Public Health

I was not claiming that it was, because genomic testing takes a couple of weeks generally and it is therefore too late for someone to isolate. What I am saying is that with this variant, as in alpha but not in delta, the missing S gene means that on that initial test�which takes six hours or until the next day, or whatever it is�we already get a heads-up that we are dealing with an omicron case. We can go on to do the genomic analysis, but we can say to the patient, �We think you have this variant. You need to isolate thoroughly and for longer.