Travel curbs tightened across the world amid new Covid variant fears

(Andy Wong/AP)

Australian officials are racing to carry out further tests on passengers arriving from southern Africa who tested positive for Covid-19 to determine if they are carrying the Omicron variant, as nations around the world tightened controls against the worrying new strain.

Neighbouring New Zealand announced it is restricting travel from nine southern African countries because of the threat posed by the variant, and Japan widened its border controls to include more countries from the region.