Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh says Trinidad and Togabo is confirming its first case of the highly transmissible Omicron strain of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on Monday (December 13).

Deyalsingh, in a televised address to the twin-island republic this morning, explained that the latest ‘variant of concern’ was detected in a woman who came into Trinidad from a flight originating in New York.

“This morning we detected our first case of Omicron. This person is a female, that much I can say,” he said.

According to the minister, the woman was allowed to board her flight despite testing COVID-positive in a recent PCR test—a fact noticed by Trinidadian officials, which led to the individual being isolated immediately upon her arrival at Piarco International Airport.

“This is the disturbing part, in New York, the person was allowed to board a flight with a positive PCR test. The person then travelled to Panama, where they presented a negative antigen test,” he reported.

Deyalsingh said the positive PCR test was in contravention of Trinidad’s travel pass laws, which now require all travellers to the twin-island nation to present a negative PCR test no earlier than 72 hours before boarding a flight.

Outraged by the development, Deyalsingh told the country that he met with Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds and is currently gathering all the requisite information regarding the Omicron case.

Adding that both the individual and the airline have liability in the massive oversight, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago is intent on imposing fines on both parties.

The minister lauded the actions of port health officials, who, through their continued screening of passengers coming into the country, picked up on the glaring breach.

The Omicron confirmation comes as Trinidad and Tobago experiences a spike in COVID infections heading into four weeks. As at December 12, the Caribbean country confirmed 558 new cases, which pushed the cumulative total to 80,607.

The worsening situation doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon as Trinidad and Tobago manages a record-high of 14,251 active cases.

Data provided by the Ministry of Health indicate 63,949 recoveries to date.

With 24 new fatalities in the last day, the COVID-related death toll stands at 2,407 in Trinidad—making the twin islands the second worst-hit CARICOM member state behind Jamaica.

Checks by Our Today have so far revealed the Omicron variant’s presence in two other Caribbean territories, Cuba and Bermuda.