Sweden has detected the first case of the omicron variant of covid in a person who recently returned from South Africa, according to the Swedish Public Health Agency on Monday.

The variant was detected in a sample taken just over a week ago from a person who resides in the Skane province, in the south of the country, according to a statement from the Agency.

It was to be expected that we would find the variant also in Sweden, as it has been discovered in several other European countries, ”declared the director general of the Public Health Agency, Karin Tegmark Wissell, according to the same source.

"The measures for travelers from South Africa were reinforced last Friday and we are closely following developments," added the official.

Tegmark Wissell added that it is necessary to "take the new variant very seriously" until there is more data in this regard and that for this reason the health authorities will strengthen the monitoring to detect the presence of the omicron variant among the covid samples.

According to the newspaper "Dagens Nyheter", there are two other suspected cases in the city of Jönköping, in the south of the country, also linked to South Africa, which have not yet been confirmed.

This Sunday the first cases of the new variant were detected in both Denmark and Germany, where two and three cases were registered respectively.