Karnataka confirmed five cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus on Sunday, said state Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar.

Among the new cases, one is a male patient while the four are women. The cases have been reported from Dharwad, Bhadravathi, Udupi and Mangaluru.

With the confirmation of new infections, Karnataka so far reported 19 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

A new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year.

On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron'. The WHO has classified Omicron as a 'variant of concern'.

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