Portugal detects 13 cases of Omicron variant
Thirteen cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant have been found among players of Portugal’s top-flight football club Belenenses SAD, Politico reports, citing initial results from the country's national health institute (INSA).
One of the players has recently returned from South Africa, where the new strain was discovered last week, the institute said.
“Preliminary tests carried out at INSA, strongly suggest that all 13 cases associated with players of Belenenses SAD are linked to the variant of concern Omicron,” the institute said in a statement sent to Portuguese media.
Genome sequencing is being carried out for confirmation, INSA said, but added “the predictive value of the tests carried out is already very high.”