Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Health Minister Taimur Jhagra confirmed on Wednesday that the province has “detected” its “first” case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

“Our public health reference lab has detected the first cases of Omicron in [Khyber] Pakhtunkhwa. As expected, this was only a matter of time,” tweeted Jhagra.

Our public health reference lab has detected the first cases of Omicron in Pakhtunkhwa. As expected, this was only a matter of time. Our hospital system has coped with four surges and will continue to be ready.
Our best defence is to vaccinate as per NCOC guidelines.

— Taimur Khan Jhagra (@Jhagra) January 5, 2022

The health minister said that the province’s “hospital system has coped with four surges and will continue to be ready” for another wave if it emerges.

Read more: Islamabad DC confirms federal capital’s first Omicron case

“Our best defence is to vaccinate as per NCOC guidelines,” emphasised Jhagra.

In December last year, the National Institute of Health (NIH) had confirmed that a sample from Karachi was the first Omicron variant detected in Karachi.

The same month, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner (DC) Office had also confirmed the first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 of the federal capital as well.

Read more: ‘If our masses strictly follow SOPs we can defeat Omicron’ 

The first case of the Omicron variant was reported in South Africa on November 24 following which the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it as a ‘variant of concern’.