As many suspected from the outset, travel bans against South Africa and neighboring countries could turn out to be little more than a case of punishing the whistleblower. As CBS reports, Dutch health authorities are now reporting that the omicron variant was found in the Netherlands as far back as November 19, well before scientists in South Africa and Botswana first sounded the alarm about the highly-divergent new form of COVID-19. Similar tests in Belgium and Germany have also indicated the presence of the variant in those nations previous to the announcement out of South Africa. This news is not likely to generate an immediate lift of the travel ban. That’s because the significant number of omicron cases in the area around Johannesburg represents the largest known outbreak of this new variant, and limiting travel to and from that region may hold some value. But the news out of Europe is another demonstration that South Africa is paying the price both for having one of the best systems for conducting genetic analysis, and for being transparent about the results of its analysis. The reaction to that transparency is troubling in terms of what happens the next time someone detects a particularly interesting variant — or a wholly new infectious agent. In some ways, the not-unexpected news that omicron has been around longer than we thought could be good; because it could indicate that when it comes to outcompeting delta to become the dominate variant, omicron is not moving as quickly as some feared. On the other hand, the fact that is has now turned up in at least 20 nations (as of Tuesday morning), is a strong indicator that this variant can be easily transmitted through casual contact. When it comes to the three big questions: How contagious is it? How evasive is it? How virulent is it? The answer to all three is the same. We still don’t know. But we are getting a few clues. Read more