PANAMA CITY, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Panama reported on Monday its first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in a 50-year-old foreigner, Health Minister Luis Sucre announced.
During a press conference, the official said the person arrived on Dec. 8 after a recent trip to South Africa, and works at a mining project under development in Panama.
The person entered Panama fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and with a negative antigen test for the virus, according to Sucre, and is currently asymptomatic and under quarantine.
Sucre explained that authorities also have a registry of six other people who had some contact with the patient during the trip.
The minister acknowledged that authorities will have to reinforce contact tracing, epidemiological surveillance and genomic surveillance measures. Enditem
