The omicron is here:

Amid growing woes over the spread of omicron, a new variant of COVID-19, foreign arrivals wait for buses at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Nov. 30, 2021. (Yonhap)

The first suspected cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 have been detected in South Korea, health authorities said Tuesday, as the nation tightened its entry restrictions for the African region to prevent it from spreading into the country. 

Health authorities have conducted a genome sequencing test on a couple who recently arrived in South Korea from Nigeria and the couple’s acquaintance. They tested positive for COVID-19. 

The authorities expected the result to be announced after 9 p.m. Wednesday. 

The couple, who were fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, visited Nigeria on Nov. 14-23 and tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but did the health authorities have to give this latest mutation such an ominous sounding name? Additionally the initial reports out of Africa are stating the symptoms from this new variant are very mild and the hospitals there are not swamped with COVID patients.