13 omicron cases detected in Portuguese pro soccer team

Thirteen members of a Portuguese professional soccer team have tested positive for the new COVID-19 omicron variant after one player recently returned from a trip to South Africa.

A spokesman for Belenenses told Reuters that two or three of the players and two or three of the staff members who tested positive for the new strain have symptoms, noting that they are “nothing too serious.”

The rest of the positive cases, however, are asymptomatic, according to the spokesman.

He said 44 players and staff members, himself included, are now self-isolating at home and waiting to be tested.

One of the players who tested positive for the variant is a player who recently returned from South Africa, according to The New York Times, which is where the omicron strain was first detected.

The outbreak was detected after the team played a Primeira Liga match against Benfica on Saturday. Most of the team was in isolation because of an existing COVID-19 outbreak, leaving just nine Belenenses players on the field when the game started, according to Reuters.

At that point, as many as 17 players and staff members had received positive COVID-19 tests, according to the Times, though it is not clear if they were infected with the omicron variant.

The Belenenses players reportedly wanted to cancel the game, but officials pressed forward with the contest.

When the team returned from halftime, only seven players returned to the field, according to Reuters. The game ended soon after.

The outbreak on the team comes just days after the World Health Organization (WHO) labeled the highly mutated omicron strain a variant of concern.

While there is still much to learn about the variant, the WHO is already saying the strain poses a “very high” global risk.

Some countries are now instituting travel restrictions from a handful of African countries, including the U.S. and Portugal. Starting Monday, all flights to and from Mozambique would be suspended because of concerns over the variant, according to the Times.

In the U.S., travel will be restricted for individuals coming from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi starting Monday.