Durban - As the world scrambles to find more information about the Omicron variant, Australian health authorities have reported a new strain of Covid-19. However, they say there is no cause for alarm.
Daily Mail reported that two Omicron cases have been detected in Queensland.
A Nigerian national under hotel quarantine has tested positive. He landed in Cairns from Sydney on December 3. A South African man also tested positive with the super variant, which health experts say is "slightly different genetically." He is isolating in a Brisbane quarantine hotel. Neither of them is showing signs of serious illness.
Queensland's Health Minister, Yvette D'Ath, said the international committee has classified Omicron into two lineages and both have been detected in the state.
She added that the new strain was the "first in the world".
According to Chief Health Officer Peter Aitken, experts recognised that there are differences between the full and normal Omicron classifications. This information, he said, has been shared with the international committee.
Australia has been one of the strictest countries in trying to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases.
Omicron was initially identified by SA experts last month. Since then, several countries have imposed travel bans, barring locals from travelling abroad.
Professor Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (Krisp) who broke the news of the new variant, condemned the bans.
"The world should provide support to South Africa and Africa, and not discriminate or isolate it," he said.
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