Two Christmas dinners, one conference and a student with an unknown route of transmission. These outbreaks of confirmed or suspected omicron infection are known so far – and FHI expects that many with infection will be detected in the coming days.
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The Omikron outbreaks in Norway were among the first major ones to be mapped outside South Africa. The first known outbreak, at Louise Restaurant in Oslo, received international attention.
The National Institute of Public Health (FHI) says that they will probably not update the number of confirmed cases before Monday, but are clear that there will be “many reports of suspected cases handled by the municipalities in collaboration with the outbreak group at FHI”.
– We assist a number of municipalities with assessments and support for the management of omikron infection, and the laboratory works intensively with, among other things, screening and genome sequencing for the detection of omikron, says department director Line Vold in FHI to VG.
She says that they are also working to update the risk assessment, and with different scenarios for further development and associated measures.
– It is especially important to follow developments closely and update existing knowledge now, and also continuously assess the level of measures, says Vold.
Suspected omikron in Oslo school
Since the first Norwegian outbreak at a Christmas table at Aker Brygge, several new outbreaks have become known. No later than Sunday evening, it became known that Oslo Municipality suspects that a student at Steinerskolen in Bydel Vestre Aker is infected with omikron.
– What you always fear with omikron, is rapid spread, says district chief physician Jorunn Thaulow to VG.
She says they are now waiting to get an overview as they receive more test results in the coming days.
–A large number of people will be asked to test themselves with a PCR test and remain in quarantine until a negative test result is available. There are about a hundred students in total, according to Thaulow.
– The challenge with this case is that there is an unknown route of transmission. We do not know where the infection came from. That makes it very demanding, says the district superintendent.
– Can take over quickly
Several other places in the world have seen that omikron quickly takes over as the dominant variant. Denmark registered 18 cases on Friday – while on Sunday discovered as many as 183 new cases.
In South Africa, where the variant was first discovered, has omikron in several provinces already taken over, and the infection has exploded. On Friday, the country registered over 16,000 cases. Twelve days earlier, they had no more than 312 cases in one day.
Now Line Vold says that omikron can quickly become the dominant variant in Norway as well. The National Institute of Public Health therefore expects that many people with omicron infection will be discovered in the coming days.
– The experience from when alpha and delta came to the country is that new, more contagious variants can quickly take over as the dominant variant, so we must be prepared for a rapid increase in the proportion with omicron infection in the future.
Although the omicron variant appears to be more contagious, and the infection increases where it becomes dominant, the number of hospital admissions is still the most concerned in pandemic management.
VG EXPLAINS: What does the omicron variant mean for corona development in Norway?
None of those infected in the omicron outbreaks in Norway have so far become seriously ill. The US infection control leader Anthony Fauci was also on Sunday cautiously optimistic about the new variant:
– It is too early to give any definitive statements, but so far it does not look like the variant is so very serious. So far, the findings are a bit encouraging, Fauci said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.
These are the outbreaks:
Since the first outbreak was detected, at least three other confirmed or suspected omicron outbreaks have been reported. We know these so far:
- November 26: Christmas table at Louise Restaurant, Oslo: More than 120 people is confirmed corona infection in connection with a outburst at the Louise restaurant at Aker Brygge in Oslo. Just over 70 of those infected belonged to the Christmas table of the solar energy company Scatec. The others were guests at the nightclub the same evening, November 26. All known cases so far were fully vaccinated, with two doses.
- November 27: Christmas table at Maarud in Sør-Odal: Least 42 people has been diagnosed with infection after a Christmas dinner at Maarud in Sør-Odal municipality. Among those infected are employees of the company, hosts, and entertainment actors. The municipal chief believes that there is reason to believe that this is the omikron variant, but that the municipality has not received an answer to the tests that have been sent for sequencing.
- November 29 and 30: Conference at Lysebu in Oslo: Seven people has been confirmed infected, and about a hundred have been quarantined after an HR conference hosted by Abelia. Results from screening place three cases as “likely omicron”. All those infected in the outbreak are fully vaccinated with two doses. The infected come from six different municipalities in five counties.
- December 4: Vestre Aker, Oslo: It is suspected that a pupil at Steinerskolen in Bydel Vestre Aker in Oslo is infected with omicron. Preliminary test results show «probable omicron». Suspicion of omikron was revealed on December 4, but it is not yet known where the student was infected.
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