Colombia has detected its first three cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in two travelers from the United States and one from Spain, the health ministry said. “Two have been identified in Cartagena and one in Santa Marta (north), two Colombians and an American citizen”, said the health authority in a statement, without giving details of their state of health or their respective vaccination schedule. Fernando Ruiz, Minister of Health and Social Protection, assured that“No community circulation” Omicron had not yet been identified in the country.
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First detected in November in South Africa, this new strain is present in at least 80 countries and is considered to be more contagious than other variants of the coronavirus. Omicron is now a large majority in the United States, accounting for 73.2% of new Covid-19 infections during the week ending December 18.
With a population of 50 million inhabitants, Colombia has recorded more than 5 million cases of contamination and nearly 129,400 deaths due to the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. After daily records of cases and deaths between April and In July, the circulation of the virus eased in the country thanks to the vaccination campaign which protects more than half of the population.