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Tunisia Detects 1st Omicron Variant Case


Fri 03 Dec 2021 | 09:35 PM
Rana Atef

The Tunisian Health Minister announced on Friday that the country detected the first Omicron COVID-19 case, RT reported.

Health authorities added that the case is for a 23-year-old man who was coming from Congo through Istanbul, on Wednesday, and his infection was identified after having a rapid test which result was positive.

After that, further medical examination confirmed that the passenger had the Omicron variant.

Tunisia could be the third Arab country that detected the presence of the newly emerged strain, after the KSA and the UAE.

The new Omicron variant, which was discovered initially 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.

The new South African strain has been designated as a source of concern by WHO 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.