KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — The ringgit reversed earlier gains to close weaker against the US dollar today as market sentiment was clouded by mounting concern over the Covid-19 Omicron variant, dealers said.

JAKARTA, Dec 22 — Indonesia is continuing to evaluate existing measures to protect its people from Covid-19 and Omicron variant after the first case of the new variant detected in the republic last week.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — The ringgit closed firmer against the US dollar today as investors continued to weigh on global fears due to the rising cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

BEIJING, Dec 20 — A Covid-19 booster shot produced by China's Sinopharm had "significantly lower" neutralising activity against the Omicron variant, Chinese researchers said in a paper, although they added the vaccine's efficacy against Omicron remained unclear.

SINGAPORE, Dec 17 — The Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH) said 24 confirmed Omicron cases have been detected in the republic as of Thursday, with 21 imported cases and three local cases.

JAKARTA, Dec 16 — The Indonesian Health Ministry has detected its first case of the Omicron Covid-19 variant in a member of the cleaning staff at the country's largest isolation centre at Wisma Atlet, North Jakarta.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 — Malaysia has detected the second case Covid-19 Omicron variant involving its citizen, an eight-year-old girl who returned from Lagos, Nigeria, on December 5.

STOCKHOLM, Dec 16 — A rapid increase in the number of Omicron Covid-19 variant cases is imminent, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

MANILA, Dec 15 — The Philippines has recorded its first two confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in two travellers from Nigeria and Japan respectively, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

ALGIERS, Dec 15 — Algerian health authorities on Tuesday confirmed the detection of the first case of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, local media reported.

GENEVA, Dec 14 — The World Health Organisation (WHO) told Sputnik that it expects an increase in the number of hospitalisations and fatalities related to the new Omicron coronavirus strain, reported Sputnik.

LONDON, Dec 12 — Britain's Covid-19 alert level has been increased from Level 3 to Level 4 in light of the rapid increase in Omicron cases, British chief medical officers said in a joint statement Sunday.

HAVANA , Dec 9 — Cuba has detected its first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant in a person who had traveled from Mozambique, Cuban state media agency ACN reported late on Wednesday.

ANKARA, Dec 8 — The new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, has spread to 50 countries and 19 US states, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday, reported Anadolu Agency (AA).

SINGAPORE, Dec 7 —The Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday confirmed the Omicron variant in the first two imported Covid-19 cases, initially suspected to be the carriers of the variant.

SEOUL, Dec 7 — Three foreign students attending universities in Seoul have been confirmed to be infected with Omicron, officials said Tuesday, signaling the highly contagious Covid-19 variant's penetration into the capital.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar on Monday on lack of buying interest as investors stayed on the sidelines to assess the global economic growth development, said a dealer.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — Malaysia is on track to achieve the targeted gross domestic product (GDP) growth of three to four per cent this year despite the emergence of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

BANGKOK, Dec 6 — Thailand has detected its first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant in a U.S.

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 — The Omicron coronavirus strain has been registered in at least 15 US states and it continues to spread, according to US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr Rochelle Walensky.