Tunisians "not afraid" of Omicron variant after first case recorded

Tunisia recorded its first confirmed case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in a traveler who arrived from Istanbul, the health minister said Friday.

Ali Mrabet said the 23-year-old man tested positive and all fellow travelers on his flight from Turkey were contacted by Tunisian authorities to be tested as well.

The Omicron variant was first announced by South Africa but has since been discovered to have been present earlier in Europe.

It has prompted governments around the globe to reimpose travel restrictions, despite warnings from the World Health Organization this could do more harm than good.

On Friday, the WHO said it had not seen any reports of deaths related to the new Omicron variant.

The WHO has said it will take several weeks to get a full picture of the transmissibility and severity of Omicron and to assess how vaccines, tests and treatments hold up against the new variant.