Omicron Variant Detected in Romania

Romania announced that it detected the earliest two Omicron infections in the state, RT reported on Sunday.

According to the authorities, the two men were coming from South Africa on November 30, and the National Institute of Public Health received the initial tests of the patients that confirmed their Omicron infection.

Sources added that the two cases are a 48-year-old woman and a 59-year old man, and both didn't suffer from any symptoms before quarantining them.

Until now, more than 30 countries reported the presence of Omicron cases around the world including the UK, Germany, Italy, and France in Europe, Saudi Arabia in the Middle East region, and Japan and Hong Kong in Asia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) designated it as a ‘variant of concern’ on Friday.

The new South African strain has been designated as a source of concern by  WHO because it has a high number of mutations (32), potentially making it more transmissible and deadly and has a high number of mutations (32), potentially making it more transmissible and deadly.

WHO has given it the name Omicron, which is the Greek alphabet’s 15th letter.

Following news of the new variant, the US, the EU, Canada, Israel, Australia, and other countries have imposed travel restrictions on many southern African countries due to health concerns.

WHO said that the omicron Covid variant is likely to spread further and poses a “very high” global risk, warning that surges of Covid infections caused by the variant of concern could have “severe consequences” for some areas.

“Given mutations that may confer immune escape potential and possibly transmissibility advantage, the likelihood of potential further spread of Omicron at the global level is high,” WHO said in its risk assessment on Monday within a technical brief to its 194 member states.

“Depending on these characteristics, there could be future surges of Covid-19, which could have severe consequences, depending on a number of factors including where surges may take place.

The overall global risk related to the new VOC [variant of concern] Omicron is assessed as very high,” the U.N. health agency said.