Japan joins Israel in barring foreigners as Omicron worries spread

• Japan, Australia take defensive steps against Omicron
• Asian markets, oil prices recover a little
• Still unclear if Omicron causes more severe disease -WHO
• Britain plans G7 meet of health ministers on Monday
• Japan said on Monday it would close its borders to foreigners, as the world’s third-largest economy joined Israel in taking the toughest measures against the new coronavirus variant Omicron, which also cast a cloud over Australia’s re-opening plans.
• Markets, however, regained some composure as investors await more details of the variant, after sinking last week on fears it could bring fresh curbs, threatening a nascent economic revival from a two-year pandemic.
• Potentially more contagious than prior variants, Omicron, first identified in South Africa, has been found in Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, and the Netherlands.
• It could take “days to several weeks” to understand the level of severity of the variant, says the World Health Organization (WHO), which flagged Omicron as a “variant of concern”.
• As a precaution to avert a worst-case scenario, Japan will close its borders to all foreigners from midnight on Tuesday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.