Chile reports first case of Omicron variant

Chile has reported its first case of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus after confirming that the case was discovered in a person entering the country from Ghana on November 25.

The Regional Ministry of Health of Valparaiso reported on Saturday that the traveller entered Chile with a negative PCR test, but another test at the Santiago airport returned a positive result, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to authorities, the passenger was fully vaccinated at the time and is currently in good health in isolation at a sanitary residence.

The Chilean Ministry of Health registered 2,060 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, for a total of 1,770,620 infections.

The ministry also reported the deaths of 26 people from the disease in the same period, for a total of 38,465 fatalities so far.