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The speed with which new variants of the COVID-19 virus spread around the world can leave government’s scrambling to catch up. What is sometimes more remarkable is the speed with which those new variants are detected.

It has taken barely two weeks from the initial testing of ‘patient zero’, before potentially the entire globe is readying itself to examine COVID test samples to see if they contain the Omicron variant.

Patient zero, called n=1 or the index case by the scientific community, arrived at Hong Kong International Airport on 11 November, having flown in from South Africa via Doha in Qatar, on flight QR818.

He had been in South Africa for almost three weeks, and had tested negative the day before he began his trip there.

On his return to the territory on the Qatar Airways flight, the 36-year-old was in seat 31A, and was showing no symptoms when he checked into the Regal Airport Hotel in Chek Lap Kok, to begin his mandatory quarantine. He also tested negative on his return.

Hong Kong has some of the most stringent regulations on arrival in the world.

Anyone coming from a “high-risk” country can only board flights for the territory if they are fully-vaccinated Hong Kong residents and even then they have to undergo compulsory isolation for 21 days in a designated quarantine hotel when they arrive.

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While in quarantine, they must undergo six COVID tests and then they must monitor themselves for the following seven days, after which they are tested again 26 days after the day of their arrival.

The man in question had fulfilled all the requirements, having received the Pfizer vaccine on 13 May and 4 June, and outwardly there were no signs his case was anything unusual.

The Regal Airport Hotel, where Omicron patient zero was staying when it was found out he had the variant. Pic: Google Streetview
Image:
The Regal Airport Hotel, where Omicron patient zero was staying when it was found out he had the variant. Pic: Google Streetview

But two days into his quarantine, he was tested again, on 13 November, and after showing a high viral load was sent to hospital the next day.

Meanwhile, another passenger that had arrived in Hong Kong the day before the man who later became patient zero, was staying in a room opposite him on the fifth floor of the same quarantine hotel.

He tested negative twice before, on 18 November, a result showed he too had a high viral load and he was also rushed to hospital.

Like all arrivals who test positive after coming to Hong Kong, they were give case numbers – 12388 and 12404.

Early conclusions from Hong Kong’s health authorities were that case 12404 might have been infected with the variant as air flowed into the corridor when case 12388 opened his hotel room door as he was not wearing a surgical mask.

Patient zero is said by the Hong Kong authorities to live in the Rambler Crest blocks, in the suburb of Tsing Yi. Pic: Google Streetview
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Patient zero is said by the Hong Kong authorities to live in the Rambler Crest blocks, in the suburb of Tsing Yi. Pic: Google Streetview

While the test results from the Hong Kong travellers were being analysed, other researchers in South Africa and Botswana were also looking into a newly emerging variant.

Just three days after the Hong Kong traveller went to his quarantine hotel, a number of people were being routinely tested in the South African province of Gauteng.

At around the same time, South Africa, and particularly Gauteng, began to see a sudden uptick in cases.

South African scientists began to come to the conclusion they were seeing something new after detecting a group of related SARS-CoV-2 viruses that were turning up in large numbers, compared to other variants.

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What is the new COVID variant?

Out of the specimens collected between 14 and 23 November, more than 70% were of the same type.

They raised the alarm on 22 November.

The next day the new variant was picked up by GISAID, the open-access database of flu viruses and coronavirus variants that has been critical to spreading news around the world about emerging forms of COVID-19.

On 24 November, it was given a new name under the criteria given to emerging COVID variants – B.1.1.529.

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Scotland and Wales are calling for all UK travellers to isolate for eight days when arriving in the country.

On the same day, the new variant was reported to the World Health Organisation, which convened its technical advisory group – similar to WHO’s equivalent to SAGE – to assess what should be done.

The UK, responding to the rapidly evolving situation, designated the virus type a variant under investigation, VUI-21NOV-01, on 25 November.

As it did so, cases in South Africa were shooting up.

Professor Sharon Peacock of COG-UK Genomics UK Consortium, which oversees sequencing in the UK, said on Friday: “The number of recorded COVID-19 infections on 16 November 2021 was 273 cases. By 25 November this had risen to more than 1,200 cases.

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Health minister Edward Argar says Omicron cases will rise across the UK in the run-up to Christmas.

“More than 80% of these were from Gauteng province. Cases in Gauteng province initially appeared to be clustered, but over time there has been more widespread dispersal of infections across the province.

“An analysis of the R value (a measure of growth rate) is 1.47 for South Africa as a whole, but initial estimates for Gauteng province are 1.93. Based on this measurement, it indicates that growth rate of cases is considerably higher in Gauteng province than the rest of the country.

