The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was working to ensure all those traveling to the U.S. by air take a test within 24 hours before boarding their flights - cut down from 72 hours - a day before President Joe Biden sets out a winter plan to tackle the virus. Other measures - including self-quarantine - are being considered by the White House, the Associated Press reports.

Cases have so far been detected in the U.K., Canada, Australia, Spain, Nigeria, South Africa, Belgium, Israel, Botswana, Denmark, France (Reunion Island), Austria, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.

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It is the first West African country to have a confirmed case of Omicron so far.

The official confirmed that more than 40 mutations have now been identified with Omicron - far higher than any other variant discovered so far.

They are a fully vaccinated couple who tested positive for the variant after arriving last week from Nigeria, Chosun Ilbo newspaper reports.

It comes as the country hits record numbers of daily infections, with over 5,000 new cases reported yesterday.

A poll by the agency suggests Democrats are far more likely to be concerned about the new variant than Republicans. 80 percent of Democrats said they were “somewhat concerned” or “very concerned” about Omicron, compared to only 35 percent of Republicans.

A 59 percent majority of Republicans said that they were “not very concerned” about the variant or “not concerned at all” - far more than the 14 percent of Democrats who said the same.

FULL STORY: Omicron Variant Has Democrats Really Alarmed, Republicans Not So Much

The cases are reported to involve Brazilian missionaries living in South Africa.

Cruz questioned whether Fauci had lied regarding whether the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded gain of function research at the Wuhan institute of Virology in a congressional hearing last month - and claims the doctor gave a misleading answer - but Fauci turned it to January 6.

A clip from the interview now has almost three million views.

Much remains unknown about the new variant - including whether it can evade current vaccines - sparking fears of a return to the early days of the pandemic.

The pill is believed to reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 89 percent and, pending approval, the U.S. government will buy 10 million treatment courses worth over $5 billion.

The government confirmed the person is a Saudi national who had travelled from a North African country but declined to give further details.

It is the first case of the variant in the Middle East.

The discovery makes even more unclear the timeline and origin of Omicron’s emergence as scientists try to figure out how dangerous it might be and how easily it can spread.

FULL STORY: Dutch Find Omicron in Sample From Mid-November, 5 Days Before South Africa Discovery

Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Wednesday for all the latest.