Kenya Detects First Omicron Cases,Says Health CS Kagwe

NAIROBI,Keya, Dec, 15 – Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has announced that Kenya has detected the first cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

According to the health minister, the variant was detected amongst three passengers who recently arrived in the country.

They have since been quarantined as part of government protocols to contain its spread nationwide.

“We have detected the Omicron variant particularly among travellers at the airports and so it’s just a matter of time before it becomes dominant worldwide. We are carrying out sequencing to see it’s spread. We expect it to become the dominant  variant globally.  We should all get vaccinated,“ said the Health CS.

Kagwe took the opportunity to encourage Kenyans to get vaccinated insisting that it was one of the most effective ways to combat the virus.

“Those vaccinated are not getting severe sickness,” he said.

The Omicron variant has been detected in at least 77 countries with health experts warning that the current mutation was highly infectious.

“When you go to a pub and you are five at a table and one has the variant, chances are you will all walk out of there with the virus. However, the only saving grace is a lot of people are not getting severe illnesses; it’s mild with fever,” he said.

The world health organization (WHO) says the Omicron variant appears to have a “growth advantage” over the Delta variant, which was previously the fastest spreading “variant of concern” of the virus.

Following the latest revelation it is not yet clear whether the government will seek to institute tougher containment measures having reversed policies that were in place for almost year.