OREANDA-NEWS. Eleven confirmed cases of infection with the new omicron coronavirus strain have now been reported in Italy, Higher Institute of Public Health (ISS) President Silvio Bruzaferro said on Tuesday.

“Currently in Italy the omicron variant has been identified in 11 cases that concern several regions. In addition, there are suspicious cases. We are talking about people who were in South Africa or had close contact with such persons,” said head of the institute, speaking at hearings in the Senate of the Republic.

According to Bruzaferro, at this stage, "vaccination is the decisive means of controlling the spread of the virus." In addition, he pointed to the need to accompany the winter vaccination campaign with "measures that we all know very well - wearing masks and washing hands."
The first case of infection with the omicron variant was recorded in Italy on November 27: doctors discovered this strain in an oil and gas company employee who had recently returned to the Apennines from a business trip to Mozambique. In addition to the man, six members of his family were infected with the coronavirus, all of whom live in the southern region of Campania. According to doctors, all those infected with this strain have a mild course of the disease.

According to the Italian medical authorities, cases of infection with the omicron variant have now been confirmed in four Italian regions - Campania, Calabria, Sardinia and Veneto, as well as in the autonomous province of Bolzano.

Three days ago, ISS circulated information about nine confirmed cases of infection with the omicron strain.