New York | The heavily mutated new coronavirus variant was in Europe several days earlier than previously known, health officials said on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT), and the number of countries where it has been found increased to at least 20, raising questions about whether the pandemic is about to surge again.

The Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said samples taken on November 19 and November 23 – before the November 24 announcement of omicron’s existence – tested positive for the variant. Health officials have notified the two infected people and are doing contact tracing to try to limit the spread.