Australian officials said on Sunday that the country had registered the first cases of a new South African or omicron type of Covid-19 found in two passengers arriving in Sydney from South Africa.
Both passengers were fully vaccinated and showed no symptoms. Their infection was confirmed by tests carried out after they arrived in Sydney on Saturday.
Both passengers flew from South Africa via Doha with Qatar Airways.
Another 12 passengers from South Africa tested negative on the same flight, but were quarantined.
260 passengers and crew members are required to observe self-isolation.
Scientists in the Republic of South Africa reported on Thursday that they had identified a new variant of Covid-19 with a large number of mutations responsible for the rapid increase in infections.
In South Africa, the worst affected country in Covid-19, the number of new infections registered in a single day has increased tenfold since the beginning of the month, from 106 to around 1,200.
In response, many countries, including the European Union (EU), have suspended flights from southern Africa.
Scientists believe the new variant may be more contagious than the Covid-19 delta or Indian variant, as well as more resistant to current Covid-19 vaccines. The 15th letter of the Greek alphabet – omicron – has been assigned to denote the new type of virus.
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