Jamaican Health Ministry confirms first case of Omicron

The island has recorded its first-ever case of the new COVID-19 variant ‘Omicron’, the Minister of Health & Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton informed during a press briefing on Wednesday.

23rd of December 2021

Kingston, Jamaica: The island has recorded its first-ever case of the new COVID-19 variant ‘Omicron’, the Minister of Health & Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton informed during a press briefing on Wednesday.

The one who contracted to Omicron is the passenger who stayed in Jamaica for a short holiday and then returned to the United Kingdom.

On return to the United Kingdom, genomic sequencing confirmed that the individual had been tested for Omicron. The UK’s international health regulations system provided this information to the Jamaican health ministry that a traveller to Jamaica has been tested positive for the new variant.

The health minister cited, “This is a traveller who came here on a short stay in one of our resort facilities and went back and was confirmed for COVID and confirmed for the Omicron variant, adding, “there are several conclusions that can be drawn from this to include the fact that others may have infected persons within the population and/or this particular individual could have interacted sufficiently while here to infect or contaminate others”.

He further asked the general public not to get panic over the situation, advising them to strictly abide by the COVID-19 health protocols and measures established by the government, such as – wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and sanitizing frequently, and take the arrival of Omicron as a precautionary measure.

It is yet not being clear whether the new COVID-19 variant is more transmissible than the Delta variant. Meanwhile, on the emergence of Omicron, World Health Organisation titled Omicron as the variant of concern.

Omicron was first discovered in the South African nations, after which countries around the globe put a stringent travelling requirement and travel ban on the countries.

Worldwide, more than 80 nations have recorded the cases of the new variant.

Meanwhile, Jamaica reported 92,226 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus, while 2,450 individuals lost their lives to the deadliest mutant.