Variant Omicron, von der Leyen: “Race against time”

Against the Omicron variant “now it’s a race against time”. The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference in Riga. “Scientists and manufacturers need two or three weeks to get a complete picture of the quality of the mutations of this variant,” he said, underlining the need to “buy time” and renewing the invitation to citizens to get vaccinated, to protect themselves and to keep the distance. Read also The variant map today signals new cases in Europe. Health authorities in the Netherlands have confirmed the existence of 13 confirmed cases of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the country, found in a group of people who arrived on Friday on flights from South Africa. In all, 61 people tested positive after disembarking from the last two flights that reached the country before the closure and isolation was ordered for all. Meanwhile, tests have begun to determine whether or not it was the Omicron variant. The tests are now continuing “and the new variant could emerge in other results,” health authorities said in a statement. Most of the 61 passengers were placed in solitary confinement in a hotel near the airport, few were given permission to move to their homes as long as they followed strict precautions. There are three confirmed cases of Omicron covid variant detected in Germany, a third case of contagion also in the United Kingdom, two in Denmark. In Italy, a first case was identified yesterday in Campania. The Omicron variant is experiencing “unnecessary panic”, because the symptoms of those infected with the new Covid strain are “very weak” said the president of the South African medical association, Angelique Coetzee. For her part, the Minister for International Relations, Naledi Pandor, called the blocking of travel to and from her country “incorrect and unnecessary, similar to a punishment for its advanced genome sequencing and for its ability to rapidly detect new variants “.