Omicron Covid variant detected in UAE

Omicron Covid variant detected in fully vaccinated traveller, UAE

The Omicron variant was detected in a fully vaccinated woman who travelled to the UAE from an African country and transited through an Arab country.

MENA

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�� Staff & Agencies

02 December, 2021

The UAE is the second Gulf country to detect a case of the new variant [Getty]

The announced on Wednesday its first known case of the new , state news agency WAM reported.

The variant was detected in an African woman who had travelled from an African country and transited through an Arab country, WAM said. The woman had received both doses of the .

Public health authorities have placed her in isolation, as well as those who were in contact with her, WAM reported.

The UAE is the second Gulf country to detect a case of the new variant, after earlier on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia reports first Omicron case coming from north Africa

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Key questions remain about the variant, which has rattled markets amid signs it may spread quickly and evade some of the defences provided by vaccines. It has been found in two dozen countries, including the United States, Spain, Canada, Britain, Austria and Portugal.

Last week, the UAE from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique as a precautionary measure against the spread of Omicron.

(Reuters)