While Italy is grappling with the increase in daily covid infections and the Omicron variant worries the country and Europe, we are moving towards the extension of the state of emergency for another three months. And, according to Adnkronos from government sources, the Council of Ministers for the green light should be held as early as this afternoon. In the legislative decree, the same sources explain, the extension to 31 March 2022 “and related measures”.
THE OMICRON VARIANT IN ITALY
Meanwhile, the Omicron variant worries Italy: at the moment there are 27 cases. This is the updated figure released by the ECDC, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, which – as of December 13 – has 1,686 cases reported so far from 23 countries in the European Union / European Economic Area.
Yesterday the first case of Omicron variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus was identified in Siena in Tuscany. The sequencing was carried out by the Uoc Microbiology and Virology of the Sienese university hospital, directed by Maria Grazia Cusi, on a tourist from Great Britain, on vacation in the Sienese area. The lady, vaccinated and asymptomatic, was admitted to the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital for another pathology. And the first case of Omicron has always been identified in Sicily. This was announced by Governor Nello Musumeci himself. “In the regional laboratories of the Cqrc of Palermo – he explained – the first case of the Omicron variant was sequenced, also in Sicily. It is not a surprise and our epidemiological surveillance system was set up for this”.
Also yesterday, a Venicethe Omicron variant was sequenced on two swabs in the cytogenetics laboratory of the Angelo’s hospital. They belong to two spouses residing in Mira, who returned from South Africa a few days ago. Before their positivity to Covid was ascertained, the two travelers were immediately subjected to quarantine, as required by ministerial decree in the case of returning from South Africa. They therefore had no contact with other people once they returned from abroad. Ulss 3 has informed Usmaf of the two cases, so that it can proceed with the customary tracking of the travelers who shared the flight for 11 hours with the two Miresi. I am now in solitary confinement at home. At the moment only one of the two appears to be symptomatic.
THE OMICRON VARIANT IN EUROPE
The other EU / EEA countries that have reported cases of Omicron are: Austria (17), Belgium (30), Croatia (3), Cyprus (3), Czech Republic (8), Denmark (195), Estonia (26), Finland (20), France (59), Germany (82), Greece (3), Iceland (20), Ireland (10), Latvia (5), Liechtenstein (1), Netherlands (62), Norway (958) , Portugal (49), Romania (8), Slovakia (3) Spain (36) and Sweden (23), according to information from public sources. In addition, numerous probable cases have been reported in different countries.
THE OMICRON VARIANT IN THE WORLD
Overall, there have been 6,430 confirmed cases of Omicron worldwide, reported by 70 countries, according to the data in the latest bulletin released by the European body. Of these, 47 are countries and territories outside the EU / See, which reported a total of 4,744 cases of Omicron. To have communicated infections from this variant were: Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bermuda (United Kingdom), Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Fiji, Ghana, Gibraltar, India, Israel , Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan , Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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