News Desk :
The omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 89 countries, and Covid-19 cases involving the variant are doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in places with community transmission and not just infections acquired abroad, the World Health Organization said Saturday, reports AP.
Omicron’s “substantial growth advantage” over the delta variant means it is likely to soon overtake delta as the dominant form of the virus in countries where the new variant is spreading locally, the U.N. health agency said.
WHO noted that omicron is spreading rapidly even in countries with high vaccination rates or where a significant proportion of the population has recovered from COVID-19.
It remains unclear if the rapid growth of omicron cases is because the variant evades existing immunity, is inherently more transmissible than previous variants, or a combination of both, WHO said.
Other major questions about omicron remain unanswered, including how effective each of the existing Covid-19 vaccines are against it. Conclusive data also does not exist yet on how ill omicron makes Covid-19 patients, the health agency said.
WHO first labeled omicron a variant of concern on Nov. 26.
CBS News adds: It is now well on it’s way to becoming the dominant strain of the virus in the U.S. The number of states with Omicron Covid cases rose to 41 this week, Elise Preston reported for “CBS Saturday Morning.”
“And although Delta continues to circulate widely in the United States, Omicron is increasing rapidly, and we expect it to become the dominant strain in the United States as it has in other countries in the coming weeks,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency designated Omicron a variant of concern on 26 November, soon after it was first detected, and much is still not known about it, including the severity of the illness it causes, reports The Guardian.
“There are still limited data on the clinical severity of Omicron,” the WHO said. “More data are needed to understand the severity profile and how severity is impacted by vaccination and pre-existing immunity.”
It added: “There are still limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to date for Omicron.”
The WHO warned that with cases rising so rapidly, hospitals could be overwhelmed in some places.
“Hospitalisations in the UK and South Africa continue to rise, and given rapidly increasing case counts, it is possible that many healthcare systems may become quickly overwhelmed,” it said.
