OREANDA-NEWS. In Scotland, the first six cases of infection with a new strain of coronavirus omicron have been identified, according to the BBC. Cases of infection with omicron have already been recorded in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and the Czech Republic.

Earlier, a member of the Federation Council, pediatrician, pediatric surgeon and oncologist Vladimir Krugly said that in Russia, most likely, there are already infected with a new strain of coronavirus omicron. In his opinion, the source of the spread may be people who came from Egypt. In this regard, he called on the Russian authorities to close air traffic with Egypt until a new version of COVID-19 is studied. After that, the representative of Rospotrebnadzor denied the senator's words, saying that at the moment the strain omicron has not been detected in Russia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) does not rule out serious consequences in the event of a major outbreak of coronavirus caused by a new strain of omicron. The probability of it's potential further spread at the global level is high. WHO also called for accelerating the pace of vaccination of the population of countries in connection with the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus. According to the organization, the available vaccines allow to some extent to protect against the severe course of the disease and death when infected with the omicron strain.