Geneva: Omicron Coronavirus variant, which was reported in more than 60 countries, pose a global risk of “very high”, with some evidence that he avoided vaccine protection but clinical data about his severity remained limited, said the World Health Organization.
Uncertainty that was quite large surrounded Omicron, was first detected last month in South Africa and Hong Kong, whose mutations could lead to higher transmission and more cases of Covid-19 disease, which said in a brief technical released on Sunday.
“The overall risk is related to the new variant of Omicron’s concern is still very high because of a number of reasons,” he said, repeating his first judgment on November 29.
“And second, preliminary evidence shows the possibility of potential infections and high transmission rates, which can cause further surge with severe consequences,” WHO said, referring to the potential ability of the virus to avoid the immunity given by antibodies.
Which quoted some preliminary evidence that the number of people infected with the virus had increased in South Africa.
While the initial findings from South Africa showed that Omicron might be less severe than Delta variants – currently dominant throughout the world – and all cases reported in the European region have been light or asymptomatic, it is still unclear to the extent to which Omicron might be less malignant, it was said.
“More data is needed to understand the severity profile,” he said.
“Even if the severity has the potential to be lower than the Delta variant, it is expected that hospitalization will increase as a result of increased transmission.
More hospitalizations can place the burden on the health system and cause more deaths.” Further information is expected in the coming weeks, he added, recorded a lag of time between infection and results.