Edwin Dikoloti, Botswana Health Minister has confirmed a total of 19 cases of the newly-discovered Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The confirmation was made known by Dikoloti at a media briefing.
According to Dikoloti, additional assessments and analyses of other positive COVID-19 samples had revealed 15 more cases of the Omicron variant on Sunday after four foreigners were declared infected.
“We will continue to expand our conduct tracing to ensure that no potential cases go undetected,” Dikoloti said.
Dikoloti further said that the initial cases of the Omicron variant in Botswana were detected after four foreign nationals, who had briefly visited Botswana, tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 11 and the variant was confirmed as the Omicron variant on Nov. 24.
“Such detection should not be confused with Botswana being the country of origin of the strain.’’
(Xinhua/NAN)