole family were coming from all over and getting together to celebrate Christmas."

She believes the UK travel ban is a "knee-jerk reaction" to South African scientists sharing their information about the new variant with the world.

Watching the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, talking about the ban earlier made her angry she says, adding: “It is unfair that he will be with his family at Christmas and thousands of South Africans will not.”

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid has finished giving an update on Covid to MPs in the House of Commons, after the emergence of a new variant.

In case you missed it, here's a quick round-up of what we heard:

• The new Covid variant B.1.1.529 is of "huge international concern" with the UK first to identify the "threat", although no cases of it have been detected in Britain currently
• B.1.1.529 has an "unusually large number of mutations", Javid said, leading the UK Health Security Agency to classify it as a variant under investigation yesterday
• The UK added South Africa and Botswana to England's travel ban list due to detected cases of the new variant in these countries, and the other four south African nations were added as a "precaution"
• Discussions about the UK's travel ban list are "very live" and the UK will not hesitate to add further nations to its red list if new information becomes available, Javid added
• There is not enough information yet available about the potential for the new variant to cause more severe illness, but a "desktop analysis" suggests there is a "possibility" the new variant could have a "different impact" on people infected with it
• The UK government still intends to follow its "plan A" measures for managing Covid in the winter, but Javid said the situation would be kept "under review" and "if we need to go further we will"

The UK's decision to impose restrictions on South African travel is "disappointing" and the country remains "open for business and tourism travel" South Africa's minister of tourism says.

In a statement on Twitter, Lindiwe Sisulu says South Africa will continue working with countries who are limiting travel "to ensure that the best possible interventions are put in place".

So far the UK, Israel, Italy, Japan and other countries are placing curbs on travel from southern African countries because of a new Covid-19 variant.

Image source, House of Commons

Labour's Meg Hillier asks Sajid Javid what's known about the impact of the new variant on children, and whether second doses of the vaccine will be offered to children in the UK.

The health secretary says there has been no indication of how the new variant impacts children, adding that they'll any share information as they get it.

As for second doses for children, Javid says they will await expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

In the UK, young people aged 16 or 17 are being offered a second Covid jab, while all 12 to 15-year-olds in the UK are being offered a single Pfizer Covid jab.

Read more: Which children are being vaccinated and why?

France has suspended flights from several southern African nations in response to the discovery of the new Covid variant.

The measure, which is similar to that announced by the UK, applies to South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini.

Flights from these countries are suspended with immediate effect for at least 48 hours, the French prime minister's office says in a statement.

"People who have travelled in the last 14 days in one of these countries are invited to report to the authorities and to perform an RT-PCR screening test as soon as possible," the statement adds, according to Le Figaro.

Image source, ParliamentTV

Citing Javid's earlier comment about the potential for the new variant to be more transmissible than others, Conservative MP Liam Fox asks what is known about the severity of illness caused by the new variant - and the potential for its impact on the health service.

Javid replies that "we don't know enough yet" about the severity of illness that could be caused by the new variant.

He points to a "desktop analysis" based on the number of mutations associated with this variant - double those present in the Delta strain - which he says indicates a "possibility" that the new variant might have a "different impact" on people if they are infected.

Image source, House of Commons

Will testing still be an integral part of the UK's approach to tackling the pandemic, Labour's shadow public health minister Alex Norris asks Javid.

He follows up by asking the health secretary to refute the rumours that NHS Test and Trace is due to be scaled down further.

Javid doesn't address the Test and Trace point directly, but says testing is still a "hugely important part to our response" and will continue for as long as necessary.

Responding to Norris, Javid says the six southern African countries added to the travel red list were added due to where the new Covid variant has been detected - that's South Africa and Botswana.

He says the four other countries have been included as a "precaution" and that there are "very live" discussions happening about the red list, which the UK will not hesitate to add to if further information becomes available.

On ensuring developing nations have access to Covid vaccines, Javid says the UK, for a country of its size, has done "far more than any other country", with over 30 million doses donated so far, and a strong commitment to the promised 100 million doses to poorer countries.

As we've been reporting, some travellers going to and from South Africa say there is a lot of confusion over the new UK travel restrictions.

One woman who has just waved off her sister on a flight from Cape Town to London says it is "absolutely ridiculous" that the ban has been imposed so quickly.

Another passenger fears it is a blow for South African tourism as the country "is trying to get back on our feet".

Image source, Getty Images

Filling in for shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth, who has Covid, Labour's shadow public health minister Alex Norris is now responding to Javid's statement.

He welcomes the swiftness of the government's actions to combat the new variant spreading in the UK, saying adding the six southern African nations to England's red list is the "right call" and Labour supports it.

Norris asks why these specific countries have been added to the red list, whether others are in scope for being added and if the UK should reintroduce PCR testing - rather than just lateral flow tests - for travellers arriving from countries with high numbers of infections.

He reiterates the principle that no-one is totally safe from Covid-19 until everyone in the world is vaccinated, and asks what Javid is doing to work with other countries to build their infrastructures and access to vaccines.

You can read more about the updated travel rules here.

The health secretary says we don't know "definitively" whether the exponential growth in cases in South Africa is directly associated with the new variant.

But Javid says analysis suggests there may be many cases of the virus that haven't been detected so far.

"One of the lessons of this pandemic has been that we must move quickly, and at the earliest possible moment," he says.

"We're heading into winter and our booster programme is still ongoing, so we must act with caution."