Health News Roundup: Dutch find 13 Omicron cases among S.Africa travellers; Omicron variant likely to be circulating in France - health minister and more

The New South Wales health department said both passengers had come to Sydney on Saturday evening and had tested positive for COVID-19 late that night. Australia confirms two cases of Omicron COVID-19 variant Australia confirmed on Sunday that two people arriving from southern Africa over the weekend had tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant, adding to a growing number of countries fighting the highly infectious strain.


Reuters | Updated: 28-11-2021 18:45 IST | Created: 28-11-2021 18:31 IST
Health News Roundup: Dutch find 13 Omicron cases among S.Africa travellers; Omicron variant likely to be circulating in France - health minister and more
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Dutch find 13 Omicron cases among S.Africa travelers

Dutch health authorities said on Sunday that 13 cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant have been found in the Netherlands among passengers that were on two flights from South Africa that arrived on Friday. They were among 61 passengers who tested positive for COVID-19 on the two flights, which carried about 600 people. Those who tested positive are being kept in isolation at a hotel near the airport.

Omicron variant likely to be circulating in France - health minister

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is probably already circulating in France, its health minister said on Sunday, adding that the government was tightening restrictions to contain its spread. Omicron is potentially more contagious than previous variants, although experts do not know yet if it will cause more or less severe COVID-19 compared to other strains.

Philippines to buy extra 20 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine

The Philippines will buy an additional 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, seeking to fully inoculate more than 80% of its population by mid-2022, a government official said on Sunday. Vaccine hesitancy remains a challenge for the Southeast Asian country, which has seen one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the region and is now on alert for the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

UK takes new measures to slow Omicron coronavirus variant

Britain announced new measures on Saturday to try to slow the spread of the newly identified Omicron coronavirus variant and a top health official said there was a "reasonable chance" that vaccines could be less effective against it. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said arrivals from all countries would have to self-isolate until receiving a negative result from a PCR test, that face masks must be worn in retail settings and it was time to step up booster jabs.

COVID booster advice should come imminently, says UK minister

Britain's health minister Sajid Javid said on Sunday he expected to receive advice imminently on whether the government can broaden a booster shot programme to try to weaken the impact of the newly identified Omicron coronavirus variant. The government announced new measures on Saturday to try to slow the spread of the variant, toughening rules for people arriving into Britain and ordering the use of face masks in retail settings and on transport in England.

China study warns of 'colossal' COVID outbreak if it opens up like U.S., France

China could face more than 630,000 COVID-19 infections a day if it dropped its zero-tolerance policies by lifting travel curbs, according to a study by Peking University mathematicians.

In the report published in China CDC Weekly by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the mathematicians said China could not afford to lift travel restrictions without more efficient vaccinations or specific treatments.

New coronavirus variant Omicron keeps spreading, Australia detects cases

The new Omicron coronavirus variant kept spreading around the world on Sunday, with two cases detected in Australia, even as more countries tried to seal themselves off by imposing travel restrictions. Health officials in Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, said two passengers who arrived in Sydney from southern Africa on Saturday evening had tested positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Australian state confirms two cases of Omicron coronavirus variant

Health officials in Australia's most populous state confirmed on Sunday that two arrivals from southern Africa over the weekend had tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant. The New South Wales health department said both passengers had come to Sydney on Saturday evening and had tested positive for COVID-19 late that night.

Australia confirms two cases of Omicron COVID-19 variant

Australia confirmed on Sunday that two people arriving from southern Africa over the weekend had tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant, adding to a growing number of countries fighting the highly infectious strain. Health officials in New South Wales, the most populous state, said both passengers had arrived in the state capital, Sydney, on Saturday evening and tested positive for COVID-19 late that night, before genome sequencing confirmed the Omicron variant on Sunday.

Austria reports first suspected case of Omicron COVID-19 variant

Austria has detected its first suspected case of the new Omicron coronavirus variant in the Tirol, authorities in the alpine region said late on Saturday. A traveller who returned from South Africa last week tested positive for COVID-19 with indications of the new variant, though confirmation requires further sequencing over the coming days, Tirol authorities said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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