Omicron spreads to 77 countries, WHO issues fresh warning

 

The World Health Organization has warned that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading at an unprecedented rate and urged countries to act

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists that the strain had been reported in 77 countries and had probably spread to most nations undetected "at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant".

At the same time the WHO on Tuesday also gave reason for some optimism, saying Africa had recorded a massive rise in cases over the past week but the number of deaths were lower than the previous waves.

However, it urged countries to act swiftly to rein in transmission and protect their health systems and warned against complacency.

WHO expert Bruce Aylward emphasised against "jumping to a conclusion that this is a mild disease".

"We could be setting ourselves up for a very dangerous situation," he added.

Omicron, first identified by South Africa and reported to the WHO in late November, has over 30 spike proteins which has raised fears that it has the potential to break through vaccine protection.

Early data suggests it can be resistant to vaccines and is more transmissible than the Delta variant, which was first identified in India and is now the dominant infection worldwide.

The WHO also warned that the low vaccination rates in regions such as Africa would provide breeding grounds for new variants such as Omicron.

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