In the Netherlands, an omicron strain was detected in samples collected before the first known case 
the first known case of this variant of the coronavirus in the country. This was reported at the Netherlands' National Institute of Health.
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A new strain of COVID-19 was found in samples taken on November 19 and 23. Researchers have not yet established whether there were people who took the tests in South Africa. The institute has already transmitted information to the local authorities of the regions where the infected live in order to track their recent contacts.
It was believed that the first infected with the omicron strain arrived in the Netherlands on a passenger flight from South Africa on November 28. According to the Institute of Health, 61 people out of 624 passengers were infected with the coronavirus, 13 of them were diagnosed with a new variant of COVID-19.
Earlier, the European Commission recognized the impossibility of preventing the spread of the omicron strain. According to the spokesman for the EC press service Eric Mamer, the measures taken are aimed only at the longest possible containment of the virus in order to give European health authorities and vaccine providers time to adapt.
A new strain of coronavirus under the code B.1.1.529 has been identified in South Africa on November 11. The first confirmed cases of infection were recorded on November 24. The strain was named with the Greek letter “omicron” and have already managed to recognize its danger at the WHO level.