Saudi Arabia has also been visited with the new coronavirus variant tagged Omicron.
Naija News understands that the disturbing development was confirmed on Wednesday, December 1 in a report by the state news agency, SPA.
This is understood to be the first case of the new variant of the dreaded disease to be reported in the Arab world.
It was reported that the case was discovered in a Saudi man who recently made a return trip from a North African nation.
This is coming at a time Saudi Arabia had banned flights to and from several African countries, Naija News reports.
The Ministry of Health in Canada had earlier confirmed two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 disease in two residents who recently travelled to Nigeria.
Canada Health Minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, confirmed this in a statement issued on Monday, November 29, Naija News recalls.
Duclos noted in the statement that the variant case of the life-threatening disease was detected on the citizens on Sunday, making the country record the first cases of the new Omicron strain.
The government official explained that the two cases are in isolation in the capital, Ottawa, while public health authorities trace their possible contacts.
“I was informed today by the Public Health Agency of Canada that testing and monitoring of COVID-19 cases has confirmed two cases of the Omicron variant of concern in Ontario,” Duclos said in the statement.
“As the monitoring and testing continue, it is expected that other cases of this variant will be found in Canada,” the minister was quoted as saying by France24.com.
This article was originally published on Naija News