New Zealand Reports 1st Omicron BA.4 Case

New Zealand reported its first Omicron subvariant, BA.4 at the border, case, the Ministry of Health announced on Sunday.

The patient had travelled from overseas to New Zealand, and tests have confirmed his infection of the newly-detected Omicron subvariant BA.4.

In the same context, two other subvariants of Omicron have been detected in the country in two passengers who arrived in New Zealand for the first time in April.

In the same context, the country recorded 12,699 new Coronavirus infections during the weekend, alongside 13 deaths linked to COVID-19.

Moreover, there were new 138 cases of Coronavirus reported at the borders of the country during the weekend, the Ministry highlighted.

The state reported its first infection of the newly-emerged Omicron subvariant, XE, the Ministry of Health announced last week.

The ministry’s statement revealed that the infected person was abroad and arrived in the state on April 19.

Next, he tested positive for COVID-19 on April 20, and the analysis of his sample’s genome-sequencing confirmed that he was infected by the XE variant.

“XE has been spreading overseas, and its arrival in New Zealand is not unexpected,” said the statement.

It is worthy to mention that the country reported 933,464 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.