THE HAGUE: Sources reveal that a new heavily mutated Covid-19 variant has spread across the globe on Sunday shutting the borders and renewing curbs as the EU chief said governments faced a "race against time" to understand the strain.

Dubbed Omicron, the strain, first discovered in southern Africa, represents a fresh challenge to global efforts to battle the pandemic, amid fears it is highly infectious. Several countries have already re-imposed measures many had hoped were a thing of the past.

"We know we are now in a race against time," said European Commission chief Ursul von der Leyen. Vaccine manufacturers needed two to three weeks" to get a full picture of the quality of the mutations," she added.