Omicron coronavirus variant present in Netherlands a week earlier than believed
- Dutch health authorities found the Covid-19 variant in test samples taken on November 19 and 23 – before South Africa reported the new strain
- With 16 confirmed cases, the Netherlands has one of the highest numbers of the new Omicron variant in Europe
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Dutch health authorities said on Tuesday that the new Covid-19 variant was present in the Netherlands a week earlier than previously believed, and checks are under way to see how far it has spread.
The Netherlands joins other European countries including Belgium and Germany that have reported cases of the new strain before it was officially notified by South Africa to the World Health Organization on November 24.
The RIVM National Health and Environment Institute said it “has found the corona variant Omicron in two test samples that had already been taken in the Netherlands … on November 19 and 23”.
The first cases in the Netherlands had been thought to be the 14 Omicron infections on two KLM flights from South Africa that arrived in Amsterdam on Friday, November 26.
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“It is not yet clear whether the people concerned [in the earlier cases] have also been to southern Africa,” the RIVM said, adding that the people had been informed and municipal health services had now started contact investigations.
“In the coming period, various studies will be conducted into the distribution of the Omicron variant in the Netherlands,” the institute said, adding that it would re-examine more samples from previous tests.
With 16 confirmed cases, the Netherlands has one of the highest numbers in Europe of the new strain.
The airline passengers with Omicron, who were among 61 travellers on the two South Africa flights that tested positive for Covid-19, are currently in quarantine.
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The Dutch case will increase concern about how far the variant had already spread in Europe before many countries brought in travel bans on southern African nations.
Belgium, the first European country to report the presence of the new variant, has said that a case tested positive on November 22, and had developed symptoms 11 days after travelling to Egypt via Turkey.
Germany has meanwhile said that a person who tested positive for the variant had arrived at Frankfurt international airport on November 21.
