Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Qatar Detects 1st Four Omicron Cases


Fri 17 Dec 2021 | 08:58 PM
Rana Atef

Qatar announced on Friday that it had detected the first four cases of the Omicron variant, RT reported.

It added that the cases are for Qatari people, and they were overseas before returning to their homeland once again.

Moreover, the authorities revealed that the four cases were quarantined in a hospital, and they would be at the hospital until they tested negative.

However, three of the four patients were fully vaccinated six months ago, while the other was unvaccinated.

The state could be the 11th Arab country to detect the presence of the newly emerged strain, after the KSA, the UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, Algeria, Bahrain, 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.