Epidemiological update: Omicron variant of concern (VOC) – data as of 5 December 2021 (12.00)

Cases have been reported by 17 countries: Austria (11), Belgium (9), Czechia (1), Denmark (18), Finland (7), France (16), Germany (15), Greece (1), Iceland (7), Ireland (1), Italy (9), the Netherlands (18), Norway (19), Portugal (34), Romania (2), Spain (7) and Sweden (7) according to information from public sources. One new EU/EEA country (Romania) has reported the Omicron variant and a number of probable cases are currently under investigation in several countries.

The majority of confirmed cases have a history of travel to countries in Africa, with some having taken connecting flights at other locations between Africa and Europe. Several EU/EEA countries (Belgium, Germany, Spain) detected cases without an epidemiological link to areas where community transmission of the Omicron variant is documented or presumed. This indicates that undetected community transmission could be ongoing in these countries. Finland reported cases with travel history within the EU/EEA (Sweden).

All cases for which there is available information on severity were either asymptomatic or mild. No deaths have been reported among these cases so far. These figures should be assessed with caution as the number of confirmed cases is too low to understand if the disease clinical spectrum of Omicron differs from that of previously detected variants.

Correction: Luxembourg’s case (source: GISAID open database) in yesterday’s epi update is pending official country confirmation.