Coronavirus: Australia detects first Omicron cases in travellers from Africa; Singapore watching variant ‘very closely’
- ‘Urgent genomic sequencing’ carried out in New South Wales found two recent arrivals from southern Africa had the Omicron Covid-19 variant
- Elsewhere, Singapore will postpone the launch of its quarantine-free travel lanes with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
Health officials in New South Wales, the most populous state, said both passengers had arrived in the state capital, Sydney, on Saturday evening and tested positive for Covid-19 late that night, before genome sequencing confirmed the Omicron variant on Sunday.
Both people were asymptomatic, fully vaccinated and in quarantine, said NSW Health. Another 12 passengers from southern Africa were also in 14 days of hotel quarantine, while around 260 other passengers and aircrew have been directed to isolate.
“Close contacts will be contacted regularly, and compliance checks will be undertaken,” the health department said in a statement.
Australia imposed new restrictions on Saturday on people who have been to nine southern African countries, as the highly infectious variant raises concerns about another wave of the pandemic.
The countries are South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, eSwatini, the Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique.