OMICRON RISK ‘VERY HIGH’ WHO SAYS; INFECTIONS HIT RECORD HIGHS ACROSS EUROPE

Wed 29 December 2021:

The risk posed by the Omicron variant is still “very high”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, after COVID-19 case numbers shot up by 11 percent globally last week.

Omicron is behind the rapid virus spikes in many countries, including those where it has already overtaken the previously-dominant Delta variant, the WHO said in its COVID-19 weekly epidemiological update.

“Consistent evidence shows that the Omicron variant has a growth advantage over the Delta variant with a doubling time of two to three days and rapid increase in the incidence of cases is seen in a number of countries,” the WHO said, including Britain and the United States, where it has become the dominant variant.

The news comes as several European countries, including France, UK, Italy, Greece, and Portugal all hit record daily infections. France reported almost 180,000 cases in a 24-hour period on Tuesday.

Countries across Europe have reported a record high number of infections as authorities scramble to stem the surge while the US also reported its single highest number of daily cases on Tuesday.

In the latest reporting period, the UK saw a record 129,471 new Covid cases, up from 98,515 reported on Monday. France reported 179,807 new cases, by far the highest number since the start of the pandemic. Greece also reported a new daily record of 21,657 Covid cases, more than double the number the day before. Denmark and Iceland similarly broke pandemic records with Denmark recording the world’s highest infection rate at 1,612 cases per 100,000 people.

The WHO, on the other hand, highlighted a 29 percent drop in the number of cases reported in South Africa, which was the first country to report the variant to the WHO on November 24.

Early data from the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Denmark — which has the world’s highest infection rate per person — suggested that Omicron had a lower risk of hospitalization than Delta.

However, more information was needed to fully comprehend Omicron’s severity in terms of clinical markers like oxygen use, mechanical ventilation, and death.

More information was also needed on how previous Covid infection or vaccination might affect severity.

“It is also expected that corticosteroids and interleukin 6 receptor blockers will remain effective in the management of patients with severe disease,” the WHO said.

“However, preliminary data suggest that monoclonal antibodies may be less able to neutralise the Omicron variant.”

The WHO said that in the week ending Sunday, following a gradual increase since October, the global number of new cases rose by 11 percent compared to the previous week, while the number of new deaths dipped by four percent.

“This corresponds to just under five million new cases and over 44,000 new deaths,” the Geneva-based organisation said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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