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Omicron may have reached Europe earlier than thought
Updated On: 02 December, 2021 03:33 PM IST | Brussels | Agencies
Infectious disease specialist says the variant shows until the vaccination drive reaches every country, ‘we’re going to be in this situation again and again’
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_d.jpg "Omicron may have reached Europe earlier than thought")
This picture has been used for representational purpose. Pic/AFP
New findings indicate the mutant coronavirus was already in Europe close to a week before South Africa sounded the alarm. The Netherlands’ RIVM health institute disclosed that patient samples dating from November 19 and 23 contained the variant. It was last Wednesday, November 24, that South African authorities reported the existence of the highly mutated virus to the World Health Organisation. That indicates omicron had a bigger head start in the Netherlands than previously believed.
Nigeria has detected its first case of omicron in a sample it collected in October, weeks before South Africa alerted the world, the country’s national public health institute said Wednesday. “The pandemic has shown repeatedly that the virus travels quickly because of our globalized, interconnected world,” said Dr Albert Ko, infectious disease specialist, Yale School of Public Health. Omicron demonstrates that until the vaccination drive reaches every country, “we’re going to be in this situation again and again.
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