The coronavirus omicron variant continues to spread around the world and was detected today (Sunday) in three more countries, Australia, the Netherlands and Denmark, after cases of the strain were discovered in Italy, Britain and Germany over the weekend.
In the Netherlands, 13 positives were found for the new strain among 61 passengers on two flights arriving at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam from South Africa.
The rest of the passengers were placed in quarantine, at a time when the Dutch government is preparing to tighten the country's corona restrictions, despite large and even violent public protests in some Dutch cities.
The Dutch public health director has announced the new cases discovered at the airport but claimed that the investigation of the case is not complete yet and that further infections may be discovered later.
The country fears that other infected people have escaped discovery and as a result the variant will spread in the country without the authorities being aware of it.
Cape Town International Airport, Photo: API
In Australia, in the state of New South Wales, two cases of the new variant were discovered among passengers who arrived in the country from South African countries.
According to a report by the country's health authorities, the two passengers arrived in the country via a connecting flight departing from Qatar.
The two were found positive shortly after arriving in the country and authorities said they did not leave the airport grounds.
What aroused the suspicion of the authorities was their departure destination and now the possibility is mounting that more infected passengers have arrived in the past day in the country.
Like the Netherlands, there have been major protests in Australia in recent days against the closure measures, despite a significant drop in morbidity in the country following the progress of the population vaccination campaign.
"Two cases of infection were diagnosed in citizens who were completely vaccinated and had no symptoms of the disease," the New South Wales State Health Service said.
Denmark also recorded today the first two diagnoses in the Omicron variant, two travelers from South Africa who landed in the country on the same flight, the Center for the Prevention of Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen reported.
"The discovery of the cases was expected and our strategy is in line with the findings to further investigate and test the rate of infection in the country," Henrik Ulum, director of the State Disease Prevention Institute, told Reuters.
The two travelers who became infected with the variant were placed in isolation and now the authorities are looking for a delay in anyone who comes in close contact with them, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the strain in Denmark.
On Saturday, the United Nations World Health Organization defined the Omicron variant as a cause for concern and tens of thousands of people have already announced various measures to try and prevent it from reaching their territory.
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