OMICRON COULD BE MILDER THAN DELTA; TRANSMITS MORE RAPIDLY: WHO

Thu 09 December 2021:

Early evidence suggests that the Omicron coronavirus variant is more likely than previous variants to reinfect people who have already had the virus or been vaccinated, but it may also cause milder disease, according to the World Health Organization.

“Emerging data from South Africa suggests increased risk of reinfection with Omicron,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Wednesday, adding “there is also some evidence that Omicron causes milder disease than Delta”.

However, he stressed that more data was needed before drawing firm conclusions, and he urged countries around the world to increase surveillance to help provide a clearer picture of Omicron’s behavior.

The optimistic assessments came as global concern about the heavily mutated variant grew, forcing dozens of countries to reimpose border controls and raising the prospect of a return to economically punishing lockdowns.

Even if Omicron does turn out to produce less severe sickness, Tedros cautioned against losing track of the virus. He cautioned, “Any complacency now will cost lives.”

Michael Ryan, WHO’s director of emergencies, agreed, saying that the data thus far shows the variant is “efficiently transmitting, and probably more efficiently transmitting than the Delta variant.”

“That does not mean that the virus is unstoppable,” he said. “But it means the virus is more efficient at transmitting between human beings. And, therefore, we have to redouble our efforts to break those chains of transmission to protect ourselves to protect others.”

Even if the new variant turns out to be less dangerous than many previous variants, if it transmits more rapidly it could still sicken more people, overburden health systems, “and more people die”, he said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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