Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Austria reported the presence of the suspect Covid-19 varian Omicron in the country for the first time, Saturday (27/11). A tourist who had just returned from South Africa last Sunday tested positive for Covid-19, with indications of contracting a new variant.
This indication was discovered in the early stages of testing carried out by the Institute of Virology in Innsbruck. The suspect is a resident of the Schwaz district, Tyrol, Austria. The sample will be sent to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) for further testing.
“The results of the AGES will be known in the next few days,” said Elmar Rizzoli, chief of staff for coronavirus operations in Tyrol.
“The infected person, according to his statement and the information currently available, has been confined to his home since he returned from a trip three days ago and is not showing any symptoms,” Rizzoli added.
The Austrian government is conducting further testing for people who entered the country’s territory in the past 14 days. This test is carried out as a form of prevention for the Omicron variant which is increasingly widespread.
A few days ago, Austria had also imposed a national lockdown to suppress the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the country. They became the first Western European countries to lock down the region amid an increase in the region’s Covid.
AFP reported that under this lockdown, all major restaurants and markets were closed. All residents are also prohibited from leaving their homes, except for some purposes, such as work, shopping for basic needs, or exercising.
Meanwhile, schools and kindergartens remain open, but parents are asked to do their best to encourage their children to be active from home. However, the government did not offer a study from home program during the lockdown.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the addition of daily positive cases of Covid-19 in Austria reached 11,671 cases as of Saturday (27/11). In fact, this country has almost never experienced cases above ten thousand since the pandemic began. The figure above ten thousand was achieved since last November 10.
(ida/DAL)
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