Brazilian tests positive for covid-19 upon arrival from Africa

The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) reported today (28) that a Brazilian who had traveled to South Africa tested positive for covid-19 when disembarking at Guarulhos Airport, in São Paulo. It has not been confirmed whether the passenger is contaminated with the Ômicron variant.

According to Anvisa, the passenger arrived in the country this Saturday (27), on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, presented a negative test made at the origin of the flight, as determined by an inter-ministerial decree, and was asymptomatic. However, a new PCR test, carried out in an airport laboratory, was positive. The citizen is vaccinated against covid-19.

After identification, health authorities were notified by the Agency. “After identification and testing with a positive result for covid-19, the patient was placed in isolation and is already in residential quarantine. The state and municipal health agencies start to monitor the case. The Ministry of Health monitors the case”, informed the agency.

The restrictions on travelers from African countries begin to apply only tomorrow (29), but Anvisa is already acting on the risk of transmission of the Ômicron variant.

Last week, the emergence of a variant in the new coronavirus was confirmed in parts of Africa. Named Ômicron - a Greek letter corresponding to the letter "o" of the alphabet -, strain B.1.1.529 was identified in Botswana, a country neighboring South Africa, in mid-November. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the variant could become responsible for most new records of infection by the new coronavirus in South African provinces.

In Brazil, no case of Ômicron has yet been registered. As a precautionary measure, as of Monday, the federal government decided to restrict the entry of passengers from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (ex-Swaziland), Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.

Text translated using artificial intelligence.