“I am very, very worried,” he said of the virus variant, which has more mutations than earlier incarnations and has already been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong.
While the variant has still only been identified in a relatively small number of cases, the fears expressed by scientists have reverberated around the world.
The U.K. has banned flights from South Africa and five neighbouring countries ahead of placing them on its so-called red list, which requires hotel quarantine. Stocks, Treasury yields and oil all sank while the rand weakened to a one-year low.
Photo:Bloomberg
