The cases have been linked to travel from Southern Africa
Cases of Covid in South Africa, where the new Omicron variant was first found, have almost doubled in 24 hours.
More than eight and a half thousand were recorded yesterday.
The World Health Organisation says some people are experiencing "mild" symptoms and that experts should have more information about the transmission within days.
The WHO says 23 countries have now reported cases of the new coronavirus variant, but there's still limited detail about how dangerous it is.
The Omicron variant's rapidly becoming dominant in South Africa , three in four samples are registering the mutated version of Covid-19.
The WHO has said it it expects to have more information within days about it and how easily it spreads.
America's among the latest, with a Californian testing positive after returning from South Africa.
They were fully-vaccinated, but state health official Dr Mark Ghaly insists vaccines are still doing their job.
The first case of the Omicron covid variant was identified in Ireland earlier this week
Health officials say eight samples were sent for testing, and ONE case of the strain has been confirmed.
This case is linked to travel to a country in southern Africa and was identified from a sample taken within the last week.
The National Public Health Emergency Team has said while only one Omicron case has been detected so far, there may be more cases here which have not been discovered yet.
The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says we know enough about the variant to be concerned.
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