HEALTH

Covid-19: First Omicron case detected in Algeria

ALGIERS- A first case of the new coronavirus variant Omicron has been detected in Algeria, Pasteur Institute of Algeria said Tuesday in a statement.

"As part of the sequencing of the virus SARS-CoV-2 by the Pasteur Institute of Algeria, and mainly in the monitoring of the circulating variants, the first case of the new variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) was detected in Algeria on 14 December 2021," the Pastor Institute of Algeria said.

The institute said the case was a "foreign national that entered the country on 10 December 2021, and who underwent an antigen test upon his arrival in Houari Boumediene international airport of Algiers."

The test was "positive and the case was sent to the reference laboratory of the Pasteur Institute of Algeria for a PCR test."