A minister in the German state of Hesse said on Saturday that the recently discovered Omicron variant of the coronavirus had very probably arrived in Germany.
"Last night several Omicron-typical mutations were found in a traveler returning from South Africa," tweeted Kai Klose, social affairs minister in the western German state that is home to Frankfurt airport.
He added that a full sequencing of the variant was being carried out.
The Czech Republic is examining a suspected case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus detected in a person who spent time in Namibia, the National Institute of Public Health said on Saturday.
"A lab is checking a possible find of a positive specimen of the Omicron variant. We are awaiting confirmation or refutation of the case," spokesperson Stepanka Cechova said in an emailed statement.