Namibia has detected the Omicron coronavirus variant in 18 of 19 samples sequenced between Nov 11-26, the country's health ministry said today.

Although the southern African country has sequenced relatively few samples, the finding suggests the variant first flagged by neighbouring South Africa and Botswana late last month, and since labelled “of concern” by the World Health Organisation, is also highly prevalent in Namibia, according to Reuters.

Namibia's Omicron cases were detected predominantly in and around the capital Windhoek, a region that recorded 536 out of 695 new infections countrywide in the first five days of December.