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South Africa first country to record Omicron variant
Health Service boss asks citizens to adhere to safety protocols
Ghana has recorded two cases of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant.
This, according to the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kumah Aboagye, was identified through the robust testing regime at the Kotoka International Airport, reports 3news.com.
“There is the emergence of the new variant and I must say, through the robust testing at the Kotoka International Airport, Ghana has detected the Omicron variant already and the cases have come mainly from Nigeria and South Africa. The very first case that was detected during our sequencing was on the 21 of November,” he told pressmen on Wednesday, December 1, 2021.
The new variant, according to the GHS, has not yet been detected in the communities.
The GHS DG however mentioned that there is the potential of a community spread “if someone has omicron and it’s incubating it will not be detected at the airport.”
He said it is important for all to adhere to all the Coronavirus protocols, particularly as we enter the festive season.
This makes it the first two official cases of the deadly variant of the novel Coronavirus to be recorded in the country.
This comes after the country’s neighbours, Nigeria confirmed some 3 cases of the new variant in the country.
In recent times, though there has been a significant reduction in surging cases with vaccination in most countries, some different variants of the virus have emerged.
Variants including the Delta variant emerged with their own characteristics, necessitating research and possible solutions.
A new heavily mutated version of the SARS-CoV 2 has been found as the latest variant of the virus. The variant which is known as the Omicron variant was firstly confirmed in South Africa.
The World Health Organisation has said that “It is not yet clear whether infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared to infections with other variants, including Delta. Preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization in South Africa, but this may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, rather than a result of specific infection with Omicron.”
