38 employees of a company in North Rhine-Westphalia suspected Omikron
Created: 12/16/2021, 6:36 PM
A medical employee performs a rapid corona test.
© Martin Schutt / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa / Symbolbild
The omicron variant of the coronavirus is of great concern.
In the Münsterland there are suspected cases of 38 employees of a caravan manufacturer.
The company responds immediately.
Sassenberg - At the caravan manufacturer LMC in Münsterland, 38 employees are suspected of being infected with the Omikron variant of the corona virus. The company announced in Sassenberg in the Warendorf district on Thursday. A spokeswoman said on request that it was not yet possible to provide any information as to whether the cases were suspected or even confirmed. In the evening it was still unclear whether the so-called whole genome sequencing had taken place. Only then can Omikron be unequivocally proven.
The coronavirus was detected in a total of 90 employees.
Only mild disease courses are known.
The suspected Omikron cases all affect the Warendorf district.
71 of the employees who tested positive live here.
According to the company spokeswoman, the 19 other infected people live in other circles.
There are still no references to the omicron question here.
After some employees tested positive for the corona virus in the citizen test center on the factory premises on Monday and were sent to quarantine, all colleagues were tested, the spokeswoman emphasized.
On Tuesday, an "orderly shutdown" of operations had already been initiated.
All production employees were sent early for the company holidays.
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All contact persons of the 90 infected employees are also in quarantine at home, according to LMC.
The vaccination rate in the company is very high, the hygiene measures strict and extensive, it said.
Evidence of an infection with the Omikron variant is quite rare in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The first case of the new variant in North Rhine-Westphalia was only confirmed in the laboratory in Düsseldorf at the beginning of December by means of whole genome sequencing.
The Ministry of Health had emphasized that it would "very carefully" observe the spread of the variant.
With Omikron, a corona variant is spreading internationally, from which even vaccinated and convalescent people do not have optimal protection.
With a booster vaccination, antibody levels can be raised again to protect against infection, but according to previous knowledge, it is not perfect.
Several Omicron cases are already known in people who have been vaccinated three times.
dpa