Ukraine records first cases of COVID Omicron strain

Ukraine has recorded six cases of the Omicron strain
of COVID-19, the Health Ministry announced on its website on Dec. 29. One case,
from a Ukrainian recently returned from the UAE, was detected on Dec. 18. The
other five, were more recently found. Of these five, three were people who had
recently returned from abroad.

The cases were located in the City of Kyiv as well as
Kyiv, Dnipro and Lviv oblasts.

The statement comes as the state commission
responsible for determining COVID epidemic status announced that the last two
oblasts would move on Dec. 30 down to the Yellow level, thus indicating that
the Autumn 2021 coronavirus wave, which was fuelled by the Delta strain, is
dwindling.

James Hydzik: It was a matter of time before community spread of the Omicron strain
of COVID would occur, and the last five cases show that this has probably
happened. Considering that 35% of the general population is vaccinated and the
rapid spread of Omicron, the likelihood of Ukraine seeing an explosion of new
cases before the end of the winter holidays in mid-January is high.