13 cases of the Ómicron variant were identified in Portugal. They may be related to cases of Belenenses SAD – O Jornal Económico
The Doctor Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute (INSA), through its Department of Infectious Diseases, identified 13 cases of the Omicron variant in Portugal.
The INSA identified “a batch of 13 collections associated with cases of infection of Belenenses SAD players, given that one of the cases had a recent trip to South Africa”.
“Preliminary tests carried out at the INSA, strongly, that all 13 cases associated with Belenenses SAD players related to a variant of concern Ómicron,” according to the statement from the INSA.
The Institute also analyzed “participants from 218 passengers on a flight originating in Maputo that landed, on November 27, at Lisbon airport”.
“In order to guarantee the breaking of transmission chains and following the precautionary principle in Public Health, while awaiting more information on the transmission, impact and vaccine effectiveness against the Ómicron variant, as Health Authorities determined the prophylactic isolation of contacts of case contacts associated with this outbreak, regardless of vaccination status and level of exposure. These contacts will be passed on and a regular test will be carried out, as early as possible, on the 5th and 10th day”, explains the INSA in a statement.
Regarding the Maputo flight, only two positives were identified, one of them associated with the Delta variant and it was not possible to identify a variant of the second.
“INSA has already started genome sequencing for the final determination of cases, however, the predictive value of the tests already carried out is very high”, according to the statement.