Record number of new infections for a year +++ Third Omikron case in Switzerland
At least EU countries recently reported the occurrence of the coronavirus variant Omikron. As the EU health authority ECDC wrote in an Omikron update, there were 59 infected people recorded by Wednesday noon. The Stockholm-based authority listed 16 cases in the Netherlands, 14 in Portugal and 9 in Germany. There were also reported infected people in Italy, Denmark (4 each), Sweden, Austria (3 each), Belgium, Spain (2 each), the Czech Republic (1) and one on the island of RĂ©union, which belongs to France.
It remained unclear whether the ECDC information concerned simpler PCR tests for corona variants or whether the entire genome was actually examined, which is currently still necessary at Omikron. The EU authority announced, however, that there are a number of other suspected cases in the European Economic Area (EEA) that are being investigated.
The majority of the cases listed are related to trips to southern Africa, announced the EU health authority. There have not yet been any serious illnesses or illnesses among these infected people. Beyond the EEA, cases have been reported to the ECDC in twelve other countries and territories. In addition to Switzerland, these are Great Britain, Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.