The head of the European Union's public health service said today that 42 cases of infection with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been confirmed in ten EU countries.
Andrea Amon, chair of the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), said at a conference hosted by the Slovenian EU presidency online that EU authorities were analyzing six other "possible" cases.
She said the confirmed cases are mild or asymptomatic, although they are recorded in younger age groups.
"In order to assess whether (Omicron) escapes immunity, we will still have to wait until the laboratory tests are carried out with samples from people who have recovered. "These are expected within two weeks," he added.