The Dutch health authorities said on Tuesday that when South Africa issued a warning to the World Health Organization last week, the omicron variant had already appeared in the Netherlands, adding to people’s fear and confusion about the new version of the coronavirus. The epidemic behind it.

The RIVM Institute of Health in the Netherlands found omicron in samples taken from November 19 to 23. The World Health Organization stated that South Africa first reported the variant to the UN health agency on November 24.

It is not clear when and where the variant first appeared-but this has not stopped vigilant countries from rushing to impose travel restrictions, especially for tourists from Southern Africa. These measures have been criticized by South Africa, and the WHO has also urged against these measures and pointed out that their effects are limited.

Little is known about this variant-although the World Health Organization warns that the global risk of this variant is “very high”, and early evidence suggests that it may be more contagious.

The Dutch statement on Tuesday further confuses the timetable for when the new variant will actually appear. Previously, the Dutch had stated that they had found the mutation in passengers from South Africa on Friday-but these new cases were earlier than that.

According to the dpa news agency, at the same time, authorities in the eastern German city of Leipzig said on Tuesday that they have confirmed that a 39-year-old man has been infected with the omicron variant. The man has neither been abroad nor in contact with anyone who has been abroad. . Leipzig is located in the eastern state of Saxony, which currently has the highest rate of coronavirus infection in Germany.

At the same time, Japan and France announced their first new variant cases on Tuesday.

French authorities confirmed its existence on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. Patrick Mavingui, a microbiologist at the island’s infectious disease research clinic, said the person who tested positive for the new variant was a 53-year-old man who had travelled to Mozambique and stayed in South Africa before returning to Reunion. .

The man has been quarantined. According to the public television station Reunion 1ere, Ma Wenji said he had “muscle pain and fatigue.”

The day after banning all foreign tourists as an emergency preventive measure against the variant, Japan also confirmed its first case, which was a tourist from Namibia. A government spokesperson said that the patient was a man in his 30s who tested positive when he arrived at Narita Airport on Sunday. He is currently in quarantine and is receiving treatment in the hospital.

On Tuesday, the travel ban also continued to decline.

Cambodia banned travelers from 10 African countries from entering the country on the grounds of the threat of this variant. The move came two weeks after Cambodia reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers.

Although the WHO urges not to close the border, it emphasizes that although scientists are looking for evidence to better understand this variation, countries should speed up vaccination as soon as possible.

The WHO stated that there is “considerable uncertainty” in the omicron variant. But it said that preliminary evidence suggests that the variant has mutations that can help it evade immune system responses and enhance its ability to spread from one person to another.

Despite global concerns, doctors in South Africa report that so far, patients’ symptoms have mostly been mild. But they warn that it is still too early. Most new cases occur in people in their 20s and 30s, who usually do not get sick from COVID-19 like elderly patients.