Germany cracks down on unjabbed as US eyes winter battle

Germany unveiled strict curbs on the unvaccinated on Dec. 2 as alarm fanned worldwide over the Omicron variant, and Joe Biden announced America's winter battle plans against COVID-19 as signs of community transmission of the new strain began showing in the U.S.

The discovery of the new Omicron variant, first reported to the World Health Organization by South Africa on November 24, has spread worldwide rapidly, as the EU health agency warned the strain could cause more than half of Europe's COVID cases in the "next few months".

More than two dozen countries and territories have now detected cases, including India on Dec. 2 and the United States on Dec. 1, among the countries hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic since it first emerged nearly two years ago.

The WHO has cautioned that it could take weeks to discover if Omicron is more transmissible, and whether it causes more severe disease - as well as how effective current treatments and vaccines are against it.

But a new preliminary study by South African researchers suggests it is three times more likely to cause reinfections compared to the Delta or Beta strains, the first epidemiological evidence about Omicron's ability to evade immunity from prior infection.

The paper, which has not yet been peer reviewed, was praised by Michael Head, a scientist at the University of Southampton.

"This analysis does look very concerning, with immunity from previous infections being relatively easily bypassed. Might this all still be a 'false alarm'? That is looking less and less likely," he said.

The variant's detection and spread represent a fresh challenge to global efforts to battle the pandemic, with several nations already reimposing restrictions many had hoped were a...