It is the worst fear of many managers.
A company party is accused in Norway of being at the origin of an epidemic focus of the new worrying variant Omicron.
Out of 120 guests, all were vaccinated and, yet, more than half were then tested positive for Covid ... A festive evening in Oslo turned into a probable focus of infection with the Omicron variant, reinforcing fears about its high transmissibility and its resistance to vaccines.
It all started with a company party on November 26 in the Norwegian capital: at the invitation of solar energy producer Scatec, some 120 people, including one who recently returned from South Africa where the Omicron variant was first introduced. been detected, meet at the Louise restaurant to celebrate Christmas ahead of time.
"All had been vaccinated, none showed symptoms and they had all carried out a self-test" before the meal, indicated, Friday, an official of the municipal health authorities, Tine Ravlo.
“Everything had been done in order and no rule was violated,” she stressed.
However, a week later, the atmosphere is no longer at the party: 64 guests, or a large half of the approximately 120 participants, have tested positive for Covid, a case of Omicron is so far confirmed and 17 others are suspected.
Still provisional, these numbers are likely to increase as testing analyzes progress.
Among the infected guests, none have so far developed a severe form of the disease, most showing mild symptoms in the form of headaches, inflammation of the throat and cough, according to Tine Ravlo.
The biggest Omicron outbreak outside South Africa?
"Our working hypothesis is that at least half of the 120 participants were infected with the Omicron variant during the party," said a senior official at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Preben Aavitsland.
That would make it "the biggest Omicron outbreak outside of South Africa," he said.
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the number of known cases of people infected with this variant in countries of the European Economic Area (European Union plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) was 79 on Thursday.
Read also Omicron variant: transmissibility, symptoms, vaccine resistance ... All that is still unknown
"It is still too early to say whether this event is proof that the Omicron variant is more infectious than the Delta variant," Aavitsland said.
"Episodes of superpropagation also occur with the currently dominant Delta variant".
Too early also, according to him, "to say if the clinical picture of the disease is different for Omicron infections than for Delta infections".
Festivities that epidemiologists want to ban
After the appearance he described as "worrying" of this suspected outbreak of the Omicron variant, the Norwegian government on Thursday announced a series of health restrictions in Oslo and its region.
Since midnight, wearing a mask is compulsory in and around Oslo in public transport, taxis, shopping centers and shops where distance is impossible.
Telecommuting has also become the rule where possible, the number of people in private indoor events is capped at 100, and patrons of bars and restaurants must register with alcohol to be served seated.
Christmas meals generally very watered and dear to the Norwegians, the "julebord" - like the one organized by Scatec - are not prohibited but several institutions and companies have canceled theirs.
Read alsoVariant Omicron: several proven cases in France, and now, what does that change?
Even in a Europe where people are quite widely vaccinated - 88% of the adult population is in Norway - "this may raise concerns that the vaccine dams against the progression of the new variant, may not hold", explains the French epidemiologist Antoine Flahault.
Festivities like those organized by Scatec generate "significant risks, known since the start of the pandemic", emphasizes Antoine Flahault.
"They should unfortunately be banned in the midst of an epidemic wave".
