BRUSSELS To date, a total of 33 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant have been reported in Europe.
This was announced by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Ecdc).
The reports come from eight countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal.
All confirmed cases have a history of travel to African countries, some of which have taken connecting flights to other destinations between Africa and Europe.
All cases for which information on severity is available were asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.
"Important coordination meeting of G7 health ministers in light of the Omicron variant. We must continue to act quickly to increase vaccination efforts, and increase our protection."
The EU Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, writes on Twitter, taking part in the G7 meeting.
The commissioner insists: we must "wear masks and maintain social distancing when necessary".
