The African “Omicron” strain is already in Russia, the source of its spread may be Russian tourists who have visited Egypt, Senator Vladimir Krugli said.

RIA Novosti reported.

“Omicron strain is most likely present in Russia, the source of its spread is our people who visited Egypt,” he said.

The Honored Doctor of Russia called for the closure of flights with the Arab Republic until the new strain is studied. In his view, in any case, “medical supervision should be established for those coming from Egypt.” Krugli said that Russia has “rather soft” control over foreigners, and reminded of the strict anti-epidemic measures in Israel.

As the senator noted, according to experts, the vaccination will help mitigate the effects of the Omicron strain. However, he did not rule out that this version of SARS-CoV-2 “could pose a danger even to vaccinated people.”