WHO: Don’t panic over Omicron variant

The World Health Organisation has urged people to not panic over the new Omicron variant. Reports suggest the new variant has been found in close to 40 countries worldwide.

On this edition of Weekend, we speak to the Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation, Dr Soumya Swaminathan.

Also in the programme: outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel bids farewell, and we hear the story of a transgender Malaysian entrepreneur.

Joining Julian Worricker to discuss these and other issues are Amber Murrey, a political geographer and professor at the University of Oxford, and Dominic Jermey, Director-General of the Zoological Society of London and a former UK Ambassador to Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates.

(Photo: A Thai health official carries out an antigen test for COVID-19 during a mass COVID-19 testing. CREDIT: EPA/NARONG SANGNAK)