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Updated December 1st, 2021 at 21:22 IST

Amid Omicron variant threat, EU to delay special remote summit scheduled for Dec 16

The EU has decided to postpone the special remote summit of the bloc's leaders amid growing concern over the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Reported by: Anurag Roushan
Europian Union
Image: AP | Image:self
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On Wednesday, the European Union has decided to postpone the special remote summit of the bloc's leaders amid growing concern over the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID. The EU's 27 health ministers are expected to review the situation next week on December 7, before presenting it to the leaders at the regularly scheduled summit on December 16, an EU official told on the condition of anonymity to the Associated Press (AP). It reported that an emergency summit had been contemplated for days, but finding a time slot for all of the leaders proved difficult. It was also unclear what the leaders could decide because much about the new variant detected in South Africa still remains unknown.

The EU states and the European Council will keep a close eye on the situation. According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, 44 cases of Omicron variant have been reported across 11 EU countries as of Tuesday, November 30. It went on to say that the majority of the cases involved a history of travel to Africa. It further added that many aspects of the new variant are still unknown, including if it is more contagious, as some health officials believe, whether it causes people to get more seriously ill, and whether it can thwart the vaccine, etc. 

South Korea reconsiders plan to host UN peacekeeping conference

Meanwhile on Tuesday, November 30, South Korea announced that it is reconsidering its plans to host a major international conference on UN peacekeeping and other diplomatic events slated for next month. The country's foreign ministry stated that concerns about the latest variant have cast a cloud over relevant plans. The ministry was planning to schedule hosting the 2021 Seoul UN peacekeeping ministerial conference on December 7-8 and the Korea-Africa forum the following days, reported the Yonhap news agency. The UN peacekeeping event was scheduled to be the country's largest in-person international conference since the pandemic. 

It should be mentioned here that the new variant has been categorised as a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization. It has also alarmed scientists and the health community because of its complicated genetic sequence. Besides, it is also the most potent type of the SARS-CoV-2 variation found to date. The variant's protein spike has more than 50 mutations, including more than 30 on the spike protein, making it far more transmissible than the Delta version. 

(With AP inputs)

Image: AP

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Published December 1st, 2021 at 21:22 IST

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