The World Health Organization designates the new highly mutated strain of Covid a "variant of concern" and gives it the Greek name Omicron

Health Secretary Sajid Javid says there is "huge international concern" over the variant - but there are no UK cases

The variant has been found in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong - and one case has been confirmed in Europe, in Belgium

The US, UK, EU states and Switzerland halt travel to and from seven African nations

Other countries including the UAE, Israel, Japan, Kenya and Singapore have also restricted travel

The World Health Organization cautions against travel bans but has held a special meeting to discuss the variant

A top UK health official calls it "the most significant variant" to date, while an Oxford scientist tells the BBC: "It is bad news but it's not doomsday"