The Omicron variant seems “very contagious”. Mild symptoms should not deceive. You have to be “prepared and careful, but don’t panic”. The WHO collects data and elements on the Omicron variant: there is not yet a picture outlined in detail, but the identikit of the latest threat begins to take shape. “Based on the first reports, starting with those of the province of Gauteng” in South Africa “where it was identified, we believe that it is very transmissible. South Africa has registered a very rapid increase in the number of infections”, up to 16,000 in the last 24 hours .
“They are doubling day by day and this suggests that the virus is extremely transmissible,” said Professor Soumya Swaminathan, WHO’s No. 1 scientist, attending the Reuters NEXT Global Conference. “It’s hard to say how much more transmissible than the Delta variant,” he says.
“It’s a ‘Fast and Furious’ style situation. Information on the Omicron variant is coming in every day, but it will still take some time to get the full picture on contagiousness, disease severity, vaccines, impact on measures,” says epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove, at a WHO social event. “There is a lot of research going on, contacts with researchers in South Africa and around the world are continuous. We see numbers increasing, we have reports on presence in 38 countries, in all 6 WHO regions. We see an increasing trend in South Africa, but more days will be needed “to be certain about contagiousness. “The Delta variant is still dominant in the world.”
“Symptoms, according to reports, range from mild to severe. The first reports” from South Africa “came from a cluster of college students, young individuals who tend to have mild symptoms. Coronavirus infection tends to start with mild symptoms.” regardless of the variant. “Maybe we stop at that point, maybe more time has to pass to see more severe symptoms.” Again, “it is too early” to make definitive assessments on the severity of the disease caused by the Omicron variant. “” South Africa has reported an increase in hospitalizations: if there are more cases, there are more hospitalizations. And if there are more hospitalizations, there are more deaths, “in general.” It will still take time to understand the impact “of the variant” on vaccines. Omicron has a large number of mutations, some have already been identified in other variants. “The hypothesis of a reduced efficacy of vaccines is based on” clues “, but there is a lack of concrete elements to arrive at a definitive answer.
“I haven’t seen any reports of deaths related to the Omicron variant yet,” says spokesman Christian Lindmeier. “We are gathering all the elements. The more countries carry out tests, particularly to detect Omicron, the more we will find cases and – hopefully not – possibly deaths.”
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