Somaya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the World Health Organization, is calling on the world to be prepared and alert, but don’t panic.
– How should we be concerned? She said in an interview with Reuters.
She hopes that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus will be milder than other types, but she emphasizes that nothing is certain.
– We have to wait, hopefully it will become milder. Swaminathan says it is too early to draw firm conclusions about the alternative.
There are no recorded deaths
More and more countries are registering an omicron infection, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet received any reports that the mutated coronavirus has claimed his life.
“I have not yet seen any reports of ommicron-related deaths,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said at a news conference in Geneva on Friday.
He assures that the organization is busy collecting documents, and that more will follow in due course.
– The more countries continue to test people specifically looking for the omikron variant, the more cases we will find, Lindmeier says.
He doesn’t rule out killing either, but he hopes not.
Delta variable dominates
While the mutated omicron variant has led many countries to impose new restrictions on infection control, people are being asked not to forget the delta variant, which is responsible for 99 percent of all reported infections in the past 60 days.
Omikron can grow and we can get to the point where it takes over and becomes the dominant alternative, but right now Delta is still the dominant alternative, Lindmeier says.
He points out that many of the current restrictions were introduced a few weeks ago and were the result of multiple delta cases.
Therefore, people must first and foremost do what they can to protect themselves from the delta variable, and then the ommicron, he says.
The effect of a vaccine is uncertain
Vaccinations against coronary arteries have been shown to be effective against the delta variant, while it is uncertain whether they also protect against the ommicron variant. Experts believe and hope that vaccines will at least protect against serious diseases over the ommicron variant.
According to the World Health Organization, it takes several weeks before you have a clear picture of how contagious the Omicron variant is and how serious the disease is. This also applies to the effect of various vaccines and medicines on the virus.
Early evidence suggests it is more contagious. But that’s all we know so far, says Christian Lindmeier.
(© NTB)
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