| Development | Date | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa announces detection of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.529 | 25 November | [12] |
| World Health Organization designates B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern, named Omicron | 26 November | [1] |
| Travel restrictions to South Africa and six neighbouring countriesa are put in place. This includes: - Advice against travelling to these countries; - For people with recent stays (≤ 10 days) in these countries, testing within 24 h after arrival in Denmark and isolation for 10 days; - Restriction of travel without negative COVID-19 test; - Incoming travellers from these countries are only allowed entry to Denmark with recognisable purpose and when holding a negative COVID-19 testing certificate. |
27 November | [13] |
| First two Omicron cases confirmed by WGS in Denmark in returning travellers from South Africa; Extensive contact tracing for Omicron cases implemented: - Confirmed cases are to isolate until 48 h after symptom cessation - Close contacts as well as close contacts of close contacts are recommended to quarantine regardless of vaccination status and to take a PCR test on Days 1, 4 and 6 from last exposure; recommendation of quarantine until a negative result of the test on Day 6. |
28 November | [14,15] |
| Implementation of travel restrictions from three additional countries (Angola, Malawi and Zambia) | 29 November | [16] |
| All passengers arriving from Hamad International Airport, Qatar and Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates, to be tested by antigen test at arrival in Denmark and referred to PCR test if the antigen test is positive; Omicron variant detection changes from del 69–70 to the more specific 452L. |
1 December | [17] |
| Change in the case definition of confirmed Omicron cases from WGS only to variant PCR and/or WGS | 4 December | [18] |
| Quarantine requirement for close contacts of close contacts of Omicron cases is abolished. | 7 December | [19] |
COVID-19: coronavirus disease; SARS-CoV-2: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; WGS: whole genome sequencing. a Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe. |