BoeingAirlines and other travel stocks surged Monday as health experts reported early indications that Covid, an omicron-based variant of Covid was in development Could be The strain that causes milder symptoms is the most recent.

Travel sector was badly affected by the emerging omicron variant. This virus was reported in South Africa and Botswana late last month. Several cases were immediately reported in other countries, prompting travel bans and new restrictions. international tripsThese were repealed.

Anthony Fauci is the White House’s Chief Medical Advisor. told CNNIt was stated on Sunday that, “although it is too early to make any conclusive statements about it,” it did not appear like the strain has a severe recurrence. According to the South African Medical Research Council report, the strain may cause milder symptoms.

Boeing’s shares were more than 3% higher in Monday’s afternoon trades, American Airlines United Airlines were each up more than 10%, among the highest gainers in the S&P 500, topped by Norwegian Cruise Line Royal CaribbeanThey were both up by 12% and 11% respectively. Online travel agency ExpediaTrading was more than 88% higher.

However, Friday’s World Health Organization officials were not available for comment. warned against reading too muchIn analyzing data from South Africa’s first cases, she said it was still too early for us to know the full extent of the disease. She said that early reports of mild symptoms in some cases were due to a group of students at university who are more likely to experience milder symptoms than those older people. They also noted that Americans and Europeans tend to be more healthy and older than South Africans.

“There was initial reports that it tended to be more mild, but it’s really too soon,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, said in a Q&A streamed on the group’s social media channels. SARS-CoV-2 will infect everyone regardless of the variant. So maybe the mild will end, and some people might be symptomatic. But it can stop quickly or with mild.

The Thanksgiving holiday week saw an increase in air travel, giving airlines their busiest days ever since the pandemic. However, this was still below 2019 levels. Omicron shares plunged due to concerns over a decline in demand.

The large network carriers depend on long-haul international travel, which has been more difficult to return during the pandemic than domestic travel.

-CNBC’s Holly EllyattContributed to the report.