Two cases of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been detected in the southern German state of Bavaria, the regional health ministry said on Saturday.
The two infected people entered Germany at Munich airport on November 24, before Germany designated South Africa as a virus-variant area, and are now isolating, said the ministry.
Meanwhile, a case of Omicron was also detected in Italy, the National Health Institute (ISS) said.
The genome was sequenced at the Laboratory of Clinical Microbiology, Virology and Bioemergency Diagnostics of the Sacco Hospital in Milan from a positive sample of a patient coming from Mozambique.
The patient and his family contacts were in good health, the ISS said, adding that the sequence of the sample, "attributable to the one now known as variant of concern (VOC) and defined yesterday by WHO as "Omicron", was in the process of further confirmation.