The omicron strain of COVID-19, first detected in South Africa, has now been recorded in countries from the U.S. to South Korea, highlighting the difficulties of arresting contagious new variants, reports NDTV.
Most cases come from travelers carrying the infections across borders. Israel, for example, said a confirmed case in Tel Aviv was a person who arrived from Malawi in a bus.
Italy's first reported case traveled across the nation for days before testing positive. The first omicron infection was recorded in the U.S. in a person who returned from South Africa, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention informed.
Researchers around the world are trying to understand the full impact of the new variant, and several countries have prohibited travelers from South Africa and nearby nations over concerns that omicron could be resistant to vaccines and led to surge in cases.
Here's a list of countries that have reported cases of the new Covid-19 variant:
South Africa: Early PCR test samples suggested that 90 percent of 1,100 new infections recorded midweek in the province that includes Johannesburg were caused by the new strain. The daily figures of new confirmed infections almost doubled to 8,561 cases, as per the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
Botswana: At least 19 cases reported.
U.K.: 5 cases recorded so far.
Germany: 2 cases in travelers who came at Munich airport from South Africa, news agency AFP reported, citing regional officials.
Netherlands: 13 cases registered among travelers from South Africa.
Denmark: 2 infections in arrivals from South Africa.
Belgium: 1 case.
Israel: 1 confirmed infection and other suspected ones, as of Nov. 27.
Italy: 1 case who travelled across the country before testing positive.
Czech Republic: 1 case, as per local media.
Austria: 1 confirmed case in Tyrol in person arriving from South Africa. Authorities reviewing another 30 suspected cases
Switzerland: 3 cases. Patients are in isolation.
France: 13 suspected cases, according to a government spokesman.
Portugal: Preliminary tests of 13 cases "strongly" indicate they're all connected to the omicron variant. One of the cases involves a person who had a recently travelled to South Africa.
Spain: 1 infection, as per Madrid's health ministry.
Sweden: 1 infection, as per the country's Public Health Agency
Hong Kong SAR: 4 imported infections confirmed, two of them connected to South Africa and the others to Nigeria.
Australia: 6 confirmed cases in New South Wales state. The sixth case was a fully inoculated traveller who had recently arrived from southern Africa, as per the NSW Health.
Japan: 1 confirmed case, who arrived from Namibia. A second infection was recorded in a person coming from Peru.
Canada: 5 cases, including a first case in Quebec who had arrived from Nigeria, as per a Reuters report, citing Ottawa Public Health.
Brazil: 2 infections. Detected in samples from a married couple who had recently travelled to South Africa.
Norway: 2 cases reported in the Oygarden municipality. Both people had been traveling in South Africa.
Ireland: 1 case reported in a person who traveled to a risk area.
U.S.: 1 case logged in California in a traveler who returned from South Africa and was fully inoculated, as per the CDC
South Korea: Five cases reported, including a couple who returned from Nigeria and their contacts.
U.A.E.: 1 case reported.
Saudi Arabia: 1 infection confirmed
