More countries report new Covid variant
The Netherlands and Australia find their first cases, while Austria detected a suspected infection
THE HAGUE: The Netherlands confirmed 13 cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus and Australia found two on Sunday as the countries half a world apart became the latest to detect it in travellers arriving from southern Africa.
A growing raft of curbs are being imposed by nations around the world as they scramble to slow the variant’s spread, with Israel deciding on Sunday to bar entry to foreign nationals in the toughest move so far.
Confirmed or suspected cases of the new variant have already emerged in several European countries, in Israel and in Hong Kong, just days after it was identified by researchers in South Africa.
Austria has detected its first suspected case of the new Omicron coronavirus variant in the Tirol, authorities in the alpine region said late on Saturday.
A traveller who returned from South Africa last week tested positive for Covid-19 with indications of the new variant, though confirmation requires further sequencing.
The “act first, ask questions later” approach reflected growing alarm about the emergence of a potentially more contagious variant nearly two years into a pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people, upended lives and disrupted economies across the globe.
While much remains to be learned about the new variant, researchers are concerned that it may be more resistant to the protection provided by vaccines and could mean that the pandemic lasts for longer than anticipated. The Dutch public health authority confirmed that 13 people who arrived in the Netherlands on flights from South Africa on Friday have so far tested positive for omicron.
They were among 61 people who tested positive for the virus on Friday after arriving on the last two flights to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport before a flight ban was put in place.
Authorities in Australia said two overseas travellers who arrived in Sydney from Africa became the first in the country to test positive for the omicron variant. Arrivals from nine African countries are now required to quarantine in a hotel upon arrival.
Many countries have restricted or banned travel from various southern African countries — among the latest New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Saudi Arabia.
The US’ top infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said he would not be surprised if the omicron variant was already in the country, too. “We have not detected it yet, but when you have a virus that is showing this degree of transmissibility ... it almost invariably is ultimately going to go essentially all over,” he said on NBC television.