Romania's health ministry said it has detected the first two cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in two Romanians who returned from South Africa on Nov 30.

The two travellers, a 48-year-old woman from the central county of Brasov and a 59-year-old man from the eastern county of Vaslui, were isolated in their homes and had no symptoms, the ministry said.

Authorities were sequencing a third test to identify virus variant, Reuters reported.

Romania has introduced travel bans for non-European Union citizens arriving from several African states and has sent planes to recover Romanians stranded by cancelled flights. The returnees are expected to quarantine for two weeks.