COVID-19: Brazil, first country in Latin America to report two cases of omicron

The Secretary of Health of Sao Paulo confirmed the first two positive cases of the variant omicron of the COVID-19, which makes Brazil the first Latin American country to report infections of this type.

Samples from a 41-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman who had arrived in Guarulhos, Sao Paulo, on November 23 after being in South Africa tested positive for omicron at the Albert Einstein laboratory. The genetic sequencing test was ratified by the Adolfo Lutz Institute of Sao Paulo, informed the São Paulo Health Secretariat in a note.

The couple had tested negative for the virus in a PCR test upon entering the country and two days later, when they were preparing to travel again to South Africa, they were positive in a test carried out at Guarulhos international airport.

Both the man and the woman, whose identity was not known, had mild symptoms when they tested positive and, since then, have been kept in isolation and under monitoring by the São Paulo health authorities.

Fearing the arrival of omicron, Brazil had temporarily banned the arrival of flights with origin or stopover in South Africa and five other countries on the same continent on Saturday, in addition to a restriction on the boarding of passengers from Brazil to those destinations.

Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tried to appease nervousness over the possible arrival of the variant on Monday and said that the main response to omicron is vaccination. “It is a variant of concern, but it is not a variant of despair because we have a health system capable of giving us the answers in case it has a slightly higher fatality. Nobody knows yet, ”Queiroga said Monday.

So far, Brazil has fully vaccinated more than 62% of its population, a figure higher than that of the United States. The largest country in Latin America has registered an average of 200 daily deaths confirmed by COVID-19 in the last two weeks, with its epidemiological curve stable.

At least a dozen Brazilian capitals in recent days totally or partially suspended the traditional “Réveillon” New Year’s festivities due to fear that crowds could generate a rebound in COVID-19 infections.

Some mayors, such as that of Salvador de Bahía, directly cited the omicron variant – when it had not yet been confirmed in the country – and the rebound in coronavirus cases in Europe as a justification for suspending the celebrations in December.