• Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ManoReporters.com
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Business and Economy
    • Politics
    • Health
    • Sci-Tech
    • Regional
    • Culture
    Côte d’Ivoire’s democracy:  The high-stake battle for 2025

    Côte d’Ivoire’s democracy:  The high-stake battle for 2025

    Members of Team Kenema Water Supply pose with the symbolic cheque of USD3,000 after being declared winner of the maiden edition of the Sierra Leone Afinnovate Challenge in Bo City on Saturday, September 2025. Image, Emmanuel Kamara, ManoReporters.

    Sierra Leone: Young innovators from Kenema clinch top prize in maiden edition of National Afinnovate Youth Challenge

    SLYDCL Executive Director, Habib T. Kamara gives a statement at the event in the Lumely Community Center, Grass Field on Monday, September 25, 2025. Image, Stephen 'Roman' Lahai, ManoReporters.

    KUSH: SLYDCL convenes outreach in Grass Field Community, Lumley

    Participants pose for a group photo after the opening courtesies of the high level Africa CDC engagement on Mental Health Law in Sierra Leone on Monday, September 15, 2025. Image, Steven 'Roman' Lahai, ManoReporters.

    Africa CDC convenes stakeholders meeting to mobilize support for Sierra Leone’s Mental Health Bill

    Stakeholders at the engagement in the conference hall of the National AIDS Secretariat in Freetown. Image, Stephen 'Roman' Lahai, ManoReporters.

    Campaigners renew call for action amid persistent drug crisis in Sierra Leone

    ECOWAS Health Ministers who met in a ministerial conference ahead of ELFIC2025 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Image, WAHO.

    ELFIC2025: ECOWAS Health Ministers commit to advancing Lassa fever vaccine

    Trending Tags

  • Special Reports
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • True or False
  • Interview
  • ManoReporters TV
  • Tender and Job
  • Election 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Business and Economy
    • Politics
    • Health
    • Sci-Tech
    • Regional
    • Culture
    Côte d’Ivoire’s democracy:  The high-stake battle for 2025

    Côte d’Ivoire’s democracy:  The high-stake battle for 2025

    Members of Team Kenema Water Supply pose with the symbolic cheque of USD3,000 after being declared winner of the maiden edition of the Sierra Leone Afinnovate Challenge in Bo City on Saturday, September 2025. Image, Emmanuel Kamara, ManoReporters.

    Sierra Leone: Young innovators from Kenema clinch top prize in maiden edition of National Afinnovate Youth Challenge

    SLYDCL Executive Director, Habib T. Kamara gives a statement at the event in the Lumely Community Center, Grass Field on Monday, September 25, 2025. Image, Stephen 'Roman' Lahai, ManoReporters.

    KUSH: SLYDCL convenes outreach in Grass Field Community, Lumley

    Participants pose for a group photo after the opening courtesies of the high level Africa CDC engagement on Mental Health Law in Sierra Leone on Monday, September 15, 2025. Image, Steven 'Roman' Lahai, ManoReporters.

    Africa CDC convenes stakeholders meeting to mobilize support for Sierra Leone’s Mental Health Bill

    Stakeholders at the engagement in the conference hall of the National AIDS Secretariat in Freetown. Image, Stephen 'Roman' Lahai, ManoReporters.

    Campaigners renew call for action amid persistent drug crisis in Sierra Leone

    ECOWAS Health Ministers who met in a ministerial conference ahead of ELFIC2025 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Image, WAHO.

    ELFIC2025: ECOWAS Health Ministers commit to advancing Lassa fever vaccine

    Trending Tags

  • Special Reports
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • True or False
  • Interview
  • ManoReporters TV
  • Tender and Job
  • Election 2023
No Result
View All Result
ManoReporters.com
No Result
View All Result

Covid-19: Sierra Leone confirms first Omicron case

Kemo Cham by Kemo Cham
January 4, 2022
in Health
0
Covid-19: Sierra Leone confirms first Omicron case
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
World Health Organization

Health authorities in Sierra Leone have confirmed the country’s first case of the Omicron variant of the Covid19 virus. 

ADVERTISEMENT

The Ministry of Health and the National Covid-19 Emergency Response Center, in a joint statement said a passenger who had traveled from Nigeria had tested positive for the variant.

The person tested positive for the virus on 25 November and the sequencing was done and it returned the B.1.1.529 variant, the statement noted.

Omicron was first classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 26th as the newest variant of Covid-19, describing it as a “variant of concern.”

The variant was first reported in South Africa. Since then it has been recorded in nearly 40 countries, according to the global health agency.

Nigeria has recorded six cases of the new variant, as of Tuesday, according to the Nigerian Centers For Disease Control. It said that all its Omicron cases were detected in persons with recent travel history to South Africa in November.

The development in Sierra Leone comes as the West African country began recording a fresh wave of the virus, after weeks of break.

But the Health Ministry urged the public to look at the positive side of the development, noting that it’s an illustration of the country’s improved capacity to detect the virus and respond to the pandemic. 

A third nationwide Covid-19 vaccination surge will be embarked upon, the statement added. People 18 years and above are qualified to get the vaccine.

The vaccination surge will intensify ongoing vaccination efforts in the Western Area – the capital, Freetown and its environs – as well as parts of the country bordering neighbouring Liberia and Guinea, it went on.

“The occurrence of the Omicron variant…further underscores the significance of vaccination uptake and the general precautionary measures needed to protect the population against Covid-19,” the statement reads.

“The detection of the first Omicron case demonstrates our unflinching commitment to testing and surveillance, as well as our country’s genomic sequencing capabilities,” it adds.

