The Minister of Health, Frank Anthony, has confirmed the presence of the Omicron variant in Guyana.
In the minister’s daily COVID-19 update yesterday, he informed that the samples that were sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad and Tobago for genetic sequencing have returned and they had confirmed the presence of the variant.
“So of the 20 samples that we have sent, 19 came back positive for Omicron. One was indeterminate because in the samples itself, apparently they did not have enough genetic material in the sample to be able to sequence it,” Anthony said.
The variant consists of various sub-types, such as BA1, BA2, BA3, BA4 and BA5. However, according to Anthony, the BA1 is the dominant sub-type but the BA2 was detected in 74 countries. He opined that the BA2 seems to be overhauling the BA1 sub-type. The minister further went on to explain that the major difference in the two sub-types is the presence of the S-Gene target failure. The S-Gene target failure is one of the indicators for the detection of the variant.
According to Anthony, the S-Gene can be detected in the BA1 using a normal PCR test but the BA2 does not consist of the target failure and therefore it cannot be detected by a normal PCR test, so it requires genetic sequencing.
The minister continued to urge persons to be cautious and to protect themselves against the virus and the variant.
