The patient is an Italian man who returned from Mozambique earlier this month and had initially tested negative for the virus.
The 55-year-old man, who had been double-vaccinated against COVID-19, landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport and then returned to his residence in Caserta, in the southern Campania region around Naples.
A manager employed by Italian multinational oil and gas company ENI, he tested positive for the virus upon arriving in Milan for work.
A study was carried out on the man’s case following rising concerns over the emerging variant and Italy’s new travel restrictions on arrivals from southern Africa.
The genome was sequenced at the Laboratory of Clinical Microbiology, Virology and Bioemergency Diagnostics of the Sacco Hospital in Milan.
The patient reportedly has mild symptoms and is doing well.
Five of his family members are in isolation, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
Italy’s top infectious diseases hospital, the Spallanzani in Rome, announced a task force to study the new variant on Friday, hours after the Italian health minister signed an order banning entry to anyone who has been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini in the previous 14 days.
Italian authorities ordered anyone already in Italy who had travelled there in the past two weeks to immediately inform the authorities, get tested, isolate for 10 days, and then re-test at the end of that period.
Germany and the UK also confirmed cases of the Omicron variant on Saturday, the day after the first case in Europe was detected in a Belgian woman who developed symptoms 11 days after returning from Egypt.
As nations around the world introduce flight bans and travel restrictions on southern African countries, Italy’s health ministry has urged Italian regions to increase tracing of passengers from areas at risk.
Italy has been one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in terms of fatalities with more than 133,000 deaths reported since February 2020.
It has been recording more than 10,000 new cases daily in recent days.
On Wednesday, the government announced it would be accelerating the administration of booster shots and bringing in tougher restrictions next month for those who are unvaccinated.
The country’s COVID-19 green pass health certificate will no longer allow access to “non-essential” services including leisure and cultural venues unless the carrier is vaccinated against or has recovered from COVID-19.
