The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned the new Covid-19 Omicron variant poses a “very high” risk globally and is likely to spread further despite uncertainties about the danger and contagion levels of the new strain.
It said the B.1.1.529 strain, first found in South Africa, is “highly divergent” and likely to spread internationally at a very high speed and could possibly have “severe consequences and surges of Covid infections” caused by the variant of concern.
Currently, the Omicron variant has not been reported in India.
“The use of masks, physical distancing, ventilation of indoor space, crowd avoidance, and hand hygiene remain key to reducing transmission of SARS CoV-2 even with the emergence of the Omicron variant,” the WHO said, urging countries to increase contact tracing of Covid-19 cases.
“Given mutations that may confer immune escape potential and possibly transmissibility advantage, the likelihood of potential further spread of Omicron at the global level is high,” the WHO said in its risk assessment within a technical brief to its 194 member States.
“The overall global risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron is assessed as very high,” it noted.
“Depending on these characteristics, there could be future surges of Covid-19, which could have severe consequences, depending on a number of factors, including where surges may take place. The overall global risk related to the new VOC [variant of concern] Omicron is assessed as very high,” the WHO said.
Earlier, it said it is “not yet clear” whether the newly-detected coronavirus variant Omicron is more transmissible or causes more severe disease compared to other variants, including the highly-transmissible and globally prevalent Delta variant.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said many uncertainties remain about just how transmissible and severe infection by the highly mutated Omicron might be.
The WHO also said researchers in South Africa and around the world are conducting studies to better understand many aspects of Omicron and will continue to share the findings of these studies as they become available.
“There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants,” the WHO said.
It added that initial reported infections were among university studies — younger individuals who tend to have more mild disease — but understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks.
Tedros said WHO scientists and others around the world were working urgently to decipher the threat post by the new variant, saying, “We don’t yet know whether Omicron is associated with more transmission, more severe disease, more risk of infections, or more risk of evading vaccines.”