1st case of Omicron variant found in Finland

One person has been diagnosed with coronavirus infection caused by the Omicron variant in Finland, said the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Thursday.

According to the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS), the infection was diagnosed in a person who had been vaccinated twice in Helsinki, and his symptoms are mild.

Other persons in the same group, who returned to Finland from Sweden have also been diagnosed with coronavirus infections.

Their infections, however, have not yet been confirmed as cases of the omicron variant.

Local authorities are tracing exposed persons and have taken preventive measures in the hospital districts of Varsinais-Suomi, Helsinki and Uusimaa and Pohjois-Savo.

Earlier, Finland suspected five- first two and later three- infections of the coronavirus variant Omicron in the country but on Wednesday THL confirmed that authorities did not find infection of Omicron variant in the first two suspects.

The samples from both the were genetically sequenced, in order to determine their genetic makeup.

One was diagnosed to be infected with the Delta variant while the rest one was tested again as the viral value in sample was too low to determine the infection.

Both the suspects arrived in the country from abroad.

The THL on Wednesday also said that three more suspected infections of the coronavirus variant Omicron were being investigated in the country.

The THL, however, did not divulge about the group the of Omicron infected person belongs.

The spread of the Omicron variant could be prevented in the same way as other coronavirus variants, said the THL.

The generation of virus variants is very common and is a part of the normal life cycle of viruses.

Variants can spread and displace earlier forms of the virus or be overcome by other variants, as has also been seen multiple times during the coronavirus pandemic.