Since last Thursday up to and including Sunday, 1,533 more cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA).
This brings the total number of unequivocally confirmed Omicron cases to 4,691, the EU health agency ECDC announced Monday.
Confirmed cases are now reported from 28 countries, with Austria mentioned in the ECDC report with 80 Omikron detections (as of Dec. 12, according to AGES, note).
In absolute numbers, the most cases of the spreading corona variant are in the non-EU country of Norway, with 2,060, according to the EU agency. Denmark has so far reported 726 omicron cases confirmed by whole-genome sequencing – but in addition, another 14,726 suspected cases are known.
According to ECDC, based on current data, most infections with the Omicron variant result in an asymptomatic or mild course. No deaths associated with omicron have been reported within the EU or EEA.
“These figures should be evaluated with caution, as the number of confirmed cases is too small to understand whether the clinical spectrum of Omicron differs from that of previously discovered variants,” however, the EU agency cautions in this context.
The first Omicron infections were travel-associated – the variant had spread across the globe from southern Africa. In the meantime, an increasing number of cases are being reported in which the source of infection is clearly in Europe and the virus is spreading in the form of clusters.
- source: kurier.at/picture:pixabay.com
This post has already been read 732 times!