Health officials are urging certain people, including those over the age of 60, not to travel abroad because of concerns over the new omicron coronavirus variant.   

The World Health Organization says people 60 and older, people who are not vaccinated, or have underlying health issues or have not previously had COVID-19, need to be extra careful when it comes to international travel.

Officials say those people should postpone traveling to areas that have seen community transmission or the spread of the omicron variant.
The strain was first reported last week by scientists in South Africa. Since then, at least 70 countries, including the U.S., have imposed some type of restrictions on travelers from that area.

With the emergence of this new COVID-19 variant, the CDC is renewing their push for all adults to be fully vaccinated as well as get their booster shots.  

CDC officials say there aren't enough cases yet to evaluate the variant's danger, but they are closely monitoring the situation. "Our variant surveillance system has demonstrated that we can reliable detect new variants, from Alpha at the start of 2021 to Delta over this past summer," says CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.

As News 12 has previously reported, New York state health officials are already preparing for the arrival of the omicron variant, especially since it's been detected in Canada, but there have been no mandates issued at this point.