On Saturday the Omicron coronavirus variant was spread to Australia. Testing plans were underway to reopen Australia’s economy. A cluster of 13 people in Sydney was confirmed to have the virus. An infection in Queensland is also suspected.

While federal officials are sticking to their plan to open the economy, they hope the new variant will prove to be less severe than those that existed before. Some state and territory governments however have tightened their internal border controls.

Australia’s first Omicron transmission was reported Friday by a Sydney school. The source is being investigated by authorities.

Kerry Chant chief health officer, New South Wales (Sydney) said additional Omicron cases would be expected as more results from the tests come in.

Queensland officials said that the state suspects its first Omicron case was a South African citizen. Genome sequencing is ongoing.

“The state health minister Yvette DiAth said that although it has been ruled out by the public health unit, it could be Delta. However, we are unable to verify if Omicron is present.” But it’s being treated like it is.

After Friday’s report of the Territory of Omicron, the Australian Capital Territory (home to Canberra) was put on high alert to prevent further spread.

South Australia’s authorities said Saturday that any arrivals from Victoria, New South Wales or the capital territory would be checked. Only days ago, the state opened its borders to domestic visitors for the first time since months.

Despite battling many outbreaks this year, leading to months of lockdown in Sydney and Melbourne – Australia’s largest cities — the country has had only about 834 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7.9 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the World Health Organisation, a fraction of impact in many other developed nations.

Australia had just 215,000 deaths and 21042 cases.