This emerges from the variant report of the Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), which was updated on Friday. In the past calendar week there were 46 records, on the other hand there were 2,558 cases of the delta variant from random samples of a total of 29,458 new infections. Most of the Omikron cases, with 37 so far, are in Vienna. There are 18 cases in Upper Austria. These are officially still suspected cases, but have already been pre-sequenced by laboratories and it can therefore be assumed that they will also be confirmed by AGES through whole genome sequencing, according to the state of Upper Austria.
The Omicron variant has been classified as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) because of the high number of S-gene mutations. It is the most deviating variant that has so far been detected in significant numbers during the pandemic. It could be linked to increased transmissibility, a significant decrease in the effectiveness of the vaccine and an increased risk of reinfection, AGES explains.
Source: Nachrichten
