South African doctors say that the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases attributed to the new omicron variant cases is resulting in mostly mild symptoms.

Dr. Unben Pillay, a general practitioner in Gauteng province where 81% of the new cases have been reported, says he has seen a sharp increase in new COVID-19 cases in the past 10 days.

European stocks and oil prices rebounded and Wall Street was poised to open higher Monday even as Asian markets fell further, with investors weighing the new coronavirus variant, omicron, that is being found in more countries and prompting some governments to reimpose travel controls.

Benchmarks in London, Frankfurt and Paris had gained by midday. Indexes in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended lower, though losses were smaller than Friday's fall, sparked by reports that the variant first spotted in South Africa appeared to spread around the globe.

Cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in countries on opposite sides of the world Sunday and many governments rushed to close their borders even as scientists cautioned that it's not clear if the new variant is more alarming than other versions of the virus.

The variant was identified days ago by researchers in South Africa, and much is still not known about it, including whether it is more contagious, more likely to cause serious illness or more able to evade the protection of vaccines. But many countries rushed to act, reflecting anxiety about anything that could prolong the pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people.

Health Minister Firass Abiad has reassured that “Lebanon has no direct flights from South Africa or neighboring countries,” in remarks regarding the new, heavily mutated Covid-19 strain Omicron.

World governments rushed to contain a new, heavily mutated Covid-19 strain Sunday, with Israel slamming its borders shut to foreign nationals and Australia reporting its first cases of the variant.

The variant now known as Omicron has cast doubt on global efforts to fight the pandemic because of fears that it is highly infectious, forcing countries to reimpose measures many had hoped were a thing of the past.

- WHAT IS THIS NEW COVID-19 VARIANT? -

South African scientists identified a new version of the coronavirus this week that they say is behind a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, the country's most populous province. It's unclear where the new variant first emerged, but scientists in South Africa first alerted the World Health Organization and it has now been seen in travelers to Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

One hundred percent of the United Arab Emirates' population has received at least one dose of a vaccine against Covid-19, the health ministry has said.

The announcement late Friday came amid growing global concern over a new Covid variant dubbed Omicron that was first detected by South Africa.

The United States, Brazil, Canada, and Saudi Arabia became the latest countries to restrict travel from southern Africa, where a new Covid strain labeled a "variant of concern" has been discovered in a potentially heavy blow to the world's efforts to end the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany's government refused to back calls Friday for a swift and sharp lockdown to curb the country's worsening coronavirus situation, which saw daily confirmed cases hit a new peak and is putting hospitals under severe strain.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said contacts between people need to be sharply reduced, warning that "the situation is dramatically serious, more serious than it's been at any point in the pandemic."

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Friday that Israel is "on the threshold of an emergency situation" after authorities detected the country's first case of a new coronavirus variant and barred travel to and from most African countries.

The Health Ministry said it detected the new strain in a traveler who had returned from Malawi and was investigating two other suspected cases. The three individuals, who had all been vaccinated, were placed in isolation.