Omicron reaches the Persian Gulf: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates confirm first cases of the new variant

Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country that has hosted the Dubai World Expo since October, announced on Wednesday the detection of the first cases in the Persian Gulf of the new omicron variant of coronavirus, in two people from Africa, although they did not specify which country or countries.

The first to announce a case in its territory was Saudi Arabia, whose official news agency, SPA, reported that the bearer was one of its citizens who came from a country in the north of Africa unidentified.

“The infected person and the people who have been in direct contact have been isolated”, An official source from the Saudi Ministry of Health, who was not identified, told SPA.

Hours later, the official Emirati news agency, WAM, reported that the Arab country’s Ministry of Health had also identified a case, that of an African woman from a country of Africa that it had also passed through another Arab country before, without specifying which nations they were.

The woman, who had received both doses of the vaccine for the covid-19She had no symptoms and both she and the people she had contact with have been isolated, the note added.

Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates They thus become the first countries in the Gulf to report the detection of this new variant within their borders after having imposed flight suspensions and entry restrictions on citizens from seven southern African countries in recent days.

The discovery of this new variant of the coronavirus, identified as B.1.1.529 and baptized with the Greek letter omicron after the World Health Organization (WHO), was announced last Thursday by scientists and health authorities in South Africa, based on samples taken between November 14 and 16.

The new variant is characterized by an unusually high number of mutations, the impact of which has yet to be studied.