Saliva samples were given by travelers at the Rīga International Airport on December 4.
The laboratory explained that the first-time testing showed that the samples did not correspond to the Delta variant of the virus and a more detailed investigation was carried out, including a virus sequence detection using the Sanger sequencing method. This revealed a match to the Omicron strain.
The Disease Prevention and Control Center (SPKC) said that an epidemiological investigation was launched on Monday morning in relation to the two cases. It has been established that these are two people in the age group 30-49 who returned to Latvia on December 4 from a major international event in Halmstad, Sweden, with a flight to Copenhagen-Riga, (airBaltic, flight BT132) and performed a test at the airport.
SPKC has required the passengers on that flight to closely monitor their health, perform a laboratory test after seven days, and identify and inform close contacts.
As reported earlier by LSM, currently, safety advice when encountering the Omicron strain is largely the same as usual.
