The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center confirmed that the imported asymptomatic case of Covid-19 infection announced on December 27 is associated with the Omicron variant, following genome sequencing of the virus on December 29.
As the patient has so far not shown any symptoms, it is still classified as an imported case of asymptomatic infection.
The case is a 62-year-old man, a resident of Macau who left the United States of America (USA) on December 25 and arrived in Macau via Singapore on December 27.
He was subjected to nucleic acid testing via a nasopharyngeal swab immediately on arrival, which produced a positive test result for Covid-19 and was classified as an asymptomatic infection.
This is the second case of the Omicron variant detected in Macau. The first case was detected in a 23-year-old resident, a student in the USA who returned to Macau on December 26.
The resident tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in Macau and was confirmed as the 78th case of infection with the virus.
Health authorities stressed that the Omicron variant is more infectious than the Delta variant and urged Macau residents abroad to follow the principle of “travel only if strictly necessary.”
