Omicron Covid variant ‘present in Europe at least 10 days ago’

Two cases of the new Covid variant found in the Netherlands predate last week’s alert from South Africa

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 was present in Europe at least 10 days ago, even before South African health experts alerted the world to their concerns around the transmissibility of the newly identified variant.

The Dutch health authority said it had found the Omicron variant in two local cases going back 11 days, showing it was already in western Europe’s heartland before the reports came out of South Africa on 24 November.

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Coronavirus | The Guardian

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