For weeks, countries around the world have been monitoring the spread of Omicron, the new variant of SARS-CoV-2. There are still many questions to be answered: is it more infectious or virulent than others? And, above all: will it escape vaccines?
What is known is that this new variant had already been circulating around the world for some time before it was first identified in South Africa. A statement from the National Institute of Public Health and Environment (RIVM) of the Netherlands has announced, for example, that they have found the new variant in samples collected between 19 and 23 November. This indicates that Ómicron was already spreading in Western Europe before the first cases were identified in southern Africa. "It is not yet clear whether the people affected in the previous cases have also been in this area," explains the RIVM, adding that the people have already been informed of their Omicron infections and that local health services have begun to track your contacts.
Barcelona wastewater
The finding of the Dutch agency is not the only one in this line. A few days ago, the Catalan Department of Health announced the detection of the Omicron variant in the wastewater from community areas in the last weeks of November, results that should be confirmed in the coming days.
