GAZA, Dec 26, Reuters - The Palestinian health ministry said on Sunday it had identified the first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza resident was infected within the coastal territory, ministry official Majdi Dhair told a news conference.
Dhair said that the variant, first identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong last month, existed in Gaza and is now spreading among the population. We have a lot of difficult days ahead of us. He told reporters that it is expected that the Omicron variant will spread quickly.
Gaza, with a population of 2.2 million people, has registered 189,837 COVID-19 infections and 1,691 deaths.
Dhair urged Gazans to get vaccinated, putting the percentage of those who had already received shots at around 40 percent.
Three cases of Omicron variant have been detected among Palestinians on December 16 and the number has since risen to 23 among the 3.1 million population, Palestinian health authorities said.