Cases identified in Great Britain, Germany and Italy after a first in Belgium, around sixty passengers under surveillance on their arrival in Amsterdam from South Africa … concern is growing in Europe in the face of the arrival of the “Omicron” variant of Covid-19. Originally from South Africa, he is judged “worrying” by the World Health Organization. France and its European neighbors are reinforcing health constraints for their nationals and travelers from abroad.
If this variant originating in South Africa has still not been detected in France, several cases have been spotted among our European neighbors. This Saturday, the United Kingdom confirmed the presence of two patients infected with _ “Omicron“_, two people returned from a trip” to southern Africa “. Italy also announced the first case on its soil, as did Germany. Finally the Dutch authorities affirmed that the variant” Omicron “could be at the origin of the contamination of some of the 61 passengers from South Africa who tested positive for Covid on their arrival this Friday.
A first case of the new variant of Covid-19 has been detected in Belgium, announced the Belgian Minister of Health, Frank Vandenbroucke, Friday at midday.
Several countries suspend flights with southern Africa
Without waiting for this confirmation, several countries had decided to suspend flights from southern Africa in the morning, including France.
This measure, which applies from this Friday, “for a minimum period of 48 hours“, concerns travelers from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini.”People who have traveled in the last 14 days in one of these countries are invited to report to the authorities and to perform an RT-PCR screening test as soon as possible.“, specified Matignon.
In France, contact cases must be isolated even when vaccinated
Anyone “in contact” with another who tests positive for the new variant of the coronavirus, Omicron, will need to be isolated even if they are vaccinated, the health ministry said on Saturday. “Any contact at risk of a possible case or of a confirmed case of the B1.1.529 variant, regardless of their vaccination status, must be considered as + high risk contact + and must therefore be placed in quarantine”.
PCR test and isolation to enter the UK
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday announced to toughen entry measures into his country in order to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, two cases of which have already been detected in the United Kingdom. “We will ask anyone entering the UK to take a ‘two days after arrival’ PCR test and self-isolate until they have the result.”, he said.