Hundreds of tourists fly to Salzburg to go skiing. Now the first are in the quarantine area in Tamsweg. As experts predicted, many tourists are infected with the virus mutation Omikron. In Salzburg, the number of cases has multiplied within a few days: on Wednesday there were already 27.
“No contact persons and easy to isolate,” it has been said again and again in the past few days by the health authorities about those infected with Omikron in Salzburg. But the country now has 27 confirmed cases of the new mutation – and not all of them can be clearly understood. There are no clusters, but rather individual cases that arise. In addition to infected people returning from a trip, there are also infections from contact persons and completely inexplicable Omicron infections that are not related to travel. So far, there have been 14 cases in the city of Salzburg, eight of them have no travel background, but are infected inland. Tourists also have the new virus variant in their luggage. It is unclear exactly how many introduced the mutation. Only since Monday has the PCR test been compulsory for all travelers who have not been triple vaccinated. The first vacationers – including from the risk area Great Britain – are now with Omikron in the quarantine area in Tamsweg, where they are isolated and given medical care. 70 beds are available there for infected tourists. The country expects the number of quarantine residents to increase in the next few days. “We know that Omikron is three to five times more contagious. That will also be reflected in the hospitals, ”says Uta Hoppe, Primary at the Salzburg University Hospital. Every corona vaccination offers – albeit reduced – protection.
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