1. WHO claims Omicron is a high global risk
The Covid omicron variant is likely to spread further and poses a “very high” global risk, according to the World Health Organization. It warned Monday that surges of Covid infections caused by the variant of concern could have “severe consequences” for some areas. The WHO issued a technical brief to its 194 member states on Monday, and in its risk assessment report stated that the new strain is “a highly divergent variant with a high number of mutations ... some of which are concerning and may be associated with immune escape potential and higher transmissibility.”

2. Twitter founder and CEO steps down to allegedly focus on Bitcoin
Jack Dorsey has stepped down as Twitter CEO overnight, citing his belief that the company was “ready to move on from its founders”. However, many believe the move is more in line with Dorsey wanting to lean further into crypto, particularly Bitcoin (BTC). He has lobbied for Twitter to implement a tipping feature to be paid in BTC while his is other company, payments infrastructure Square, has made many moves to support bitcoin, particularly in recent months. Dorsey proclaimed at a crypto conference called Bitcoin 2021 earlier this year: “If I were not at Square or Twitter, I’d be working on bitcoin”.

3. Xi Jinping pledges a further one billion covid vaccines to Africa
As the global disparity in vaccinated nations becomes even more clear with the emergence of the Omicron variant, some developed countries are doing their part to vaccinate the global population. Leading the way is China, which is set to supply an additional one billion doses of covid vaccines, 600 million of which will be sent directly with the remainder to be jointly produced by Chinese enterprises and African nations. China has already sold 136 million vaccine doses to Africa and pledged 19 million in donations.

4. Morrison government delays migration travel by two weeks
The decision to delay the onset of migration by skilled workers and students entering Australia was implemented by the national security committee of the cabinet overnight in response to the Omicron covid variant. This two-week suspension also extends to Australia’s travel bubble with Japan and South Korea. “Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said two of the confirmed cases in Sydney were double vaccinated and neither had any symptoms. A man in the Northern Territory tested positive on Monday and is in isolation at Howard Springs,” the AFR reports.

5. ASX to bounce back as overseas markets react positively
While it is still early days in determining the real threat of the Omicron variant, markets in both the US and Europe have responded positively overnight as the initial fear towards the new strain has subsided. On Wall St: Dow +1% S&P 500 +1.6% Nasdaq +2%. In Europe: Stoxx 50 +0.5% FTSE +0.9% CAC +0.5% DAX +0.2%, all of which augurs well for the ASX this morning. The AUD climbed 0.1% to 71.30 US cents.