Australia said on Monday it would delay the reopening of its international border by two weeks after reporting its first cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison convened a meeting of his national security committee and said it received advice from Australia's chief health officer to delay the reopening after the first cases of the new variant were detected on Sunday.

Morrison said earlier this month Australia would reopen its border to foreign visa holders on Dec. 1, in the latest steps to restart international travel. The country shut its borders in May 2020 and allowed only restricted numbers of citizens and permanent residents to enter.

"The temporary pause will ensure Australia can gather the information we need to better understand the Omicron variant, including the efficacy of the vaccine, the range of illness, including if it may generate more mild symptoms, and the level of transmission," Morrison said in an emailed statement.

The delay is a blow to Australia's A$2 trillion ($1.4 trillion) economy, with employers long calling for a resumption of arrivals of students and skilled migrants to ease labour shortages.

The return of foreign students alone are worth about A$35 billion a year to the Australian economy.