A variant Omicron of the coronavirus is spreading at a rate not seen with previous strains, warned the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that the tendency to consider it light is worrying.
At a press conference on Tuesday (14), Tedros said that the variant has already been detected in 77 countries.
“The reality is that Ômicron is likely to be found in most countries, even if it has not yet been detected,” he added.
British officials have warned that the country faces a “huge wave” of infections caused by Ômicron. the strain of Covid-19 became dominant in London, surpassing the previous Delta variant.
On Monday (13), the United Kingdom reported the first death from the variant and this Wednesday (15) reported 78,610 new cases of the coronavirus, the highest number of daily cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
The previous record for new daily infections was 68,053 on January 8th.
As has happened throughout the pandemic, the U.S are after the Europe when feeling the impact of a new variant.
B.1.1,529 has gone from accounting for 0.4% of the virus circulating in the United States in the week to December 4 to 2.9% the following week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) .
But the rates are already much higher in Nova York and New Jersey. The CDC estimates that 13.1% of cases there are caused by Ômicron.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN the new strain will become the dominant variant of the coronavirus in the United States, but it is unclear what this will mean for severe disease levels.
Although data, especially from South Africa, suggest that B.1.1.529 may be causing milder symptoms than previous variants, public health experts emphasize that it is too early to draw concrete conclusions.
“We are concerned that people are dismissing Ômicron as being lightweight. Of course, we’ve now learned that we underestimate this virus and the risk of it,” Tedros said.
“Even if Ômicron causes less serious illnesses, the sheer number of cases can once again overwhelm unprepared health systems,” he added.
South African researchers confirmed on Tuesday (14) that the vaccines provide less protection against the new strain, but added that they still see indications that Ômicron causes milder symptoms than previous strains.
Fauci said it’s not clear why symptoms are milder in South Africa, but it could be because many in the community have been infected before, so they have some level of protection.
“Whatever it is, the disease appears to be less serious, whether it’s less pathogenic like a virus or if there’s more protection in the community, we’re just going to know when and if it takes over the United States,” he said.
(Translated text. Check the original here)
Reference: CNN Brasil
