Germany, UK, and Italy Report Cases of new COVID Variant "Omicron"

Germany, UK, and Italy announced on Saturday that they detected confirmed cases of the new COVID variant "Omicron".

The UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed two cases, that were "linked and there is a connection with travel to southern Africa."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday: "We're not going to stop people traveling but will require anyone who enter the UK to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after their arrival,"

The German Health Ministry on Saturday also confirmed two Omicron infections. The two infected people returned from South Africa on November 24 and have been placed in self-isolation.

Moreover, Italy's Higher Institute of Health (ISS) announced that a case of the Omicron variant had been detected in in a person who recently returned from Mozambique.

Meantime, Belgium became the first European Union (EU) member state to report "a case from a traveler returning from Egypt," according to Euronews.