Omicron: Traveller who visited Nigeria tests positive in France

France mainland has said it has detected its first two cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, TopNaija reports.

The health body for the Ile de France region of Greater Paris, in a statement on Thursday, disclosed the case was detected in a person who returned from Nigeria.

He stated,  “The Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency (ARS) was informed on Wednesday 1 December of a positive result by sequencing of the Omicron variant, in a person residing in the region, screened on his return from a trip to Nigeria. The entourage was tested and placed in solitary confinement,” the statement reads.”

The Omicron variant first identified as B.1.1.529, has been renamed the Omicron variant, and the World Health Organization has deemed it a variant of concern. Omicron was first identified in South Africa where it has been spreading quickly and it is starting to see cases be identified around the world.

Two cases in the UK as well as a case in Hong Kong were in travelers who were in South Africa recently. Other cases have appeared in Australia, Germany, Israel, Italy, and the Czech Republic.