“At the moment we are not sure whether Omicron has not already entered Bulgaria. We have suspicions based on preliminary data from PCR tests,” Assoc. Prof. Ivailo Alexiev from the National Centre of Parasitic and Infectious Diseases said for bTV.  "The suspicious samples are being tested additionally and we shall know whether we have Omicron within days. The tests are from people from different parts of Bulgaria and there is no data of their having travelled abroad".

“What we know at this time is that this virus is more transmissible, that it doubles the number of people infected more quickly compared to the previous Delta variant,” Assoc. Prof. Alexiev said. “It is not as yet clear how severe Omicron is.”