Spreading rapidly in Europe, Omicron variant sparks a wave of new restrictions

With 32 mutations from the original Alpha strain of coronavirus, Omicron remains little understood. It may be more transmissible and more resilient against current vaccines, as Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a White House press conference on Wednesday, but more data is still needed. What has become clear is that it is already appearing in significant numbers in Europe, which was recently designated by the WHO as the global epicenter of COVID thanks to an ongoing surge of Delta.

In Spain, where three cases of Omicron have been detected, at least two of them in fully vaccinated travelers and one who had not visited Africa, vaccine passports are being rolled out in Barcelona and Madrid. In the Netherlands, normally bustling streets are dead, with bars and eateries are now forced to shutter even earlier — at 5 pm —and soccer games will once again be played to empty stadiums.

A passenger from a flight from South Africa gets tested for the coronavirus at the Amsterdam Schiphol airport in the Netherlands.

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Omicron was in Europe long before travel bans on southern AfricaCovid-19 vaccines helped to prevent tens of thousands of deaths among seniors in the US between January and May of this year. Despite their widespread availability and efficacy, many people are refusing a shot.
Source: CNN - 🏆 4. / 95 Read more »

Omicron may become dominant in Europe in months -EUThe European Union's public health agency said on Thursday that the Omicron variant could be responsible for more than half of all COVID-19 infections in Europe within a few months, but no cases of severe disease had yet been identified in the region.
Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »

Why scientists — and much of the world — reacted so quickly to the omicron variantThese early signs made omicron different from previous Covid variants, experts say.
Source: NBCNews - 🏆 10. / 86 Read more »

Omicron variant was spreading beyond Africa before it was identified, new evidence suggestsWorld health officials scrambled to react to the growing omicron outbreak Wednesday amid new evidence that the variant may have been spreading earlier than first detected.
Source: NBCNewsHealth - 🏆 707. / 51 Read more »

5 New Things Experts Just Discovered About COVIDHere's what's new, from the omicron variant to updated booster guidance.
Source: HuffPostWomen - 🏆 27. / 68 Read more »