Conceptual illustration of coronaviruses;
Credit: Kangkan Halder
On 4 December 2021, a research facility in Brussels submitted a sequencing data to GISAID, an online global platform for genetic sequence depository of influenza viruses and coronaviruses causing COVID-19, revealing the Omicron variant of concern (VOC) in a sample from Luxembourg.
Today, Wednesday 8 December 2021, the microbiology department of the Luxembourg's National Laboratory of Health (Laboratoire National de Santé) has issued a technical briefing that the case in question related to a Luxembourgish expatriate studying in Brussels with his / her registered address in the database in Luxembourg, hence the confusion in reporting via GISAID.
The individual in question reported having had contact with positive cases in their occupational environment.
The patient is currently isolated in Belgium and had not travelled to Luxembourg during the weeks before infection.
The briefing further clarified that the confusion about the case report had been resolved with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and corrective action is in place for the GISAID data.
