Health Minister Firass Abiad says the two suspected cases of the Omicron variant are being evaluated. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Lebanon is evaluating two suspected cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, Health Minister Firass Abiad announced during a press conference on Thursday. The two people suspected of being infected with the variant arrived in the country via the Beirut airport after traveling from the African continent. The minister did not specify which African country or countries the two arrived from.
Here’s what we know:
• “Genetic analyses of PCR tests have shown changes that could indicate that two people have contracted the Omicron variant of the coronavirus,” the minister announced at a press conference Thursday afternoon. “These two people, who arrived at Beirut airport from the African continent, are in good health,” Abiad added, explaining that their symptoms are mild and they have been in isolation since their arrival.
• Fouad Ayoub, president of the Lebanese University, who heads the national COVID-19 screening laboratory, explained during the press conference that the two cases are being evaluated and the sequencing of their mutations’ molecules is being closely monitored to officially detect the Omicron variant.
• Abiad said that the new variant is transmitted faster than other variants and highlighted that the majority of Lebanon’s current COVID-19 cases are the Delta variant.