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Things people love.

This is The Political Scene, a weekly conversation with New Yorker writers and guests about politics.

It's Thursday, December 2nd. I'm Carla Blumencrance, features editor of New Yorker.com,

filling in for Dorothy Wickenen.

Last weekend, just as many Americans were returning from Thanksgiving feasts with family and friends,

news of a new variant of the coronavirus, called Omicron, began to proliferate worldwide. Little is known about

Omicron, but preliminary evidence from South Africa, where it was first detected, suggests that

it may be more transmissible than other variants. Omicron also has an unusual number of mutations, about 50, far more than Delta,

which has raised concerns about its potential to evade previous immunity.

After the World Health Organization classified Omicron as a variant of concern,

more quickly than it had for any previous variant.

Many countries, including the U.S., instituted bans on travel from Southern Africa,

and stronger travel restrictions more generally.

...