Epidemiological update: Omicron variant of concern (VOC) – data as of 7 December 2021 (12.00)

Cases have been reported by 19 countries in the EU/EEA: Austria (15), Belgium (11), Croatia (3), Czechia (1), Denmark (73), Finland (7), France (25), Germany (15), Greece (3), Iceland (12), Ireland (1), Italy (9), Latvia (2), the Netherlands (24), Norway (19), Portugal (34), Romania (2), Spain (7), and Sweden (11) according to information from public sources. One new EU/EEA country (Croatia) has reported the Omicron variant, and a number of probable cases are currently under investigation in several countries.

The majority of confirmed cases have an epidemiological link to cases with a history of travel to African countries, with some of those having taken connecting flights at other locations between Africa and Europe.

Several EU/EEA countries (Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, 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.

Countries and territories outside of the EU/EEA have reported 863 confirmed cases. The 33 countries reporting confirmed cases are: Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Fiji, Ghana, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Three new countries and territories outside of the EU/EEA (Fiji, Russia, and Thailand) reported new cases.

Overall, globally there have been 1 137 confirmed cases reported by 52 countries, based on epidemic intelligence data from public sources (Table 1).

Table 1. Confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 VOC Omicron reported by public sources as of 7 December 2021 (12:00)

Probable case of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VOC infection

A person with a positive Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) or Rapid Antigen Detection Test (RADT) for SARS-CoV-2 AND one of the following: S-gene target failure or another PCR-based Single Nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay indicative of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VOC or is a contact of a probable or confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VOC infection

Confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VOC infection

A person with confirmed sequencing result for the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VOC (please see reporting protocol for amino acid substitution profile).