Cuba detects first Omicron case

The Health Ministry of Cuba on Wednesday informed that the island country has detected its first case of the new COVID-19 variant ‘Omicron’.

A man who was part of the islands’ international health outreach program and returned from South Africa on November 27, 2021, is the one who tested positive for the new variant. 

After he returned back to Cuba, on the next day, he developed a sore throat along with fever, after which he was isolated in the hospital facility. 

In the meantime, the health ministry further informed that the man met with 16 individuals, who all have been tested, and the results were negative.  

The study done so far shows that Omicron is 4.2 times more transmissible than the Delta variant of the COVID-19 mutant. To date, more than 50 countries are having cases of the new COVID-19 variant. 

COVID-19 in the island – 

More than 963,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus has been recorded in Cuba till now. On the other hand, more than 8,311 individuals have lost their lives to the deadliest COVID-19 virus. 

According to the vaccination data, there are a total of 10,202,801 individuals who have received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which counts for 90 percent of the islands’ population. 

While, there are a total of 9,318,613 individuals who have received their required number of the COVID-19 jabs and are now fully inoculated against the COVID-19, which counts for 82.3 percent of the total population. 

The island is vaccinating its population with its homegrown COVID-19 vaccines. Cuba also became the first country in the world to vaccinate the population of toddlers. 

The island is also exporting its homegrown COVID-19 vaccines to several other nations, helping them in these tough times of the outbreak. 

Additionally, WHO has called Omicron the ‘variant of concern’.