Omicron variant: Germany, Czech Republic report first cases of new COVID strain

As the world is reeling under fear from the newly detected COVID-19 strain, the first cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed in Germany and Czech Republic on Saturday. A person has tested positive for the new variant in Germany who recently returned from South Africa. Kai Klose, social affairs minister of Germany, stated that the Omnicron variant has been detected in the country. "A traveller returning from South Africa was found to have several Omicron-like mutations. This had led to a high level of suspicion and the person has been isolated," the minister stated as reported by Euro news. 

Meanwhile, the first suspected case of the Omicron variant has been detected in the Czech Republic too. The person is said to have recently flown in from South Africa. Andrej Babi, the country's Prime Minister, said the suspected virus came from a woman who stayed in Namibia before flying home through South Africa and Dubai, reported The Guardian on Saturday. Meanwhile, Dutch authorities are also analysing samples from 61 passengers who tested positive for COVID-19. These passengers reportedly returned back in two planes from South Africa on Friday, November 26.  

About Omicron variant

It should be mentioned here that the new variant has been categorised as a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization and it was given the Greek name - Omicron. The strain has alarmed scientists and the health community because of its complicated genetic sequence. Besides, it is also the most potent type of the SARS-CoV-2 variation found to date. The variant's protein spike has more than 50 mutations, including more than 30 on the spike protein, making it far more transmissible than the Delta version. 

The heavily mutated variant B.1.1.529 is a major "cause for concern” for the virologists as it has an "awful spike" mutation profile. It has been detected in several confirmed cases of the coronavirus in South Africa where the Beta variant was detected. The Omicron variant now dominates all infections following a devastating Delta wave in South Africa now at 75% of last genomes and is soon to reach 100%. In India, no cases of the new COVID-19 variant, which has a large number of mutations have been detected so far, news agency ANI reported on Friday citing government officials.

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