US to restrict travel from southern Africa over Omicron Covid variant fears

• WHO names variant found in Belgium and Israel Omicron
• White House adviser Fauci: no indication variant is in US
• BioNTech says vaccine can be tweaked in 100 days if needed

Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, said on Friday there was no indication" the new Omicron" coronavirus variant discovered in southern Africa had reached the US.

Nonetheless, the Biden administration - along with the UK, Canada and Australia governments - said it would restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries in southern Africa, starting on Monday.