The World Health Organisation has warned that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was spreading faster than any previous strains of the virus.
At a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted by CNBC as saying, “Seventy-seven countries have now reported cases of Omicron. And the reality is that Omicron is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet.”
Ghebreyesus said the WHO was worried that countries were considering Omicron as a “mild” variant. “We have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril. Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems,” Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying by CNBC.
The WHO chief reiterated the organisation's advice to adopt all possible measures to prevent infection. “It’s not vaccines instead of masks. It’s not vaccines instead of distancing. It’s not vaccines instead of ventilation or hand hygiene. Do it all. Do it consistently. Do it well,” Ghebreyesus said.
Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies programme, backed Ghebreyesus, and noted the mitigation measures would reduce pressure on strained health systems.
Ryan argued, “Health systems are weaker now than they were a year ago in reality... So unfortunately, sometimes you can get up after the first punch, but it’s very hard to get up after the second. And that’s the difficulty. We’re relying on health workers of the health system that have been weakened by this response.”
UK lifts Africa flight ban
British Health Secretary Sajid Javed announced the UK would lift its travel ban on 11 African nations from 4am (BST) on Wednesday.
The UK had imposed a ban on flights from 11 nations soon after Omicron was detected. Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe were placed on the UK's Red List.
Javed informed Parliament “Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel Red List is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad,” the BBC reported.
The BBC reported that with the ban being lifted, those people who were in managed quarantine in the UK would be allowed to leave early.
Javed warned MPs, “Omicron is so transmissible that even if it proves to be less severe than other variants, there is still likely to be a surge in hospital admissions if it goes unchecked.”
Javed had warned on Monday that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) estimated that there are 200,000 new Omicron infections a day in the country. The claim had attracted criticism that the government was scaremongering.
