Fourteen people arriving in Viet Nam's central Quang Nam province from the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the US have been confirmed to be infected with Omicron variant of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Health experts at a laboratory in Ohio State University, US detects COVID-19 Omicron variant through genetic sequencing. (Photo: Reuters)

The provincial Department of Health announced on December 31 morning that the infected passengers landed at Da Nang International Airport in neighbouring Da Nang city on four different flights.

All the patients are Vietnamese nationals and they had got two or three vaccine shots against COVID-19. Of them, eight were on flight VN99 from the US and three on flight VN417 from the RoK, which landed on December 24. Meanwhile, two persons were on flight VN417 from the RoK and another on flight QH9451 from the RoK, which landed on December 23 and 21, respectively.

Viet Nam detected the first infection of Omicron variant on December 28. The patient returned from the UK on December 19 and was immediately quarantined at Hospital 108 after his arrival.

The Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa in late November, and labeled a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Source: VNA