Omicron already clustered in Europe... "Worried about the first immune evasion mutation"

In Europe, infections are rapidly spreading, with cases of new mutant Omicron cluster infection occurring in Europe.

Countries are hastening to respond by expanding the target of booster vaccination and strengthening entry restrictions.

Experts feared that it could be the first immune evasion mutation, expecting a faster rate of spread of Omicron.

In Portugal on the 29th (local time), 13 people, including players and employees of Belenenses, a professional soccer team, caught Omicron in a group, raising concerns about local infection.

Most of the infected were asymptomatic or showed mild symptoms, and 44 other players and staff are currently in quarantine awaiting test results.

As only one athlete infected with Omicron had recently traveled to South Africa, health officials are investigating the possibility that others may have contracted it domestically.

In the Netherlands, a couple of 61 passengers who tested positive after arriving from South Africa were caught while boarding a flight to Spain after being quarantined at a hotel for three days.

Dutch local security officials said they were detaining the couple at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on the same day.

The first cases of infection were confirmed in Spain and Sweden.

A traveler arriving from South Africa tested positive for Omicron at the Gregorio Maranyo Hospital in Madrid, the capital of Spain.

The Swedish health authorities said the first confirmed case of Omicron was confirmed in a diagnostic test conducted on travelers from South Africa a week ago.

Omicron infections in other European countries are also increasing.

In the UK, 8 additional cases of Omicron infections have been reported, bringing the total to 11.

Two more cases were added from Glasgow, Scotland, four from Lanarkshire, and two from London, England.

In France, eight suspected cases of Omicron infection were confirmed the day before, and health authorities are testing them.

Ireland is also investigating at least 10 suspected cases.

In Germany, four additional cases of Omicron infection were added, bringing the total to seven.

According to Germany's DPA, authorities in Hesse said on the afternoon of the afternoon that there were four additional cases of Omicron infection.

The infected are in self-quarantine.

Previously, two cases of Omicron were reported in Germany on the 27th, and the third case was confirmed on the 28th.

Countries are hastening to respond by strengthening entry restrictions and expanding booster vaccinations.

Portugal, which boasts the highest vaccination rate in the world, has decided to tighten entry restrictions from the 1st of next month to prevent the spread of omicron mutations.

Spain and Poland also tightened entry restrictions and self-quarantine regulations.

From the 1st of next month, Poland has decided to ban aircraft landings from seven African countries, including South Africa, and make self-isolation for 14 days mandatory for those arriving outside the European Union (EU) if they are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

In response to Omicron, the UK has decided to expand the booster vaccination to all adults over the age of 18 and shorten the vaccination interval to three months.

Currently, those over 40 years of age are eligible and the interval between vaccinations is 6 months.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that omicrons pose a very high risk worldwide.

According to the AFP news agency, the WHO said on the same day that "Omicron is more likely to spread."

The WHO explained that Omicron is "very different mutations with a large number of mutations" and that "some of them are worrisome and likely associated with immune evasion potential and higher contagiousness."

Experts were also concerned about the spread of Omicron infection.

Christian Drosten, an infectious disease scientist at the Charite Hospital in Berlin, Germany, told ZDF, "I was very surprised and very concerned that there are so many mutations." There is no talk,” he said.

He said, "In South Africa, young people who have already contracted Corona 19 are becoming infected and showing symptoms," he said.

Experts say the number of Omicron infections in the UK could rise to hundreds by next week, The Guardian said.

"There is a time lag between when individuals become infected and when cases are reported," said Mike Tildersley, a professor at the University of Warwick.

"We have to assume community transmission," said Rowland Kao, a professor at the University of Edinburgh.