Brazil reports first Omicron case marking its entry into Latin America

Omicron variant of COVID-19 was detected in Brazil in two travelers who were returning from South Africa, according to the country’s health official. The case marks the entry of the variant in Brazil and Latin America.

The two individuals– a 41-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman– have been put in isolation, according to reports from Associated Press citing the health secretariat of Sao Paulo. The two individuals had their tests taken on November 25 and showed light symptoms of the disease at the time.

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Brazil does not require COVID-19 vaccination from foreign travelers entering the country.

Earlier on Tuesday, Japan and France reported their first cases of the omicron variant, while new findings indicate the mutant coronavirus was already in Europe close to a week before South Africa sounded the alarm. It was last Wednesday, November 24, that South African authorities reported the existence of the highly mutated virus to the World Health Organization.

Much remains unknown about the new variant, including whether it is more contagious, as some health authorities suspect, whether it makes people more seriously ill and whether it can thwart the vaccine.

Latin America has suffered heavily from the coronavirus pandemic, with Brazil alone reporting more than 600,000 deaths, a figure that analysts believe to be undercounted.

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With the Omicron variant of COVID– first detected in South Africa– now present in Canada and Brazil, both United States and Mexico have been sandwiched.

United States President Joe Biden, in a White House address on Monday, said that the variant’s entry into the country seems to be inevitable. Meanwhile, his top advisor on matters related to COVID-19, Anthony Fauci, said that he would not be surprised if the Omicron variant had already found its way into America.