Hello, I'm Nulem Agoverin on the BBC World Service and this is BBC OS,

Conversations on Coronavirus, Omicron.

The new COVID variant is causing problems and uncertainty around the world.

Business, holiday and travel plans over the festive season are being rethought,

including for this South African woman, living in the UK,

who can no longer see her parents for Christmas.

It was like a dream shattered because we've been planning for this for over two years.

Finally, South African came over the red list earlier this year and we thought

that's it, we can go, we can go and see them.

And it just feels like it's a never-ending story at the moment.

I imagine that many of you are like me in that I'd never heard the word Omicron before

and now I'm using it all the time.

It's been only around a week since the World Health Organization called

a new Coronavirus variant Omicron and declared it was off-concern.

Now there's much that we still need to learn about it,

but we've seen it been identified around the world from Australia to Canada

since it was first discovered in South Africa.

And the WHO has warned that all countries must prepare for Coronavirus surges linked to Omicron.

With overall COVID concern increasing in several countries,

the response has been to reintroduce measures such as face covering,

self-isolation, travel bans and also restrictions on people who are choosing to remain

unvaccinated, such as in Germany.

...