“Around 100 B.1.1.529 genomes have now been identified in South Africa, mostly from Gauteng province. But this region is also where the sequencing has been targeted, and the question is whether the variant is present over a wider geographic area.”

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South Africa’s president says Omicron is now responsible for the majority of cases in the country’s most populated area.

In total, according to the European Centre for Disease Control, South African investigators examined 77 samples in Gauteng taken between 12 and 20 November looking for a specific mutation that suggested Omicron was present, and found it in all cases.

The results, say the ECDC, suggest that Omicron is already dominant in Gauteng and is present in significant proportions in most parts of South Africa.

The question is, what does this mean for the rest of the world?

It is clear that Omicron has been in the UK for several days.

After one of the first cases in England was revealed to have been identified in Brentwood, Essex County Council said staff, customers and delivery workers who visited a branch of KFC on Brentwood High Street on Friday 19 November, between 1pm and 5pm, should take a PCR test immediately – suggesting a person with the variant was in the restaurant at the time.

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Sky’s Charlotte Lomas looks at what scientists know so far about the Omicron COVID variant and how it behaves.

Likewise, they asked anyone in the congregation of the town’s Trinity Church on Sunday 21 November to do the same.

Essex’s director of public health Dr Mike Gogarty told the BBC’s World At One programme that the person in question was tested on 20 November and has contracted the variant from someone who had been in contact with someone who had been to South Africa – in a clear case of community transmission.

He said: “We are talking probably about two weeks from now since that person returned from Africa.”

Both the UK cases identified on Saturday, which also included one in Nottingham, were linked to travel in South Africa. A third case in the London borough of Westminster, who had previously been in southern Africa, has since left the country.

But while South Africa, like the UK, has an effective system to sequence COVID test samples, many other countries in Africa do not.

Omicron has been detected early in Botswana, but there are concerns it may be widespread in several other nations in southern Africa.

Some 98 samples were sequenced in Botswana to allow the identification of six cases of Omicron by Friday, reported the ECDC, but in the same period countries like Kenya sequenced just five cases, with no Omicron cases.

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Dr Chaand Nagpaul says there needs to be a consistent policy in mask wearing in public.

Israel, one of the world’s most vaccinated countries, said on Friday it had also detected the country’s first case of Omicron in a traveller who had returned from Malawi. Two other suspected cases were also placed in isolation.

On that day, as the world became aware of the extent of the spread, markets reacted with oil prices plunging and airlines shares suffering major losses.

A case was also confirmed in Belgium and on Saturday suspected cases were reported in Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic.

The OR Tambo airport at the weekend after countries around the world banned flights from the country where Omicron was sourced to
Image:
The OR Tambo airport at the weekend after countries around the world banned flights from the country where Omicron was sourced to

Denmark and Australia announced two cases and the Netherlands identified 13 Omicron cases in dozens of COVID-positive travellers from South Africa on Sunday.

On Monday, further cases were announced in Portugal, where 13 players and staff members of Lisbon soccer team Belenenses were found to be positive for the variant even though only one player had been recently to South Africa.

Countries across the planet have reacted by closing their borders or reintroducing severe travel restrictions.

While scientists have raised the alarm, and have said they expected it to spread, many say there is no more cause for concern in terms of the impact on people, than there might have been if the Delta variant stays dominant.

The home ground of Belenenses SAD football club in Lisbon, Portugal, after 13 cases of omicron were identified there. Pic: AP
Image:
The home ground of Belenenses SAD football club in Lisbon, Portugal, after 13 cases of omicron were identified there. Pic: AP

Reacting to the news cases had been discovered in Scotland, Professor Rowland Kao, the Sir Timothy O’Shea Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology and Data Science at the University of Edinburgh, said: “It is now clear that the Omicron variant has been spreading around the world for some days, if not weeks prior to the alarms being raised, and this is only to be expected for a virus which transmits as easily as SARS-CoV-2, and with international travel now substantial (even though not quite at the level pre-pandemic).

“Evidence of community spread in two locations in Scotland (ie cases with no obvious risks other than community spread) and no obvious source yet, are strong indicators that we shall see more cases in Scotland arise over the next few days and weeks.

“As always, anything individuals can do to mitigate spread (physical distancing, taking lateral flow tests when appropriate and being aware of COVID symptoms and testing) will be beneficial.

“However it is important to remember that the omicron variant may not pose an increased health risk – it may in fact cause milder infections. However we shall only know for sure in the next few weeks.”

