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Despite a double vaccination and a negative test result, almost all the guests at a Christmas party became infected. New findings on the case should fuel the booster discussion in Europe.
The Oslo case caused a sensation across Europe.
AFP
According to new information from the Norwegian authorities, a guest had traveled back to Norway from South Africa the day before.
Photo only via AFP
A case from Norway shows how quickly Omikron can spread indoors.
At a Christmas party in a restaurant in Oslo, almost all of the guests became infected within a very short time.
The fact that none of the guests received a third vaccination should underline the importance of the booster.
It could become a warning model for the rest of Europe: In a restaurant in the Norwegian capital Oslo, there was a major outbreak with the new Corona variant Omikron at the end of November. At a Christmas party with a total of 117 people, 74 percent of the guests contracted the virus. Almost all of them were double vaccinated – all guests came with a negative test result. Obviously, this was of no use. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has now published the results of an investigation into the case, as reported by the news portal Focus.
The infected guest had arrived from South Africa the day before
After the Christmas party, a total of 66 people were found to be infected with the Omikron variant. Like all the other guests, they had taken a quick test or a PCR test before going to the restaurant, which all turned out negative. 15 other people were also infected with the coronavirus, but whether this is the omicron variant is still unclear.
As Focus writes, it is also possible that other guests were infected because not all PCR results would have been available by the time the investigation report was completed in mid-December. 77 people who were also in the restaurant but were not part of the Christmas party were also infected. The virus apparently entered society through a guest who had traveled from South Africa the day before.
The super spreader event could, for example, be the case for all of Europe. The German virologist Christian Drosten has also spoken out in this regard. On Twitter, based on the findings of the Norwegian authorities, he warns against the assumption that omicron gradients are usually milder and emphasizes that none of the guests had the booster.
Omicron infection was already noticeable after three days
In their report, the Norwegian experts explain that the guests at the Christmas party received their second vaccination an average of 79 days ago. They emphasize how fast the incubation period – that is, how long it takes the virus to cause symptoms in the infected person – was down. This was just three days, while with Delta and earlier variants it was typically four to five days. The average age was 38 years. They rate positively that none of the infected people had to go to hospital until their examinations were completed.
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