Authorities in the Maldives have confirmed 4 more cases of the new COVID variant Omicron in the country.
Speaking at the press conference held by Health Emergency Operations Center HEOC, Epidemiologist Dr. Ibrahim Afsal said that all four Omicron cases were found from samples taken from tourists who had visited the country.
The Maldives had reported its first case of Omicron on the 5th of this month from a tourist who had arrived in the Maldives on the 27th of last month.
Citing this case, Dr. Afsal said the latest four cases are not related to the first case of the new variant and that authorities were now doing the risk assessment of the new Omicron cases.
He said that officials are not planning to implement special measures to curb the spread of the Omicron variant but noted that since the new variant is said to be more infectious, it is imperative that the current measures are fully implemented.
Since the discovery of the new variant from South Africa last month, the Maldives have joined international partners in banning travelers from several countries in the African continent to curb the spread of the new variant.
