One of the discoverers of the new form, citing the DPA, said that coronavirus variants that preceded Omicron may have been around for a long time.

“According to our current information, the early form of Omicron was formed as a separate species before the appearance of alpha and delta,” said Wolfgang Presser of Stellenbosch University near Cape Town.

It is possible that this type of virus developed over months without attracting attention. “The question is: Why did Omicron remain hidden for so long and only spread now? Wasn’t there one or two missing mutations that would allow it to spread quickly?”

The oldest evidence of cucumbers so far dates back to the first half of November. Omicron was first discovered in the Republic of South Africa and Botswana, and has a large number of mutations affecting the protein through which it binds to human cells.

In Germany, 4 cases have been confirmed so far and 8 more are suspected, but experts indicate that there are already others. According to the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention, within a few months, the option could become mainstream in Europe. So far, there is no specific data on how widespread it is and whether it leads to a more serious course of the disease, but according to preliminary information, Omicron has serious advantages over the Delta option.

At the same time, almost two-thirds of Germans will support a proposal to make vaccinations against Kovid-19 mandatory – such a proposal will be submitted to Parliament. This shows a published study cited by the Department of Political Affairs in the wake of the EU President’s call for member states to consider compulsory vaccination. Potential future chancellor Olaf Scholz has already said he intends to introduce a bill in the Bundestag on compulsory vaccination in February or March.

63 percent of Germans surveyed supported making immunization against the coronavirus mandatory for people living in Germany. 30% voted against it and 7% did not respond. The YouGov study, conducted from December 1 to 3, included 2,067 people.

At the start of vaccination in Germany about a year ago, at the end of December 2020, about 56 percent supported compulsory vaccination, and 33 percent opposed it.

Potential future chancellor Olaf Schulz said he plans to introduce a bill in the Bundestag on compulsory vaccination in February or March.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, the number of cases has decreased slightly. The new cases amounted to 42,055, and the number of infected people per 100,000 people in the past seven days was 439.2. And the new cases last week were 44,401 cases, and the number of infected people per 100,000 people in one week was 446.7.

However, the institute warned that it is likely that many cases will not be reported because the increase in hospitalizations did not leave health care professionals enough time to track and record all cases.