NSW Health has confirmed a sixth returned traveller in the state has tested positive for the Omicron Covid-19 variant of concern.
Photo: AFP
A man in his 40s is isolating in Cabramatta, in Sydney's west, after developing mild symptoms following his arrival on flight QR908 from Doha last Thursday.
The traveller tested positive to Covid-19 yesterday and genomic testing showed it was the Omicron variant.
This is the second case of the Omicron variant connected to the Doha flight.
Investigations have revealed that there was more than one strain of Covid-19 circulating on board the flight.
Another passenger, who then travelled to Broken Hill, has been found to have the Delta variant.
Further testing is being carried out on three other passengers who have tested positive for Covid-19.
At least six people on board the Doha flight were known to have visited southern Africa in the previous fortnight.
NSW Health said there was no evidence that transmission occurred on the plane.
However, every person on that flight is considered to be a close contact and is advised to get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days.
NSW Health is retesting Covid-19 swabs collected over the past two weeks from anyone who has been in southern Africa, where the variant was first identified, to see if more infections can be identified.
"There was no awareness of Omicron until last Thursday or Friday, it seems like a lifetime ago already, but it was only a few days ago," NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said earlier in the day.
Hazzard said about 300 of those had been double-checked so far.
Health authorities yesterday confirmed a traveller from southern Africa, and the fifth NSW confirmed case of the latest variant, had spent at least two days in the community while infectious.
A woman in her 30s who landed in Sydney on Thursday, before new travel restrictions were in place, had visited at least two southern African countries before arriving in Australia.
Contact tracing determined the fully-vaccinated woman visited several retail stores in Sydney's west and fast food outlets in the Central Coast.
- ABC
