Geneva, December 30, : .The World Health Organization has warned that Omicron and the currently in circulation Delta variants could lead to “a tsunami” of cases, putting enormous pressure on the national health systems. Recalling WHO’s responses since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, said Wednesday at a press conference that Omicron is more transmissible and circulating at the same moment as Delta, which could lead to an increase in the number of cases.
He said, “This is and continues to place immense pressure upon exhausted health workers.Health systems are on the brink and disrupting lives and livelihoods.”
Tedros expressed concern about a report that Omicron had been causing milder and less severe illnesses, Xinhua reported.
He said, “But we are submining each other at the same — it could prove dangerous.We shouldn’t undermine bad news by focusing only on good news.”
We don’t want anyone to become complacent and say that this isn’t severe but this is mild.He said that we must be careful with this narrative.
Mike Ryan, the Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program says that Omicron appears to be more transmissible and has a shorter incubation time.It also causes mild diseases.
This is based on how young the population the variant infects.
Ryan stated that Omicron has yet to be fully confirmed in the wider population.
He said he is “a bit nervous” to make predictions before we know how the vaccine protects older, more vulnerable people.
He said, “It’s important that over the next weeks we continue suppressing transmissions of both variants as much as possible.”
–IANs int/khz/
#tsunamis #Omicron #Delta #Covid-19
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