UK confirms two cases of omicron variant of covid-19

Published on November 27, 2020 2:02 PM

(Credit: Martin BUREAU/AFP)

The United Kingdom has revealed two cases of the novel omicron coronavirus in people “associated with travel to South Africa”, the UK Department of Health said on Saturday (27).

“The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed that two cases of covid-19 have been identified with compatible mutations. [a variante] The ministry said in a statement that the infected and their families will be isolated.

“The two cases are linked (to each other) and a trip to South Africa,” the statement said. And the health authorities noted that one of them was discovered in the city of Nottingham (central) and the other in Chelmsford (east London).

In order to “counter the development of the situation”, the British government decided, as of 04:00 GMT (0:00 GMT) on Sunday, to tighten entry requirements for citizens of Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola.

Four countries joined the list, which already includes South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini (or Swaziland), Zimbabwe and Botswana, which were included on the government’s “red list” on Friday.

All people from these countries are barred from entering the UK unless they are British citizens or residents. Those who “returned from these countries in the past 10 days should self-isolate and undergo PCR testing”.

The British government has one of the world’s deadliest Covid-19 deaths, with more than 140,000 people, and is currently recording an increase in cases, with around 1,000 hospitalizations per day.