The EU health agency said the risk level of new Covid strain is assessed as high to very high. (File)

Stockholm:

There is a “high to very high” risk that the new Covid variant, dubbed Omicron and originally detected in South Africa, will spread in Europe, the European Union’s health agency said Friday.

In a risk assessment report, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the “overall level of risk for the EU/EEA associated with the SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron is assessed as high to very high.”

Apart from South Africa, Omicron has been detected in Israel in a person coming from Malawi as well as in Botswana, Hong Kong and EU member Belgium.

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