Since the appearance of the delta variant, no new variant of the coronavirus has caused such great concern as the one newly discovered in South Africa. So far, little is known about the new variant named B.1.1.529 and named after the Greek letter omicron. But it has already arrived in Germany.
Cases with the omicron variant are increasing
In Europe, the corona cases with the new virus variant are increasing and putting the continent on alert: After the first cases in Germany, Great Britain and Italy, the new mutant was also reported in the Czech Republic on Saturday. In Bavaria, the authorities confirmed two cases. In the Netherlands, infections with the new Omikron coronavirus variant have been found in 13 travelers from South Africa.
On Thursday, the discovery of a new variant with the scientific name B.1.1.529 was announced in South Africa. According to South African scientists, the variant could be even more contagious than the currently rampant Delta variant because of an unusually high number of mutations and make the vaccines less effective.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classified them according to the Greek letter omicron named variant as “worrying”. The EU Disease Control Authority (ECDC) considers the risk of spread in the EU to be “high to very high”. On Friday, Belgium became the first EU country to find an Omikron infection in a traveler from Africa. Numerous countries, including Germany and other EU member states, have restricted air traffic with South Africa and other countries in the region.