Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
The World Health Organization warned Monday that the global risk from the Omicron variant is "very high" based on the early evidence, saying the mutated coronavirus could lead to surges with "severe consequences."
The assessment from the UN health agency, contained in a technical paper issued to member states, amounted to WHO's strongest, most explicit warning yet about the new version that was first identified days ago by researchers in South Africa.
It came as a widening circle of countries around the world reported cases of the variant and moved to slam their doors in an act-now-ask-questions-later approach while scientists race to figure out just how dangerous the mutant version might be.