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Zelenskyy demands ‘clear position’ from Trump on ending war

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Zelenskyy demands 'clear position' from Trump on ending war

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a “clear position” from Donald Trump to stop Vladimir Putin and end the war in Ukraine.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News’ lead world presenter Yalda Hakim, the Ukrainian president said the only way for the fighting to stop was for defined security guarantees to first be put in place.

And that, he said, could only come if Mr Trump was bold.

He told Sky News he hopes UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would drill into the detail of securing Ukraine’s future with the president during his state visit to Britain this week.

He said: “I very much hope he (Starmer) will be able to have a very specific discussion on the security guarantees of the US for Ukraine.

“Before we end the war, I really want to have all the agreements in place. I want to… have a document that is supported by the US and all European partners. This is very important.

“To make this happen, we need a clear position of President Trump.”

Zelenskyy and Trump have endured a sometimes testy relationship. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Zelenskyy and Trump have endured a sometimes testy relationship. Pic: Reuters

‘Make Putin afraid’

Mr Zelenskyy also urged the US leader to take “strong personal steps” to “stop Putin”, after Mr Trump urged NATO allies to stop buying Russian oil and put tariffs on China to pressure Moscow.

“I believe that the US is strong enough to take decisions of their own,” he said. “I believe Donald Trump can give us air defence systems in quantity and US has enough.

“I’m sure the US can apply enough sanctions in order to hurt the Russian economy, plus Donald Trump has enough force to make Putin afraid of him.

“Europe has already introduced 18 sanctions packages against Russia. And all that’s lacking now is a strong sanctions package from the US.”

Read more from Sky News:
Moscow trying to send a message with military drills
Russia’s war rehearsals offer NATO one thing

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Russia rehearses for war

His comments came following criticism in his interview with Sky News – at the Presidential Palace in Kyiv – of the recent Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.

He said Mr Trump “gave a lot to Putin” and that “he should have paid more” for it.

“I believe, if it was a trilateral meeting [with Ukraine included], we would have some result,” he added.

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Sky News exclusive interview with Zelenskyy

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Putin ‘testing NATO’, warns Zelenskyy

As news broke that British fighter jets were flying air defence missions over Poland after a Russian drone incursion, Hakim asked the Ukrainian leader what message he thought Putin was sending to Europeans.

“He’s testing NATO,” he said. “He wants to see what NATO is ready for, what they’re capable of, both diplomatically and politically, and how the local population will respond to this.”

“Also, in my opinion, the other message they are sending is, ‘don’t you dare to give Ukraine additional air defence systems, because you might need them yourself.'”

Bristling with frustration – Zelenskyy’s message is clear


Yalda Hakim

Yalda Hakim

Lead world news presenter

@SkyYaldaHakim

Ukraine’s president has a very clear message for Trump – you alone have the power to stop Putin, and the time to act is now.

Meeting with me in Kyiv on the eve of the US president’s state visit to Britain, Zelenskyy bristled with frustration at the failure of the Western powers to ramp up pressure on the Kremlin, even as the Russians escalated their attacks on Ukraine.

Asked if the summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska has proven a mistake, he responded without hesitation that Putin is clearly not paying a price for his actions.

Zelenskyy believes Trump is reluctant to put pressure on Putin because it might jeopardise attempts to end the war.

But the Ukrainian leader argues this isn’t the way to handle the Russian president.

Zelenskyy also argued Trump’s emphasis on getting the Europeans to ratchet up economic pressure – foremost by stopping their purchases of Russian energy and tariffing other buyers like China and India – was understandable, but that the world’s sole superpower shouldn’t wait for others to act.

Trump has called on EU countries to end all Russian oil and gas purchases – and only then will he consider imposing sanctions on Russia.

Mr Trump arrives in the UK today for an unprecedented second state visit, following an invitation from King Charles.

He and First Lady Melania will stay at Windsor Castle and be treated to a flypast by the Red Arrows as well as UK and US F-35 military jets on the east lawn, and a special Beating Retreat military ceremony.

They will also visit Chequers, the prime minister’s official country residence in Buckinghamshire, though details of what they will discuss – and whether it will include the situation in Ukraine – have not been revealed.

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Face-to-face with Zelenskyy, his frustration with the West is clear

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Face-to-face with Zelenskyy, his frustration with the West is clear

Ukraine’s president has a very clear message for Donald Trump – you alone have the power to stop Vladimir Putin, and the time to act is now.

Meeting with me in Kyiv on the eve of the US president’s state visit to Britain, Volodymyr Zelenskyy bristled with frustration at the failure of the Western powers to ramp up pressure on the Kremlin, even as the Russians escalated their attacks on Ukraine.