Since its classification, Omicron has become a growing concern worldwide, amidst fears about its rapid transmissibility. It was also said to be deadly and cause higher reinfection rate.

But WHO said on Wednesday that new available information suggested that while the new coronavirus variant may pose a higher reinfection risk, it could be less severe than the predominant Delta strain.

WHO’s Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was quoted saying that early data from ongoing research indicated that Omicron may more easily reinfect people who have already had the virus or been vaccinated than previous variants. The good news, he noted, is that it could also cause milder disease.

“Emerging data from South Africa suggests increased risk of reinfection with Omicron,” Dr Ghebreyesus told reporters, adding: “there is also some evidence that Omicron causes milder disease than Delta”.

But the WHO chief warned that more data was needed before drawing final conclusions.

WHO also urged countries to boost their surveillance and intensify vaccination efforts. 

The emergence of the heavily mutated variant has forced many countries to reimpose border restrictions, raising the possibility of a return to lockdowns. 

Some countries have already imposed travel ban on countries that have recorded cases of the variant, a move WHO frowns at.

Tags: WHOOmnicron
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

China announces 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses for Africa

Next Post

Rediscovery of ‘lost’ coffee species brings hope for Sierra Leone farmers

Kemo Cham

Kemo Cham

Next Post
Rediscovery of ‘lost’ coffee species brings hope for Sierra Leone farmers

Rediscovery of ‘lost’ coffee species brings hope for Sierra Leone farmers

Stay connected

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
State security forces man a checkpoint at an intersecition between State House and Siaka Steven Street in Freteown. Photo credit, Ishmail Kindama Dumbuya

Breaking: Sierra Leone gov’t says it ‘rebuffed’ attempted break into armory

November 26, 2023
Sarah Van Horne, Public Affairs Officer, US Embassy in Freetown. Photo credit, Courtesy.

Sierra Leone: US considering further actions after visa ban – Embassy spokeswoman

September 1, 2023
Anthrax Outbreak: Sierra Leone records first human cases

Anthrax Outbreak: Sierra Leone records first human cases

May 22, 2022
Former Guinea junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara and the two other close allies of his who are thought to have escaped from prison in Conakry on Saturday, November 4. Image by Guinea News.

Breaking! Guinea: Heavy gunfire reported in Kaloum, around central prison

November 4, 2023
Diabetes: The “Ticking Time Bomb” for Africa! Are we sitting on it?

Diabetes: The “Ticking Time Bomb” for Africa! Are we sitting on it?

0
Sierra Leonean on trial for war crimes in Liberia released

Sierra Leonean on trial for war crimes in Liberia released

0
Sierra Leone, France seek tighter cooperation

Sierra Leone, France seek tighter cooperation

0
Wellington Fire Disaster: Victims Benefit From Fullah Progressive Union Largesse

Wellington Fire Disaster: Victims Benefit From Fullah Progressive Union Largesse

0
Côte d’Ivoire’s democracy:  The high-stake battle for 2025

Côte d’Ivoire’s democracy:  The high-stake battle for 2025

October 5, 2025
Members of Team Kenema Water Supply pose with the symbolic cheque of USD3,000 after being declared winner of the maiden edition of the Sierra Leone Afinnovate Challenge in Bo City on Saturday, September 2025. Image, Emmanuel Kamara, ManoReporters.

Sierra Leone: Young innovators from Kenema clinch top prize in maiden edition of National Afinnovate Youth Challenge

September 30, 2025
SLYDCL Executive Director, Habib T. Kamara gives a statement at the event in the Lumely Community Center, Grass Field on Monday, September 25, 2025. Image, Stephen 'Roman' Lahai, ManoReporters.

KUSH: SLYDCL convenes outreach in Grass Field Community, Lumley

September 26, 2025
Participants pose for a group photo after the opening courtesies of the high level Africa CDC engagement on Mental Health Law in Sierra Leone on Monday, September 15, 2025. Image, Steven 'Roman' Lahai, ManoReporters.

Africa CDC convenes stakeholders meeting to mobilize support for Sierra Leone’s Mental Health Bill

September 16, 2025

Recent News

Côte d’Ivoire’s democracy:  The high-stake battle for 2025

Côte d’Ivoire’s democracy:  The high-stake battle for 2025

October 5, 2025
Members of Team Kenema Water Supply pose with the symbolic cheque of USD3,000 after being declared winner of the maiden edition of the Sierra Leone Afinnovate Challenge in Bo City on Saturday, September 2025. Image, Emmanuel Kamara, ManoReporters.

Sierra Leone: Young innovators from Kenema clinch top prize in maiden edition of National Afinnovate Youth Challenge

September 30, 2025
SLYDCL Executive Director, Habib T. Kamara gives a statement at the event in the Lumely Community Center, Grass Field on Monday, September 25, 2025. Image, Stephen 'Roman' Lahai, ManoReporters.

KUSH: SLYDCL convenes outreach in Grass Field Community, Lumley

September 26, 2025
Participants pose for a group photo after the opening courtesies of the high level Africa CDC engagement on Mental Health Law in Sierra Leone on Monday, September 15, 2025. Image, Steven 'Roman' Lahai, ManoReporters.

Africa CDC convenes stakeholders meeting to mobilize support for Sierra Leone’s Mental Health Bill

September 16, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
Contact

info@manoreporters.com | Freetown, Sierra Leone

Contact

info@manoreporters.com | Freetown, Sierra Leone

© 2022 Powered by Manocommunication.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Business and Economy
    • Politics
    • Health
    • Sci-Tech
      • Data
    • Regional
    • Culture
  • Special Reports
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • True or False
  • Interview
  • ManoReporters TV
  • Tender and Job

© 2022 Powered by Manocommunication.com