Omicron: entry bans spread as China pledges 1bn jabs for Africa

Hong Kong and Ecuador join ranks of countries imposing new restrictions, cases rise in Australia and Canada, but stock markets bounce back

More countries have imposed travel restrictions on visitors from other parts of the world in order to try to contain the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, as China pledged to send 600m vaccine doses to Africa.

As cases of Omicron continued to grow around the world from Japan to Reunion Island, Hong Kong widened its ban on non-residents entering the city on Tuesday to include visitors who have been to Australia, Canada, Israel or six European countries in the past 21 days. Non-resident arrivals from four southern African nations have already been barred.