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At least eleven EU countries have reported the presence of the coronavirus variant Omicron so far.
As the EU health agency ECDC wrote in an Omicron update, there were 59 recorded infected people by midday Wednesday. The Stockholm-based agency listed 16 cases in the Netherlands, 14 in Portugal and nine in Germany, Italy, Denmark (4 each), Sweden, Austria (3 each), Belgium, Spain (2 each) and the Czech Republic (1).
In addition, there was one case on the island of Réunion, which belongs to France. It remained unclear whether the ECDC reports were results of simple PCR tests for corona variants or whether the entire genome was actually examined, which is still currently required for Omicron. However, the EU agency said there were a number of other suspected cases in the European Economic Area (EEA) that were being investigated.
First Omicron cases in Nigeria as early as October
Experts believe the variant is already present beyond previous detections. The period in which travelers already spread the virus internationally is certainly weeks, Oliver Keppler, director at the Max von Pettenkofer Institute at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, said.
The majority of the cases listed were related to travel to southern Africa, the EU health agency said. So far, there have been no serious cases of the disease or deaths among those infected.
Omicron-infected person traveled on train from Munich to Tyrol
Beyond the EEA, cases have been reported in 12 other countries and territories, according to the ECDC. These included Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Australia.
— source: k.at/picture:pixabay.com
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