Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has confirmed that there are now three cases of the Omicron variant in this country. He said that the first case was detected in a passenger who came in from a flight via Panama on Monday. The second case came in from a flight that was diverted to Puerto Rico earlier this week.

Following their arrival at Piarco, the 16 vaccinated passengers from the flight were isolated and retested, with one coming back positive for Omicron. The third case is a passenger from a flight from Miami on December 8th. That person had a Negative PCR Test, is vaccinated, but turned symptomatic on December 10th and got tested. The person is currently in isolation with one member of their household.

Minister Deyalsingh also made an appeal during today’s (Dec. 17) Covid-19 press conference. He also warned that people should take extra precautions while shopping for the Christmas period.