Taiwan records first omicron case in traveler from Africa

Taiwan has recorded its first case of the omicron variant in a passenger who currently traveled to the southern African nation of Eswatini, health officers said Saturday.

The passenger, a Taiwanese girl in her 30s who returned on Dec. 8, is now in quarantine in health facility, primarily primarily based on the Central Epidemic Affirm Center, which is in price of the island’s pandemic response. Passengers who sat conclude to her on the airplane contain tested damaging to this point.

Taiwan reported 10 unique coronavirus cases on Saturday, all of that were known in travelers coming into from in a foreign country.

The self-ruling island has a strict two-week quarantine on arrival and has sealed its borders off to all but residents and residents, with few exceptions. There’s puny community transmission inner its borders of the illness and there has been few restrictions on sprint internally in latest months. Cloak wearing is nearly universal.

While the omicron variant is called a “variant of issue” by the World Nicely being Organization, scientists are aloof working to come to a decision how it might perchance well well even merely review with the predominant delta variant by draw of transmissibility and severity.

Taiwan has reported 16,731 COVID-19 cases in total and 848 deaths.

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