Omicron Found A Week Earlier Than Thought, This Country Says
NDTV
Checks are underway to see how far the Omicron coronavirus variant has spread in the Netherlands after it was found in Covid-positive test samples taken on November 19 and 23.
Dutch health authorities said Tuesday that the new Covid-19 variant was present in the Netherlands a week earlier than previously believed and checks are underway to see how far it has spread.
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.
The two earlier Dutch infections also came before South Africa first reported the new strain on November 24 to the World Health Organization, which has designated Omicron a variant of concern.
