EU member states have agreed to suspend passenger flights from seven southern African countries to contain a new, potentially more dangerous coronavirus variant, dpa learned from diplomatic sources on Friday.

The European Commission proposed activating the so-called "emergency brake" to the bloc's shared coronavirus travel rules earlier Friday. The move was signed off by the member states within hours.

The countries concerned are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, the sources said.

Travellers from these countries should also be subject to strict quarantine and testing requirements, according to the agreement, which was confirmed on Twitter by the EU Slovenian presidency.

It remains up to the member states to implement the changes in practice, though many have already announced similar moves or plans for them in the past 24 hours.

But the new B.1.1.529 coronavirus variant, first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on Wednesday, could already be circulating in Europe after Belgium confirmed on Friday that it had been detected within its territory.

Dutch authorities said that dozens of people that landed in Amsterdam from South Africa on Friday had tested positive for the coronavirus, though tests were underway to determine if any of those were of the new variant, the newspaper De Telegraaf reported.

The Netherlands had already announced a ban on travel from southern Africa countries effective from noon (1100 GMT) on Friday. Officials also designated South Africa and other affected countries in the region as high-risk areas.

The WHO named the new variant Omicron and reclassified it as a "Variant of Concern" on Friday.

The Geneva-based body said that the first known confirmed infection was from a specimen collected on November 9. It has also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, while Israel also reported a case.

"This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning," the WHO said in a statement.

The EU health authority ECDC said that, according to preliminary data, the Omicron variant was "the most divergent variant that has been detected in significant numbers during the pandemic to date, raising serious concerns that it may significantly reduce the effectiveness of vaccines and increase the risk of reinfections," echoing a similar assessment by the WHO.

ECDC Director Andrea Ammon recommended prioritizing closing the immunization gap, considering booster doses for all adults and reinforcing the implementation of "non-pharmaceutical interventions" including wearing face masks and social distancing.

Earlier on Friday, the WHO said that while measures based on scientific data and risk assessments were recommended, travel restrictions were not advised at this time.

Both the WHO and the ECDC recommended to enhance surveillance of the new variant.

A number of countries however did quickly impose travel restrictions.

The United States said restrictions on people coming from South Africa and Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi would take effect on November 29.

Meanwhile New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a State of Emergency starting on December 3 and lasting at least until January 15.

"We continue to see warning signs of spikes in COVID this winter, and while the new Omicron variant has yet to be detected in New York State, it's coming," Hochul said in a tweet.

Israel and Britain also announced restrictions on several African countries due to concerns about the variant.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that, from late on Friday, only flights carrying German citizens or persons with a residence permit to Germany will be permitted to fly from South Africa.

Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said entry would be banned from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini.

The Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Health announced similar restrictions for non-Austrians coming from the same countries, with travel "fundamentally prohibited."

France also banned flights from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini, in a measure effective immediately for at least 48 hours, Prime Minister Jean Castex said.

Czech officials also banned non-EU citizens from entering the country from eight southern African countries, on similar concerns, in a measure effective as of Saturday.

Turkish borders are now closed to Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt on Saturday announced that the border would close to anyone who has been in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, the Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique and is not an Australian citizen.

Australian citizens and residents arriving from these countries will need to go into immediate supervised quarantine for 14 days while anyone who has been in any of those nine countries and is already in Australia will need to test for Covid-19 and isolate for 14 days.

Hunt said that all flights from the nine countries would be suspended for an initial period of two weeks.

Ciro Nogueira, the chief of staff of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, said that the country's air border would be closed to South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe effective from Monday.

Saudi Arabia announced it suspended flights to and from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho and Eswatini, the state news agency (SPA) said quoting an Interior Ministry source.

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) in the United Arab Emirates have announced the suspension of entry for travellers and transit passengers from the same countries, the state-run WAM news Agency said.

dpa