Hong Kong records 3rd case of new COVID-19 variant

Hong Kong has recorded its third case of a new coronavirus strain first detected in Southern Africa, health officials said.

Hong Kong has recorded its third case of a new coronavirus strain first detected in Southern Africa, health officials said. The city identified the third Omicron case as a 37-year-old man who arrived in Hong Kong from Nigeria last Wednesday, Kyodo News reported.

He was undergoing quarantine at a hotel and a sample collected on the third day after his arrival tested positive. The first two cases involve a man who had traveled from South Africa and another man who was staying across the hall from him in the same quarantine hotel.

The WHO, on November 27, named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron'.This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa. Based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology, the Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) has advised the WHO that this variant should be designated as a VOC, and the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a VOC, named Omicron, a statement said.

Meanwhile, the WHO has also raised alarm among countries after a new variant of COVID-19 has been classified in South Africa, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) said in a statement. Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands were among those that joined the United Kingdom in restricting flights from southern Africa. (ANI)

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