Health News Roundup: Dutch authorities say 18 passengers from South Africa had Omicron; Six more U.S. states find Omicron cases, Delta still top U.S. coronavirus threat and more

Missouri was awaiting CDC confirmation of a case involving a St. Louis resident who had recently traveled within the United States. S.African official says children sick with COVID-19 have mild infections Higher hospital admissions among children during a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections in South Africa that has been driven by the Omicron coronavirus variant should not prompt panic as infections have been mild, a health official said on Saturday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Dutch authorities say 18 passengers from South Africa had Omicron

Dutch health authorities said on Saturday the final tally of passengers on two flights from South Africa last week who had tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant was 18. The Netherlands' Institute for Health (RIVM) added in a statement that its investigation on passengers on the two flights has now been wrapped up.

Six more U.S. states find Omicron cases, Delta still top U.S. coronavirus threat

Six more U.S. states confirmed infections of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Friday but the Delta strain likely remains a greater threat as winter sets in and Americans gather for the holidays, experts said. New Jersey, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Utah each reported their first cases of the Omicron variant on Friday. Missouri was awaiting CDC confirmation of a case involving a St. Louis resident who had recently traveled within the United States.

S.African official says children sick with COVID-19 have mild infections

Higher hospital admissions among children during a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections in South Africa that has been driven by the Omicron coronavirus variant should not prompt panic as infections have been mild, a health official said on Saturday. A large number of infants admitted with COVID-19 last month in Tshwane, the metropolitan area that includes the capital Pretoria, raised concerns that the newly identified Omicron could pose greater risks for young children than other variants.

Britain tightens testing for inbound travellers, adds Nigeria to red list

Britain will require all inbound travellers to take a pre-departure COVID-19 test and arrivals from Nigeria will have to quarantine in hotels to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, health minister Sajid Javid said on Saturday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that travel restrictions are necessary to slow the spread of Omicron while scientists work to understand more about the transmissibility and implications for vaccine effectiveness of the variant.

Australia regulator approves Pfizer vaccine for children 5-11

Australia's medicine regulator on Sunday provisionally approved the Pfizer Inc coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11, with the health minister saying the rollout could begin from Jan. 10. The Therapeutics Goods Administration "have made a careful, thorough assessment, determined that it is safe and effective and that it is in the interests of children and Australians for children 5 to 11 to be vaccinated," said Health Minister Greg Hunt.

U.S. administers 468.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines- CDC

The United States had administered 468,516,782 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 581,107,805 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 466,348,132 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Dec. 3 out of 580,893,145 doses delivered.

Omicron variant may have picked up a piece of common-cold virus

The Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus - possibly one that causes the common cold - present in the same infected cells, according to researchers. This genetic sequence does not appear in any earlier versions of the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, but is ubiquitous in many other viruses including those that cause the common cold, and also in the human genome, researchers said.

Dutch former queen Beatrix tests positive for COVID-19

Dutch former queen Beatrix, 83, has tested positive for COVID-19, the royal information service RVD said in a statement Saturday. Princess Beatrix, as she has been known since her abdication in 2013, got tested after coming down with "mild cold symptoms", the statement said.

Australia Omicron variant spreads, testing reopening plans

The Omicron coronavirus variant spread in Australia on Saturday, testing plans to reopen the economy as a cluster in Sydney grew to 13 cases and an infection was suspected in the state of Queensland. Federal authorities are sticking with a plan to reopen the economy on the hope that the new variant proves to be milder than previous strains, but some state and territory governments have moved to tighten their domestic border controls.

Explainer-Could the Omicron variant bring milder illness?

The Omicron variant, spreading now in southern Africa and detected in over 30 other countries, has prompted fears it could significantly undermine the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19. Yet as scientists race to understand the full consequences of Omicron, some are also asking whether this new version of coronavirus might cause milder illness than its predecessors. While they caution that it is far too early to draw conclusions, here is what is known so far:

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