Minister of Health Alexandru Rafila on Thursday stated that the chances are high in the case of the people who were found positive after doing the coronavirus test, upon their return from South Africa, to be infected with the Omicron variant of the virus, considering that this is a viral strain with "many mutations." He also added that the patients are asymptomatic and they will remain in isolation to be monitored for 14 days.

The minister has given this explanation when asked what was the scenario for the three people who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 upon their return from South Africa and for whom there was "a high suspicion of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus."

"Yes, this is the beginning of the sequencing procedure, which showed the presence of several mutations. It remains to be seen at the end of the analysis whether it is the Omicron strain or another, but the chances are high, precisely because it is a strain that has many mutations," Alexandru Rafila stated on Thursday, at the end of the meeting with the representatives of the religious denominations from Romania where he participated together with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

Asked what the next steps would be for the authorities, the Health Minister explained: "We are talking about a strain that has appeared in many European countries as a result of travel to the African continent."

"We decided to isolate and monitor the patients who have been infected. Fortunately, they are asymptomatic, so their health is good. They are being monitored and will be monitored for the entire period of 14 days," explained Rafila. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Florea, editor: Mihai Simionescu, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)