The Lebanese health ministry said that it had confirmed the country's first two cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in passengers tested upon arrival at the airport.

“Two cases detected in airport testing” were confirmed to be of the Omicron variant, Health Minister Firass Abiad told a press conference. He said both passengers had flown in from the African continent and had been placed in quarantine.

Lebanon reported 1,994 new Covid cases on Wednesday, one of the country's highest figures for a single day since the start of the pandemic, the minister said.