Emer Cooke, EMA director
Covid-19 roundup: Old test samples suggest Omicron has been in Europe for weeks; US to tighten travel restrictions — report
Looking at past test samples, Dutch officials have detected the Omicron variant in cases dating back as far as Nov. 19, adding further evidence that the variant arrived in Europe well before the first cases were detected in South Africa.
The samples in question were taken on Nov. 19 and 23, according to the country’s health institute, RIVM.
“It is not yet clear whether these people had also visited southern Africa,” the RIVM said in a statement.
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