Oman Detects 1st Omicron Case

On Monday, Oman announced that it had detected the earliest two cases of Omicron of the COVID-19, RT reported.

The authorities highlighted that both cases were overseas, and their conditions are stable, adding that medical concerned parties are detecting the people who may be in contact with both cases.

With this announcement, Oman became the fifth Arab Gulf country to discover the presence of the Omicron strain after KSA, UAE, and Bahrain.

Moreover, the state could be the sixth Arab country to detect the presence of the newly emerged strain, after the KSA, the UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, and Tunisia.

The new Omicron variant, which was initially discovered in South Africa, has heightened global anxieties because it is thought to be more deadly than the delta variant.

The World Health Organization (WHO) designated it as a ‘variant of concern’ on Friday because it has a high number of mutations (32), potentially making it more transmissible and deadly.

WHO has given it the name “Omicron,” which is the Greek alphabet’s 15th letter.

Following news of the new variant, the US, the EU, Canada, Israel, Australia, and other countries have imposed travel restrictions on many southern African countries due to health concerns.