The United Kingdom, Italy and Germany confirm five cases while the Netherlands, Portugal and the Czech Republic analyze more than 60 possible infections
Just 24 hours after the first case in Europe of the new and potentially dangerous omicron variant of the coronavirus was confirmed in Belgium, the alarm was unleashed this Saturday on the continent due to a drip of positives that raised fears of a large-scale contagion. From the United Kingdom, through Germany and Italy, as well as the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Portugal, where the health authorities worked against the clock last night to complete the sequencing of the genome of the suspected infections in order to elucidate the presence of the also known as strain B.1.1.529.
British Health Minister Sajid Javid was the first to clear up the doubts that had kept the country in suspense for hours. “The Health Security Agency has confirmed that two cases have been identified,” he said in a note sent by his department to the media. They are two people “related to each other and on a trip to southern Africa.” One of the infections was detected in the city of Nottingham, in central England, and the other in Chelmsford, east London.
The British authorities, who this Saturday again decreed the mandatory use of a mask in shops and public transport, pointed out that the two infected people and their families have been isolated. But in addition, Javid told the BBC that Nottingham and Chelmsford will become the scene of additional tests to the population to identify more possible positives with the Ómicron strain, already considered “worrisome” by the World Health Organization (WHO) as well than the currently dominant delta and previously detected alpha, beta and gamma.
The nervousness that was palpable in the United Kingdom – which registers a significant upturn in cases, with about 1,000 hospitalizations a day, in addition to more than 140,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic – was not less in Germany. The Government of the State of Bavaria confirmed this Saturday the detection of two infected with the new strain. The two arrived in Munich by air on Wednesday on a flight from South Africa. Hours earlier, the Minister of Social Affairs of the German state of Hesse, Kai Klose, also reported on his Twitter account that on Friday night “several typical omicron mutations were found in a traveler” who had arrived from the same country. “The complete sequencing is still pending but there is a high degree of suspicion,” he added, not without first making an urgent request to the population. Please protect yourself and those around you. If you came back from South Africa last week, limit your contacts and get tested! ”He insisted.
In Italy it was the National Institute of Health that in the late afternoon sounded the sirens when it reported the first case in the country. Specifically, a patient from Mozambique who both he and his family members were in good health.
The citizens of the Netherlands woke up this Saturday with the bombing that 61 people who flew from South Africa on Friday in two planes with around 600 passengers had tested positive and everything seemed to point to being infected with the new strain. “In several of those examined it is presumed that Omicron has been found,” said the Dutch Institute of Health.
Pending confirmation, the infected travelers remained isolated last night in a hotel near Schipol airport in Amsterdam. Meanwhile, local officials tried to locate some 5,000 people who arrived last week from a southern African country to submit them to a test.
Despite the fact that the Executive of the Netherlands defended the way in which they had proceeded, the account of those who were on Friday in those planes differed completely. Paula Zimmerman, a Dutch photographer who returned from a family visit to South Africa, said the situation was chaotic. She was informed at 4 a.m. that she had tested negative, almost 18 hours after landing. But she discovered that she had been standing next to a man for a long time who tested positive. «There was no coordination. There were very few people and there was no one to take control, “he lamented. “They have told me that they expect many more infections in five days,” he said.
In Portugal, as in the Czech Republic, an attempt was also made to clarify the possible presence of the new strain. The general director of Health of the Portuguese Government, Graça Freitas, acknowledged the existence of several “suspicious cases”, without specifying how many. The suspicions of the Prague authorities meanwhile revolved around a woman who tested positive for COVID-19 after visiting Namibia and flew back to the country via South Africa and Dubai, Prime Minister Andrej Babis detailed, who, along with the health authorities, appealed for calm.
Brazil and Israel close their borders
The Brazilian government has announced that from next Monday it will close its air borders to six African countries for fear that the new variant of coronavirus B.1.1.529, known as omicron, will spread.
The Prime Minister of the Civil House, Ciro Nogueira, has reported that this restriction will be imposed on travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe, according to the Brazilian media UOL. “We are going to protect Brazilians in this new phase of the pandemic,” remarked Nogueira, who has stressed that the measure has been adopted jointly by the Civil House and the ministries of Infrastructure, Health, Justice and Public Safety.
For its part, the Israeli government has announced the closure of borders to foreign citizens for two weeks starting Sunday night in response to the appearance of the new variant of the coronavirus, known as omicron.
The Israeli authorities have confirmed a case of the new variant and are investigating another seven possible cases, which has led to an extraordinary meeting of almost three hours of the Council of Ministers held this Saturday to agree on new restrictions.
.
#expansion #strain #shakes #Europe