In a post on Twitter, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said: "The Commission will propose, in close coordination with Member States, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529."
The executive Commission will recommend that all 27 member states implement the measure and hopes for the European Council to give the green light as soon as possible, an EU official added.Decisions of the European Council, which represents member states, do not have to be taken by ministers but can also be signed off by the country's ambassadors in Brussels.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it could take several weeks to understand the variant and cautioned against imposing new travel curbs.
"WHO recommends that countries continue to apply a risk based and a scientific approach when implementing travel measures... implementing travel measures is being cautioned against," said spokesman Christian Lindmeier.
The WHO's Special Envoy on Covid-19 said it is appropriate to be concerned about the new variant."My own view is that really it is appropriate to be concerned about this," Dr David Nabarro told the BBC.
"I'll tell you why: The virus looks like it will have greater capacity to evade the defences that we've all built up as a result of the vaccinations we've received since the beginning of this year."
