Britain records third case of Omicron coronavirus variant

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has recorded the third case of the newly identified Omicron coronavirus variant, the UK Health Security Agency said on Sunday, adding that the individual, who was no longer in Britain, was linked to travel to Southern Africa.

UKHSA said that while in Britain, the individual was in Westminster in central London.

“Our advanced sequencing capabilities enable us to find variants and take rapid action to limit onward spread,” Jenny Harries, chief executive of UKHSA, said in a statement.

“It is very likely that we will find more cases over the coming days as we are seeing in other countries globally and as we increase case detection through focused contact tracing.”

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Louise Heavens)