Asked if the summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska has proven a mistake, he responded without hesitation that Putin is clearly not paying a price for his actions.

“He should have received a setback in this war and stop. Instead, he received de-isolation,” he said.

“He definitely wants to trick the US. He is doing everything he can to avoid sanctions, to prevent the US and Trump from putting sanctions on him.”

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska last month. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska last month. Pic: Reuters

Zelenskyy believes Trump is reluctant to put pressure on Putin because it might jeopardise attempts to end the war.

But the Ukrainian leader argues this isn’t the way to handle the Russian president: “He understands force. That’s his language. That’s the language he understands. He doesn’t speak many languages, but that’s the language of force he understands – just like Russian, you know, his mother tongue.”

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Russia rehearses for war

Read more from Sky News:
Moscow trying to send a message with military drills

British fighter jets to fly defence missions over Poland

Zelenskyy also argued Trump’s emphasis on getting the Europeans to ratchet up economic pressure – foremost by stopping their purchases of Russian energy, and by putting tariffs on other buyers like China and India – was understandable, but that the world’s superpower shouldn’t wait for others to act.

Trump has called on EU countries to end all Russian oil and gas purchases, and only then will he consider imposing sanctions on Russia.

“I think the US is strong enough on its own,” Zelenskyy said.

“They can make this happen quicker and all that’s lacking now is a strong sanctions package from the US.”

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Russia and Belarus’s military drills are part-theatre – but Moscow is trying to send a message

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Russia and Belarus's military drills are part-theatre - but Moscow is trying to send a message

At times, the sound of these military drills was deafening.

There were fighter jets screaming overhead, air strikes on “enemy” forces, and tracer rounds from artillery units pounding out of the barrels.

Fireballs and mushroom clouds would periodically appear far off on the landscape, followed by a sudden explosive thud several seconds later.

I was watching from the safety of a viewing platform, along with other members of the international media.

But even at that distance, the various blasts were still powerful enough to reverberate through me.

Russian troops load an Iskander missile onto a mobile launcher. Pic: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP
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Russian troops load an Iskander missile onto a mobile launcher. Pic: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

This was the fourth day of ‘Zapad-2025’ – the joint military drills Russia holds with Belarus roughly every four years.

It took place at a training ground near the city of Borisov in Belarus, 150km from the Lithuanian border.

Moscow and Minsk insist the exercises are “defensive”. In this case, they said they were gaming out how they would respond to an attack by a NATO member.

But as I watched, I couldn’t help feeling that the training aspect was only one part of it.

The other part felt like theatre – a show of strength designed to intimidate those watching across the border on Europe’s eastern flank.

A helicopter gunship. Pic: AP
Image:
A helicopter gunship. Pic: AP

The drills were smaller than previous years, most likely because Russia still needs its troops and equipment at the front in Ukraine.

But it still felt like Moscow was trying to send a message here – that despite the costs and casualties incurred fighting Kyiv, it’s still a force to be reckoned with.

For Belarus’s neighbours, these are anxious times. The last Zapad drills in 2021 were used as a springboard for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a few months later. And so this time, Poland has closed its border, and like Lithuania, it’s holding military drills of its own.

A ground drone drives through the training ground. Pic: AP
Image:
A ground drone drives through the training ground. Pic: AP

Afterwards, I tried to catch up with some of the defence dignitaries from foreign militaries, who had been invited to observe the drills. I wanted to see what they made of the show.

“A very good demonstration,” a senior officer from Pakistan told me, declining to give his name.

“It gives us an insight of how war is being fought, with new technologies, in this part of the world.”

But what about Poland’s concerns?

“Are they right to be nervous?” I asked. “Would you be nervous if you were next door?”

“Why would I be nervous?” he replied. “Being Pakistani, I know what I’m capable of. So I shouldn’t be nervous by somebody else doing exercises.”

“So NATO has no need to worry?” I continued.

“No, I don’t think so. NATO shouldn’t be worried.”

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There were actually some representatives from NATO members among the observers.

Delegations from Hungary and Turkey are no surprise – both countries have good relations with Moscow – but a team from the United States did raise eyebrows.

Read more:
Russian drone ‘breaches Romanian airspace’
UK joins NATO operation

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Russia getting ‘ready for war with NATO’

A further sign, it seems, that the Trump administration is seeking to build bridges with the Kremlin, despite the lack of progress towards a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

Unfortunately, none of those officials would answer my questions. Wary, perhaps, of sticking their head above the parapet, as the alliance seeks to present a united front.

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