WHO: The omicron variant of Covid-19 has already been identified in 38 countries
Geneva, Dec. 4, LETA – AFP. The new strain of Covid-19 omicron has now been identified in 38 countries, but no deaths have yet been reported, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
The United States and Australia have so far been the last countries to have confirmed localized cases of this type.
The WHO has warned that it may take several weeks to find out how contagious the new strain is, whether it causes more serious illness, and how effective current vaccines and treatments are.
“We will get those answers that everyone needs,” said Michael Ryan, WHO’s director of emergency.
The spread of the new variant has already led to warnings that more than half of the new cases of Covid-19 in Europe in the coming months may be of this type.
The omicron may also slow the global economic recovery previously carried out by the Covid-19 delta, Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), warned on Friday.
A new variant of Covid-19 with a large number of mutations was identified in the Republic of South Africa (South Africa) on 24 November, due to a rapid increase in the number of infections in that country. The 15th letter of the Greek alphabet – omicron – has been assigned to denote the new type of virus.
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